Move along.

A number of years ago I set up a trust account for my daughter's education, naively thinking how responsible this was. Several months later I was doing some investigation of financial aid and how it all works. It became very evident to me that one of the worst things a middle class person can do is establish such a fund in your child's name. Any money your child has counts much more heavily against him/her than if the same amount is part of your assets. Realizing this, I liquidated the trust and did the investing in my name. That decision made the difference between my daughter getting some financial aid and none. I'm all for saving for the expenses of college, but if you have any expectation of your child getting financial aid, don't mess it up like I almost did by putting the account in the child's name. While there are some modest tax advantages to having the money in the child's name, I actually had a financial aid officer tell me that the only people who should be doing that are those who are so wealthy that their children could never expect to qualify for aid under any circumstances.

This is an actual story not an urban myth... Dog's death leads to a push for quicker tracing of cellphones 5:00 PM, September 4, 2008 After her SUV, phone and dog were stolen at a cemetery last month, Hemet resident Mary Michael tried to get Verizon to track the phone in the vehicle carrying her beloved pet, Rebel. Verizon said it couldn't do so without a warrant. Rebel was found dead, prompting Michael to take aim at that regulation, The Times' David Kelly reports: A distraught Michael said Rebel would be alive today if Verizon had traced the cellphone she had left inside the car. "They could have saved Rebel's life," she said Tuesday during a news conference outside Riverside County Superior Court. "It's my phone. It has GPS capability. We should be able to use it." Michael, who is originally from London and lives in Hemet, has started a campaign to make such tracking easier. Many wireless companies now require warrants before tracing phones, but Michael argues that obtaining a warrant takes too long when a life hangs in the balance. Verizon spokesman Ken Muche said state and federal privacy laws make it impossible to trace a phone without a court order. He said criminals and stalkers had impersonated customers in the past to try to find cellphone users. "We work with law enforcement and will respond to requests from the court like subpoenas and warrants," Muche said. "We have a policy in place so our customer service people are not in a position of having to determine a person's identity." Had Verizon traced the phone, it could have pinpointed the location as close as 50 to 100 yards, he said. That was cold comfort to Michael. "If this had been done, Rebel would not have had to suffer, and we would not be going through the pain of losing her in this terrible way," she said. "I can't bear to think of what she went through during those last hours. I can't go there, it's too horrible." -- Francisco Vara-Orta Photo: Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times I have a couple of comments. One - who ever leaves a dog or an unattended child in a running car is ASKING for trouble especially in Southern California. Two - If she had wanted to leave the dog in the A/C cooled car she should have locked the doors and taken her remote control key or second key with her. Three - Although the dog and this woman were traumatized and victimed and it is horrible that it ended in the dogs death, THIS WAS COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE had the owner used common sense. I frequent Southern California and there is NO SAFE place you must be on guard everywhere.

Hi marksteelman, I don't have any suggestion to offer to deal with your problem, as I've never had a PayPal account - nor eBay, either. I think that your possibility of getting a reply to your question may be better if you start a thread of your own, so that people who may be interested in your topic may see it. Also, you may find a reply over in the "Computer" forum. While your kid may or may not be making a better return on his invested dollar than you ... ... it looks as though he's more adept in the use of a computer. As are most of our kids. I hope that you're enjoying your week, otherwise. ole joyful