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My wife lost her cell phone antenna two days ago as she hiked through the woods near our house. Without the antenna, her cell coverage is extremely poor. So she stopped at a Radio Shack in town yesterday to see if she could get a replacement antenna at a reasonable cost.

At first, the sales clerk seemed very friendly and helpful. She said if they had an old phone with the right antenna, my wife could have it for $10. So they looked through a box of old phones, but found nothing.

Republican nominee Sen. John McCain wanted his former competitor Rep. Ron Paul to endorse him and give him the names of Paul's supporters at the Republican Convention and elsewhere.

Paul, according to The Washington Times, resisted and continues to say "no."

Their negotiation concluded with no resolution. Did it fail? After all, they didn't reach agreement, right?

Arizona Cardinals' wide receiver Anquan Boldin and his agent Drew Rosenhaus want to tear up his $22.75 million contract (now in its 2nd year and legally valid through 2010) and renegotiate.

Why? They feel the market for wide receivers has changed for the better (for them) and he deserves a lot more money. Despite the Cardinals' apparent willingness to renegotiate, Boldin also has requested a trade and claims his relationship with Cardinals' head coach Ken Wizenhunt has deteriorated.

What's going on here and what can we learn from it?

Do you want a fairly sure way to save money if you're selling your house? According to a survey in Consumer Reports' September issue, 71 percent of sellers who attempted to negotiate a lower commission with their real estate broker received a discount.

The problem? Only 46% of the sellers attempted to negotiate. And if you think they received worse service from their broker as a result, think again. The survey found that those who paid lower commissions were just as satisfied with their broker's performance as those who didn't.