OT: waaaaaaay OT....

[Michelle]

Um, I think you will find a link at www.grantsforhotuscarvingchicks.gov.au

If not, well I guess we can always make short term subsidised accommodation available.

Went to the web site...didn't open for me. Is it trying to tell me something???

[RDY_2_Carve]

That was great about Thailand, no one wears more than flip flops all the time.

I wore shoes in Bankok. Once I got to Koh Samui I didn't wear much though

You've made me have Thailand withdrawals....Again...Thanks a lot!

[C5 Golfer]

Off of MSN today - thought it may be of interest to theis post.

Every married person who has argued with a spouse about money has longed to be single again and in total financial control.

That wish usually subsides -- how quickly depends in part on the dollar amount in dispute. But that fleeting thought raises an interesting question.

Is there a time when being single is more financially desirable?

Sure, marriage has many economic advantages, such as pooled income, shared health-insurance coverage, although more companies now also offer this benefit to unmarried couples, and Social Security survivor benefits. Even the marriage tax penalty has been eased in recent years.

But in some instances, it's more practical to remain unhitched.
"One thing to keep in mind is that it's always a mix of financial and emotional decisions," says Scott Farber, a wealth management adviser based in Natick, Mass. "It's difficult to look at a relationship from a strictly financial standpoint."

"However, there are some general instances when it might be better not to be married."

That's how Sheryl Garrett, a certified financial planner in Shawnee Mission, Kan., sees it, too.

"There are definitely way more advantages on (the married) side of the fence," says Garrett. "But there are some clear ones on the unmarried side, too."

While there's no "typical couple" that should consider living together without official legal status, there are some typical issues. Basically, says Garrett, staying legally unattached could be financially beneficial for one or both partners when these five issues come into play:
• 1. Liability
• 2. Credit and debt concerns
• 3. Survivor's benefits
• 4. Taxes
• 5. Children

Liability for married and unmarried
One of the great things about marriage is you get to share everything. That's also one of the worst things about marriage, especially when it comes to liability issues. You could be financially responsible for judgments against your spouse, such as personal lawsuits or Internal Revenue Service liens and all types of legal actions in between.

Janice K. Hobbs, owner of Jan Hobbs Financial Group in Orange, Calif., says this is a concern of many of her clients who primarily are high-income individuals.

"We have a lot of doctors as clients, both partners are physicians, which is a high-liability profession," says Hobbs. If one of the doctors is sued, the other person's assets are just as liable -- if they are married. By staying single, Hobbs says, only the one physician's income and assets would be at risk.

The liability issue doesn't just worry still-working people who are making a good living.

Garrett says a book buyer raised similar concerns at a signing for her book, "Money without Matrimony," that she co-wrote with Debra Neiman.

The woman, in her late 50s, had a new man in her life and they were considering another go at marriage. She was in a good financial position, but a combination of previous marital and business problems had left him dealing with the aftermath of a divorce, bankruptcy and some lingering financial issues.

"He hadn't had much of a chance to recover financially, although he had moved on emotionally, and he had a terrible credit score. He was a great guy with completely understandable credit problems," says Garrett.

"Her question was, 'If we did get married, would that be a bad idea?' My answer was that if they keep things separately, depending on the state (of residence), his debts in his name and her assets in her name, you're fine. But if he gets sued. ...

"She said, 'Stop. I think we're going to wait.'" Back to top

Commingled credit and debt
That cautious woman's remarriage query also raised the issue of shared credit, which Garrett says can go hand in hand with liability worries.

The credit-reporting business has evolved so now each person has an individual credit score. So unless you borrow money together, getting married doesn't automatically hurt you from a credit standpoint, says Garrett.

Debt is a slightly different matter. That's because in some states, when you marry you also marry your spouse's debt, especially if post-marriage payments come out of a joint account.

"If you have a situation where one partner is heavily in debt, especially if the one in debt has fewer assets, marriage could potentially expose the nondebtor's assets," says Farber.

Where you live also could affect your debt status. In community-property jurisdictions -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin or Puerto Rico -- community property includes the earnings of both partners while married, as well as everything purchased with that money. If separate property is commingled with community property during a marriage, it could be viewed as community property. Similarly, all debts incurred during marriage, unless specifically noted as separate, become community-property debts.

