Four for Friday - 30 January

Four For Friday Q1: - Drugs: Fueled primarily by Internet sales, the International Journal of Clinical Practice recently reported that the counterfeit pharmaceutical market could reach $70 billion dollars by 2010. Alarmingly, the Journal reports, these include fake drugs that could have devastating consequences, like counterfeit medication for potentially fatal conditions like cancer and high blood pressure. Have you ever--or would you consider--purchasing pharmaceutical drugs online from a foreign-based provider or company?

No. Gods know, I get tons of e-mails and such from these online out-of-the-country "pharmacies", but I don't even open them up. And this will only make my life harder as an emergency medical technician. We encounter a great many pharmaceuticals out there and sometimes they may be through questionable sources, but how do we treat for a drug that may not be what it reads? We don't administer drugs other than oxygen or epinephrine, but the medics do. And they are often acting on information that we provide them. This is just a bad idea all around.

Q2: - Rejuvenile: Rejuvenile's are what marketers are now calling people who cultivate tastes and mindsets traditionally associated with those younger than themselves. For example, the iPhone recognizes and plays to the rejuvenile trend by featuring brightly colored icons and playful features that reflect a kid-like tone, whereas the Mini Cooper lets every boy or girl live out their fantasy of driving a Matchbox/Hot Wheels-like car in real life. Do you consider yourself a rejuvenile?

No, I would not - I normally stay away from anything child-like, much as I did when I was a kid! I have an iPod, but I used it and I would not say it has anything to do with wanting to be a kid again. I would never, ever want to be a kid again. And I will tell you now that there was nothing at all like an iPod when I was a kid - not at all. I had records - vinyl - when I was a kid, something too big and delicate to lug around to a friend's house and definitely no way to play it in the car! I also would not drive a Mini Cooper. I think it is one of the more rediculous looking vehicles... and now I know why!

Q3: - Credit: The credit score--that annoying but all-important numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person's credit files that represents your creditworthiness--is getting a lot of play these days. With the availability of credit tightening and more people going into debt because of the state of the economy, many people stand to lose ground over the next few years--not gain it--when it comes to their credit score. How concerned are you with your credit score? Do you, for instance, use a fee-based service to monitor and check your credit score, or could you give a rats-you-know-what about your credit rating?

That's me in the I could give a rat's ass about my credit rating category. It turns out, oddly enough, that I score somewhere high - over 600 - because while I have debt, it is minimal and I always make ontime payments and so that is enough. I don't pretend to understand it. I don't even try to understand it. I know I have money when I need it and ignore everything else. That sounds a little lacksidasical and it probably is, but that is how I deal with my money. When I did check it, it was at my husband's suggestion and I did it through a once-a-year free service like Equifax, or something.

Q4: - Place: A new national survey by the Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends project finds that nearly half (46%) of Americans would rather live in a different type of community from the one they're living in now. When asked about specific metropolitan areas where they would like to live, respondents rank Denver, San Diego and Seattle at the top of a list of 30 cities, and Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati at the bottom. Reasonably speaking, would you like to live somewhere other than where you currently reside?

No. I'm very happy with where we are (although admittedly this winter's weather is beginning to wear on me considerably) and have no intentions of living elsewhere. That will be different when we are older and want to retire. By then it had better be just the two of us (i.e. no more of Luis' father living with us) and then I know where I want to live - Palm Springs, California. We are in a good, strong financial situation where this is a completely attainable goal. But we aren't looking to retire at any time soon.

I'd hate to be a person who wanted to live somewhere else and didn't. I would never want to live in a city, and by contrast I would not want to live in the hinterlands. Where I am is ideal. Nothing is far away from me: New York City is 40 minutes away, the ocean is 90 minutes away, the country is 30 minutes away, and gambling (if I had a desire to do so) is 2 hours away. Everything is easily within reach. I could not ask for more.