NO FAMILY should accidentally learn many months after an autopsy -as I did – that their loved one’s remains were not whole when the coroner or ME returned those remains for final disposition. Having this happen to us has been like something out of an awful movie. But it really has happened to us, and I suspect that there are untold numbers of other local families who simply have no idea that it’s happened to them as well.

But I do want to share that after the past seven and a half months of me attempting to get someone in authority to at least listen to my documented concerns regarding the funding and operations of the ME’s Office, the Knox County Audit Committee has now asked for an audit, specific to the concerns I brought to their attention.

I am hopeful that this audit will be the first step in changing how bereaved families are serviced by the Office of the Knox County Medical Examiner.

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And thus, my idea took root, and today, I share with you:

RYAN GOSLING LOVES HIM SOME MOM BLOGGERS

More at: http://ryangoslinglovesmombloggers.tumblr.com/

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This is so wrong. Our returning service members should be doing better than this.

My father was drafted and sent to Vietnam before he’d had a chance to graduate college or learn a trade. But while he was in the Army, stationed in Vietnam, he had the opportunity to discover his passion and talent – journalism. And that experience, combined with the college degree he finished with the support of the VA after he returned from his tour of duty, gave him the tools to earn a living and support a family for life. That’s how it should work.

President Obama is set to announce his proposal for a new “veterans’ job corps,” an idea that makes a great deal of sense to me.

But what do you think? What can we do in our own communities and via federal policy to change this situation quickly and effectively?

Thoughts? Ideas? Proposals? Share them in the comments below.

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There have been some unexpected and high profile break-ups lately in the smallish world of bloggers in which I do my thing, so I’ve been thinking about this stuff anyway – even without the Russell Stover aisle display V-Day prompts at Target right now – and apparently, so has my friend Tracey.

Over at her blog, Sweetney, she’s pondering whether a committed relationship or marriage should be actual work for the two parties involved.

Go read Tracey’s smart take, leave a comment there, and then let me know what you think about this issue of love-as-work.

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Aaagggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

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But the house we were buying – the one we live in now – had an apartment sized stack washer and dryer tucked into the little half bath off the kitchen, and the seller agreed to let us keep them. So we did.

Until last year, we did all the laundry for our large and growing family in the small stack set-up in the bathroom. But eventually the industrial-strength workout we gave the tiny machines took its toll, and the washer died. Jon checked and found it would cost far more to repair the washer than it was worth, so we sucked it up and bought a brand new washing machine.

Because a full size washer and dryer would never fit in the tiny half bath, Jon got a couple of friends to help him, and he moved the washer and dryer hook-up – along with the new washer – out to our mudporch, located at the back of our house. Since we’d spent quite a bit on the new washer, we decided to hold off on buying a new dryer, and so we got one someone was giving away for free.

And that’s where things stand now…

The Washer & Dryer Out on Our Mudporch

But see, here’s the thing.  While the free dryer does dry our clothes, it only has one setting – super-crispy-fried. And it only shuts off if you actually open the door. There is no way to have it turn off when the clothes are dry. So if you forget to set a timer for yourself to go back and open the door to stop the dryer, your clothes – which are already being dried at a temperature close to that of the surface of the sun – will simply keep frying away.

We’ve ruined many items of clothing since bringing the free dryer home last year, and Jon says its probably running our utility bill up as well. We’re also pretty sure the single temp setting keeps inching up – hotter and hotter and hotter.

Clearly, it’s time for a new dryer to sit next to the new washer. But we have a whole lot of stuff on our current “needs to be replaced or paid for” list, so buying a new dryer has to fight its way to the top.

Which brings me to my question; should we bite the bullet and buy a brand new dryer with a warranty, or hit the local Craigslist “for sale” listings and find a used one that someone is selling?

What do you think?

And I am also curious to hear from blog readers on this topic in a larger sense. When does it make sense to make a big or major purchase new, and alternately, when does it make better sense to go for used? Do warranties matter? Are there some consumer purchases you should never make second hand? Or is used pretty much always the way to go?

I know that I used to always think that buying a new car – with attendant car payment – was the best idea so that I wouldn’t end up having car repair costs pop up all the time. But ever since I drove my newer Honda Odyssey into a flood (a car for which I still had monthly car payments), thus totalling it and making it necessary for me to scale way back and start driving my current SOLID GOLD MINIVAN, I’ve become a used car convert. We did just have to spend about 1K on new tires and brakes for the SGM, but compared to the past year with no car payments, that was chump change.

So what do you think? New dryer or Craiglist edition? When do warranties matter and when are they not worth the money? Are there certain things you always buy new, or always buy used? Tell me in the comments below.

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