Gossip columns have been bursting out lately with stories of one celebrity or the other seeking help by retreating to luxurious rehab centers. Maybe some of them will come out fully recovered, but the unspoken truth is that the marble floors, massages and ocean views at these celeb rehabs cost nearly $50,000 a month.

That makes me think about the rest of us, the not-so-glamorus ordinary folks, and especially the senior citizens who are just as much as in need of care as the celebrities, let alone expensive rehab programs. I ponder this issue each time I read about a celebrity in an assisted center, and a little research did uncover a whole range of facilities for senior care.

To zero in on one of the more prominent ones, I’d like to talk about the Gilbert Online Guide, which carries an evaluated database of over 1,440 senior care centers backed by professional reviews and rankings. Since I lived in San Jose five years, I was curious about the facilities in the SF bay area, and I did find useful information on San Francisco assisted living, as well as senior care facilities and services in San Mateo, Marin, Southern Napa and Sonoma counties.