55 responses to “Blurry.”

1. 

   Dexter said on March 28, 2013 at 1:49 am

   I got a letter yesterday. My health insurance monthly payment will be increasing by 1760%. Yes, seventeen hundred sixty percent increase, starting in April. Yes, it was really cheap. Then the VEBA (Voluntary Employees Benefits Association) dried up. Now it ain’t cheap any more. Gotta pay it somehow.
   Doctors. I had a Ft.Wayne ortho tell me I had a “broken back”. I didn’t. I had a doctor tell me he suspected kidney disease. I didn’t. A doctor told me I needed to be scanned for blood clots in my legs. No blood clots. And, I succumbed to a colonoscomy. Normal. Another ortho told me to just live with the pain of a bad hip because I was too young for a hip replacement. Now I’m old and avoiding the surgery for as long as I can. When I was a kid I was told I had a heart murmur. Another bad call. I had a heart check-up as a young soldier and was told, you guessed it…never had a heart murmur.

   920 chars

2. 

   Sherri said on March 28, 2013 at 2:21 am

   Whenever possible, I deal with doctors who get on my nerves by finding a different doctor. Not always possible, especially with surgeons. Fortunately with surgeons, my exposure is usually time-limited. The surgeon who was the best in terms of treating me like a partner in my healthcare, who was always happy to explain things, who was the most realistic in terms of what to expect during recovery, was also the surgeon who routinely ran behind an hour or two in his appointments because he liked to talk to his patients, so there are tradeoffs. He was great once I actually saw him, and he did spectacular work on my smashed and dislocated wrist, but there was a cost.

   And yes, very thankful for health insurance.

   718 chars

3. 

   Dorothy said on March 28, 2013 at 6:19 am

   Shouldn’t doctors just automatically assume these days that people are going to go online and research a little? Sheesh – it’s not exactly self-diagnosing. I mean you DID show up for an appointment. I know, I know – that goes along with what your friend Dr. Frank said, but still. Maybe docs should work to eliminate that note of condescension from their reactions. I saw a dermatologist for the first time recently for an irritation that I’d already seen my family doctor for. I don’t think she’s taking the right tack. She ordered a very expensive emollient that is lovely (and she gave me a coupon so I could pay $25 instead of $300), but it’s not going away. And I am not sure what do do next. Is bloodwork the next step? I dunno. That’s why I pay them, isn’t it?

   774 chars

4. 

   Linda said on March 28, 2013 at 6:51 am

   My sympathies, on both the eyes and the doctor. At least you didn’t TELL doc you had MD and demand a cure just like the one you saw on the internets. That happens to my cousin, who’s a doctor, a lot.

   201 chars

5. 

   David C. said on March 28, 2013 at 7:13 am

   I find a big generational difference in doctors. When they are my age (54) and older most have a full on God complex. They tend not to listen well, or explain well, but they do condescension perfectly. The younger ones are mostly better and seem to understand that people will look online and research. My current GP is 32 and, I think, the best doctor I’ve ever had. I guess you could always tell the bad doctor the old joke “What’s the difference between God and doctors? God doesn’t think he’s a doctor.” Probably wouldn’t work, but you might feel better.

   558 chars

6. 

   Snarkworth said on March 28, 2013 at 7:53 am

   My doctor walked into the examining room accompanied by a stranger. As he began his examination, I introduced myself to the stranger, at which point Dr. Clueless apologized, and explained that Dr. Stranger was interning with him (or whatever it’s called), and would it be OK if he observed?

   I mean, I ask you. How can you forget to mention this at the outset?

   362 chars

7. 

   Deborah said on March 28, 2013 at 8:00 am

   I have a wonderful doctor for the first time in my life, have had her for the 10 years I’ve lived in Chicago. Also the first time I’ve had a woman Dr.

   150 chars

8. 

   Suzanne said on March 28, 2013 at 8:05 am

   ““Oh, so you’ve been online?” she asked, with just a whisper of condescension” And yet, everyone I know in the medical community tells me over and over that I have to educate myself, be my own advocate, ask the right questions. But when you try, you tend to get that “whisper of condescension”, that look of “Dearie, I know you are trying but I have RN or MD after my name for a reason.” Been there too many times for me not to see a pattern. It’s similar to my dealings with many of my kids’ teachers over the years. We want you to be involved parents but only when you agree with our tactics.

