Ugh. You beat me to it. However, it is nice to know someone else remembers that show.

Great, another lovely excuse for my insurance company to not pay for something.

While we shouldn't have to be protected from our own stupidity and while doctor-issued prescriptions, maybe, should not be required for a huge number of drugs that are less dangerous than some OTC's, if we take that leap and don't have to have doctor-issued prescriptions for common items, the insurance companies have such an easy out to make more profit. Premiums wouldn't come down, after all, who would force them to? Insurance isn't traditional supply-and-demand, it is protection-money collected by fear. Fear is the never-ending demand that guarantees the insurers always have a customer-base.

If you're a low to low-middle income earner who relies upon your insurance (to whom you pay ridiculous premiums) to keep your maintenance drugs like your heart medication coming in, the thought of it becoming available without a doctor's prescription is bound to be frightening. That leaves even more people in a position of deciding between their medicine and other life necessities.

I'd bet a sharp rise in heart-related illness and death would be seen as a result of EVEN MORE people (than already) deciding they can't afford their medication.

If our insurance industry and our pharmaceutical industry weren't so mafia-movie-like ('Oh, you can afford to pay me $200 a month for protection? Well, then, I'm sure you can afford to pay me $225 next month'), this wouldn't be an issue.

Why not instead fix what's already in place? Stop the current vicious cycle with some carefully-planned, responsible, common-sense legislation.

Should a hospital be able to charge $23 for a $1.50 eyeglass repair kit that a patient (who does not wear glasses) didn't get and the doctor didn't request? No. Should a doctor be able to charge $350 for a routine office visit in which no tests are run, the patient talked to the nurse 5 minutes and the doctor 3 minutes, and didn't even require a prescription or further referral? No. Should the exact same acetaminophen/paracetamol you can buy over the counter cost $1.50 per pill just because you're in the hospital? No.

Should the insurance company limit the doctor to charging them $65 for that visit I mentioned earlier? No. Should the insurance company have it in their contract that the doctor must eat the cost of any injectables and charge $0? No. Should the insurance company be able to say that they know more about what medication or treatment the patient needs than that doctor who has at least physically seen the patient for 3 minutes more than the insurer who has never seen or touched them? No.

Oh, wait, we can't have 'carefully-planned', responsible, common-sense legislation. That doesn't exist. So, we are where we are.

And if anyone claims that the kiosk move would bring insurance premiums down and thus balance out for the common citizen, you're truly naive and I hope for your sake you stay clear of carnival game barkers and nigerian princes.

I wonder, would a pharmacy consult not accomplish the same thing? Pharmacists at the local ***Mart take more time to talk to you about your medication than most doctors I've been to.

If you can find the room, consider those recommendations you've seen for a rolling rack. At my last job, I had in my office a little rolling rack in which I used to keep a 4U server, 4U UPS, and several switches. I often kept it closed and locked (it had auxiliary fans and vents), but you may not have that need. It was the most versatile setup I had. It was small enough to put into a corner out of the way, but gave me full access to the equipment when needed. If it hadn't been painted an awful orangish-pinkish color that absolutely sent your eyes into convulsions, it could have been mistaken for a cubist table (with some mysterious fan noise).

I don't know if building codes would allow it, but I've often thought of creating a actively-ventilated rack-garage in a kitchen peninsula (or similar) into which one could roll a short rack and then roll down a retractible door. Of course the potential for liquid spill incursion would have to be taken into consideration.

In any case, I cannot imagine the frustration of using a wall rack for a server. Swing-away would seem to make it better, but all the swing-away racks I've ever used or seen (cheap or expensive) develop hinge-sag and can get difficult to swing closed.

Actually, it was AOL, they just didn't know it yet.

Quantum Link (and Quantum Computer Services) changed its name to America Online around '91. If you were on Q-Link at the time, you might even remember the letters to users from Steve Case back when he was a Vice President during the Quantum days. Those notes from Steve Case seemed to start around the time the Quantum Link logo changed from the blue Futura-like text to the "Qlink" logo with the red 'Q' and black script 'link'. Who knew that in 1991 he'd become CEO and the company would change to become America Online?

Q-link had the first online graphical virtual casino I can think of (although it didn't deal with real money) as well as Club Caribe, which could probably be called the great grandfather of Second Life and its ilk.

I remember being amazed that I could buy plane tickets and other stuff like that through Q-link.