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Showing posts from May, 2011

Happy and Unhappy Renters

Samantha, like many renters, is tired of renting. One reason is that her annual rent goes up like clockwork. Every year her landlord raises the rent five percent. Another reason is her neighbors. “New neighbors always seem to be more inconsiderate than the ones who moved out,” she said. “My first neighbor was a door-slammer; I always knew when he came home or left home. After he moved out, a saxophonist moved in. A saxophonist! He practiced two hours a day. On Saturday his friends would come over and I’d get to listen to a whole band. I called the police, but they said saxophone playing is permitted in apartments for up to four hours a day, because saxophone playing is job-related. They told me I was lucky that the guy was only playing two hours a day!” There are many unhappy renters, but there are also happy renters. “I’ve been lucky my whole life,” said Howard, a middle-aged man. “My neighbors couldn’t have been any better if I had picked them myself. One nei...

How to Get out of Jury Duty

The mailman delivers good news and bad news. Topping the “bad news” list for many people who live in Los Angeles is a jury summons. This document tells you that you must respond by mail or phone for possible service on a jury. Many people feel that jury duty is a boring chore and would prefer not doing it. In fact, court clerks say that the most common question they hear is: Why do I have to serve? The official response is: Jury duty is a responsibility that all qualified citizens must share. If you are a citizen, if you can read and understand English, if you’re over 18 years old, and if you’re not a felon, you are eligible for jury duty. If you ignore the summons, you might be fined up to $1,500. A jury trial might last one day or one month. If you work for the government, this is no problem, because the government will pay you your regular salary while you are on jury duty. However, if you are self-employed, you lose your regular income for that ti...

Very Funny English story

There was a man who had worked all of his life and had saved all of his money. He was a real miser when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything and just before he died, he said to his wife, "Now listen, when I die, I want you to take all my money and place it in the casket with me. I wanna take my money to the afterlife." So he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died, she would put all the money in the casket with him Well, one day he died. He was stretched out in the casket, the wife was sitting there in black next to her closest friend. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said "Wait just a minute!" she had a shoe box with her, she came over with the box and placed it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket down and rolled it away Her friend said, "I hope you weren't crazy enough to...