Rachael H

I have a house full of those 70s plain brown plywood doors and would like to paint them white, but can anyone give me advice on how to go about this, such as how much sanding I need to do, how many coats of primer etc etc.

Our dog was a rescue dog that we got about 3 years ago (blue merle collie). When we first got him he was terrified of going in the kitchen and would only go in if we stayed in there with him. Now, he's fine about going in the kitchen, yet if one of us go in without him and shut the door he barks until we open it again. He's also got this habit of opening the kitchen door when it's closed; I'm sat working and I shut the kitchen door (but not completely in case he or the cat want to nose it open and get a drink/food) and he will get up, walk over, open the door fully and then lie down again! Has he got OCD?!

My dad received a phone call today offering to help him with the computer problems he is experiencing. He is 71, but is switched on and would not normally fall for something like this, but they have been experiencing real problems with their computer running slow and assumed that the call was from Microsoft as they had reported the problem to them. He was on the phone for approx 45 mins and was advised that his computer was badly infected by viruses and it resulted in him going onto their website and entering the last 6 digits of his Windows XP registration number. This came back as unrecognised and then the operative asked him to pay £110 to download some software to cure all of the alleged viruses. At this point he ended the call and we googled the company and discovered it was a scam. However I am concerned that he entered the last 6 digits of his XP registration number and wonder if this allows the dodgy dealers access to his computer. Can anyone help - my parents are absolutely horrified by what has happened and are terrified of viewing their bank account etc in case they're being watched. HELP!!

I have a 60 litre deep hexagonal tank with one goldfish and 2 extra small goldfishes (little titchy things). I am considering moving them into a smaller, rectangular tank (it's 18x10x10 - 30 litres I think) but don't want to overcrowd them. However, I have a feeling that the shape of the thank will be more beneficial than their current hexagonal one. Any advice please?

I want to take our daughter to London in a few months to see a show and have a good mooch round, and want to stay in a nice hotel (not too expensive, but not B&B or travellodge!), can anyone recommend an hotel that is central for theatres etc cos I don't know my way round and haven't a clue where a good place would be! Thanks in advance

I want to take our daughter to London in a few months to see a show and have a good mooch round, and want to stay in a nice hotel (not too expensive, but not B&B or travellodge!), can anyone recommend an hotel that is central for theatres etc cos I don't know my way round and haven't a clue where a good place would be! Thanks in advance

During the course of the day I've gone almost completely deaf! It started in one ear and then later the other ear did the same and now I have only a tiny amount of sound getting in. I've tried ear drops this afternoon but that only seems to have made it worse. Trouble is my husband is really cross with me because we had a lovely evening planned watching a film and now I can't! I've only just recovered from a broken ankle so I think he's a little fed up with me having "problems". I can't phone anyone for advice and I just don't know what to do!!

We've had our blue merle for about 3 years now and we have always fed him on James Wellbeloved because we found the protein levels were lower than a lot of other brands and it helps calm him down a bit. It was also the food he was fed when we adopted him.

However, he's never really liked it and tends to eat it out of desperation rather than desire and I always feel really mean. We used to feed our two old collies with tinned meat (pal especially) and they were both fighting fit until they reached the ripe old age of 15.

He does have a slightly sensitive tummy and I don't want to make him hyper, but is there any other products that I could try that might be a bit more appealing?

Thanks

Had my cast removed last week after a break in my fibula. Since the cast was removed I have been trying to walk but cannot put sufficient weight down on my heel to do it. I am obviously still very swollen, but the ankle itself is fairly pain free and i have lots of movement in my foot, but when I try to put full weight down on the heel it's excruciating. I've had one session of physio, but couldn't help feeling that he thought I was just being a wimp when in fact it is absolutely horrible. Is it normal to be in this much pain?

Hi, I broke me leg couple of weeks ago and have a cast up to my knee for six weeks. At night my toes become like big fat sausages and are really itchy and then not so bad in the daytime. Putting foot up doesn't make any difference to the swelling. The cast itself is comfortable enough (as far as a cast can be called comfortable!), but the discomfort in my toes is awful. I do have a corn on my toe which is also extremely painful and swollen and not getting any better even though no weight is being put on that foot. Is my problem caused by the cast (thinking maybe water retention at night and ankle swelling?) or could the corn be infected? Just don't want to bother the fracture clinic as they're really busy or do I just need a visit to the chiropodist? bit of a crystal ball question this.....

you stripped the bed off earlier in the day and didn't put clean bedding on? Don't you hate it when that happens?

