They are millionaires on paper, but they live such frugal lives that their homes have no comfort and they see few people if any. They are a mother (72) and son (50) who live across the country from each other but live exactly the same lifestyle, absolutely dark and depressing. Never eating out, only buying broken stuff or torn stuff that they have to take home and fix which is kind of a good way to be, I guess. But the son doesn't pay for garbage service and keeps it in his basement until he can take it to the dump. When he had a 200.00 heating bill he turned off his central heat and used only electric blankets. You could see your breath in his house. I could never do those kinds of things, but he does have the cash and the real estate, so--

Anyway, I am used to living on very little money, it would be weird for me to get 50k in retirement when i barely make that now. HH makes a good point about hard work being devalued. I work to pay the rent and buy food for my two kids still living at home. I figure I will be one of those people working into my 80s (if I make it that far) or moving near Bigguns later on. Honestly, I know places I'd like to live if I were elderly that are much cheaper than where I am now, and the kind of job I have allows me to write idiotic letters to salon and to do it from anywhere. It is a skilled profession, just doesn't pay a lot. What do I do, you ask? Could be any number of jobs in the USA.

Oh, oddly enough, there is a third millionaire in the family mentioned above. There is another son who is a millionaire due to an industrial accident. He's disabled but active and not unhealthy. Lucky family.

someone refuses to acknowledge that they've kept you waiting for hours, changes plans without telling you and then gets angry with you for asserting yourself, it's unfortunately over. She's telling you that this is how it's going to be. You obviously don't like it and with good reason. You don't necessarily need to fire her on the spot, just know that the next time you two make plans together it will be this way and excuse yourself for whatever reason. Don't go away mad, just go away, take your good memories with you. It is too bad.

is the idea that this nothing incident has gotten LW so rattled she can't enjoy sex with her husband. It's childish and ridiculous. Maybe this will reassure her. If this friend is as conservative as LW believes, she probably keeps the most outrageous collection of print porn imagineable under her bed. Just stands to reason. Another thing that stands out as not quite right with this letter is that the LW sounds very honest and open about her sexuality yet waited 20 years to fill her husband in on sexual preferences when she was fully aware of them well before that time. Cary's right. She needs therapy and that's not a bad thing at all. The letter is just irritating, maybe that's why everyone calls it a fake. It does have that penthouse forum flavor about it, only dumber.

I have both a dog and a cat who coexist beautifully, you nutcase. Why must you be so extreme and emphatic in your opinions? Anyone who owns 52 cats has more problems than just loving cats. I must however concede that I am teetering on the brink of insanity myself to be writing to you.

Thanks to whoever for the caption under the double photo. Left: Meryl Streep in "Mamma Mia." Right: Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight." Thanks for clearing that up for me. Ever so helpful.

I didn't mean to write so much about BM, but I read the review and the letters and wasn't going to post, but then I read this and it was so alike. I mean so off the mark. Her problem with this movie seemed to be that people were romping and singing on a Greek Island and enjoying each other's company and being too skinny in bathing suits. From her review I also gather that the music is by Abba. Just amazing. Yes she said it wasn't fun enough and some performances were leaden. Guess I'll just take her word for it. Oh yes, some people were singing badly but those were the good performers and the good singers were the bad performers which I suppose could be true. Oh who knows.