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...

Hard drive is less than 1 year old. Heat is not an issue , the side of the case is off and my house is air conditioned set at 74 degrees. Tower is cleaned out no dust bunnies to see at all. Case was throughly cleaned out when son was here in Sept. due to hurricane evacuation from FL. KeysThis is what Belarc had to say about hard drives: 400.08 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 385.21 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GSA-H54L [CD-ROM drive] 3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive] Generic- Multi-Card USB Device [Hard drive] -- drive 2 ST3320620AS [Hard drive] (320.07 GB) -- drive 1 ST380815AS [Hard drive] (80.03 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 6QZ3A62Y, rev 3.AAD, SMART Status: Healthy

Here's the link... it's fun! I personally like the manic mode! Here is a link that might be useful: Bubble Wrap

We have a landline as well and every day we get several no-message calls. We always screen our calls because of that. I understand there's a scam where all they're trying to do is find out if yours is a legit ph. number, so they just need someone to pick up. Beware of calls that try to make you pick up out of curiosity. Hubby says he's heard a few w/ someone saying "Hello?... Hello?". They can be phishing or scammers. I always decline or ignore unknown numbers on my mobile phone. Here are some links to pages about phone scams... https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams https://www.komando.com/tips/398001/5-dangerous-phone-scams-that-are-spreading-now/all