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Promotion shifts dynamics of longtime friendship

Dear Annie: My friend “Emily” and I go way back to our college days, when we used to share absolutely everything with each other -- the good, the bad and the ugly. She recently got a promotion at work (she works for a well-known accounting firm), something I know she’s been dreaming of ...

Switch from bars to liquid soap

Dear Heloise: I just read one more hint about what to do with leftover slivers of hand soap. I have a suggestion: Just throw it away, since it’s worth maybe a dime? Get liquid hand soap instead. It is way more sanitary than those bars of soap that either harden and crack in the soap dish or ...

A purse emergency

My wife recently had a purse emergency. We were staying at a hotel in a distant city when she noticed that her current purse was, as she put it, “shot.” I examined the thing and told her that that it seemed perfectly functional to me. “Men!” she exclaimed. “They don’t notice ...

Navigating financial and communication boundaries in relationships

Dear Annie: I had been in a wonderful relationship with an incredible woman for two years and 10 months. She recently broke up with me because I had not discussed my personal finances with her. I am a private person and have a difficult time opening up. My reasoning behind not discussing my ...

In Minnesota, statistical gloom amid the hope of a progressive-led boom

There is a lot of disagreement right now on the state of our state. A few weeks ago, in his State of the State address, Gov. Tim Walz depicted Minnesota as a progressive utopia that should be an example for all of America. On the other hand, some on the right describe the state as something ...

A common enemy: does the United States need one?

We had an interesting discussion one day this spring in my Southwest Minnesota State University Gold College class on the U.S. Constitution. One of the class members made a comment that what the United States maybe needs is a common enemy, an enemy to everyone. It would be the same as Germany ...