Ask Amy: Biblical lender should look to Shakespeare
Perhaps you should have chosen to follow a Shakespearean (instead of a biblical) mandate: "Neither a borrower nor a lender be... For loan oft loses both itself and friend."
Your lawyer or the courts might be able to tease out more payments and/or a stake in your friend's company.
You should explore the work, wit and wisdom of Dave Ramsey, whose financial advice is both practical and Christian-focused. You would benefit from reading his book, "The Legacy Journey: A Radical View of Biblical Wealth and Generosity," (2014, Ramsey Press).
Dear Amy: I couldn't use my regular subscription opera ticket, so I gave the ticket to my opera companion to give to a mutual acquaintance at our church.
I've seen that acquaintance several times since then and she has my phone and email address for communication about church matters, and she has not said thank you. The ticket was fairly expensive. Should I say anything to her?
-- K
Dear K: Your opera ticket may have been bestowed upon your church friend like so much manna from heaven -- and she might not be fully aware of the source. If your opera companion gave her the ticket, your role in this might have eluded the recipient.
People who purchase subscriptions to theater seasons know how valuable individual tickets are, but someone less familiar might simply think that this ticket was "extra."
Ideally, you shouldn't have to nudge this acknowledgment along, but you should email your acquaintance to say, "I've seen you a few times, but I keep forgetting to ask you -- how was your evening at the opera? I was so sorry to miss the production, but I am happy you could use my ticket."
Dear Amy: "Bothered" had a neighbor/tenant whose early morning microwave jolted her awake.
When it comes to noise, from housemates, roommates, spouses, or the newspaper delivery person playing loud music at 5 a.m. -- get thee to a drugstore and get a white noise machine. Pure bliss.
Even my galloping-herd-of-elephants spouse went about his noisy routines and I never heard a peep.
-- Blissed
Dear Blissed: It wouldn't have occurred to me that one kind of noise would cancel out another kind of noise, but many readers have recommended white noise machines.
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(You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or Facebook.)
