Apologize

I want to apologize to all those blogs I drop on everyday but today EC was down the vast majority of the day and now when I have some time the day is almost over and I won't get everyone done - I'm very sorry!
What happened with EC anyway - anyone know for certain?

From Howdy Doody to Erectile Dysfunction

I enjoy watching “some” television but I’m increasingly disillusioned with the advertising and the programing of most channels. No doubt I should remind you that I’m 54 years old and started out young with no television in the house and black and white picture when we finally did get TV, and the few times a week that we were given permission to watch television instead of playing outside or doing chores we watched the likes of Howdy Doody, Red Skelton, and Wagon Train. Adults had begun watching Peyton Place and Soap Operas. My mother didn’t allow us to watch either, she said the story line was for adults only (of course this kind of attitude drove teenagers to have to see what they were missing).

How did we move to Sex In The City, Taxi Cab Confessions, commercials about erectile dysfunction, menstrual periods, birth control, cursing, adults half or fully undressed, or dressed so seductively and suggestively?

I'm not a prude and I've been known to be able to take any topic and turn it into something sexual (I grew up with 5 brothers and their friends), but most of the time I talk this way with girlfriends or my husband not in a public forum and certainly not around small children.

Is all this in your face sexual content really ncessary? Is everything in the end about the almighty buck?

What I think about paying for healthcare

So much debate (as there should be) on health care reform and it's gotten me to thinking about why there are so many people that feel that health care should be inexpensive if not free. Yes we have health care but we pay a pretty penny for that care/policy. We have an HMO and although it doesn't cover necessarily all doctors or all procedures it's been good for us (my husband with cancer and me with copd-emphysema). We have a copay for what seems like more and more procedures but that's okay, it's still less expensive than the alternative.
If everyone were to pay for their health care it would probably be less expensive. When someone goes into an emergency room for care and they don't have insurance, someone has to pay for this specialized care (and the ER is a medical specialty) and who pays for it are all the people that are already paying for health care insurance (as the costs are passed through the insurance companies for care and they pass the cost on to it's members).

I don't believe that if you want to pay for your insurance that they should be able to turn you down for pre-existing conditions.

My son is a doctor and he's gone to school/trained/worked for 9 years since he finished college and is finally ready to take his oral boards to to board certified. He and his wife have taken on a huge amount of debt for medical school and living expenses during residency and his fellowship when he wasn't making diddly (his wife was working). Doctors really do have to pay for their training and testing (yes they pay to be tested). Doctors also have to pay for their health care (no they don't treat themselves or their family members).
Contrary to popular belief, "most" doctors do not make a huge salary.

What Do You Think Is Your Responsibility?

I was reading a post on another blog and the blogger was talking about it being her responsibility to leave her children/grandchildren an inheritance. I'm wondering if this is the case in different countries.
I thought Wow, I'll leave enough to pay whatever debt I may still have at the time and leave enough to deal with my death but otherwise, I'm spending the money I worked for, I'm not planning on leaving my children/grandchildren an inheritance (although there will probably be one).

What about you, do you think you are "responsible" for leaving your heirs an inheritance?

Who Else Has Experience with Pristiq?

Because the anti-anxiety/panic attack meds my PCP put me on initially didn't work he put me on Pristiq which is more of an anti-depressant and supposedly much like Effexor (which I've been on in the past). Anyway, this post is about the side effects which to me are plentiful and much more than I've had with any medication that I've ever taken. Nausea (but no vomiting and I'm able to eat although I'm not hungry at all), fuzzy head, and the worse for me - severe sweating of my head and neck (this is much worse than the hot flashes of menopause). What I've read and what my doctor says, makes me believe these side effects will diminish over the next few weeks as the medication builds up in my system (today is day 4).

Is anyone else on this medication and if so what kind of side effects did you encounter and when did they go away?

Meds took away one issue and gave me a much bigger one

(Actually I feel a lot better since I ran out of those pills you prescribed me)

I was experiencing some panic/anxiety attacks recently (since starting pulmonary rehab actually) and so my doctor prescribed Ativan/Lorazapam/Xanax, all kinda the same stuff. Well the panic attacks subsided and I started sleeping lots better but damn I was depressed and crying all the time, couldn't find a reason to get up, I was mean and spiteful (yes that is different from me generally).
I stopped taking those pills and in 24 hours I already feel much better. I have another appointment to see him on Thursday and we're going to have to find another med.

On an upside - I have stopped going to Pulmonary Rehab because it was too crowded all the time and I'm not someone that likes to wait. I have found a gym (not near me) that I'm using and already feeling so much stronger.