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Most of the list friends know that I live in Oklahoma in the U.S. and Barbara Patterson the list owner lives in Ontario Canada and the listserv is located at the University of Toronto. I will be off the list from the 17th of August until about September 1st during my relocation. Barbara will handle any problems with the email distribution during this time. Where am I going? I am relocating to the Republic of the Philippines, specifically to the island of Negros, "the land of the Gentle People". The town will be Dumaguete City which is the capitol of the eastern part of the island which if it was a state would be called Negros Oriental. Many of you have listened to Art Bell on the radio on the topic of aliens and UFOs. He has relocated to the Philippines also, Manila to be exact. Many ex-patriots from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and America live in the Philippines. Why move? The reasons that led to my decision are many fold: 1. Asian families respect and take care of their elders. Many of us are without partners and the children have left the nest and don't have time to assist us....they are the dependents. 2. The economics of having a neurological disorder in addition to the prospect of long term care when savings have been depleted face many of us. Social Security is not enough to maintain insurance, taxes, medication, co-pays and utilities. We are deficit spending to just survive. In the Philippines the cost of living is less, they speak and write English and Social Security will support an extended family there giving you a place to lay your head and a maid or care-giver. 3. Another factor is the opportunity to live in a tropical climate. You can go where "the weather suits your clothes". Tee-shirt, shorts and sandals are all the clothes you need. I have a beachcomber friend that finds new thongs each time he goes to the beach...hahaha 4. Easy immigration policies allow a foreigner to stay a year before leaving on a one day shopping trip to Hong Kong, Bankok Thailand, Indonesia or Guam before coming back for another year. 5. The closest U.S. Territory is Guam that has Veteran's Administration clinics and hospital for those that use the VA for medication. The VA doesn't ship medication outside the U.S. but you can have it come to a son or daughter and they can mail it to you. A trip to Guam costs about $460 round trip. 6. Acute care is excellent in the capitol cities and even large teaching hospitals have trained movement disorders specialists. Of course your medicare doesn't cover anything in a foreign country like the Philippines so you will either pay out of pocket or get a local policy but many of the local insurance companies won't medically insure anyone 65 or older. Come on John "Tell us the Gossip" I will not kiss and tell....hahaha My absence from the U.S. will not affect your Parkinsn subscription nor the Parkinsn website. I do it all by remote control. John Cottingham co-owner Parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn