Tuff D

Is it expected that everyone invited to a child's birthday party bring a gift? I had to argue with someone that I feel only close friends and relatives should give gifts and for example, for the neighbors and classmates it should be optional. I don't feel that it should be expected that everyone bring a gift just because they were invited. What is the proper protocol?

I've seen people put gift suggestions on the invitation (which I think is tacky). I have also seen where people say no gift is needed on the invitation, 'your presence is gift enough'.

I'm thinking about purchasing the Rosetta Stone language learning software but I want to know if anyone who has used it finds it easier to learn than sitting in a classroom. I know this software is expensive but i have to take 2 levels of foreign language at my college but i prefer to learn in my own time at at my own pace. Also, my college sits exemption tests for those that already know a foreign language. Has anyone learned enough from Rosetta stone to be able to sit and pass the test? I would prefer an answer from someone in college who has definite information on this.

I had this argument with friends about owing money. If you owe someone money, lets say $500, and you cant pay them back anytime soon. Is it ok to give the person owed money a gift for christmas? This of course has no bearing on the $500 owed, its just cause you care for them and want to give them a gift.

My friends said that is an insult to them, if you cant afford the $500 then keep the gift and put the money towards the $500 owed.

What do you think?

I was told catalytic converters were supposed to last the lifetime of a car (My car is 10 yrs old 110K miles, 99 Mazda Millenia). The dealer wants just over $1000 to replace. Are aftermarket cat converters equally efficient and can any reputable garage replace them? Is it the part that is expensive or the labor? I'm getting different prices by different garages.

My check engine light came on in early December. But the car ran perfectly fine. I checked the easy things and found nothing wrong. I never got the codes pulled because I was going on vacation for a month. The car was parked during this time. I decided last week to take the car to the garage to have something fixed and a diagnosis. Well, the night before it was to go to the shop, the check engine light went off. So i never got the codes pulled. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? The car (a 99 Mazda Millenia) still runs perfectly fine. I had the same thing happen in my Acura and it also ran fine and later passed emissions.

I did check to make sure the bulb did not burn out.

I like to wear a sweater over my dress shirt. Do i wear the collar/tips outside the sweater or inside the sweater? When I wear a tie I wear the tips in. Without a tie, i'm not sure. I wear both crew and V neck sweaters. Also, when I wear jeans with a dress shirt and a sweater, if I leave the shirt out of my pants and hanging below the sweater, do I wear the collar/tips inside or outside the sweater? If there are any other rules for sweater wearing, feel free to add them.

I have a new computer running vista and my pre-installed security software is about to expire. What is the best software to use in the $40-$80 range? My computer is currently running trial version of Norton 260.

No, I don't use I tunes nor do I have an Ipod. I still burn to disc. Here's my problem. When burning mixed cd's (a string of music with no gaps between songs), how do you burn to to CD and eliminate the gap? I thought windows media player was able to automatically figure out that an album was mixed and burn accordingly since it plays mixed albums. Help me fix this. And no smart comments about my living in the stone age.

My friend came to visit last week and rented a 2008 honda accord. When he used the remote to pop his trunk, the trunk on my 1999 Mazda popped open! Apparently both car's remotes use the same frequency. Is this something we all should be concerned about? It also unlocked all my doors.