Where do you suppose the students will be inclined to go, later on, when they're looking for sunglasses?

Unfortunately, probably not Google. I love Google for almost everything, but their shopping portal really needs improvement. I've been trying to use it ever since it started out as Froogle, and it's just not up to the same standards as the rest of Google. MSN's shopping site isn't much better, however. (There are some great tech shopping search sites, but if you're looking for something like sunglasses, I don't think any of the shopping portals do a good job.)

This may seem like your last priority right now, but you also need to think about what's going to happen to you, when you're older. You're not working (and building up retirement savings or social security credits). As you get older and stay out of the workplace longer, it will be harder to get back. Your husband may be permanently disabled and unable to work. You didn't specifically mention money in your letter, but I'm guessing that you're using up your own savings in order to support yourself, your husband and your parents, at least to some extent.

You may think "that's not important, what's important is helping my loved ones". But just as other letter writers have mentioned that if you make yourself sick, you won't be able to help your family, the same is true of the practical side of things. If you bankrupt yourself now, you may end up in a very difficult situation later on, with no one to help you if you end up needing care later on.

When you make plans for the future, don't forget about your own financial future. It's not selfish to think about that.

This topic came up on another site today, and this web site was mentioned:

http://www.benefitscheckup.org/

It's a clearinghouse with information about various programs that seniors may qualify for. It might help the original poster or someone else reading the comments.

I don't know how the efficiency numbers for train travel were calculated. But the last time I traveled by train (from NY to GA), the trip was not one steady trip from start to finish. There was a LOT of stopping and starting. At least once or twice an hour, the train had to pull off to the side and wait for a freight train to pass. The train had to slow down to a crawl every time it passed through a small town. (I asked the conductor about that, he said it was mandated by the towns for "safety reasons".) At some points, we were going so slowly that people oustide were walking faster than the train.

I assume that a train gets much worse mileage when it's stopping and starting and speeding up and slowing down all the time, rather than the ideal case when it's going at a regular rate of speed. But Amtrack shares its rails with freight trains.

If you went on a cross-country trip, there are more open spaces and probably fewer stops than there are on the congested East Coast routes. But until passenger trains have dedicated tracks, they aren't anywhere near "high speed".

Karen

I've actually always had employer-provided health insurance. But there's always this fear, what happens if I lose it? I've been laid off twice in the last two years, and I'm debating right now - if I'm unemployed for several months or more, do I deplete my savings by paying the astronomical cost of COBRA (and end up having to go into debt) or do I chance the private insurance market and hope I don't get turned down for pre-existing conditions, or pray that the insurance company doesn't decide I'm not a good risk and drops me? I'm pretty healthy and rarely need a doctor, but even minor health issues can doom you to be "uninsurable", and once you drop down that rabbit hole, all you can do is cross your fingers and don't get sick.

This is one thing my Dad (who retired on Medicare) just can't understand. I try to explain to him the current situation, where you can lose your insurance any time and there's this constant worry and fear, and it just baffles him. He never had that fear.

I'm a scientist, and one reason I chose this field was the de-emphasis on clothes and appearance. I worked in a bank one summer, and having to dress up in skirts and heels every day was enough to make me say, "never again". I'm glad I can go to work wearking jeans and a t-shirt, just like the guys.

However, there's a tricky line that female scientists have to navigate, when it comes to "dressing up". If you look too feminine, you aren't taken seriously. I remember when I presented my first research seminar in graduate school, I was planning to wear a jacket and skirt - both very conservatively cut, but in a bright color. My graduate advisor looked at me in horror and told me I looked "like a secretary". He suggested I go home and change.

If you're a woman in science, and you have to dress up for some reason, it can be really hard to find something that looks conservative and professional, but not "too feminine". Because if you look "too feminine", you won't be taken as seriously.