This is a great idea. Can he stay with family briefly while he seeks a job? And possibly use their address? Sometimes employers prefer to hire someone who already lives there.

Love that one...but can anybody listen to it and not think of the final episode of Seinfeld? :)

David Bowie's Changes

Yes, this is such a pain! We once had to replace a faucet in a bathroom that had lots of shiny brass in it, not realizing that to match, it needed: faucets, doorknobs, light fixtures, towel racks, tp holder...and maybe other stuff I'm forgetting. It was going to be so expensive that we gave up and decided to buy a two-tone faucet to blend in the new faucet with the old brass fixtures. BUT the sink needed a widespread faucet, and the only two-tone one we could find was almost $300. Needless to say - the sink eventually got a shiny nickel faucet.

Silas Marner is one of my all-time favorite books. I didn't read it until I was an adult. My dd read it when she was 16, and loves it, too. I found it very moving. I also count Eliot's Adam Bede as one of my all-time favorite books. It has some very mature themes (an illicit romance, a murder, another death) but handled without sensationalism.

I didn't realize I was in such a small minority. I think shaking hands is pretty gross - I've read the studies about how many people actually wash their hands with soap & water after using the toilet.

When I have my phone in my pocket, it makes me jump. But it's almost always in my purse or on the table, so the vibration isn't that bad.

Well. I didn't know I could set a different tone for texts. I learn something new from this board every day. :D

The Office theme song. But 99% of the time, my phone is on vibrate so I don't hear the ring tone.

I am using Seventh Generation detergent which works well in combination with the vinegar rinse. I tried Costco's gel detergent a couple of months ago and it was awful. I ran two loads and each was dirtier than the last. Luckily Costco has their great return policy.

This is what I had. I went to Home Depot to ask about a water softener to get my dishes clean. The helpful employee told me that she just puts a custard cup in the top rack of her dishwasher, filled with vinegar. I have been doing it now for months and it works perfectly. Give it a try. BTW, before I started doing this I ran an empty load, but poured a bunch of vinegar in the bottom of the dishwasher. When the load was done, I had big white crystallized plates in the bottom of the dishwasher. I guess it was from the years of mineral buildup - it was very shocking and dramatic!

I had to look at the date of this thread to make sure it wasn't an old one...because you have 988 posts yet you consider yourself a newbie? I wonder what that makes me. :001_unsure:

I'm shocked at these stories - it makes you wonder how some of these people ended up in the "caring" medical profession! My dd was injured in a dance class on a CC campus last semester. She was treated very professionally by the staff. The campus security was so helpful to me when I arrived on campus; they let me park in the security office parking lot and drove me over to the medical building in a golf cart. Then when dd was ready to go, the med. staff wheeled her out in a wheelchair to where security staff came & fetched us in a golf cart again to get back to our car. It was just a sprained ankle, but she was obviously unable to walk on it. I don't know how this would have been different in a situation involving the ER, or if dd had not been a minor. But I was happy with how everything worked out.

My kids (freshman and senior) are currently obsessed with Star Trek, so I'm so happy you posted this! Here's a book we're all reading now that I picked up from the library - did NOT see it on the Amazon list you linked: The Double Vision of Star Trek by Hertenstein. It explores the duality of many of the themes in Star Trek, so it's literary/philosophy based. It covers TOS, TNG, and the movies, and compares them to other fantasy literature such as Tolkein and Lewis.

I looked into this just last month as our renewal came up and it was very $$ now that we have 3 drivers. I couldn't find any discounts, so decided to drop AAA and go with our insurance co's emergency road service plan. It is $24/year to cover all of us, versus $100 for AAA. Dd already had to use it once for a lockout, and it was as quick & easy as AAA. :) My second choice was Allstate Motor Club. If you or hubby are 50 or over, AARP has a special deal that I think is the same as the Allstate Motor Club but cheaper. If you need the AAA discounts, I guess you still have to pay up and go with them. But using the internet, I have found I can usually get similar discounts to AAA.

I wouldn't even mention it to her unless she brings it up. Sounds like she won't, since she has no intention of ever meeting you there! But if it ever does - you can look surprised and say, "Oh! Since it was just hubby and me working out, we decided to join the Y and get two for the price of 1. It's working out great! I hope you're finding time to work out at your gym!"

Do you have an example? I just read the whole thread and didn't see anything about moral failure. One poster mentioned that the 7th graders might be all agreeing just to be cool. But I didn't read that as a judgment.

I like Seventh Generation Natural All Purpose Cleaner "Green Mandarin & Leaf" scent for basic countertop cleaning in the kitchen & bathrooms. It smells very fresh and works as well as 409, etc. I also like Seventh Generation's automatic dishwasher detergent. But for toilets, showers, & sinks, I still use Clorox Cleanup. Sorry. I don't know how else to prevent mold/mildew and other nasty stuff. I am open to suggestions on products for that!

Yes. Whether or not the fire department should have saved the house or not - it's apparent that the Cranicks had had success with cheating the system once before, and didn't think it was important to pay the $75 this year.

If I were in your friend's situation, I would look into using K12 through a charter school. I have friends who have done it through high school, and it's rigorous but easy to use (for the parent - as the student is assigned a teacher by the school). Having records kept by a charter makes it easier to get into some universities - for example, in California, it's hard for privately homeschooled students to go directly to state universities. But K12 charter school students can do it.

Dissenting opinion here. I don't really like my front loading LG. I've had it a little more than a year. No problems with mold or smell (I always leave the door open) but I don't think it gets our clothes as clean. And, as already mentioned, the loads take about twice as long. Not sure what you mean about HE dryer...I think that's called a clothes line. :)

This makes sense to me. Teens do stupid things - I can imagine a couple of teens using the house and then doing something like cut the toaster cord as a little "I was here" gesture.

I had to rent a car a couple of weeks ago. They put a "hold" of $250 on my cc. They were doing the same to the woman in line next to me, except the hold of $250 was on her debit card linked to her checking account, and she was pretty upset about it. (these holds were even though the rental amount was for much less...in my case, only a one day rental.) So if you have a debit card, and enough money in your account to cover any additional holds they put on the card, you should be fine. Here are the ID requirements for flying - the ID must have an expiration date, which I assume means they check it? But it doesn't say specifically. :( http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/acceptable_documents.shtm

I am baffled that this seems to be such a divisive issue. :001_huh:

I don't have an answer for you about the size. But, I wanted one of these for YEARS (at least 5). I fantasized about them - the colors, the sizes, shapes. :) I imagined how my life would be changed. Then I got one a year and 1/2 ago (an oval, 6 or 7 qts, I think). I've used it exactly once. :001_huh: And I scratch-cook a lot. Right now I have room in my kitchen cabinets for it, so there it sits. But if we ever move...it's gone. Just something to think about.