About healthcare.gov/Marketplace/Obamacare: Where I live there are 2 insurance companies - 1 no name with tiny network for tiny $$ premium and 1 big name with options of medium network for medium $$$ premium or large network with large $$$ premium. But even the big name with medium network plays games with Tier 1 docs (1 in the entire area with low copay) and Tier 2 docs (more) with higher copay. I encourage you to find a health care navigator (not a broker who is paid to sign you up) and do lots of research.

We just finished migrating all our Fortran and PL/1 to C. I suspect if I wanted a full-time contract job that Fortran, COBOL, PL/1, C, and SQL would get me somewhere.

I am curious about what programming language(s) your DH uses. I work on a legacy system for a major domestic airline (I started with the airline 33 years ago but spin-off and buy out since then so the current company contracts with them). My programming skills are completely out-of-date which makes me very valuable. Mostly I work in C now. A few years ago, one of my co-workers retired and the powers-that-be filled the position with someone who is 7 hours different from our clients. Obviously, he is not a good long-term solution because they are never going to call him at 3pm in the afternoon, and I am reluctant to spend time training him because of it. This is how valuable I am: Last year, I asked a few times to work half-time and get health benefits. Company policy says 30hrs/wk for health benefits. On Dec 1, I turned in my resignation for Dec 31. In 2 days, they made an exception for me. I just turned 62 and now they know I have one foot out the door.

From Rip Esselstyn's Engine 2 Diet book - NY Times Veggie Burger We top these with either lettuce/tomato/onion/ketchup/mustard or guacamole (delicious!). Dh won't eat mushrooms From fatfreevegan website - Colleen's Chickpea Burger I make an easier tahini sauce with tahini, lemon, and water From fatfreevegan website - BBQ Black Eyed Pea Burger I just top with BBQ sauce Veggie burgers are so easy to make with a food processor. They also freeze well and can be defrosted in a morning and popped into the toaster oven at 350 degrees for 15min to reheat. I keep a stash in my freezer always. ETA: I use old-fashioned oats in all of these.

I have been overweight 2x in my life. Each time, I gained 25# over the course of 3 years. The 1st time, I went to Weight Watchers (at 38yo) and lost 2# per week and kept 25# off for 10 years. WW taught me about portion control and helped me eat less meat and more vegetarian. OTOH, I didn't like that brown rice counted as more points than white rice. I didn't like the emphasis on WW products. So, the 2nd time I needed to lose weight (at 51yo thank you menopause), I searched and searched and searched for how to eat healthier. I found Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman. I liked it because he said that in order to lose weight and maintain a lower weight, I would have to eat less calories and the calories I ate would have to be as nutritious as possible. This made sense to me. I lost 2# per week and have kept 30# off for 11 years now. Both times I lost weight, I found that I had to find new recipes that I enjoyed. I would check books out from the library and try new recipes until I had a large enough repertoire to not be bored eating the same food over and over. This was time consuming as I found that I only liked about 1 in 10 recipes I tried. While following WW, I created a 4 week meal plan which meant that I had 3 dinners planned out each week. My husband cooked 1 night per week and we ate out 2-3x times per week. Now I have a 16 week meal plan. Lunch is typically leftovers or soup+salad or hummus+veggies. The meal plan helps me spend less time each week trying to figure out what I will cook that week. My goal is to eat a wide variety of beans/lentils/grains/veges/fruits. One thing I do that I find helpful: I make a big pot of (usually) vegetable+bean soup on Sunday and eat on it all week long. I will eat it for breakfast or have soup+salad for lunch. I also do not drink anything besides water or unsweetened tea. No soda, no alcohol. I want to save my calories for food. I am not vegetarian or vegan. I eat about 90% vegan though. I keep my animal intake to < 12oz per week. That means, I cook beef or chicken on the weekend, maybe have an egg during the week, and get 1 scoop of ice cream on the weekend. Neither my husband nor I ever learned to eat seafood. I have always exercised. I find that I cannot maintain exercise on my own. I go to fitness classes or walk with friends. I swim then socialize with the water walkers. I enjoy exercising with people much more than exercising on my own. I am kind of obsessive about my weight now. I am determined not to gain weight again because it goes on easy and comes off hard. I don't want to have to go through the weight loss routine ever again. I have been encouraged by a sibling while on vacation to loosen up. No thank you. I loosen up and I'll gain several pounds each vacation and before I know it, I'll have gained and kept 10# or more. No thank you. BTDT never again. HTH! Good luck!

Just ordered it from the library. Thanks.

Thanks. I remember reading that when going through peri-menopause. I'll pick it up again. I also remember a book on menopause by Susun Weed. I liked it because for every trouble of menopause, she had a variety of ways to mitigate starting from the least invasive (ex. do nothing) to the most invasive (ex. complete hysterectomy).

Thanks folks. About moisturizer. You use it over nearly 100% of your body?

