rare breed of dog .........

Just a little article I stole out of Nhi's MX.

TRUE FRIENDS A RARE BREED

Most people only have three true friends, if Britain is any guide.

While most adults have up to 22 "mates", most feel they can only truly rely on three of them, research found.
And for three-quarters of us, one of our close friends is a family member.
The survey of 3000 people also found that we have lost touch with an average 24 friends over the years after simply "drifting apart".
Shefali Mattani, a spokeswoman for Nivea, which conducted the research, said: "Most of those polled seemed to have one solid best friend who they have grown up with, one family member and another friend they have either met at university or work."
She said a vast majority of friendships weakened as life got in the way.
"We move from job to job and away from our grass roots and it gets harder to maintain good relationships," she said.
"It is only the really strong friendships which continue despite life's interruptions, and of course family members are often the most reliable and trustworthy people to turn to."
The poll shows just under half of the people surveyed had lost touch with good friends after moving away from a particular area or job, while 29 per cent blamed lack of contact on being busy.
Seven in 10 people said their busy lifestyle meant they were seeing their true friends less.
Although 67 per cent still regularly saw their good friends face to face, two-thirds relied on contact by mobile phone, and 37 per cent by email.
Almost half of the people surveyed - 43 per cent - find themselves opening up to work colleagues to compensate for the fact they are not seeing their friends as much as they'd like.