Hello, I just purchased a writing desk and was hoping the poll the audience for a little more information. I know very little about the piece other than it's mostly assembled via tongue and groove. The only identifying marks are on the drawers - "AJ" and "PJ" The top has a leather inlay. The drawer hardware has been replaced (given the modern day screws). See pics below... Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Greetings again, all, As I said in the earlier post, my (I like that "my"!) librarian said that they have that book in that small rural library, and I don't know whether she meant in the system as a whole - that involves over 15 libraries, I think, in our county. I remember that an older sister of a girl that I used to go with in high school told me after she'd left home and I'd written her that she liked getting a letter from me - that it was like talking to me. I think that you'll find that, once you start the memory tap flowing ... that other memories will come crowding in, and it'll rather surprise you: I guess that memory banks produce some interest. Jannie ... don't sell yourself short, please ... see, even a short message from you piqued the interest of a couple of other readers among the rather small number who have posted. jodi ... and others ... how about a tape recorder? gayle marie ... don't bother with a shrink - come here. And ... we're free! Kidding aside, many have found that ideas that they've brought foward have produced some interesting and useful responses, including things that they hadn't thought of, and on occasion a different slant on a subject about which they'd done some thinking. When we get our books written ... ... they all get passed around here, via email, right? As they'd be too thick to post here. (Or would some of us be too thick to understand 'em?). ole joyful

I don't know anything about prices in NJ, but in Michigan I spend between $85-130 week on groceries for a family of 4, but my budget isn't as tight as theirs is right now. I buy lots of expensive things such as cereals, granola bars, extra lean beef . . . I do shop sales and use coupons for cereal and granola bars, but if I were in a money crisis, I could certainly make due with less pre-packaged junk food and focus on nutrition vs. convenience. BTW, I was talking with a friend from out of state who in the same conversation told me about her husband losing his job and her new $32 haircut that she wasn't happy with! Some people just don't get it! When she visited this summer, she wanted to stop at the convenience store for a soda when she had some at the house and we were only 2 minutes from home! Silly and wasteful habits!

As with everything else, not every individual learns the same way or masters a skill the same way. Great teachers present alternatives for students in the hope that one will make sense and stick. Absolutely. My son also had a difficult time in school because of teachers who refused to be flexible to address his needs. He was in middle school when home PCs were not prevalent. That poor kids could simply not put his thoughts down in writing. We know now that has dysgraphia. I went and spoke to his teachers asking that he be allowed to use his computer for assignments. His Science grade shot up to straight A's. His science teacher suggested oral presentations. On the other hand he had an ass for a Social Studies teacher who continued to mark correctly answered answers wrong because the handwriting didn't meet his criteria. DS's problems started with ear and speech problems, leading to spelling problems in elementary school. It took a second grade teacher to recognize the issue. He said DS spelled just fine if you took how he heard and spoke the words into consideration. Previously they wanted to hold him back. By the fifth grade he was put in a special "focus" reading group. Stuff like you would see in kindergarten. This despite the fact he had been reading sci-fi novels at home since 2nd grade and his most requested gift every year was the world almanac. After a huge war with the district I had him moved to a different school. He was immediately place in the high reading group at that school His new teacher wanted to see how he did by starting him at the top, not the bottom. He did just fine. From D and F grades from the previous school to A and B grades with an occasional C. Then in middle school the struggle began again with the writing. By high school he detested school. He purposefully failed his classes so he would have to go to night school. The tech magnet he looked forward was horrendous for him. He knew far more than the teachers who were supposed to be instructing him. One teacher would frequently call DS at home for tech support for the teacher's home computer. Same teacher almost failed DS for not completing lab work. LOL Those were extremely rough years for us. We couldn't afford private school and homeschooling hadn't become secular yet. I became "that mom" who actually blackmailed the district into moving my kid out of the horrid 5th grade he was in. Basically DS turned out to be a kid with a "genius" (we hate that word) IQ, who has a photographic memory of the written word. Unfortunately he fell through the cracks of the public school system. Got passed over for gifted programs in the name of diversity, never had his achievements recognized. He was too "different".