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To: ViperChick Secret Agent 006.9 who wrote (40007)	4/16/1998 1:48:00 PM
From: Patrick Slevin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58727

Off Topic; more e-mail junk, courtesy of my kid. While the Bill Gates family is moving in from their temporary quarters nearby, final construction of their new house is not expected to be completed until the end of the year. We listen in on a discussion Mr. Gates is having with his housing Contractor... Bill: "There are a few issues we need to discuss." Contractor: "Ah, you have our basic support option. Calls are free for the first 90 days and $75 a call thereafter. Okay?" Bill: "Uh, yeah... the first issue is the living room. We think its a little smaller than we anticipated." Contractor: "Yeah. Some compromises were made to have it out by the release date." Bill: "We won't be able to fit all our furniture in there." Contractor: "Well, you have two options. You can purchase a new, larger living room or you can use a Stacker." Bill: "Stacker?" Contractor: "Yeah, it allows you to fit twice as much furniture into the room. By stacking it, of course, you put the entertainment center on the couch... the chairs on the table... etc. You leave an empty spot, so when you want to use some furniture you can unstack what you need and then put it back when you're done." Bill: "Uh... I dunno... issue two. The second issue is the light fixtures. The bulbs we brought with us from our old home won't fit. The threads run the wrong way." Contractor: "Oh! That's easy. Your old bulbs aren't plug and play. You'll have to upgrade to the new bulbs." Bill: "And the electrical outlets? The holes are round, not rectangular. How do I fix that?" Contractor: "Just uninstall and reinstall the electrical system." Bill: "You're kidding!?" Contractor: "Nope. Its the only way." Bill: "(sigh) Well... I have one last problem. Sometimes, when I have guests over, someone will flush the toilet and it won't stop. The water pressure drops so low that the showers dont work." Contractor: "That's a resource leakage problem. One fixture is failing to terminate and is hogging the resources preventing access from other fixtures." Bill: "And how do I fix that?" Contractor: "Well, after each flush, you all need to exit the house, turn off the water at the street, turn it back on, reenter the house and then you can get back to work." Bill: "That's the last straw. What kind of product are you selling me?" Contractor: "Hey, if you don't like it nobody made you buy it." Bill: "And when will this be fixed?" Contractor: "Oh, in your next house -- which will be ready to release sometime near the end of next year. Actually it was due out this year, but we've had some delays..." # thought i'd include this too. from a unix 'fortune(6)' file.. Software suppliers are trying to make their software packages more "user-friendly". ... Their best approach, so far, has been to take all the old brochures, and stamp the words, "user-friendly" on the cover. -- Bill Gates, Microsoft, Inc. [Pot. Kettle. Black.]

To: ViperChick Secret Agent 006.9 who wrote (40007)	4/16/1998 2:06:00 PM
From: Tom Trader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58727

>>you must be the same age as my mother ;-) Well then--you must have a very young mother:) >>are you setting up an insurance trust to pay for the taxes.... that is one thing I am trying to get her to do...<< Several trusts--basically, the idea is that NO estate taxes are paid at all--no matter what the size of the estate. This would be achieved through a couple of irrevocable life insurance trusts, the use of Crummey and the establishment of a charitable trust where the non-exempt portion of ones estate would go with beneficiaries having a life interest. Amazing what estate planning can do -- this of course assumes that there will be an estate left when I am done with the market -- or to be more precise the market is done with me:) >>if so...let me know if you see an excellent product out there for that... or if anyone else out there has seen one...<< Need to know more about your mother's situation to really advise you meaningfully eg, insurability, beneficiaries, etc. But I'll be happy to let you know about some products at a more generic level, once I am done with my research. >>although i have to tell you one of my favorite ideas is to own an insurance policy on my mother...it doesnt go through the estate for taxes....<< That is where Crummey comes into play--but has to be carefully structured >>of course I cant talk her into that idea yet...(yeah, she would have to pay the premium!)<< Just show her an example of how much estate tax would be paid without estate planning and ask her if she would not rather have you get the money rather than the government. A very effective ploy.