It's easier to avoid responsibility for a spendthrift partner's debts when you simply live together. Just be sure you don't inadvertently invalidate this unmarried advantage. Don't take on joint transactions, such as helping your financially struggling partner pay an overdue loan

[Steve Dold]

Al, it should read as follows:

Sure, marriage has many economic advantages for the woman , such as pooled income, shared health-insurance coverage, although more companies now also offer this benefit to unmarried couples, and Social Security survivor benefits. Even the marriage tax penalty has been eased in recent years.

[C5 Golfer]

Al, it should read as follows:

Damn - I missed that one. Good excellent point albeit one sided I bet!

[ncermak]

the benefits go both ways. several couples I am friends with are examples of the woman wearing the pants. a Nurse and line cook. A UPS guy and a Nutritionist. A ski shop employee and the VP of the insuance company.

to say it is just beneficial to women is sexist.

[Steve Dold]

As long as the woman is the nurse, and the man is the line cook, he's fine. A man is defined more by what he does than how much he makes. Any man who does a man's job, be it a line cook, a tow truck driver, a stick welder, even if it doesn't make a lot of money, is still a man and in charge of things just the way god intended.

[skipuppy]

Any man who does a man's job, be it a line cook, a tow truck driver, a stick welder, even if it doesn't make a lot of money, is still a man and in charge of things just the way god intended.

Ouch man. I totally disagree. There was a study (which I can not quote- you will just have to find it) where they took two eggs from two women and created a fetus. I think this means that sooner or later, men will not be needed for reproductive purposes. Since more women are going to college now, we will slowly take over the world. You will only be there for our physical pleasure and grunt work.

MuaHAHaHAaHaaaa!!!

[bobdea]

its almost embarrasing that this thread has so many views and posts.
ohh, I guess I just contributed to the silliness

[dantheman0177]

You will only be there for our physical pleasure and grunt work.

And we thought we had this whole supremacy over women thing wired, and you go in and play the ulitmate trump card

If the grunt work means lugging your gear to the top of the mountain, as long as I get to board back down, well, I'll cop that sweet.

[Steve Dold]

You will only be there for our physical pleasure and grunt work.

Ha ha! I can live with the first part, and if the grunt work just means moving things around the house and changing the oil in your car, that's probably OK. If it means having to listen for hours while you complain about that witch at work who is making your life miserable, or going shopping for hours for a couch, or anything that involved picking out a color, then no way...we are only men, we are not machines.

[skipuppy]

You guys are great!!! The grunt work was naturally referring to the occasional help in moving heavy stuff or just being a gentleman and carrying my wonderful board. FYI- I'm a fast shopper and prefer doing it by myself. I also don't hang out with that many women so I won't be bitchin' about petty gossip.

I think that if a guy were to be my slave he'd have a pretty peachy time. I like to play.... a lot

[Steve Dold]

I think that if a guy were to be my slave he'd have a pretty peachy time. I like to play.... a lot

Marry me Skipuppy. I take back everything I said about marriage being awful and how it's cheaper to let the woman max out the credit card and just pay the interest, instead of paying it off every month and letting her continue to spend. I will gladly carry your board. Oh, I don't live with my mom and my house doesn't have wheels either.

[skipuppy]

Dearest, I can't marry you. I just recently stopped being jailbait!

I'll be in california and carving tahoe for a few weekdays after new years before I need to return to Boston for ski team training. Maybe you will see me on the slopes being cute and showing off.

[dantheman0177]

Skipuppy,
Forget about marraige, but I'll be your grunt any time you want to come to Australia (or indeed if you make the journey to SES).
I think you are my hero

[skatha]

Marriage may financially benefit the woman, but marriage benefits them man more in a health, reduced mortality kind of way.
As for 2 docs being married and both exposed to the liability of one being sued....the "financial planner" who said that doesn't seem to understand community property or homestead law protection. If somebody sues me and is awarded more money than my malpractice insurance will pay, they cannot seize community property without proving my husband is also subject to a tort action. Believe me, I looked into forming a FLLP prior to getting married the second time.

[C5 Golfer]

My solution to a happy marriage is this and after I tell others about it, they initially think I am nuts and then about 10mins later they come back and say "Hey, you may have something there" This is one of my ideas for happiness while being married. The house you live in has 3 Master bedrooms. Your's, Her's, and Our's. Each one is equally outfitted. It works becasue there are some nights when one of you wants to be alone- read, study, watch TV, talk on the phone, cry, whatever and this solves this.

Here is a joke of the day:

DAMN CHECKING ACCOUNT
A crusty old man walks into a bank and says to the
woman at the window, "I want to open a damn checking
account."


