Liz,  What a great article!  Thanks so much for the heads up on Superior Donuts.  Sounds like a winner.

I seem to be in the minority on this thread as one who finds Letterman funny, witty and smart.  I’ve liked him since he had that daytime show nearly 40 years ago.  And I think he’s done the best anyone could with this painful and embarassing situation.  (South Carolina Governor Sanford could take a lesson!)

We never know what goes on in a person’s life or why someone "strays."  Maybe female staff members threw themselves at him or maybe he’s the cad some would like to believe.  So far I haven’t heard any of his "victims" complaining or commenting.  It’s between him and his wife…and maybe those other women…but it’s not our concern.  I wish him and his wife and son healing and years of happiness together.

I posted above about my years at a magazine publisher.  I also worked in a library before computers, during the time of hand stamping; those little envelopes and cards in the front of the books; hand alphabetizing the book cards; card catalogs, etc. 

I also worked in the library during the change to digital.  Remember MS-DOS?   Remember Free-Net, before AOL and Compuserve?  Remember those sticky price tag things with the "date due?" 

I’m the first to tout the wonders of digital searching…but I loved that old card catalog.  The handwriting on the cards was so precise and was a graphological history of everyone who worked there over the years. 

Caren,

You’re right…it’s called Quaker Square and there are still a few shops and restaurants there.  They made the silos into a hotel—so the rooms were half round.  Believe it or not…it’s now owned by U of Akron and part of it is a dorm!  It still operates as a hotel too.  Hubby and I were there Wednesday night for a fund raiser/awards thing and it was fun to see all the students mixed with the shirt and tie crowd;-)

I still keep rubber cement in my desk.  I use it every few years…and the smell takes me back 40 years;-)

I never dreamed of a "Big Life" as our Mary Wells would say.  I wanted to be as invisible as possible.  I wanted to be a librarian without really understanding what a librarian does.  I just knew I always loved libraries. 

After I had kids, my goal was to be able to send them to whatever college they wanted to go to for as much education as they wanted.  By the grace of God and some very good luck, we were able to do that.  I was a stay at home mom (and professional volunteer and driver) until my oldest’s first day of classes as an undergrad.  That same day, I started working at our local library.  I went to grad school while I worked but opted not to finish the MLS degree.  I worked as a "reference assistant" for ten years.  When I started, we still had card catalogs.  I was there through the digital revolution and truly loved that aspect of the job.

So…my dreams were small but fulfilled.  My kids are happy and well educated; my husband and I are healthy; and I love my volunteer job at the library!  

Caren,

While you were working at the PD, I was working for a trade magazine publisher in Akron.  We had ashtrays that looked like rubber tires (we were the Rubber City, after all).  Depending on which way the wind was blowing, we smelled rubber, which made me sick or toasting oats, which made me hungry.  (Quaker Oats was just down the street.)  The rest of the editorial staff had standard typewriters, but somehow I had an IBM Selectric!  Our copy was set on Linotype (hot lead) machines and our camera ready layouts were done by paste up…either waxed or rubber cement (loved that smell).  There was no spell-check; we used carbon paper; made thermofax copies; typed stencils for the mimeograph and I don’t think the fax machine had been invented…or at least was not in common use.  Making a long distance call was a big deal, so we kept phone logs.  As I write this, I realize it was like we were "Little Publisher on the Prairie!"

Thanks Mel,

Very informative.  Guess my powerlessness has rendered me a bit lazy about doing much research.  No matter what I learn, it won’t change what’s going to happen in DC.  Guess I’ll just brace for the fallout…whatever it turns out to be.

If my insurance covers the shot (they don’t cover regular flu shots…or at least the places giving them around here don’t accept my insurance), and it doesn’t require queuing up for hours, I might get it. 

I was exposed to swine flu a few weeks ago.  My poor friend was sick as a dog for days and is still coughing.  She picked it up helping her sick daughter who’s a college student.  Anyway…after spending the evening with her, riding in a car with her and sitting next to her at dinner, I did not get sick.   So…I’m hopeful I have mighty defenses.

 …if the insurance companies had wanted to sell everywhere, they would already have lobbied to do so. They have no interest in that, they have divided up their share of the country and are happy as pie with the arrangement.

I have so many questions about how insurance companies actually work, I don’t know what to think.  Am I correct that insurance companies negotiate fees with hospitals and medical groups?  If that’s true, having coverage from a different state from where you receive your treatment might be a reason insurance companies have shown no interest in crossing state lines.

I was raised in the DC area, but my mother’s entire family lived in NY.  Back then, our driving route between the two cities took us through an impoverished section of Baltimore.  I remember being fascinated with all the people gathered on the marble steps of the row houses (read tenements). Around the same time, I noticed down-at-heel types on the subway. 

Growing up, we had wonderful, fun-loving maids.  They were women of great dignity and presence, so in my child-brain, it never occurred to me they were "poor."  I never actually knew any people of limited means until I went to college.

C jay,

Thanks for the link…you’re right…an excellent talk which makes more sense than anything I’ve heard coming out of DC.  In the case of my parents, and now just my father, TriCare turned them into cash cows.  The expensive testing they both have had over the years boggles the mind.  I’ve never been sure if the doctors are getting some kind of kickback from the tests or if they are just covering their butts.  But I doubt they would have me, with my limited insurance, have the same tests at the same frequency.

Anyway, my point was Medicare works well…if the patient has a "Cadillac" supplemental plan.  The doctor speaking said the same thing in different words.