Daniel, best of luck and crossed fingers.

Do people EVER get out of debt, or is that just more lies told by the government and parents who like to make you feel guilty?

Well, my parents, but they are freaks, plus they've lived in their house since 1968.

We're slowly crawling out. We were bad this month, though, and put a few things on cards. Assuming we pay that off in full next month, all the rest of the debt will be house-related, but that's still a lot of debt.

Yet another reason to watch The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy -- I'm watching an episode titled "Prank Call of Cthulhu." The number of ways Billy mispronounces "Cthulhu" is endlessly amusing to me.

I just wish I'd gotten so far into debt by having fun. I'd be a lot more at peace with the debt if I could say, "Well, there was this opportunity to go to Paris but I had to move fast, and it was the best five days of my life." Instead it's "That's a medical bill, that's a medical bill, that's a dental bill . . ." Much less interesting when it comes to biography time.

I just wish I'd gotten so far into debt by having fun. I'd be a lot more at peace with the debt if I could say, "Well, there was this opportunity to go to Paris but I had to move fast, and it was the best five days of my life." Instead it's "That's a medical bill, that's a medical bill, that's a dental bill . . ."

Connie is me.

Debt counseling guy says I'm a good budgeter, they couln't find anything to cut, so since I'm unemployed, they will draft up letters to send to my creditors pleading for hardship relief for a few months, etc.

Also, when I get a job, try to get a better one, and when I do, they will be able to work with my new income and aim for a 5 year debt-removal plan.

Now I get to wait for three hours to tell Andi.

I need some mindless distraction. What's on TV?

Daniel, want a smoothie? Just made some yummy ones. I've got plenty of fixings to make more.

Also, {{{DCJ}}}.

(((dcj))) I hope you see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.

I'd be a lot more at peace with the debt if I could say, "Well, there was this opportunity to go to Paris but I had to move fast, and it was the best five days of my life."

I need your mindset, because I can say that, and looking at my bills still freaks me out. Of course it's Paris, and then the doctors and dentist bills, and Chinese food and cigarettes and shoes I had to have and overlimit fees. All those things my mom told me to avoid....jazz....liquor....men who play for fun......

I'm glad for you, Daniel. It sounds like they were realistic about the plan, and neither nasty nor pie-in-the-sky, unless I read you wrong. As for Andi, she clearly needs more internets wherever she is!

As for Andi, she clearly needs more internets wherever she is!

Sadly, taking care of Developmentally Disabled adults takes up all of her time on shift, so even if they did have the internets, she'd nae have time for them.

When, oh when will they finally be able to implant the internets right into our heads? When?

If you pay everything promptly for seven years, the credit goes happy.

You know that H & R Block thing that they used to advertise? I went to a two hour seminar on Credit. I have learned some very nifty things. Like, the way a person can apply for a loan at a bank, a person can apply for some credit. And nifty tricks to crawl out of the bankruptcy thjing. I just have to find my notes, but those are some of the things I can remember from off the top of my head.