The astonished woman replies, "I beg your pardon,
sir. I must have misunderstood you. What did you say?"

"Listen up, damn it. I said I want to open a damn
checking account now!"

"I'm very sorry sir, but that kind of language is
not tolerated in this bank."


The teller leaves the window and goes over to the
bank manager to inform him of her situation.


The manager agrees that the teller does not have to
listen to that foul language.


They both return to the window and the manager asks
the old geezer, "Sir, what seems to be the problem here?"


"There is no damn problem," the man says. I just won
$200 million bucks in the damn lottery and I want to put
my damn money in this damn bank."


"I see," says the manager, "and is this bitch giving
you a hard time?"

[Michelle]

This thread needs a boost. Aisling, what's happening with you?? Anything new?


I've got race teams coming in to my office all the time now - it's great! Lots and Lots of cute boys that I get to look at all the time.

[Aisling]

hmm i got the short end here, Michelle all i get to look at are pregnant ladies and non-pregnant ladies parts all day LOL

[Allee]

Ooh. Michelle, you lucky thing. I used to work at a rope manufacturer and we got the climbing guys all summer. Bods from hell and they were always in cutoffs, or shirtless. And when they went away we got the America's Cup sailors who would come in and talk Italian to us in sexy accents.

I miss that job.

[C5 Golfer]

THE BLONDE AND THE LORD

A blonde wanted to go ice fishing. She'd seen many books on the subject, and finally getting all the necessary tools together, she made for the ice.

After positioning her comfy footstool, she started to make a circular cut in the ice. Suddenly, from the sky, a voice boomed,

"THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE."

Startled, the blonde moved further down the ice, poured a thermos of cappuccino, and began to cut yet another hole. Again from the heavens the voice bellowed,

"THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE."

The blonde, now worried, moved away, clear down to the opposite end of the ice. She set up her stool once more and tried again to cut her hole.

The voice came once more,
"THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE."

She stopped, looked skyward, and said,
"IS THAT YOU LORD?"

The voice replied,

"NO, THIS IS THE MANAGER OF THE HOCKEY RINK"

[skipuppy]

The joke made me smile

I wanna see more cute guys!!! I am feeling cute guy deprived. I guess I left them all home in California when I left.

[Michelle]

Should I take photos and post them of all the guys coming in???

[skipuppy]

That would be fabulous

[philfell]

save some film for me Michelle, I'll be in on Thurs afternoon. I'll give you a call and give you a heads up about what time.

[D-Sub]

yeah, phil's pretty hot

oh Im gonna get it for that one!

I cant believe this thread

[philfell]

You aren't getting anything from me with that.

Sorry to get your hopes up.

[DiveBomber]

wow talk about opening up a can of worms!, If you girls think its hard to find a Nice guy, its even harder from this side, Oh sure most girls might seem nice at first, but, then uh oh, , I guess thats why i hate dating, its so pointless, Its like taking a test every time. Its kinda funny, most people who are dating, wouldnt actually be friends if they werent dating, and why would you want to be with some one who isnt a freind in the first place?

Like Some of my mtbing buddies, Im tired of hearing "i have to be home by this time". You know, if youd have married someone who likes to ride too... you wouldnt be such a wuss!

[D-Sub]

You aren't getting anything from me with that.

Sorry to get your hopes up.

oh dude, come on...if Im in PC you KNOW youll give me some free pointers!

(and...if somehow my endorsement gets you some play, and she has a SISTER, well...if your PC bros are taken... )

[dantheman0177]

The buzz word in today's business world is MARKETING. Many people often ASK for a simple explanation of "Marketing."

Well, here it is:

You're a woman and you see a handsome guy at a party. You walk over to him and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."

That's Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome guy. One of your friends goes up to the guy and, while pointing at you, says "That's my friend and she's fantastic in bed."

That's Advertising.

You see a handsome guy at a party. You walk up to him, you introduce yourself, and you get his telephone number. The next day, you call him and
say: "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."

That's Telemarketing.

You see a good looking guy at a party. You straighten your dress, you walk over to him, and you pour him a drink. You say: "May I," as you reach up to straighten his tie, while brushing your body lightly against his arm. Then you say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."

That's Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a handsome guy. He walks over to you and says, "I hear that you are fantastic in bed."

That's Brand Recognition.

You're at a party and you see a good looking guy. He fancies you, but you talk him into going home with your friend.

That's a Sales Rep.

Your friend can't satisfy him, so he calls you.

That's Tech Support.