Bogleheads.org

Thank you all for your thoughtful, considered replies. I should have mentioned that when we invite guests we ask if there are any dietary considerations. People who decline wine, etc. and simply request water are more than welcome. What bothers me is when they request something above and beyond the ...

My wife and I enjoy having social acquaintances (non-business) over for full dinners in a formal setting, i.e., not burgers on the BBQ, but rather drinks beforehand, one or two selections of meat, vegetables, etc. as well as specialty homemade breads and dessert. The menu varies greatly, sometimes i...

Thank you all for your helpful replies. My present scanner will not handle negatives so I'll be looking at getting something new. I'll look into Vuescan and take note of your warnings concerning dust and proper handling of these negatives. The majority of them are pre-1950 so I realize that they're ...

I have a large number of old b/w photo negatives. I want to know who and what each negative shows but rather than have them all simply printed I'd like to find a program/software that would scan them and convert the image to a positive for viewing. I could then select those that I would want to actu...

It's gotten to the point when I'm in the supermarket shopping that I almost automatically bypass the so-called "value" size/pack/grouping of whatever it is that I want because all too often the price is higher per ounce, unit, etc. than a smaller size or similar number of individually boug...

I had a rental car stolen several years ago (I had declined the rental company's coverage) and my insurance company paid the whole thing. They sent an investigator to interview me but that was it.

I met my wife to be just after she graduated from high school. From the moment I first saw her I knew I had struck gold. That was in 1964 and all these years later I'm fortunate enough to still have her. I was given a gift beyond compare.

Once again, let me thank all of you for your thoughts. You have all provided worthwhile points of view and insights and I'm grateful for your taking the time to write. He has never actually asked me what we make, have, etc. but simply states occasionally when he sees something new or I mention in pa...

I am grateful to all of you for your well-reasoned responses to the issue I raised. I really value this friend and apart from this single occasional comment I really have nothing negative to say about him or his wife. But every couple of weeks or months this type of comment seems to surface, a rippl...

I'd like the group's take on a personal situation. My wife and I know another couple and both we and the other couple enjoy a number of muitual interests. My wife and the other wife belong to a women's club and the husband and I share similar views on many topics and have the same hobby. My question...

Lacking experience in wiring and electricity you should not be attempting to address this problem yourself. Don't try to save a few bucks; call a qualified electrician. Your life and property depend on it.

A previous poster stated that McDonald's workers often seem disorganized. I'm sure that many are quite competent and hard woprking but I'm still surprised at what I witnessed at one McDonald's. My order was completely wrong but eventually they got it right. As I was seated eating my food I noticed t...

Another amateur radio "ham" operator. I've been involved with it since the 1960s. It led me to a career and endless enjoyment as I learned about other countries and met interesting people. What a great hobby!

There's always something going on, day or night, in amateur radio.

I had an experience with Registered (not Certified) Mail going missing. Several years ago I sent a Registered letter with a return receipt to another company. After two weeks and no delivery I inquired at the post office where I sent it about its status. They told me I had to wait a month before the...

Smoking ceased in stages around 1981 or so where I was. First smoking was limited solely to the faculty cafeteria but then within a year or two the whole building was declared smoke free. Previously smoking was permitted in offices, etc.

Thank you one and all for your considered comments. You pretty much verified what I thought that often there is no difference, or only a minimal one, in the price of one dosage versus another. The company would only offer this idea if it would save them money. My copay, by the way, is exactly the sa...

I get my prescriptions by mail as part of my health benefits. Over the past year or two I've been getting notices from them about a voluntary half tablet program in which the doctor would prescribe half the number of tablets but in a dosage that is twice as strong and then you would use a pill cutte...

Many of the respondents have already cited some important points. I'd like to add my own words. As I get older I try to make sense of what it's all meant, i.e., why was my life this or that way. I certainly have regrets and we all do but I don't dwell on them. I and the society of which I've been a ...

Any discussion about Americans learning a foreign language has to take into account that we already speak, at least for now, the dominant world language. If you only speak for example Finnish, Malayalam, Tagalog, etc. your prospects outside your country are limited and learning a foreign language is...

We've had it a few months and love it. There are lots of TV series, films, etc. on the various services offered and you can always find something worthwhile. I definitely recommend it.

Mad Men (AMC)

The Shield (Fox)

Poldark (BBC)

Cracker (BBC)

Cats will climb a tall fence assuming they can get a grip on it. It amazes me how they can find a way around/through/over/under anything, patiently waiting for an opportunity. The only animal that's more inventive is a squirrel; I've been trying to outfox them for years with varying degrees of succe...

I had to take economics as a required course in college; I hated it and saw no need for it. Little did I realize how important the basic concepts it taught (bonds, debt, stocks, GNP, etc.) would be later in life. A financial literacy course? Secondary schools should require it. Lots of us will never...

From what I've heard around the country $150 is not out of line. They're not just looking to recoup costs, they're discouraging behavior.

New car ads showing cars burning rubber, spinning out, going down deserted city steets at 300 miles per hour, etc. I once said to a car dealer, "If I drove one of your cars as in your ads spinning out the wheels, etc. would you consider that under the terms of the warranty to be abuse?". H...

Kids / vandals / someone trying to annoy you by striking your house with something ??

