Re: the NYT article, H and I sat down and discussed it, and decided this is what we wanted to do. Both kids were on their own by then, so it was only us day to day to consider. It was not a simple transition, and the most difficult thing was H being used to whipping out the plastic on a whim. I finally had to back off that one and tend to my own knitting. My mantra was, and still is in essential: "bowl, spoon, cup, walls, roof, floor, shoes, warm in winter, cool in summer." It's a constant goal, and I far from achieve it, may in fact never do. But I've learned to barter goods and services, to make decisions about choices rather than having ALL the things, and being mindful of the payment things require. A houseful of Meissen china is no doubt beautiful, but I hate dusting and can't afford to pay someone to do it for me. Plus, ownership equals psychic weight and responsibility. My choices more frequently tend to freedom rather than weight and responsibility. We're still working on it. The process is continually being refined.

I talked to my friend (the daughter-in-law of the defriender-in-question.) She said that her mother-in-law is a bully, and that she thinks that she can get away with saying anything to anyone, and that she's glad that I said what I said to her.

She also said that she has misgivings about letting her daughter spend too much unsupervised time with that grandmother as she grows up.

And our classmate from H.S. whose husband was killed in the Twin Towers is mainly concerned about watching Weeds tonight, so I'm gonna call it a day.

Thanks for being excellent, Buffistas.

ETA: Scola, snerk.

amyth, I'm sorry about the dust-up, but it's good to know we got your back, as well as RL folks. Sounds like you have less to worry about than you might have expected, and I'm glad for that.

Congratulations to Gris and spouse!

Amyth, why aren't we friends on the Book of Face? I am Robin Fogelson on there, of course. Any and all Buffistas, feel free to friend me if you are so inclined.

I'm pretty sure those "in the shadow" quotes are actually wrong. I could be misremembering somewhat, but the summer I worked in that neighborhood, I did most of my navigating by using the WTC as a landmark. I have no sense of direction, and the streets there aren't part of the grid, but I figured out that, if I got lost, I could generally find my way back to the office by facing the WTC and then figuring out where I was based on where it was. There were a few blocks where that didn't work, though, because there were some other buildings in the way, and I'm pretty sure that block was one of them. For those, I had to use the Woolworth Tower. (Which has some other name now that I can never remember.)

You did really well with it, I think, Amy.

Hil, you seem to have driven Gilbert & Sullivan out of my head in favor of Comden & Green now that you've mentioned the Woolworth Tower.

Robin, we totally are!

Liese, thanks.

ETA: editing my RL name out, since I'm talking about RL folks in here, and not necessarily in a flattering light. Robin, if you didn't catch my name, or if any Buffistas don't already know it, feel free to contact me via my profile addy. You too can be part of Facebook funtimes!

NYT article

It's a constant goal, and I far from achieve it, may in fact never do.

this is the plan we've been talking about the last year. Esp. with DH's last job ( not current ) being so utterly evil - I needed to come up with a way to take the money burden off him. And less stuff is a big part of the plan. and less debt. ( house debt won't go away --- yet) If we get rid of debt , than matt can be more flexible about work. That is greater happiness. The funny thing is he didn't really understand that I am trying to make it so we can live on about half our current income in about 10 years. I have know idea if we can do it, but it is a worthwhile goal

That's great, beth. I don't know if you can do it, either, but what a great goal!