Rose's Cantina

Now that I have officially reached the 10th year mark in my relationship with Scott, I feel confident enough to give some advice to the lovelorn. It took me until my 46th year to figure out what makes a successful relationship. I tried marriage twice before and due to infidelity, both went bust before the husband could even get his seven year itch on. I was talking to a younger girlfriend this week who gave me the 411 on the piece of shit who was her long-time boyfriend, whom she caught sexting a senior and boffing a barmaid. It took her a while before she finally kicked his ass to the curb. I also talked to another friend who is in the throes of a bitter divorce thanks to her slimy husband who lost interest in her after she gave birth. Both these women are in their 30s and are pretty much done with men. But I've told them to hold out. The ocean is full of decent middle aged men and the water's fine. Besides, I said, experience is everything. You have to kiss a bun...

When I used to make money, I approached tax season with dread. Did I keep that receipt for that $135 lunch at Hy's? Will I have enough gas receipts so the revenuers will believe I actually drive my car? Usually, the tax bill was about $7,000. That's because I got support payments and in the old days, the supportee had to pay tax on support payments leaving the bastard supporter able to write them off. This meant that if he was paying $20,000 in support every year on paper, he was actually paying $12.50. It also meant that if I worked and made a success of myself, I would have to put away $600 a month for taxes. The government changed the law the year after I got divorced and I was told I would have to go to court and spend thousands on lawyers to get my situation re-assessed. Which I couldn't afford. Given the $7,000 tax bills I already had. Screw and tattooed. That's what I got with single motherhood. So by the time tax season came, I was a nervous wreck. ...