Indoor Sun Shoppe in Fremont is very helpful. They'll even let you try a light for two weeks before deciding whether or not to buy it!

Do your best to get that 20% down payment. Not doing so will cost you, because you will have to get either a higher rate 2nd mortgage to cover the difference, mortgage insurance (PMI), or, depending on your credit, both. If you can't get the 20%, it's not the end of the world, but make a payment plan to make that 2nd mortgage go away ASAP.

As far as the house, the things I'd be most worried about would be the sewer (lots of old concrete sewer lines in Seattle, avoid big trees on or near the property) and mold (any signs of a leak are bad news), because both repairs would be very expensive, and it would be difficult to estimate the cost ahead of time. I agree with the Rev on the inspector. That is very important. Some things aren't necessarily deal killers, but you can probably take them off of the price in this market. For example, if the roof, furnace, water heater, etc needs replacing anytime in the next couple of years, the seller will probably pay for it.

That sucks. When you go to any doctor, you generally need to sign something that says you're responsible for any payments that the insurance doesn't cover. Clearly, these payments are the responsibility of the insurance company, but that won't matter to the provider.

If I were in your shoes, I would be calling the insurance company on a daily basis until they paid the provider. I would also calmly be threatening to sue them and their client. If you are persistent, I suspect they will do the right thing.

You said you closed the claim, which I assume means you signed a form freeing them of any future liability. However, it seems you could make the case that you were deceived into thinking they had paid the bill, when, in fact, they only paid part of it.

Also, what about your insurance company? Do you have any sort of uninsured or underinsured coverage? If your insurance company is responsible for any payment, then THEY will contact the other driver on your behalf.

Buck Henry in Samurai Stockbroker, 10/30/76

I'm not disagreeing with the others in terms of sweating out the sickness (running, biking, whatever). But, I will just add that going to the gym while you're sick, touching the equipment with your germy hands, and exhaling your fumes all over everyone is kind of a dick move.

MyBallard had a story this week about the locks going through their annual cleaning. Part of this entails scraping off all the barnacles.

Maybe it's time to upgrade from IE 4.0?

I say no.

He's breathing and eating, which I think fulfills most, if not all, of a tetra's quality of life criteria.

As for suffering, I think that's relative. If this is the only existence he's ever known, then it's normal to him. If he was suffering horribly, well, he wouldn't be now, because he would have been dead a long time ago.

Hell, given that fish fertilize their eggs externally, he's not even missing out on the sex that his "out of spec" swim bladder might prevent if fish actually had sex.