   I’ve been told so many contradicting things my medical people it’s scary. My daughter has bad headaches from time to time and went to a neurologist who diagnosed occasional migraines. A nurse relative of mine told me that his diagnosis was because of his specialty. If she’s have gone to an allergist, he’d have diagnosed allergies, an endocrinologist would have found some endocrine imbalance. In other words, it’s all a semi-educated guess.

   That said, thank goodness I have health insurance, or I just wouldn’t bother to visit the doctor at all.

   1160 chars

9. 

   beb said on March 28, 2013 at 8:10 am

   I’ve had good luck with my doctors. I lost one GP when the home office of the clinic he worked for started sending out letters (ie, ads) to his patients under his signature and photo without his approval. The first I knew he had left was when I showed up for a pre-visit blood workup and the technician asked who to send the results to…. A year after he left I got one of those flyers/ads with my old doctors name and photo on the sheet. A year after he had left! It’s not the doctors I qworry about, it’s the front office.

   I’m older than most of the doctors in the clinic, except for one podiatrist I saw last year. Geeze marie, he walked with more difficulty and found sitting down and getting up more of a labor than I do, and I’m the patient!

   Macular degeneration is a concern for me because my father (93 come July) and one of his brothers had it, and I’m extremely near-sighted. My dad gave up reading years ago, and most of the time listens to the TV. I don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t see well enough to read.

   1030 chars

10. 

    Kim said on March 28, 2013 at 8:22 am

    A couple of neighbors, both surgeons, were discussing the patients who come in with lots of webMD knowledge. Both are in their mid-50s and preferred the well-informed patient over the “give me the cure” ones. One said, “Hey, I don’t have time to sit in front of a computer typing in every symptom and every obscure and remote possibility. For that one-in-a-million case, it’s helpful so that means it’s never harmful for me to get more information.” If I ever need my chest cracked he’s the one who will do it.

    And yes, thank god for health insurance.

    554 chars

11. 

    Dorothy said on March 28, 2013 at 8:32 am

    beb I have not used it, but my daughter and her boyfriend have – audible.com. They love it for long rides in the car, or to have on their iPads for while (she) knitting or (he) running. Maybe a 93 year old would find it difficult to navigate, but I’m guessing you’d find it one more handy tool of the Internet.

    Snarkworth – that’s a pet peeve of mine no matter who you meet at the doctor’s office. I appreciate it when someone introduces themselves or I see a name tag. Frequently I will ask their name, and then follow it up with a big “thank you, So-and-So!” It’s a gentle reminder that they should give their name. I’m not sure if it works but I like to think it has some positive effect as a reminder to be polite.

    724 chars

12. 

    coozledad said on March 28, 2013 at 9:00 am

    For a hundred bucks, you can take your genetic profile along with you, instead of the Reader’s Digest clippings or webMD printouts.
    http://whyisamericanhealthcaresoexpensive.blogspot.com/2013/03/23andme-why-might-person-want-to-have.html
    Costs six hundred dollars for your physician to have these tests run.

    I’m going to get them run just to see how many recessive traits the angelic host of inbreds passed on to me.

    421 chars

13. 

    Heather said on March 28, 2013 at 9:05 am

    Snarkworth and Dorothy–that has happened to me too, and with doctors I like! It seems obvious that if someone is going to see me naked, it is the least they can do to facilitate an introduction.

    I’m a bit of a hypochondriac, but my mother and my grandmother both died of cancer in their mid-40s, and guess how old I am? Small complaints I’ve learned to wait out, because I’ve found that the doctors usually have no idea what;s wrong, and those things tend to clear up within a few months anyway.

    499 chars

14. 

    Julie Robinson said on March 28, 2013 at 9:47 am

    Dilated pupils equal permission to take a nap. Total win.

    57 chars

15. 

    Bitter Scribe said on March 28, 2013 at 10:07 am

    My eyesight cut out on me once. Could hardly see out of my left, blind out of my right. It was scary as hell but it went away as quickly as it came.

    What pissed me off is this happened the week my mother died, and I couldn’t drive to her deathbed to say goodbye.

    265 chars

16. 

    Prospero said on March 28, 2013 at 10:11 am

    Doctor’s children don’t go to doctors, only emergency rooms. And My first granddaughter was born at 6:16 last night. Natural labor set in ahead of scheduled induction. Dodged the draft. Whew!!!

    193 chars

17. 

    mark said on March 28, 2013 at 10:16 am

    Congratulations, prospero. Although the interest rates might seem attractive, you should probably avoid the Bank of Cyprus for her college savings account.

