As mentioned a few weeks ago my wife fried my laptop during our vacation...

I expect a total loss when I send it to Dell for an estimate. Lo and behold, the estimate was $119.00, motherboard repair... So I lost only $160.00 ($39.00 diagnostics...) I expected to purchase a new one...

Now, if Nikon sends me my lens back with a low price, I will be ecstatic.

On the other hand, I have to replace the generator and a few items in the house as it was hit by lighting. There, I do not expect much from the insurance company, they are likely to prorate my 25KW Caterpillar generator (2001) and the replacement cost is just about $12,000 (Generac 26KW).

I know it has been already stated, this example of "Irony" is a false equivalency. First, it assumes that if people were unable to receive food assistance they would automatically go find a good-paying job and that the problem of hunger would just go away. The fact is that our economy is based on the premise that not everyone is or can be employed. The largest percentage of people who receive food assistance are disabled or unable to financially survive without it. Many are families with children who are stuck working in jobs that pay minimum wages which cannot meet the cost of living in the areas where they live. Many are in rural communities where employment options are limited, very limited. In other words, these families and individuals are too poor to move to areas with higher employment opportunities and lower costs of living.

Second, there is an unspoken assumption built into this example of "Irony" that those who get food assistance really do not want to work and would rather live "Off the dole". This could be further from the truth. Before retiring I worked in a Mental Health agency that also provided counseling and services to people who were in the lowest economic strata. I personally worked with hundreds of individuals who needed help in the form of "Welfare" and food assistance. With the exception of a small subset of clients most wanted to work and not be dependent on "Entitlements" to survive. People do not naturally want to become dependent on others including governmental programs. However, there are situations and conditions where it sadly becomes necessary to seek support and where there are no non-governmental sources available to them.

Our species falls into the animal kingdom but we have evolved to have the ability to have compassion for others and are successful enough that we can afford to give help to those who need it. I am sorry if this has come across as being too preachy and lengthy but I believe that it was important to communicate. I know that given a little more time I might have done a better job of communicating these points but life is what it is.

My husband is nearly 80 and still works a full time job, which he loves. Each day he comes home mid afternoon and takes a nap (he claims he is watching his "shows", but he is gone).

Yesterday, he followed his usual routine, but woke up about 5:30PM, came upstairs got cleaned up and dressed for sales calls. He then went downstairs and got in his car backed out and started down the street. He then realized it was the same day, not the next morning.

Last time he did this, he made it all the way to the office before I called him and asked him where he was. It looks like I'll need to hide his keys to make sure he knows what day it is. Yes, his cell phone says what day, date and time it is, but he doesn't check that. Hopefully he will plan to retire at the end of the year. I'm getting tired of checking up on him.