The Great Confusion is ocurring on the north side of our house. We live next to a water tower and main water line. The area here is growing like gang busters, so they are doing work on the water lines. The problem is they have been working on it all year, ok, at least since early summer. The workers are out here at least once a week digging up the area, burying something, and then coming back to dig it up again. They come with big equipment, generators, and lots of men. I have come to call it "The Great Confusion" since they don't seem to know what is going on. Perhaps (hopefully) it is only I who am confused. ------------ I had high hopes that our insurance rates were going to go down soon. A university within our religious movement worked out a national group plan with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. But for the options available to us, it will be about $1,000 a month. Our current deductible is much larger, but the monthly premium is about half that. Certainly the coverage they are offering is better, but we can't afford 12,000 for insurance a year. This is a topic I will be watching closely in the election year ahead. I live in a country with the best medical knowledge and services in the world, but I don't get to use any of them. They are reserved for the rich. Yes, if something extreme happened, we would be offered care, but at a price that would make us wish it weren't available. That isn't much of a choice.