CHARLES R

Hi There

I'm investigating a couple of options. The original owner of our house put a dark coloured laminate flooring in the kitchen. The adjacent dining room leading to the living room is carpeted. I've decided I'd like to rip out the carpet and replace it with hardwood.

The biggest concern is handling the transition from the dining room to the kitchen. Even though the hardwood colour will be close to that in the kitchen what can I do to make the floor transition look natural as you go from room to room.

Thanks in advance!

Hi There,

My wife and I are looking into visiting Paris in April. We were wondering just how much the average restaurant price in Paris is. We're not looking to eat gourmet food with bottles upon bottles of wine. Just a normal meal comparable to eating in a family restaurant in North America.

We're just trying to budget our spending money appropriately.

Hi There:

I find this wierd that the CRA has contacted me now concerning a foreign tax credit I claimed on my 2006 taxes. I worked in the US for 5 weeks in 2006. What I found rather arbitrary was the fact that they stated that if I didn't send in all of the paperwork they requested in the time frame they requested they could disallow the entire tax credit. I find this rather harsh especially since I had already given them half of the things they requested when I filed my 2006 taxes (namely the US W2 and the exchange rate I used on my taxes) What they want now is my US 1040NR and my state return.

Does anyone know what practical considerations do they consider when deciding to

I've always ended up on the short end of the CRA. I've had to appeal their interpretations on my taxes 4 times in the 13 years I've been working full time, winning all 4 times. I'm frustrated that an organization that routinely claims not to receive proof of receipt documents can make such a nature

I asked this question before, but didn't get too many opinions. The tax components are Canadian.

I have a bonus coming to me that's $5,000 after tax.

I have the following debt

Line of credit 13,000 8% int

Student Loan 4,000 8.5% int, but tax advantaged

would I be better off paying down some of the debt? Or should I roll the $5,000 into my RSP, which would generate a $2,000 tax refund that I could then divert into the debt.

I'm not hurting financially, but my mortgage is up for renewal in 8 months, so I'd like to look as good as possible in the bank's eyes.

Here's my question. The tax components are Canadian.

I have a bonus coming to me that's $5,000 after tax.

I have the following debt

Line of credit 13,000 8%

Student Loan 4,000 8.5%, but tax advantaged

would I be better off paying down some of the debt? Or should I roll the $5,000 into my RSP, which would generate a $1,800 tax refund that I could then divert into the debt.

My kids are already getting mommy a really nice bracelet for Christmas albeit paid for by me since my two toddlers don't have money.

I'm clueless what to get my wife. We set a really low limit on what we're spending on each other this year $50, because we're saving for a trip in February. I've already got her a few little stocking stuffers.

She's hinted at earrings or watches, and I've seen a few nice ones. However, I don't think she'd want just a jewellery only Christmas.

Would you have a problem if you main gift from both your kids and your spouse were jewellery?

I'm curious which you would pick between the two.

I can get the TomTom Go 720 for $350 CAD

and the Garmin Nuvi 250w for $350 CAD as well ($370 with a 3 year warranty and some swag too!)

The main differences between the two are:

the TomTom has voice to text ("Turn right on Eglinton") vs the Nuvi is just voice "Turn Right Ahead"

The TomTOm has 2BG internal storage, whereas the Nuvi uses a SD Card.

Nice to haves

TomTom Go 720

- can integrate my ipod with it and have it broadcast to my car stereo so i don't need my current fm transmitter

- bluetooth compatable with my cell phone!

Nuvi 250w

- can use Garmin travel guides, which would be nice for our trip to europe

- I understand it will go longitude and latitude searches, so I can geocache if I wanted to with it.

- has a walking mode, which TomTom does not (might only use on vacation and hiking though)

My primary use would be in the car

We do a couple of trips a year where it would be nice to use it to walk.

Just curious. My wife gets horrible mood swings every month. I've told her in the past, I wont tolerate her grumpiness, especially with the kids. Honestly, I just dont want to be around her when she's this grumpy. Its like walking on eggshells for 1 week every month.

I've lived with other women before, and their mood swings were nowhere near this.

I have a carpeted dining room that overlooks my living room. I'd like to be rip out the carpet this winter and install hardwood.

The problem is there is a slight overhang of the dining room floor. For the carpet this isn't a problem, since the carpet comes out goes down and it tacked to the underside of the overhang.

How do I lay hardwood on the overhang. I can come out to the edge no problem, but what do i do with the side that was previously covered by the carpet.

I often feel so run down in my relationship. I keep asking my wife for help and she never listens.

I feel that I do almost everything in the relationship. I

- earn 80% of the income in a high stress high reward environment

- get the kids ready for school / daycare daily, and take them

- change all of the baby's diapers except for maybe 2-4 changes on the weekend

- do all the manly chores like taking out the trash, recycling and so on

- do my own laundry and ironing

- drive everyone everywhere

My wife

- lost our first house because she spends more than she earns - though the only family expense she pays is daycare

- does not drive, refuses to get a drivers licence because she doesn't like to drive in this "big" city

- is obsessed with television and spends 3-4 hours a night watching it

- does not have patience with our daughter and frequently shouts at her. We then get into big arguements about it because I feel for the poor girl who just wants her mom to play with

There was another Mattel / Fisher Price recall yesterday.

My question is why is Bob Eckert, CEO of that organization still employed. His company is not an innocent victim as he'd like to spin to the media. Under his leadership they made the willing decision to outsource production to China. His leadership resulted in decisions not to test batches of merchandise for safety.

Other toy makers like Hasbro have also outsourced to China but they haven't had the same issues because they decided to test samples of everything for defects just like the auto manufacturers do on parts.

Is Mattel just waiting until they test every toy and make every recall so they can then fire him and let the new leader start with a clean seat?