My little girl is putting on a little too much weight. She's not overly large, but is beginning to get quite a podgy belly and I'm becoming concerned. I don't keep sweets or biscuits in the house and she doesn't eat lots of junk, but she does like to eat. I try hard to encourage her not to snack, but it's really difficult to get her to understand that she needs to watch what she eats without talking to her about it. I've talked about us both eating healthy food and keeping a good diet etc, but I've shied away from telling her that she needs to watch her weight as I don't want her to get a complex about it, but would it be wrong for me to encourage her to lose a pound or two? She weighs herself a lot (only cos she likes the digital scales), could I encourage her to drop 2 pounds or would I be running the risk of her becoming to obsessed with her weight? Any thoughts?

I have a 70 litre tank with a common goldfish, two fancy goldfish and (only recently added) 2 extra small goldfish. About a month ago the common goldfish quite suddenly turned white (we have had him almost exactly a year). There was a higher than normal level of nitrate and nitrite at the time, but the PH etc was reading fine. The tank now tests fine and I was hoping that he would turn orange again, but he hasn't. I've been told that it is stress that causes it (he turned white well before the 2 extra small goldfish were added), but I don't know how to help him or is he likely to remain this colour for ever?

We took home a rescue guinea pig 2 weeks ago (not ill treated or anything - his previous owner is very ill) and he is six months old and was an extremely nervous little chap. After advice from my local rescue centre, we took home a baby boy to keep him company. They were introduced very carefully and they now appear to be glued at the hip! Trouble is that neither of them seem to be calming down; I handle them twice a day, they are extremely pampered and spoilt, but they simply shiver when I hold them and they don't like to be retreived from their hutch/run. Will time sort this out or is there anything else I can try? The older one is slightly less skittish now, but they are still a terrified pair of little chaps. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

In February I broke my mobile phone and, because my contract was not due for renewal and I couldn't get a replacement, I opted to buy a pay and go phone from my Vodafone shop and put my sim in it.

Almost immediately I noticed quirky little faults with it, but they were quite rare and were not causing too much trouble. As time went by these faults became more noticeable and problematic until, in early April, I returned the phone to the Vodafone shop who then sent it away for repair. I came back quickly enough and I was told it had had a software upgrade. However, the original fault started to show up again. I telephone Vodafone this time and asked if I could get a replacement phone, but was told that it would need to be sent away for repair three times before it would qualify as "irreparable". I expressed my anger and frustration to the operator and he then asked me to check some setting on my phone and make some changes we he was sure would fix the fault. Following these changes the phone faults became worse and I returned to the Vodafone shop and a member of staff there changed my sim, again assuring me this would fix the problem. Since then the phone has behaved in exactly the same way as before and driving me absolutely potty as one minute it can be absolutely fine, the next minute nothing can be done with it. In final exasperation I emailed Vodafone and explained all of my problems and basically pointed out that I was sold a faulty phone and that a replacement handset should be offered. I received a swift response telling me that I would have to send the telephone off for repair again, but it was suggested that I consider buying a new phone in view of all the problems I am experiencing!! The problem that I have with all this is that I am self employed and rely on my mobile phone all the time, only I simply can't rely on it because it keeps failing. My customers are becoming extremely upset with me as they cannot get hold of me when they need to, but I can't afford to go out and buy a new phone, nor can I afford to be without one whilst it's off being repaired and I am reaching the end of my tether!

Can anyone tell me what my entitlements are in respect of being sold a faulty phone as i really don't know how to fight this any more.

Sorry to make such a long posting, but I thought I would detail the problems so that someone can guide me in the right direction!

We adopted a young rescue rabbit last week and he has a lovely big hutch and a separate run. My query is with his hutch - he's quite a loose bowled little fellow and produces lots of little currents for me (I clean his hutch every day because I saw the state of the hutch he came in! Yuk), however he keeps doing his poos and wees in the bed part of his hutch which I thought was a bit odd. Anyone experienced this before and what (if anything) can be done?

I have my 5yr old daughter saying "Mummy, someone's phoning you". Do I need to get a life?

The reckon it's going to snow next week. I live in Devon and we NEVER get snow, but our local weatherman said we will. Are you hoping for it or do you hate it?

Don't mock