Dang Lori, I figured you two had a good deal because of how long you've been there, but that's a great price. Two bedroom apts, no yard, in my neighborhood are way more than that.

I utterly loathe the "Never talk about your salary to your co-workers" taboo (though it seems to be helping ita in staying out of the firing line of her aggrieved co-worker's rage).

I remember sitting down with a co-worker in my division a half dozen years ago and mutually confessing our salaries and the last time we'd gotten increases. It was hard and shameful, but instructive, for both of us: it confirmed what we'd both suspected, that our supervisor was playing favorites. The co-worker, who had started three years later than me and had what she herself admitted was a lighter workload (and she couldn't do anything about it, as our supervisor had explicitly forbidden her to take any of my excess work because I was clearly a whiny goldbricker who refused to do her fair share), was two salary steps ahead of me and making $3-400 more a month.

That info-sharing confirmed and clarified our general sense of unease about the supervisor's ethics and competency, and was the catalyst for a series of fortunate events that led to both of us leaving - co-worker for a job that paid less but made her actually happy, me for a slightly higher-paying job under people with zero charm but a comfortingly rigid sense of fair play and mutual respect. And eventually I got to come back, at another salary increase, to work for my beloved doctor again after the evil supervisor had departed.

The don't-discuss-your-salary taboo was definitely one of the many weapons she used to keep her underlings off-balance, dependent on her, and resentful and suspicious of one another, and both my co-worker and I were so damn happy that we went behind her back and did what we oughtn't.

YWorkSituation,SalaryStructureAndEvilSupervisorMV, obviously.

That's our mortgage.

As much as I dislike living in the middle of nowhere, that is the one huge advantage. This house is so much cheaper than our house in Colorado. Of course, I would never choose to live here long term.

A lot of people are paycheck to paycheck.

Which is what's so unconscionably wrong about "paycheck-cashing" businesses. They take desperate people and make them much, much more desperate.

If I were in Congress, there would be a law saying that (A) all banks must cash paychecks they issue and (B) a certain sort of minimum account, WITH DEPOSIT PRIVILEGES, must be available to all comers.

And we know your dog's name, too, Liese. We're onta ya

Hee! This is true. I am doomed.

Liese (and Kat), my parents have a straw bale house in New Mexico.

Oh, wow, Nonian. I would be really appreciative. Right now we're just reading books and getting all worked up. I may email you later, if that's okay?

And our family is a check-picking-up-family, which causes problems sometimes when we just can't.

Yes, my daughter now owns a pair of MONKEY PANTS!

Whoohoo! Monkey pants! Burrell-baby-monkey-ants!

Hey, boss, you look really foamy in a corset!

Thank dog that is never ever a possibility in my workplace.

We can't move.

No, no you can't. Damn.

Oh, and monkey pants!

beth is a Mainer!

Gives beth the secret handshake.

I may email you later, if that's okay?

Please do. My parents are pretty proud of their house because my mom ( a 4th grade teacher) designed it and they really worked hard to keep costs down. They would love to share their experiences and answer any questions.