When you say "Eh" a lot, but you're not Canadian.

So, the Aardvark's hearing is going south with some speed. Not ambling south , stopping to smell the sweet clover and pet the possums, but sliding, as in the Robot Hell song from Futurama. Poor Fry.

I happened to be at Sam's Club, doing my economic duty to pump up the economy and poke Paula Deen in the eye (though I DID buy butter), and I saw an ad for a hearing aid (or a deaf aid as they say across the pond). ONLY 999.99!

ONLY! for a device that has been virtually unchanged for 50 years. (Yes, I know that some feedback filters and such have been added, but it's a mike, an amplifier, and a transducer for your output, all in a flesh-colored housing that fits over the ear.)

Just-Under-$1K. Why? It's the Evil Medical Industry!!

Wrong-o, Mary Lou. The collusion of Government and Insurance. When people paid cash for their health care, prices were lower. I remember my grandfather and his medical practice. He even kept a fully-stocked pharmacy in the back. Insurance cranked up the price "the market would bear" by spreading it out amongst all the policy holders. Hospitals and physicians raised rates to take advantage of the enormous pool of money in the insurance companies. Then Medicaid and Medicare reared their governmental heads. Between having to cover increased compliance costs, AND taking advantage of what the insurance companies were willing to pay, prices have mounted skyward. I will not deal with inflation, yet another issue aided by Fed. policies.

So bear with me if I cup my ear, or insist that you speak "at me" rather than to the air. I will not force any of you to pay for my hearing issues, unless it is just my being cranky about it all.

Where did I put that ear trumpet....

OH! Here is the Robot Hell song: