I think, Woody, there is a growing cry in my country for more "socialization" in some areas. Healthcare being primary. Costs are absolutely crushing those who have to purchase it without being part of a "group" (no surprise that there are pushing 50 million without any coverage at all), and premiums rise quarterly. Our own policy started out at about $1K/quarter, it's now up to over $2K; that's for a high deductible, for two people who've never made a claim and are not obese. They always include some paper to tell me how wonderful the maternity coverage is, too... like I care? I've called 3 local hospitals asking for the price of a few recommended tests (mammogram and colonoscopy) and NONE of them can give me a price! there is all sorts of hemming and hawing and I can never get a firm price, what's up with that? Personally, I think every hospital ought to have prices for test posted on "menus", so you at least know how much you have to have to pay for them. My disgust for the status quo with respect to healthcare is beyond words. I, for one, would happily pay more in taxes to have the worries about healthcare removed from my life. We will have to do something about it as it is proving to be a drag on every business in this country... look at the looming crisis in terms of the automotive industry alone. If GM goes teats up what will happen to all the retirees who have full healthcare coverage? Scarey. A health crisis could destroy us financially, but we're certainly not alone in that. Health savings accounts are a wonderful idea, but for us funding them is a stretch after we fund retirement accounts. And we're in lots better shape than many. Fear mongering by elected officials who spend too much time looking over their shoulders to "the good old days" needs to stop if we're going to rationally address this looming crisis. And we need to grow up and accept that we can't afford to cure everyone, no matter how much we love them. In that respect healthcare is ALWAYS going to be "rationed". It always was! As for severance and termination pay... I've never had either, so don't waste my energy thinking about them. I've always worked for the vaunted "small businesses" that seem to power the economy in their own small way (so has the helpmeet and so have most of our friends). NO way could our employers afford to offer those things and remain competitive. I've always had to live by my wits, and well BELOW my means to add to my nest egg. A job loss is a frightening prospect to us (but not a crippling worry), and for that reason we've never lived so large that the loss of one would destroy us. I am more concerned about inequity in taxes; Social Security is only paid on the first 90something thousand, but over that it's no longer taken out of earnings. Not fair! and it needs to change because Social Security is going broke and Medicare is in even worse shape, though most of the citizenry remains blissfully ignorant of the abyssmal state of our gov't.'s finances. Esp. after this latest round of financial scandal more and more us are increasingly concerned that our tax structure is creating a permanant underclass. We, and the majority of our friends believe passionately that paying taxes is patriotic... how come the Bernie Madoffs, large corporations, and super rich don't believe the same thing? ;) Cheery talk first thing this AM, huh? Kathy, I'm impressed at your efforts in the garage. The helpmeet cracked up when I told him about the "dry martini", and I also very much like "Ruby Ridge"... think our pantry may just have a new name. :) We had our own battery crisis the other night. The smoke detector started beeping and refused to stop even with a brand new battery... until I realized he was putting a fresh battery in the wrong one, lol. I've added D batteries to our grocery list. Cadbury used to make the BEST cocoanut cream filled candy bars. Mum would stock right up on them for me when I was in HS, but I haven't seem them since. I cracked up at the image of a skillet chained to the porch or a tree, Marian, that's a good one. :) I also laughed at the notion that PM is the first casualty of Idylling to excess... and now she's committed herself to "rehab.". LOL Certainly no shortage of funnies to be had reading this Idyll. I hear scratching in the litter pan, so methinks it's time to begin the mining operation...

There are several ways to run Windows on Macs. There may be a version of Wine, but that would probably be pretty slow. Also, although Wine is better than it used to be, it's still not 100% Windows compatible. Boot camp allows you to dual boot in one OS or the others. There are probably other approaches that will allow this, but boot camp is the Apple official way. There are also programs like Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion that allow you to run Windows programs without rebooting. Here is a link to a wikipedia article comparing various virtual machines.

Yes, you just have to hunt for it. I've linked to a couple where you can use your own photo. (Were it me I'd select a checkerboard floor pattern, whether linoleum or tile, and use that to see how you like it.) I've used this kind of software eons ago, the best thing you can do is start with a good photo of your kitchen. Straight on view (not from a side angle). No tilt to your pic, plenty of natural light, bright and crisp. Otherwise you'll get a funky end result. Oh, and check with major flooring manufacturers (Shaw, Mannington, etc.). Pretty sure the one I used is a freebie Mannington lets you download to your PC. You might not be using virtual paint, but I'd bet you can get a pretty close idea of what works & doesn't by using their floor colors and pattens in your room. Meanwhile: http://www.diylife.com/2007/12/04/flooring-selection-a-snap-with-virtual-design-tools/ Oh, here you go, this person posted an entire list: http://www.city-data.com/forum/home-interior-design-decorating/557883-virtual-interior-design-tools.html The other option is use a photo edit program, and Copy/Paste other floors you like into your room. Start with your own good photo. Then via Google images search for a floor ("black and white checkerboard floor"). Once you find an image of the floor style you're going for save it to your PC. Have both your own pic & sample pic open in your photo editor. (You might have to resize one or the other, both photos should be the same size so the floor pattern isn't too tiny or too huge in your photo.) Then in your room photo, use the Select tool and outline your floor area. Jump over to the sample floor picture that you like and select a comparable size area. Then Copy the sample flooring section, go to your photo and 'choose Paste into selection'. Your editor might have a different command, but you want to paste to selection (your outlined floor) otherwise it will paste over the entire photo or go haywire somehow. ;) Every photo edit is similar but different, so the commands are there, it's just a matter of finding them. Hope that makes sense!

Thanks for the link--works great! I'm trying to figure out what colors will work for our hardwood (white/red oak ) floors in conjunction with our white oak rift cut clear lacquer-finished kitchen cabinets. Have a zillion sample boards with different Woca and Loba oil colors (and some blends) and trying to figure out a direction. This web site should help to some degree.