    156 chars

18. 

    Prospero said on March 28, 2013 at 10:24 am

    Good thinking Mark. US banks are hovering at 1% for money markets. Which might as well be 0.

    92 chars

19. 

    adrianne said on March 28, 2013 at 10:39 am

    We’ve had good luck with doctors in our various habitats, but no one can beat Dr. Sandy, nurse-turned-family practictioner in Syracuse who delivered both of our boys, treated me post-partum and got my oldest son the right diagnosis of Asperger’s along with therapy referrals. She was the best. No b.s., no condescension.

    320 chars

20. 

    Dorothy said on March 28, 2013 at 10:40 am

    Congrats, Prospero. Cough up the statistics – birth weight, length, name???

    75 chars

21. 

    adrianne said on March 28, 2013 at 10:51 am

    Oh, Nance, I know you’re an HBO subscriber, so you might want to tune in tonight to see “Fall to Grace” at 8 p.m. about Jim McGreevey’s life after he declared, “I am a gay American.” It briefly features our fabulous gay Congressman, Sean Patrick Maloney, giving Jim some career advice.

    285 chars

22. 

    Judybusy said on March 28, 2013 at 10:52 am

    Nancy, I hope it does resolve quickly, and glad you’ll keep us posted.

    Congrats, Prospero!

    Some years ago, I went to a new doc and the filled out the general from, giving my partner’s name for spouse. It’s clearly a woman’s name. The nurse came in to do the prelim stuff,and asked what kind of birth control I use.Unusually quick on my feet, I laughed and said, “The lesbianism is pretty effective, we’re finding!” So, thank goodness for health insurance AND affirming clinics.I hope the nurse has been able to get as much mileage as I have out of that anecdote….

    571 chars

23. 

    Prospero said on March 28, 2013 at 10:56 am

    18.5 lbs., 21 in. Reese Helen. Helen is my ex-wife’s mom’s name. Don’t know where Reese comes from. Her photos look just like my daughter Emily when she was a newborn. Big kid. Her mom was 8-11 and 21 in.

    204 chars

24. 

    Charlotte said on March 28, 2013 at 11:04 am

    I assume that’s a typo Pros and that your poor daughter delivered an 8.5 lb baby, not an 18.5 pounder?

    Cool story out of Indiana today — huge dairy now fueling it’s 42-truck delivery fleet from poop-generated natural gas: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/us/dairy-finds-way-to-let-cows-power-trucks.html?ref=us&_r=0

    324 chars

25. 

    Dorothy said on March 28, 2013 at 11:13 am

    Yet another example of the amusement we find here since the editing button waved bye-bye!

    89 chars

26. 

    Peter said on March 28, 2013 at 11:31 am

    18.5! OW! That pelvic floor is in the basement!

    Propsero, congrats to everyone involved at your end of the planet.

    119 chars

27. 

    Prospero said on March 28, 2013 at 12:03 pm

    Yep. Typo. No records set.

    26 chars

28. 

    Charlotte said on March 28, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    Buzz is in rehab: http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2013/03/26/17471458-friday-night-lights-author-in-rehab-admits-587k-shopping-addiction

    137 chars

29. 

    BethB said on March 28, 2013 at 12:38 pm

    I have new insurance that I am not too sure about yet, and I am dealing with getting all of my meds from a new mail-order pharmacy. I take bunches of stuff due to my MS and related issues, and most of the meds came in at either $14 or $125 for a three month supply. (I knew all of the drugs would be much higher than my previous public school group insurance, but now I’m on Medicare, and I had to leave the school plan.)

    Anyway, I received all of the meds but one, and when I looked at the pharmacy online the cost for a three-month supply was $3005!!! I found out they were denying my doctor’s prior authorization letter stating that I’d been on the drug for at least 10 years. After some to-ing and fro-ing, I am now paying $700+ for the stuff!! Still outrageously high since I am now in the dreaded “doughnut hole”. I won’t be there long, however, because I take too damn much medicine that costs too damn much. Interesting that the first part of Medicare’s RX plan adds the total cost of your meds (what you pay and what the insurance pays), BUT once you’re in the “doughnut hole” second part of the plan, they add up only what YOU pay for the meds; this way it takes much, much longer to get the the last part of the plan–catastrophic coverage where Medicare pays all of the cost of approved meds. Not fair at all!!

