DR. WALLACE: Over the Christmas break, my family and I went to London to visit my grandparents. My mother was born in England, and my parents met when they both were students at Surrey University.

While we were in England, we went to Blackpool, a resort city on the ocean in the west of England. We decided to have our fortunes told by a gypsy fortuneteller.

Neither of us believed that she actually could predict the future, but we did it just for fun. We paid five pounds each, and expected to have a few laughs. Mom went first, and the gypsy looked at some cards and then told her that her husband (my dad) was going to get a promotion at work. Two months later after we got home, Dad was named executive vice president of sales.

Now I'm really worried because the same fortuneteller had told me my boyfriend and I would break up. Now I'm really nervous because I love my boyfriend and I would be devastated if we broke up. Now I keep thinking of that gypsy, and I really did believe she had psychic powers. Why else would she have known about my dad's promotion?

Now I react a little differently with my boyfriend. We used to disagree, but I always told him why I thought a different way. Now, I just agree with him because I'm afraid he might get mad and end our relationship.

When I read about psychics at the library, I learned that there is documented proof that some people really have the power to predict the future. Please tell me what you think. — Nameless, Hartford, Conn.

NAMELESS: Don't change the way you act around your boyfriend. He was attracted to who you were before you visited the gypsy. Just be yourself and let your relationship develop at its own speed. The gypsy may have scored a lucky hit by "predicting" your dad's promotion, but, in fact, she can no more predict the future than I can.

What's at work here is the power of suggestion. Telling you that you're going to break up with your boyfriend is the sort of thing that can easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You become so afraid it will happen that your nervousness helps bring it about.

If you find yourself unable to get the gypsy's "prediction" out of your mind, ask yourself this question: What's she doing in Blackpool earning $8 a fortune when she could become a millionaire placing bets based on her knowledge of future events?

YOUR BOYFRIEND'S CLAIM REGARDING MARIJUANA IS CORRECT

DR. WALLACE: I am aware that illegal drugs, when mixed with alcohol, can cause serious physical ailments, including death. But my boyfriend claims that the effects of marijuana are not multiplied by alcohol. Is this true? — Pat, Boston, Mass.

PAT: It's true that marijuana's effects are not compounded by alcohol, but marijuana's drug effects will stay in the body long after the effects of the alcohol have passed.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. E-mail him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.