Hi, Judy, Good to hear from you. I cannot claim to be an authority on any observations made about conditions in countries other than the US, so I do appreciate your input, Art's, and that of my several Canadian and Australian friends. Many of us who have reached a certain age are finding that what we thought in our youth would be financial safety nets are anything but. I'm getting the impression that this observation holds true not only in the US, but is beginning to do so in countries that are traditionally much more conservative about spending and debt. It's about time we each made our own rules regarding our financial well-being. Cheri

Hi, Cheri, Judy et al, I must come back to my original premise that these rules were written to be broken. I simply cannot conceive of anybody with a soul being so fixated on monetary gain that the rules by which his life will be lived preclude all forms of social intercourse and practice that will feed his other requirements for personal happiness and development. As an aside to Judy, the British Government has tried to inflict these rules on itself and we all are suffering in the process. I wonder if it is because of these rules that, while the English have no say in the Scottish or Welsh assemblies, the Scotts and Welsh have an awful lot to say in how England is run. Regards Arthur