    I hate all of the intricacies of Medicare–every explanation is convoluted and filled with verbiage that no one can understand. How did we get to to this mess in our insurance system??

    1517 chars

30. 

    Dexter said on March 28, 2013 at 1:03 pm

    How in the world can the government of this great nation saddle an aging population with this doughnut hole problem? My brother-in-law , who is a very smart guy, is just torn-up by this damn doughnut hole problem. It’s all he talks about, this goddam doughnut hole.

    267 chars

31. 

    Jolene said on March 28, 2013 at 1:27 pm

    Under ObamaCare, the doughnut hole is gradually closing. This process has already begun, but it won’t be completed until 2020.

    Of course, that’s if the program is implemented as planned. With the GOP taking whacks at the program at every available opportunity, we can’t be sure what will really happen until it’s actually happened.

    Google has more info re how this process is supposed to work.

    400 chars

32. 

    LAMary said on March 28, 2013 at 2:31 pm

    Congratulations, Prospero, and I’m glad that was a typo. I was reflexively crossing my legs reading that.

    My Aunt Florence died this morning. She was 98, and barely had a sick day in her life. The last ten years or so she went blind, slowly. She was living on her own until about a month ago when she fell and couldn’t get up, so she decided to go into assisted living. She declined quickly and then went into a six bed nursing facility a week ago. She started refusing food and medication a few days ago, and she died this morning. She and I were pretty close when I was growing up. She had lost her mother when she was six, during the post WWI flu epidemic. In fact, she lost almost her entire family. She remembered the bodies being carried out of the house. My Aunt Flo was so funny and wise and open minded. She always had two cats and they were always named Cookie and Dan. She liked to make cocktails with fresh fruit juice. I remember getting slowly smashed with her one afternoon while my uncle and ex husband were out playing golf. We were tossing any fruit she had into the blender and adding dark rum. Sitting out on the patio in NJ, watching hummingbirds in the Acacia trees, getting drunk with my Aunt Flo and laughing our head off at silly stuff. That’s how I remember her.

    1293 chars

    • 

      nancy said on March 28, 2013 at 2:45 pm

      I’ve often thought that after a certain age, the measure of a good endgame is the brevity of the interval between more-or-less independent and caring for oneself and not. For my dad, it was two weeks; for my mom, five years. I think Aunt Flo got a good exit. I hope you see her again someday.

      292 chars

33. 

    Julie Robinson said on March 28, 2013 at 2:50 pm

    LAMary, that was a beautiful remembrance. Flo sounds like a grand lady.

    And congratulations to Prospero and family on your newest grandchild.

    The sun is finally out and it’s warm enough to feel like spring is arriving. Please let it last!

    244 chars

34. 

    Scout said on March 28, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    LAMary – what a great tribute to your Aunt. I was right there on the porch with you both, drinking those fruity rum drinks.

    Prosp – Congrats on Baby Reese. I too am relieved for your daughter’s sake that she isn’t a record breaker. 😉

    Nancy – Hope you’re on the mend, and the eye problem fixes itself.

    We have a HSA and for certain things it is cheaper to pay the medical bill from that account as if there were no insurance involved. Our regular insurance includes annual check-ups, but otherwise it is for catastrophic occurrences and has a high deductible. I’m just very, very fortunate that my partner’s employer has a DP policy available to us, especially because I have been a contractor ever since the economy took a dump.

    739 chars

35. 

    Phoenix_rising said on March 28, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    Judy, when I’m confronted with the ‘what contraception method?’ from someone who has clearly not read the form, I brightly reply: “Well, it has a 0% failure rate, but you have to remember to use it every time!”

    Staff who don’t laugh at that one should get into another business.

    Nancy, I’ve been to many kinds of doctors in the past 16 months (since diagnosis that the thing in my eye wasn’t anything I found on WebMD but instead a melanoma). The ones who cheerfully state that they don’t know much about my disease are the best. The one who thought he had to be familiar with something that 345 Americans get every year, him I threw back into the high risk pool. Life is too short and too uncertain to put up with bozos.

    Also, don’t worry about losing vision in one eye. It’s a PITA while learning to look around, but not Stevie Wonder material. Although my ocular oncologist IS the sunshine of my life…

    915 chars

36. 

    Judybusy said on March 28, 2013 at 3:14 pm

    Mary, I’m so sorry to hear about your aunt–she sounds like so much fun!

    72 chars

37. 

