I think its just a case of all of the lifestyle amenities that continue to be built in that area, the very positive perception of the Peters School district and the significantly lower taxes in Washington County versus Allegheny County.

At the end of the third quarter, I went on record saying that the fourth quarter wouldn't be strong enough to catch up. I'm happy to say I was dead wrong.

Single-family (housing) starts for January through September were down by more than 14 percent, but (single-family) starts in the fourth quarter were almost a third more than 2004.

We've been paying for 100 percent of preventive care. But if you're not getting annual physicals, then you're not going to gain a financial incentive, so effectively your insurance premium with us will go up.

The truckers are staring," I said after a few seconds.

It was true. They were. The whole row of them was doing a bad job of pretending not to look at us.

"We just got engaged," Lucy shouted over to them. "I just asked this man to be my wife."

The men at the counter traded confused looks. I burst out laughing.

"We're glad you and your ass cracks could share this moment with us," she went on. "Seriously. We really are. Those are serious cracks and this is a serious moment.

I'm no health care expert, but you've got technology that constantly advances the ability to extend life and maybe improve lifestyle. That puts constant upward pressure on health care costs.