I had a bunch of credit cards opened in my name some years ago. I had rental property and had a Centruy 21 agent manage it for me. Apparently, since the mortgage statement went to that office, so did a bunch of those free offers for credit cards. The receptionist opened the accounts got the cards, and just kept paying the minimum payments on the cards. It went on for over a year and was only discovered when she went away on her honeymoon and my agent started opening the mail with my name on it--a bunch of Visa bills with over $20,000 total charges! This girl had charged her whole wedding and honeymoon in my name! The hardest part was cancelling the cards--when I called Visa they wouldn't believe I was me because the girl had given them _her_ mother's maiden name, information of course that I could not supply! It was pretty stupid, really, she thought she would never be caught, said she every intention of paying off the cards eventually. Stupid criminal. Stupid credit card companies. We all paid for that one. And yes, I do check my credit report now!

Yes, I had that happen to me as a result of an MVA. Sometimes my shoulder would slip and need to be pushed back into place- very painful until that happened. I ended up having pins put in my shoulder, but it was a big surgery... 8 months off work even though I have a desk job. I was told it would be 8 months before hand, the surgery went as planned. Mine was caused by a tear in some tissue- I can't remember what that tissue is called. I was told that sometimes this tissue heals itself, but mine didn't. I also did a lot of physio, because sometimes physio builds you up enough in that area so that you can avoid surgery, but it just didn't work for me. Good luck, and I hope you get good news at your appointment.

Kittiemom, I don't envy you the task of selling your childhood home. I didn't have to do that, but I did have to sell my parents' retirement home, where they lived for 30+ years. Not fun. Mary, what you accomplished must have given you a real boost in terms of confidence and self-esteem. I'm not suggesting you needed that, but it's what usually happens when someone develops a new skill or learns something about a previously unfamiliar field. Good work! Rob, yes, keep that up. Anxiety breeds anxiety, so it's important to fight back whenever you can. Taking that first step was probably the hardest, and as you discovered, it reaped rewards. When I was in my forties I started experiencing anxiety and became afraid to drive. I don't know what caused it (perimenopause?), but it was not a welcome turn of events! As I've often said, I'm a car person, and I love to drive. It felt so unnatural to have become a wimp about it. So I fought back, and got myself back to normal. Whew! Salgal, I can't relate at all. Which means I'm jealous. LOL Dedtired, good for you for giving it a shot. I bet you'll have a blast. A couple of years ago I found myself in a crammed, noisy singles bar (very young singles) with some of my family, including my granddaughter. She was the right age to fit in; I most certainly was not. But we all did a little chatting/bantering with the young clientele and had fun. With your guitarist to listen to, you'll have even more fun! (I'm guessing it's not Willie Nelson because he's 81.) :-)

As Raye pointed out the various joint options, I would use something like a Titebond wood glue (or similar) with all of them. (No, I don't know the VOC properties of Titebond.) Once assembled, I would suggest pre-baking the assembly in an open area to get any VOC's baked out and gone prior to use.