    Bob (not Greene) said on March 28, 2013 at 3:23 pm

    Congrats on the new granddaughter, Prospero!

    LAMary, we all need more people like Aunt Flo in our lives. Glad you had her.

    126 chars

38. 

    Sherri said on March 28, 2013 at 3:53 pm

    Congrats, Prospero! Glad all went well for your daughter and granddaughter.

    75 chars

39. 

    Dorothy said on March 28, 2013 at 3:55 pm

    Mary I’m sad that we have in common this week the fact that we both lost an aunt. Yours sounded like quite a remarkable lady – I’m very sorry for your loss. I’m taking my mum to the funeral home tomorrow night and I’m really dreading it, but I’ll be glad to be beside her as we walk in the door. My husband will be on the other side of her, in case she needs more than just her walker for support.

    400 chars

40. 

    LAMary said on March 28, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    My aunt wa born into such a different world than the one she exited. She was the child of immigrants, living in a poor part of Paterson, NJ. The flu killed so many people there, especially the people who lived in close quarters because they had little money. She died in Florida in the retirement house she and my uncle had saved up for. He died right after they moved there and she was alone, but she made friends easily and had a busy interesting life for the next 30 odd years. She only gave up her 1963 white Cadilllac about ten years ago.

    543 chars

41. 

    Prospero said on March 28, 2013 at 4:23 pm

    25% of GOPers don’t like the GOP. Tugs at my heartstrings, that.

    211 chars

42. 

    Deborah said on March 28, 2013 at 4:25 pm

    Enjoying the comments about Docs today.

    LAMary, as usual you’ve unfolded a great story for us. Your Aunt Flo sounds like a lady I would like to have known.

    Congratulations on the new granddaughter Prospero.

    I should add that my Dr is also my husband and daughter’s. We are looking for a competent Dr for Little BIrd in Albuquerque. Because of her neurological condition we have to find a Dr who has a clue about it. Not easy.

    Also, I’m in St. Louis tonight on our way back to Santa Fe with the architectural model and a bunch of stuff from Ikea because they don’t have one in NM. Have stopped here in St. L to have dinner with friends and staying the night. Should be back in Santa Fe Saturday evening.

    716 chars

43. 

    brian stouder said on March 28, 2013 at 4:41 pm

    Mary – you say so much, and so well; superb!

    The subject of those huge measles outbreaks in this country during the Great War is something I’ve not read a lot about yet, but it must have been astounding. (Imagine how crazy the political milieu would be in 2013 America, if we had any sort of similar slow-motion domestic catastrophe, while the world descended into a horrendous war)

    Mary – one thing your story really reinforces for me is that when Grant and I roll to Watkins Glenn, NY, a key part of the trip will be a stop to see my Aunt Fannie, who’s a year or two older than her sister (my mom) is a key part of the mission.

    Pam and Aunt Fran (as she now prefers to be called) struck up a surprisingly close relationship over the past several months; the other day a packet arrived in the mail (from her to Pam), containing priceless photos and portraits of my mom’s young family – including a unique portrait of my mom and her sister and their brothers and mom and dad, from about 1933, which I’d never seen before.

    In fact, I’d never seen any photo of my mom’s father together with my mom (let alone the whole family).

    The idea of Grant getting to meet – at least once – Aunt Fran is simply irresistible. In fact, I’ve begun twisting Pam’s arm to come along, too. Really, that would be the thing that would please Aunt Fran the very most.

    1397 chars

44. 

    Judybusy said on March 28, 2013 at 5:13 pm

    Dorothy, I’m sorry to hear about your aunt as well. I’m glad you can be there for your mom.

    91 chars

45. 

    Jolene said on March 28, 2013 at 5:36 pm

    Ezra Klein has a couple of posts that relate to topics we’ve talked about recently. First, there’s an interview with the reporter who wrote the NPR disability story. Second, there’s an interview with Mark Kleiman, a criminologist who argues in favor of a greatly increased tax on alcohol as a strategy for reducing crime of many kinds.

    Have to say, though, that this talk of disability and crime, along with Joe Nocera’s gun blog, Jeff’s stories from juvenile court, and our dysfunctional public policy responses to all of this, are bringing me a little closer than I really need to be to the dismal side of life.

    Good thing there are new babies and stories of elderly aunts with well-lived lives to brighten things up. Congratulations, Prospero. Condolences, LAMary. Am glad you have those good memories.

    860 chars

46. 

