And if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

I received a junk mail item yesterday which offered an "opportunity to own a carefree second home in Manhattan from $175,000."  Are they kidding?  Is it for a closet somewhere in Harlem?  Maybe, for a little more money, you get a view of the airshaft and the building next door.  (Premium prices bring a basement apartment with a view of the rats scurrying in and out of the dumpster.)

The brochure (on the back page, naturally) lists the details.  Aside from the square footage and prices (which I will share upon request), I couldn't fail to notice the catch.  "As an owner, you receive a real estate deed conveying a one-eighth interest in a Club residence."

That's right.  You, too, can share a bed with seven other people!  Actually, that might be fourteen other people, if they're married.  (I hope they bring their own sheets.)

They provided me with my own, "personal webpage" to check them out.  I didn't, though, because I don't want them thinking I fell for their propaganda.  I did, however, do an anonymous web search and discovered this is, indeed, a real place:  The Phillips Club at Lincoln Square.