DEAR BRUCE: Is it possible to leave money in a will to a pet? I have a dog, age 5, that will very possibly outlive me. I would like to be certain that this animal is treated well for the remainder of its lifetime. -- Reader, via e-mail DEAR READER.: While you can't leave money for the pet to spend for itself, you most certainly can designate someone to care for the pet and provide the funds for the pet's well-being. Many people have included a pet in their wills in this fashion, including this writer. If you are worried that the monies be spent according to your instruction, you can appoint an attorney to oversee the process.

DEAR BRUCE: About eight months ago, I joined a health club. I have found that the services that they offer have been very, very useful to me. I go a couple of times a week to work out and have always been well treated. Last week, I went down for my workout, and you can imagine my surprise and shock when there was a notice on the door that the company had gone bankrupt and the club was closed. This is an independent club, and there are no other branches that I can attend. I have tried to find out if I will get my unused membership back, but so far I have not received any affirmative information. What can I do at this point? -- Reader, via e-mail DEAR READER: Unhappily, you are an unsecured creditor in a bankruptcy, and the likelihood is that you will get little or nothing. It's unfortunate, but, in these bad economic times, this is going to happen. And while it's too late for you, my readers might think twice before venturing into something like this. You can contact the administrator whose name would be noted on the notice on the door and get in line, but the overwhelming likelihood is that you are stuck.

DEAR BRUCE: I thought that if I had an accident on someone's premises that they would be responsible. I went into the supermarket the other day and slipped on a patch of salad oil. As it turned out the bottle of oil had just been dropped by a small child, which punctured a hole in it and oil was everywhere. The mother was trying to clean it up the best she could but around the corner I came, slipped and down I went. The store personnel were very, very solicitous and took my name. Happily, I was not seriously hurt, but I did go to the emergency room. Their position is that there was no way that they could have anticipated this accident because the child had just broken the bottle. As a consequence, they will pay for the one visit to the emergency room as a courtesy. But any other expenses are on me. Is this fair? I felt that at least $1000 or $2000 would be appropriate given the fact that I did suffer a good deal. -- Hurt, via e-mail

DEAR HURT.: I think that the company is taking a defensible position. What would you have had them do? Swoop down from the ceiling in a microsecond to clean up the floor? They did nothing wrong. They had no way of knowing that the floor would be slippery, and you in turn might be criticized for coming around the corner too quickly, but the reality is that we all do that. I think that they have been reasonable and I think you should let the matter die.