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30150 Telegraph, Suite 444 Bingham Farms, MI 48025 Your Financial Issues THAV GROSS has been solving problems since 1982. Be sure to tune in to Law and Reality – Sunday mornings at 11 AM on TV20. Your Legal Issues thavgross.com lawandreality.com Ask Attorney Ken Gross about... 000209210 Everything is... Great? You see a friend or acquaintance and say, "Hi, How are you?" The expected and usual answer is, "All is great thanks – so and so just graduated, the kids are great, ladida, ladida . . ." This is the standard answer – even when things are not so super. After all, if you bump into Bill on the street and say, "Hi Bill, How are things?" - you certainly don't expect him to say, "Awful. I'm behind on my house payment, buried in credit card debt and have a lingering tax problem that causes me to lose sleep, fear the mail and the phone. Beyond that – life is cool." It's QRVXUSULVHZHGRQ·WVKDUHRXUÀQDQFLDO "mishigas" with our friends – and there is no reason to – for two obvious reasons. First, you don't want to become a news item due to your friend who pledges privacy but can't resist the pathetic lure of being a gossip. Beyond that – your friend is not the person to seek counsel. You need a professional who can identify the path to solving your problem - at the least possible cost and in the quickest manner. That's what we do. Everytime, we hear our clients say, "I wish I came in sooner." There are solutions that work and end the pain and anxiety. Oh, and of course, needless to say, your business is always a private matter. Call us for Free Consultation – anytime. We're here to help. CORRECTION The photo that accompanied the profile of Sue Goldsmith in "Forever Mentshen" ( July 18, page 92) is of Janet Ray, com- mittee member of Corner Shower & Laundry. August 3 • 2017 5 jn for openers Communication Frustration letters L ast month I described to you a 2.5-hour phone session I had with John from the Philippines, a tech support representative for my cable provider who patiently walked me through the installation of my new upgraded hardware. Since then, I've become one with my TV remote, which I can now talk into and ver- bally change channels. Although I must enunciate in slow motion for it to recognize my command to turn to the Smithsonian Channel, as in "Smiiiiithhhhhh- sooooon-iiiii-an." However, not all is copacetic on the technology front. I'm now in the throes of a cell phone issue. Actually, I should say I'm in the "throws" of an issue because I've been "this close" to throwing my cell phone out the win- dow. My iPhone has lost its ability to recognize the wifi connection in my home, hindering access to the inter- net. So, of course, I called tech sup- port. And that's where I engaged in a two-hour phone conversation with Steve from the Philippines. (I forgot to ask if he knows the aforemen- tioned John from the Philippines.) If you're keeping score, I'm now up to 4.5-hours of tech support in the last 30 days with folks in the Philippines. Thank God the U.S. helped the Philippines free themselves of the Japanese occupation during WWII or who knows where we'd be getting our tech support from. Oh, wait, that would be India. Steve from the Philippines walked me through a myriad of problem- solving steps, sadly to no avail. He advised me to go their closest retail store for further assistance. I want you to know I'm very satisfied with my cell phone carrier, and I wish them no ill will. So to be fair I'm going to use a pseudonym to protect them from undue criticism. That being said, off I went to the nearest "Horizon" store. Upon my arrival, a thorough inspection of my iPhone was con- ducted. The results showed I had full wifi strength in the store; suggesting to the "Horizon" representative that the source of my connectivity issue must be my cable modem. He recom- mended I contact my cable provider. I've decided I'm not up for another marathon phone call. Instead, to expedite the tech support process, I thought it would be more prudent to just book a trip to the Philippines. I'll make sure to write because my phone probably won't work. Meanwhile, I'm happy to report I've resolved at least one additional communication challenge. A year ago, I purchased, but had yet to set up, a new two-line landline phone to replace the 40-year old one in my home office. I vaguely remember, but I believe the first words I uttered into this relic of a device were: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you." I've procrastinated setting up the new phone because it came with a 223-page/177 section user's manual! Eighteen pages alone dedicated to "Getting Started," which intimidated me into not getting started. My son, visiting from out-of-town, finally set it up for me last week in less than 10 minutes. Now I can sell my carrier pigeons. I close by wishing my cousin Harry in Toronto a happy, healthy 98th birthday. Harry, a Holocaust survivor, is simply the sweetest, most inspir- ing man on the planet. Our family sent him a bouquet of flowers that I ordered through 1-800-Flowers. The salesperson could not have been more accommodating. While I can't recall his name, he did confirm to me that he was located in … the Philippines. Emmis (true). • Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting tal- ent, speaker, emcee and a regular guest host on the Mitch Albom Show on WJR AM 760. Visit his website at laughwithbigal.com and "Like" Al on Facebook. views Alan Muskovitz Clarification Thank you for running my op-ed ("New Plan Needed for Kotel" July 27, 2017). I'd like to make one important clarification for your readers: It was not until I actually read my op-ed in the paper that I realized that my opening sentence could be inter- preted as referring exclusively to Jews. It would have been better had I said that "Israel should be a place where all — not just some — Jews are welcome, appreciated and treated with respect." Because the subject of my com- ments was an intra-mural dispute within the Jewish community, I unfor- tunately did not think to make it crys- tal clear that I believe Israel needs to treat everyone with justice and respect, without regard to religion, national origin, ethnicity or political opinion — that includes Jews of all denomina- tions and movements as well as those who are secular, whether Ashkenazi, Sephardi or Mizrahi, and also adher- ents of any other faith, Palestinians, immigrants, refugees … In other words: everyone. Nancy F. Kaplan West Bloomfield Janet Ray