The Clintons can still recognize the needs of the social compact even if they are in its upper echelons. Indeed, since most of their family and traditional support network are not wealthy, I don't see that as an objection at all. Most people retain the values and concerns of the class they grew up in regardless of where they land economically as adults. The greater concern is, I think, what loyalties have been forged as a result of this infusion of cash. That, and the fact that as much as the Clintons try to portray themselves as at work for the greater good, it is now clear that the greater good has been subjugated to and perhaps even outweighed by, the pursuit of their own good. Jimmy Carter and Al Gore they aren't.

Try. Not insist or take matters into your own hands. Tell her who put those hedges there, and that it was done without consultation with any other neighbor. Tell her that you realize that they are not necessarily in the best situation on her property and ask if she'd like you to "assist" her in moving or removing them. And then act according to her direction. You might also suggest, which I haven't seen any other comment mention, that if the lady does want the trees gone and doesn't want your help, she could write a certified letter to the stupid neighbor and formally request her to remove them at her own inconvenience and expense. You can certainly assist her in doing this. She obviously doesn't consider herself to be a "charity" case and she might feel more obliged if you give her useful ideas rather than simply commiserate or feel sorry for her.

I haven't even read the other letters, but there is one detail that stood out like a neon Santa Claus to this hyper paranoid pool owner: your relative has access to your pool when you are not there. This is an absolute non-starter and should be changed for basic safety and liability reasons. Whether you leave the gate unlocked or your relative does, there is a decent chance some child will wonder into your yard and drown in your pool. It also means, for instance, that your relative and her children might use the pool after it has been chemically treated and not safe to enter. You, LW, and not your cousin, will be liable for these unfortunate occurrences.

Put a lock on your gate so that no one can use the pool without your permission. You don't even have to announce a different policy, just start telling your cousin that "now is not a good time" when she comes by and tries to gain access to the pool. Bottom line: Right now, all the burden is on you to tell her to get out. You have to shift that burden so that she has to ask. For this, you need a locked door and a reasonably firm attitude.

When you go to the pharmacy and get a prescription you get a print out of information that explains, among other things, that you should not combine different kinds of medication, and that you should tell your doctor whether you are taking other kinds of medication. I am not discounting the pernicious effect of pharmaceutical company advertising, but it's hard for me to believe that the prescription drugs Ledger was taking did not include ample warnings about the risks of combining multiple sleep medications. And that doesn't even get to whether he could have googled the matter on Web-MD or half a dozen other websites that provide free information about the risks and uses of drugs. Ultimately, it's our own safety, our own health that is at stake, and we owe it to ourselves not to rely on third parties that have a heavy dose of conflict of interest.

Rolling through a series of receptionist jobs isn't exactly the same thing as waiting for a dream job in a field that you've worked hard to prepare for. So past isn't necessarily prologue.

However, the concept of a "dream job" is a bit problematic, maybe even oxymoronic. It's a happy day indeed when what you want to do coincides exactly with what people want to pay you for. Happy and rare -- so figuring out how to tip the balance in your favor is pretty much what most of us are struggling to do, which is, you get to do a maximum of the things you find interesting, energizing and rewarding, with a minimum of the opposite, in the form of expectations placed on you by others, for which they are willing to pay you good money. Wait a bit for a job that seems to offer the best balance, and if it's not the right job after you've given it a fair shot, it's okay to move on. Just make sure you stay in the job long enough that you give yourself enough time that you could accomplish something. There are very few professional jobs in which true accomplishment will happen in three weeks.

And I was very happy to let her. It seems that there are two issues here. The first is whether the daughter wants to be there, and the second is whether the stepmother wants her there. It seems like the wrong two people are discussing this. LW can't intervene between her ex and his wife, but she could tell him that she will talk to the daughter if he talks to the wife and they both promise that they will, in good faith, figure out what they want. If either says no, then that's the end of it.

If it turns out that the daughter does attend the birth, make sure she reads a book on pregnancy and birth so she knows what to expect. It's not and experience for the fainthearted.