    Charlotte said on March 28, 2013 at 5:40 pm

    Well Dorothy — it’s 60 degrees here today, the sun is shining, and after I’m done laying out this new garden bed it sounds like I’ll have to hoist one for Aunt Flo!

    And an aside — the inheritance I’m currently dealing with for my mother is a direct result of the flu epidemic. My mother’s great-aunt lost her only son to that epidemic. Sold the box/storage company that was supposed to be his (to the Stone family) and when she died, she left her fortune in trust to my grandmother, who was the only surviving child from that generation. Apparently, my great-grandmother never forgave her sister in law for not holding on to the company for her son — who wound up dying in WW2. Held a grudge to the end. “That’s one thing your mother and Lolo share,” my grandmother told me. “They never forget a grudge.”

    811 chars

47. 

    Kirk said on March 28, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    A couple of eye things:

    My ophthalmologist found a spot on one of my maculas 15 or 20 years ago. It did not (and does not) affect my vision. She checks it every time I go in for an eye exam; it has not grown a bit. But the fact that she checks it makes it a medical visit, rather than a straight eye exam, so my health insurance pays for it, as I don’t have eye-care coverage.

    My sister started seeing wavy lines that were actually straight. She went to an opthalmological guy in Cincinnati, who told her it was caused by either histoplasmosis or something else (can’t recall what). The treatment for both was the same: a series of three shots right into her eyeball. It gave me the shivers just to think about it. But she said they did something to numb the eye, and the actual injection felt like no more than a little pinch and there was no lasting pain. It worked.

    874 chars

48. 

    alex said on March 28, 2013 at 5:49 pm

    Congrats to Pros, condolences to Mary and Dorothy.

    My doctor is a lesbian who also happens to be a distant cousin. We get along great, although she has a nurse who was once very condescending when I mentioned looking up something on the internet. I didn’t register my displeasure at the time, but if there’s a next time I’m not letting it pass.

    Occasionally in medical dictations, I see doctors bemoaning patients who are noncompliant with orders because they’ve read some ridiculous misinformation online and trust it more than they do their physicians. I’m sure that must be frustrating, but it’s hardly a license to be dismissive of people who are, as I think Suzanne said above, educated consumers.

    709 chars

49. 

    Dexter said on March 28, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    prospero, congratulations on your first granddaughter. That makes her birthday the same as my first step-grandson, who turned 22 yesterday . I hope you get to see her more often than I get to see my 18-month old granddaughter in Columbus. Damn gas prices…I have been test-driving tiny little cars , trying to find one that gets 40-to-the-gallon, so I can get to Columbus more often. Yeah, if I can get there and back on eight gallons, that would be do-able.
    Anyway, enjoy the grandfatherhood. 🙂

    505 chars

50. 

    Joe K said on March 28, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    Dexter,
    Try a ford focus, bought one last year, at 70 mph I get 35mpg at 50mph I can do better than 41 mpg. We have the sporty hatch back. Both of my daughters have ford fiestas they do even better.
    Pilot Joe

    211 chars

51. 

    Prospero said on March 28, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    Thanks for all the congrats. I’m going up to Boston on the train in three weeks to see the new keedo. It’s a long enough trip one way to finish an entire novel. I’m halfway through The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht, which I recommend highly. Beautifully written book. Reminds me of a Balkan version of 100 Years of Solitutde magical realism.

    338 chars

52. 

    MichaelG said on March 28, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    Condolences to Mary and Dorothy and a cigar to Pros. Wait – it’s the other way around.

    Don’t buy a Honda Element if you’re looking for gas mileage. It gets lousy mpg even though it’s a great car otherwise. Although, since I have only 9000 miles on it after a little over two years, gas mileage doesn’t much matter. On the other hand I drive tons of miles in rental cars. Most any small car will give you pretty good mpg. Small cars today are mostly very good. They are tons better than they were even ten years ago. I had a Ford Focus on Tuesday and I liked it

    571 chars

53. 

    Deborah said on March 28, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    Dorothy, I don’t think I mentioned that I’m sorry for your loss as well. You’re a good daughter to your Mom even as you are feeling the loss too, that’s commendable.

    Some weird thing is happening to the way I view nn.c on my computer right now. It’s probably something I did on my end but it’s got tiny type and is a million miles wide and I can hardly read it???

    366 chars

54. 

    Crazycatlady said on March 28, 2013 at 11:54 pm

    Don’t worry, Beb, I’ll read to you.

    35 chars