I have wondered since menopause what normal aging looks like. How do you know when something is normal aging and when it is a cause for concern? For example, more hair loss or bright lights at night or more regular skin scrapes or a need for better and more expensive shoes. When I have tried to find a book at the library on this topic, I only seem to come up with books that promise the fountain of youth through many products. Any suggestions?

We use Outlook for work email. I can get my personal email on it too? OMG. I just added one of them. Thank you. Thank you.

I have used Thunderbird for my email for years. I love it because there are no ads. I use a work laptop and they just locked it down so that I can't use Thunderbird. Any suggestions for an alternative? Is ad free possible? I won't be able to install anything on the laptop and I am not interested in reading email on my phone. Thanks.

Since I started eating a whole food plant based diet 10 years ago, I've had low WBC. Here's what I have learned. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/what-does-a-low-white-blood-cell-count-mean/ wbc lower limit of 3 might be better. For each drop of 1, 14% decrease in risk of chronic heart disease, lower risk of cancer and stroke and all cause mortality https://nutritionfacts.org/video/what-is-the-ideal-white-blood-cell-count/ exercise lowers wbc; lower inflammatory diet lowers wbc; not smoking lowers wbc; 3-9 would be ideal range (5:12 in video) HTH!

We moved into this house about 2 years ago. There is a pond in back of the house. Maybe they come from the pond? We didn't have them for the 1st year or more. Then, they arrived. According to the neighbors, they've been around for years.

In addition to what has already been mentioned: - I take a bottle brush or a skinny brush (depending on the drain) to the drains once a month trying to clean any gunk out I can - I unscrewed the pipes (P traps?) under the sinks and cleaned them out as best I could Sigh. There is one flying around me as I type.

(Hugs) I'm sorry you are so scared. What is your diet like?

My wbc is typically low sometimes under the lower limit. I don't know that you want to compare your 15yo ds to a 61yo lady, but here's something I learned when I searched. My low wbc did occur after I changed to a whole food plant based diet. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/what-is-the-ideal-white-blood-cell-count/ exercise lowers wbc; lower inflammatory diet lowers wbc; not smoking lowers wbc; 3-9 would be ideal range (5:12 in video) https://nutritionfacts.org/video/what-does-a-low-white-blood-cell-count-mean/ wbc lower limit of 3 might be better. For each drop of 1, 14% decrease in risk of chronic heart disease, lower risk of cancer and stroke and all cause mortality

I had flight benefits for many years and traveled regularly. I had many photo albums. Eventually, I went through them and pulled out the pics that had someone in them that I wanted to remember. I tossed the rest. It can be helpful to move. Do you really want to move those heavy photo albums? OTOH, I am not very sentimental. I never sat down and perused the photo albums to bring back memories. I am at my sil and bil's house right now. They are 83 and 82 and have been in the house for 40+ years. They will be moving to a retirement community sooner rather than later bc bil has Parkinson's. We are cleaning out the cellars under the house. OMG. I have labeled 15+ bins to go to grandson's garage so that sil can look through them when she is settled and has time. Okay. I have a shoebox full of photos.

My husband bought a recliner from Big Lots years ago. He spends hours in it on a daily basis. It has held up well. Better than I expected. Just found the receipt. 4/16/2018 for total $240.74

Thanks. I thought of the common data set last night, but couldn't remember what it was called. It does give somewhat more specific info.

Yes, I think that's what 1040-1250 represents at the college board website. The middle 50% of the scores of their accepted students. So, that makes me wonder how to determine the top 5-10% of test scores.

Would you please explain to me how you can tell if your student is in the top 5-10% of applicants in test scores? I knew how to do this 10 years ago when ds applied, but dgd is applying now and I've forgotten. Thanks! ETA: What do the numbers 1040 and 1250 represent in the the SAT range below?

I have been to St Augustine twice and really enjoyed it. Last time, we went to Anastasia State Park and the light house. We really enjoyed both and spent more time at each than we expected. Went to the fort both times. Not sure if there is a time when they have tours or not, but that would be worth it. Went to an alligator farm years and years ago and enjoyed that as well. Can't remember where we stayed the first time and the second time was a day trip from Jacksonville Beach.

I know you don't want to call, but when we moved in to my deceased in-laws house, I found the best way was to call and tell them that the person was dead. Since most of the mail was for my fil, that evoked some sympathy and action bc they assumed I was the widow. Laura's suggestion of the postage paid envelope was also helpful, but I would write deceased.

Thank you for the encouragement! Ever since I put the "natural" product down the drain, the drain plug would not stay closed. I wear contacts and one went down the drain tonight when I popped it out. I watched carefully as I unscrewed the rings to make sure I knew which direction I was unscrewing them and was able to find the contact, clean out the gooseneck (yuck!), and screw the rings back on so that it doesn't leak. I may have even fixed the drain plug issue. So proud. I am hopeful that it will help the drain fly situation in my bathroom. Maybe tomorrow, I'll try the kitchen sink. Unfortunately, I wouldn't want to mess with the side that has the garbage disposal and I think that's the #1 problem.

I like this idea. I'm afraid I'd mess it up though. DH would do it if I asked but not very willingly.