Dear Ann Landers,
I had to smile when I read the letter from "Tom," whose friend still has his deceased wife's voice on the answering machine. My wife programmed all the machines in our house. If she were to die before me, you can bet all those machines would stay exactly as they are now. Tom's friend does not need grief counseling. What he needs is someone to come over and show him how to work the darned machine. -- Technologically Challenged in Maryland

Dear Technologically Challenged,
I was pleased to hear from you because I am also a member of your "club." Turning on the microwave is the limit of my "technical" expertise, and it took me a while to get that right. The letter from "Tom" created an avalanche of mail from readers who disagreed with me. They found the voices of deceased family members comforting. I say, to each his own.