I've been without health insurance for almost ten years now. Does that seem scary to you? It does to me, but there's not a lot of choice. You see, I'm a contractor. I don't have a steady employer who provides health insurance as a perk. I have to provide my own, and the options are horrible . For a reasonable deductible with full coverage, the monthly payment is somewhere around a house payment; for a $1500 deductible and no co-pay, it's still around the equivalent of a car payment every month. Not exactly affordable. Frankly, I've been pretty lucky until just recently. I've had a few colds and a flu or two that required no medical attention. The occasional infection that required antibiotics came into play. Unfortunately, I'm now at a point where I have three prescriptions that need to be renewed monthly, as well as regular doctor visits. We're talking several hundred dollars a month. Not exactly affordable. Especially now. Unemployment does not pay enough to cover all of that. So, a little vacation from the meds for now. Not a good thing, but inevitable. Jobhunt: Found a listing that's a pretty good fit. Posted yesterday. Sent resume. Got form-email confirmation. Blah, blah, blah. This is getting old. Random thoughts: Pudding and ice cream don't go together nearly as well as you would think. There is no such thing as a "relaxing high colonic". Nudity and Jalapeno peppers are not a good combination. When something says "feet included", you should expect feet.