Jilli, a good review is a well-stated and well-informed opinion. That person is a crank.

big variations in what you pay for drugs "not covered" by the plan.

Well, I'm glad if "not covered" doesn't really mean "not covered" but I am confused.

I'm reading up on Nielsen and DVRs, and this is what they said in 2008:

Nielsen identified three distinct groups of DVR users based on how much they time-shift:
Heavy Shifters are primarily middle income women, ages 18-49, who record and later watch nearly 26 hours of television– or about half of their TV viewing – a week. Males, 18-34, are least likely to fall into this group.
Medium Shifters watch somewhat more television than the average person; and about a third of their viewing is time-shifted.
Light Shifters, who represent nearly 70% of all persons in DVR households, watch less television than the average viewer. With incomes that exceed $100,000 and the most prone to own a high definition TV set, they spend only about 10% of their television time with time-shifted programming, watching shows they would otherwise have missed.

Okay, everything I watch gets time shifted, at least a little. I mean, it's all set to be recorded, and usually I start off a little late so I can FF through the first ad break.

But what really caught my eye is what seems to be the statement that 70% of DVR viewers have HDTV and an income in six figures. Am I reading right? The phrasing also makes it sound like they use time shifting to watch "shows they would otherwise have missed." And the other people? Use it like me?

Yeah, that all seems kind of suspect really.

I think you're reading that correctly. Which is...weird?

And I definitely fall into Heavy Shifters, then. The only thing I ever watch live are sports. And with those, especially hockey, I usually start about an hour late so I can skip both ad breaks and the period intermissions. So, relatedly, the only ads I ever see are sports ads, which are inevitably target marketed to Someone Other Than Me.

Aw man, news says Bill Clinton is in the hospital.

The discovery this weekend that my tv has a digital tuner that picks up Comcast's HD broadcast (if ABC's normal channel is 7, the HD broadcast is 7.1, as an example) has changed my viewing habits. I used to DVR everything, or watch it through Video on Demand. My Tivo (with its gifted lifetime service) is only a Series 2 and I have no plans to upgrade to HD. And I have no plans to upgrade my cable box to HD; at least, not until they start encrypting the HD digital feed. All of which is to say that I will watch "Lost" and sports in real time now, just to see it in the gorgeous HD.

I was about to post something about the flouncer, but... cranky teen? Pfah, not worth the trouble.

And, as noted, I did get the buttons, and I'm hoping to snip off all the others and send them off to you this weekend. All the surviving buttons -- I may be sending you one less than you sent me, because damn but Newport News is totally incapable of sewing a button/hook and eye/frog/clasp/other garment connecting thingie of your choice with any staying power at all. The coat has been shedding buttons like crazy and I've been trying to keep track of them all but it's slightly ridiculous. My needs-mending pile right now is almost exclusively Newport News items with missing or dangling clasps.

The clothes themselves are pretty well made and well sewn, but the clasps are crazy. I swear they're all just tacked in place exactly long enough to last through shipping.

The clothes themselves are pretty well made and well sewn, but the clasps are crazy. I swear they're all just tacked in place exactly long enough to last through shipping.

This is the exact problem I've had with Newport News stuff, every time.

All the surviving buttons -- I may be sending you one less than you sent me

No worries! I just want to have extra shiny buttons on hand for whatever my next clothing alteration scheme is. I wish lots of vintage buttons weren't so hard to find at reasonable prices on eBay and Etsy nowadays.

I have a leather jacket with three big buttons. I think I've had buttons reattached about ten times over the years....

I've printed my boarding pass for Vegas, and finished the two important things that needed to get done. Now I'm twiddling my thumbs until I can set my out of office message.

I had to take up the cuffs of the velvet coat, which involved moving all six cuff buttons. Those buttons? Haven't budged. When I sew a button, by God that button stays sewn.