Large organizations have been known to take the view that they didn't do it ... ... so they ain't payin'. These guys were out tens of thousands, I believe. Hackers put in order to sell their good stocks - and buy crap stocks. Which they, or their friends, principals of scrap companies that hired their call centre to shill their stock, had millions of worthless shares to peddle. The couldn't order the stock broker to send them cash from hacked accounts - but they could order the account to buy large amounts of worthless shares. Haven't heard yet what's to be done about it. Going to a meeting of an investment group tonight - someone will likely have heard. One learns a lot of good stuff from that group - two heads are better than one (even if they are cabbage) ... ... and two dozen, better yet. ole joyful

Your house is lovely in a charming, old-fashioned type of way that appeals to many of us. I'm stealing a phrase from someone else (can't remember whom), but your house says "Ahhh" rather than "Wow!" That's exactly the feel I want from my house. I do not think you should feel pressure to move up to a bigger, more expensive house . . . just because you can /will be able to in the future. We are building a house that's much smaller than we could afford to build, and we're planning to fill it with luxury items . . . in moderation. I think you should proceed with caution because none of us knows what may happen in the coming years, and what you today call a "forever home" may NEED to be sold for any number of reasons: A work move, surprise twins or the need to take in a family member's child, a freeway coming through. None of us ever think these things will happen to us -- until they happen to us. We have to be realistic. I'd say go ahead and improve your small house with lovely things that will please you and enhance your life, but do keep it period appropriate, and don't over-do excessively for the neighborhood.

My husband and I both work full time for the State of California. When Christmas is on a weekday, we get the day off with pay. When Christmas is on a Saturday, as it is this year, we get 8 hours of "Holiday Credit" - which is like 8 hours of vacation time. You schedule the time off when you want to be off. You can use it as soon as the first work day following the holiday, or you can save it to use whenever... When Christmas falls on a Sunday, we get the next day (Monday) off with pay. (Same goes for all of the other holidays that we get that can fall on a different day of the week. The exception is Veteran's Day [November 11]. If it falls on a Saturday we get Friday off with pay; if it falls on a Sunday we get Monday off with pay.) Every year the Governor signs an Executive Order giving full-time state employees 4 hours of "Informal Time Off" (ITO) for the Christmas/New Year holidays. No, not 4 hours for each -- it's a total of 4 hours. We can use it to take the afternoon off either Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve (or if they are on a Sunday we can take the afternoon off the preceeding Friday), or we can save the time to use later. For the folks who work less than full time, there is a chart showing how much ITO they get on a prorated basis. You can also use any accrued leave time (vacation, CTO, holiday credits, saved ITO, etc.) to take time off, but you have to request it in advance and obtain approval for your request. Hubs and I both earn 21 vacation days each year (14 hours per month, for 12 months, for a total of 168 hours, which is 21 days, which is just over 4 work weeks). But state offices are almost deserted this time of year, so it's nice to be there and be able to get stuff done without constant interruptions, so I don't like to "waste" my vacation hours taking time off for the holidays. And, I don't think it's worth it to waste the 4 hours ITO to take the afternoon off on Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve because everyone is "cut loose" around 2:30 anyway. My husband's office has already told everyone that they will be allowed to leave at noon on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Scissors mentioned "using or losing" floating holiday credits. It used to be like that in our state service, but then an employee sued, saying that he'd earned the time and it shouldn't be taken away (they put a cap on how many vacation hours you can have on the books, etc.), and the court ruled in his favor. So, now they can strongly encourage you to use up your time, but they don't wipe it off the books. Right now I've got 72 hours of holiday credits (9 weekend holidays) on the books as well as 4 years' worth of holiday ITO, in addition to my vacation hours, CTO, etc., etc. And this year's holiday credits and ITO will get added to my leave balances, too.

Thank you so much, Carol, you are the kindest person, and I know you have your own burden to carry. Caring about each other amidst all the bad national and world news is so sustaining and helps in every way. By the way, I can't recall (most things), but have you joined the gardening forum that many of us are streaming to? I loved coming here for so many years, but recent events have left a bitter taste in my mouth. So many of us are over there now, and it's a very friendly and easy to use site. I hope everyone who reads this will wander over there and decide to join. It's the Roses Forum in the National Gardening Association and so many of us have joined there that hopefully you'll all feel right at home. I'll often come back here, also, but too many annoying and frustrating things have happened here, and it's just not a welcoming place any more. So sad, after all these years, but sometimes we're forced to move on.