Sorry meara, didn't mean to be cryptic. Palms Magnet is a middle school in the area. It is our local middle school, but the magnet means, at least for this school, a school-within-a-school that pulls students from all over the city. Kat has taught there, I think she did some teacher mentoring there or something?

She's happy because she'll be with friends. I'm happy because it has a rep for being a good school, and it's local so she can walk home.

Oh, not cryptic, just curious about more details--I figured it was a magnet school, but wasn't sure if it was a magnet for something special (arts/math/car repair/who knows these days). Yay friends!

My metformin tabs routinely smell like fish. The pharmacist says, "Yeah, they do that." So other than holding my breath when I take them, I don't worry about it.

SO overdue on the housewarming. Maybe this spring will be the spring of the bookshelves, and then we won't have any more excuses.

So, my mother woke me up at 3:30 this morning, because my father was agitated, I ended up taking him for a walk and never really went back to sleep. (The parents did, though!) Good times.

It seems like a morning when a lot of people woke up early or unexpectedly.

This morning, having slept on it, I'm leaning towards replacing the engine with a used one of a similar age, instead of taking on car payments for a used car, which is going to be more....

Yeah Franny! That's great. I don't know the principal there anymore, but Mary K Powers is still a vice principal. Is it the gifted magnet? The librarian there (whose name escapes me) was wonderful. I wonder if she is still there.

Honestly, with meds, a conservative estimate is that you've got 1-3 months past the expiration date, but probably more like 6-12 months.

How about your basic aspirin tablet? Do those really expire? (Not to imply that I have a nearly full bottle with a 2007 date on it.)

I think 7 years is past even my really lax standards. Especially since aspirin is cheap/easy to replace.

My metformin tabs routinely smell like fish. The pharmacist says, "Yeah, they do that."

That's also a good point -- ask/tell your pharmacist if meds smell funky. There's one antibiotic (I think it's clarithromycin, maybe) that smells like death. I took the bottle back to the pharmacy and they said "Yeah, it just smells horrible, but they're still good." Freaky.

Steph, what I always wonder is, what's the risk with old drugs? Will they just not work, or is there any risk of them automagically turning into poison? (In my example, it's usually cold medicine.)

This morning, having slept on it, I'm leaning towards replacing the engine with a used one of a similar age, instead of taking on car payments for a used car, which is going to be more....

I'm sure there are tools out there for figuring out what's cheaper long-term, but I don't know what they are. It seems like a real quandary, though!

I replaced the engine in my 2001 Toyota a few years back and never regretted it. If the rest of the car is in good shape it's a good alternative to a car payment.

Steph, what I always wonder is, what's the risk with old drugs? Will they just not work, or is there any risk of them automagically turning into poison? (In my example, it's usually cold medicine.)

The risk with age is usually just that the drug lost effectiveness. However, if it's smelly or otherwise funky (not *just* old), then it might be dangerous, in addition to being disgusting.