LOL Well, not much time to answer everything so I won't try but yes, I am having a great time reading this. Curious how the first to stomp is also the avid defender of telemarketers! Shall we start a thread on them again? Ruthie, you're quite a surprise. Didn't know you were one who likes to block aisles and doesn't understand the term "excuse me". I was raised to move if blocking the aisle and someone said excuse me. Perhaps it's a local thing? I guess we learn something every day don't we? Must be having a bad day when you have to make up things to complain about. "...post a long diatribe about everything including the number of hours the employees are allowed to work..." Uh, exactly where did I talk about employees long hours and the like! Did you accidentally get some fiberglass in the washer with your underwear? Fall down in the cockleburrs? Sheesh! LOL And of course the tyrades by the "holier than thou" who feel they should decide who posts, what they post about, and their overworn cliches, well it's interesting and dang amusing to read the posts. Don't worry. I'm not offended. If you haven't learned by now I have a very thick skin! Political correctness isn't high on my priority list. Being an old cripple I learned a long time ago that there's two things about certain people I don't like - their face. Curious to see how many must use multiple mirrors! Since this forum is so often the cyber church it's only appropriate isn't it for another deity to come out. The Walmart worshipers are likely on their knees praying to their deity-du-jour, pop open a bottle of Sam's Choice for communion, making up things to throw temper tantrums about and more. Guess following forum rules is a buffet thing these days. Take the ones you like and leave the rest. :) Happy shopping people!

I agree that there is a definite decline in quality of furniture now a days, as well as a lack of ethics in the furniture sales business. But that doesn't necessarily mean old is better than new, and there are pros and cons of each. Good quality restored antiques are often very expensive and finding a particular piece can be very time consuming (browsing stores, craigslist, estate sales, etc). Older furniture also has lead paint and safety issues. One other problem I've noticed with old furniture is mold and musty smell which aggravates my allergies -- I sneeze every time I open a drawer. New furniture suffers from quality, mdf/formaldehyde off-gassing issues, and good quality new furniture is difficult to find and often extremely expensive. With upholstery, reupholstering is very expensive, and sometimes more expensive than mid-priced new upholstery. Basically, I think there is no clear cut answer to buying furniture, and no wrong or right. In an ideal world, new furniture would be made of decent quality (based on cost ratio) and of the least toxic materials. In an ideal world, our fashions wouldnt be so trivial that people would feel the need to replace their furniture for trends. When I started purchasing new furniture for my first home, I started doing immense research, trying to pinpoint the brands that had the best cost/quality ratio and the stores with the best satisfaction ratings. But with a young family, that is very time consuming and in the end, even if something is good quality for the price, I still have to like it and be able to afford it! My parents are immigrants and do not own any family antiques as they left it all behind, so I have a definite appreciation for antiques, especially those that have sentimental value and have been in the family for generations. I have browsed through a few antique stores with no luck in finding the pieces I am interested in, and when I do fall in love with an antique, it is usually too expensive. I am on craiglist every day, but again, have limited success, especially b/c of the fact that we just have small sedans. So as much as IÂd like to own an older piece of furniture, thus far, IÂve only been able to buy new, partly due to time and partly due to cost issues. IÂve settled with purchasing mid-priced brands that are the best compromise on quality/cost/looks. Furniture with impeccable quality is usually out of my price range (e.g. Tom Seely, Amish made, Stickley, etc). The best experience I have had is with Boyles  purchasing a mid-priced Sherrill sofa for less than one from Ethan Allen or Pottery Barn. WeÂve had comments from people that it is very well made. But that is a rare moment. My everyday eating table is solid birch from Canada (Bermex), yet I had more issues with the set than my Richardson Brothers dining set that was made in China (although also supposed to be solid maple). So not all furniture from China is necessarily bad if there are good quality controls. Our crib & dresser set is from Ethan Allen and I have numerous complaints about the store and finish issues with some of the pieces, but after an extensive search of other furniture brands with the style IÂm looking for, IÂm probably going to end up buying her twin bed from Ethan Allen as well  it just seems more durable. Target has its place as well. I am looking for an inexpensive white bookcase for the playroom, and although IÂd love to get good quality, itÂs not even available in my area  its either Pottery Barn or Target, and of course IÂm going to choose the latter since buying unfinished is out of the question (no time!). I noticed someone posted a comment about Crate and Barrel. We just purchased a glass door bookcase (diy at home) from them, and my husband assembled it very quickly and was very impressed with the quality for the money. I have been looking for this piece for some time, either antique or new, but couldnÂt find an old one and the new ones I liked were out of our price range (Amish built, over 1k)  so the CB one was a good compromise! IÂm still hoping that IÂll get lucky on craigslist one day! I wish that antique stores and estate sales would post their items on craigslist!

The insurance thing is true in business. It is sometimes called "key man insurance". Also many companies sell these policies in a transaction called life settlements. Did you know many people sell their life insurance policies in transactions called life settlements? Many people don't need thier polices any longer, or can't afford the premiums, or have no heirs left to benefit from the policies. So instead of not paying the premium and letting the policy lapse, they can sell the policy for more than the surrender value but less than the face amount. The new investor becomes the beneficiary and pays the premiums to keep the policy in force. When the person dies, the investor collects the face value amount. It is a win-win for everyone except the insurance companies because the figure over 85% of life insurance policies will lapse, therefore they never have to pay off on the policies. The old person gets more than he would if just cashing the policy in or letting it lapse in the case of term insurance. The investor gets a great return as long as the deal is structured right. There are many variables in these transactions such as persons age, health, premium amounts, life expectancy, cost of the policy, ect. As an example of a 1,000,000.00 policy with a 75,000.00 surrender value, the old person may walk away with 200,000.00 and the investor will cash in on the million when they pass. Premiums can be all over the board depending on factors, but say they are 30,000.00 a year and the person lives for 7 more years. Now the investor has 510,000.00 of his money tied up to take in a million when the person passes. Very interesting business transaction.

Thanks--will check my GD for my GGGS as I bought his crib at Walmart, but cannot remember brand name. Marie