I just wonder what it portends about what is going on in the industry.

Now to just get up at 5 am and for 29 to not be a parking lot. Or ice rink.

Good luck! Maybe we'll see you down there. That would be hilariously improbable but you never know!

My boss just emailed that he is taking a personal day, so that is good, abut then I also saw that I have a lunchtime mtg with mac's therapist. Boo hiss. Maybe I could reschedule with her.

To everyone going to DC, Tony from the Ellen show will be there and he has 500 silly plates to give out. If you see an Ellen tent/table, go get one.

This shindig is taking place tomorrow night literally less than 5 minutes from my house: [link]

I have NO excuse to skip an inauguration event called The Blue Ball. Plus, it's formal wear "encouraged but optional," so I could wear my ballgown and corset!

[edited because I tried to use the "less than" symbol in my original post, and I forgot that that won't work....]

Tony from the Ellen show will be there and he has 500 silly plates to give out. If you see an Ellen tent/table, go get one.

I have no idea what that means but okay!

I just wonder what it portends about what is going on in the industry.

I'd imagine it's the drug/grocery store version of the ongoing "One Day Sale!!!"

I just wonder what it portends about what is going on in the industry.

I'd imagine it's the drug/grocery store version of the ongoing "One Day Sale!!!"

I think the $4/free generic drugs are a way for the stores to get bodies in the door. You get them in, they spend money on other things. t edit Like the One-Day Sale, exactly.

And I'm not being cynical -- the programs are *excellent,* and sorely needed. I hope they expand. But it's also true that, in locations like big grocery stores with pharmacies, the $4/free generic drugs are basically loss leaders to get bodies in the stores to spend money on more than prescriptions. It's -- more or less -- a win/win, because people without insurance can get the drugs they need very cheaply (or free), and the stores get more foot traffic.

And the drugs themselves, as generics, are relatively cheap for the stores to buy from the manufacturer/distributor. Generic penicillin is not a moneymaker for a drug company. They're all trying to develop the next Lipitor or Claritin. Or Viagra.

They're called Loss Leaders. It works.

That would be hilariously improbable but you never know!

You really don't. That Fourth on the Mall? With almost a million people?* I ran into a woman who had graduated a year before me in the physics dept. A class of FOUR. And she live in Atlanta at the time! Even funnier is that I saw her in Hampden this fall....

* I was reading the WashPost today, and they mentioned metro ridership records had been met/broken Sunday. Previous record was Fourth '99. I'm pretty sure that's the one was at because I vaguely recall mention of it at the time.

Thanks, Step, for the insider knowledge! It's curious to me because I really suspect something has to change soon in the medical/pharm industry soon. It seems like it is getting to a camel collapsing point.