Yes, I went to college and it was very definitely well worth it. I was at best a mediocre high school student but in college I came of age. My higher education taught me to think critically and evaluate ideas but most importantly it taught me how to express myself and thus enabled me to take three u...

My wife and I own a commercial rental (store, tradesman's shop, etc.) in a resort area near a major city. We originally used it for our own business years ago but now lease it out. We paid off the mortgage some years back so now it's a question of maintenance and supervision. Since we live some dist...

I have to second Cherokee8215's and SpringMan's comments; food prices/household items have definitely gone up largely through smaller packages for the same price-tuna fish, Graham crackers, paper towels, detergent, etc. It's definitely a stealth operation. Eggs are a special case. In a package of la...

I don't know personally of any books but they must be out there. Many of the skills and knowledge you employed before will transfer, e.g., keeping costs under control, attending to problems rather than ignoring them, knowing your clients' needs, etc. If you've had success in the past then you have g...

I again thank everyone for their ideas. Based on the discussion here I've pretty much decided to sell it as best I can and look for something else.

You win some and you lose some but I don't want to lose any more. Thanks again!

Thank you all for your time in offering your thoughts. We don't need a 4WD vehicle; this was what this car had when we bought it new and it is the front differential that is failing in addition to the transmission which is really slipping/ not engaging/ disengaging, etc. The $4800 is for both the tr...

I come to you, the most knowledgeable financial group around, for advice on repairing or replacing my car. Thank you in advance for considering my question. Our second car (the first is a 2007 with 22k miles in perfect shape) is a 2002 Ford SUV 4 wheel drive model with only 63,000 miles that has dev...

My wife suffers from acid reflux (regurgitation). Raising the head is not sufficient; the problem is at the junction of the esophagus/stomach so you really need to tilt the whole bed so that the stomach is significantly inclined below your head Easy solution: I took the bed frame to a welding shop w...

I get complaints not about my driving but my choice of parking locations. I look for a spot that's easy to get out of in traffic (theater parking lots when a movie is over, etc.) and it doesn't necssarily have to be close to where I'm going; I don't mind the walk but one friend of mine apparently do...

I had an incident with Frontier a year or so ago. I was utilizing call blocking for anonymous callers but occasionally one would get through. Being in the communications business I eventually worked my way up to a technical supervisor to discuss the issue. His reply was, "They've apparently fou...

Regarding your comment on only related family members being able to rent together: the town in which I used to live had similar, and very enforced, laws. After a few well-publicized run-ins with non-traditional families and families of immigrants they've completely dropped enforcement of this issue....

I have had long standing vision problems, some requiring surgery, some not, and over the years have dealt with both optometrists and ophthalmologists. For a refraction exam (to prescribe lenses) there is absolutely no question in my mind that optometrists do a better job. They do refractions all day...

Our house in NY had $35,000 worth of damage in 1985 from hurricane Gloria. My son and mother-in-law just missed getting killed by a few minutes when a chimney caved in through the roof. A week with no electricity and water that came via National Guard trucks added to the enjoyment. Insurance put the...

Apart from crime other considerations include 1. Is the water supply safe and reliable? 2. How's the postal service? Mail theft is becoming increasingly common in some countries. I speak from experience. 3. Are the police/fire/ambulance (if any)/hospital services decent? 4. Is the electricity supply...

Commercial vs Residential My wife and I have owned some commercial real estate (store/warehouse/tradesman's shop) in a resort area near a major city for over twenty years. It's had its vacant periods (short) but all in all it's done well. That said, it's a job in every sense of the word. Screening t...

Thank you for all of your comments; Bogelheads are a really knowlegeable and experienced group. Using a second email address would be tough for my wife because there are legitimate messages from members that she wants to see. She continues to scan and delete the trash that comes through. I suggested...

I thank all of you who were kind enough to reply. While these friends of my wife are good people the constant barrage of inane, similar emails becomes wearing. I realize that many of the women are trying to do good but, as one poster pointed out, a significant number are simply seeking attention or ...

My wife is a member of a very fine local women's club whose members are good, decent people. Many of them, however, seem to spend much of their day sending out emails regarding love, beauty, friendship, etc. almost all of which seem to end with an admonition to forward, reply or otherwise acknowledg...

London has so much but at the top of the list is: The British Museum- We stayed at a hotel literally around the corner from it on our last trip so we could spend some serious time there. Ancient silver and gold, the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian, Greek, Roman treasures...I've been there on each of three s...

Steve:
If you want to PM me I can go into a bit more detail.

I'm involved with leasing commercial space both professionally and privately. I would suggest that at least initially you go to a local real estate broker as they're generally connected to what's going on in any area. They'll give you some idea of costs, availability, and demand. As a side note, mos...

Every year I have to go through the same charade with the print edition of the WSJ. I subscribe at $119 or so a year but when the renewal comes (this year it was "your contract renewal....") the rate was around $225. New subscribers are routinely offered $119/yr. Calling their subscriber l...

A long-time favorite religious charity of mine recently gave its solicitation work to an outside organization. This charity has done great things over the years, ran (past tense) a very lean ship and I gave them many substantial donations. I feel that this support came back to bite me. Since the han...

We hated to leave New York and our $600,000 house with only $12,500 yearly property taxes . If we stayed until 2010 we'd be paying just $19,000 a year in property tax. But we moved and now we regret being able to travel, buy a new car, enjoy life, etc. with the money we save in property tax alone. M...