Rach

Hubby and I are driving from San Francisco to the Grand Canyon as part of a longer vacation from the UK. We pick up the hire car on Thursday at 11.30 am in downtown San Fran and need to be at the Grand Canyon by the afternoon of Saturday.

Therefore, we have two days and two nights in total to see as much of Highway 1 as possible and then get to the Canyon.

Any suggestions as to where to break up our journey? If it helps we are going in April.

Thanks in advance for any help x

Am feeling 'pregnant' but am driving myself crazy waiting for my Drs appointment at the end of the week!

Would be about 13 weeks (hubby been working away). Am 'showing' with a swollen belly for about 10 days now and swollen quite low down. Had nausea for a couple weeks about a month ago. Have been crazy tired and had some serious headaches, sometimes lasting about a week at a time. My hair has become rather greasy recently and I've had a strange bitter taste in my mouth over the last week.

BUT, have had periods although not when supposed to and really not usual (v light and short). I took a test this morning but couldn't wait as really needed to pee at 4am. Got a REALLY faint positive within the time frame but hubby thinks this is an evap line (Clear Blue).

Am freaking out a bit as I 'feel' pregnant but think that maybe I'm actually going crazy. Gonna try another test later but in the meantime would love to hear opinions?.....

I read this post on a well known news site regarding yesterdays dog attack and want to know what you guys think?

"....this was a savage attack on a defenceless child by a savage dog that needed a bullet....It's sad pathetic animal lovers like yourself who restrict my rights of bringing my children up in a dogless society.... I dont want dogs around me or my children...if you love animals go and live on the serengeti."

This was in response to a comment that the media should not hype this out of proportion and that some dog owners are not representative of all dog owners.

What do you think? I am not condoning what happened nor am I defending the irresponsible (was thinking of a much worse description) owners who let this happen. But, I worry as a dog owner that media coverage and narrow minded opinions may prompt irrational action against all dog owners. Or is drastic action the way forward?

Hi

Am looking into starting a small business in my spare time making organic dog treats and cakes for the local area. Someone mentioned insurance in case a dog gets sick from my lovely baking.

Any ideas?

Hiya.

Was at obedience class last night and we got talking so I thought I'd share.

What made you choose the breed of dog you have? Do you work your dog or take part in some kind of activity? Would you pick this breed again?

I have a Newf as my neighbour had one and we wanted a good pub dog and now she competes in agility. We then chose a Saint Bernard to compliment our Newf (size and temprement) and he takes part in obedience comps. We would definitely choose both breeds again.

What about you guys?

Hi guys

Am 29 soon, have been married for 4 years and have a fab husband (and two dogs). Friends and sisters have all had children in the last few years and now everyone is wondering when I'm gonna bite the bullet.

In all honesty I never really wanted children when I was younger - it was all about work. Over recent years I have definately changed my mind and would love to have children but it looks like the time will never be right. My husband and I have pretty good jobs although we work shifts, we have recently relocated to a fab part of the country and are feeling more settled than ever. However, we are on a really tight budget as we've just bought a new house and I cannot imagine finding the money to have children any time soon, although everyone else seems to manage.

How did you all know the time was right?

Hi guys, bear with me as I have absolutely no idea when it comes to gardening!

I live on Dartmoor (windy, varying weather but quite wet) and have a north facing terrace (I live on quite a steep hill) which leads down to the rest of my garden.

I am looking to have some plants in pots along the terrace to include some climbing plants to run along the railings. Unfortunately I really don't know where to start as generally when I find something that looks 'pretty' it says suitable for south facing gardens.

Any suggestions. Especially welcoming plants that are not too difficult to keep as I even managed to kill a cactus once!!

Cheers!

Hi guys

Am at the end of my tether with my laptop. Since my husband downloaded a game on facebook we have had a pop-up virus. Pages are randomly loaded either on top or behind of the page I'm using and quite often this means the internet has to close completely. The pages are being loaded through incentaclick.com.

I had McAfee (free with my internet) but this could not even find the virus on a scan. I have therefore switched to AVG but although the scan found the virus and removed it, it did not work.

Any suggestions as to how to get rid of this would be gratefully received.

Many thanks!

Hi guys

Am looking for an extra large muzzle. My dogs nose is 42cm in diameter and he obviously needs room to pant and drink. I cannot for the life of me find anything this size in the UK (biggest is 40cm) and everything from the USA comes in chrome with massive spikes which seems rather innapropriate!

Any suggestions as to where I can obtain such a rare item would be appreciated?!!

My 4 yr old Newf is healthy and active. On Sat we woke up and found her limping - she wouldn't put any weight on her front right leg. There was also a lump on her leg and an engorged tick in her bedding. We took her to the vet straight away and they advised it was probably not the tick, put her on anti-inflammatories and pain killers. They advised if no change after 5 days then go back.

Sat night she was restless and wouldn't settle - obviously in pain. This is very unlike my dog, she's so stoic. We rushed her to the emergency vet and they x-rayed her and gave her more pain killers. Nothing showed up on the x-rays so we are now waiting to see if there are any changes before they proceed with further tests.

She is not in any pain but still cannot put any weight on her leg. She's struggling to do anything except lie on the sofa! Although she is much more like her old self and really wants to to play and go out she can't.

Anyone else experienced this. Will it just be one of those mysterious problems that will just disappear? It's just so sad seeing her like this!

I have a 2004 4.0 Sport Jeep Grand Cherokee which I had LPG converted two years ago.

At last years service they said we had a very minor coolant hose leak which we should get looked at but no rush. This meant we had to top up the coolant every couple of months and we had the odd patch but otherwise ok. As you can imagine we never got round to getting this looked at.

Anyhoo, the car was due to be serviced this weekend. Last night on the way home from work it overheated and we pulled over. We topped up the coolant which was empty, let the engine cool down and then started agin. The car overheated a couple of miles later. We got towed to the garage and they looked at it today.

Car starts but overheats. They advise that liquid is pouring out of the cylinder head and that to remove the head and gaskets will cost around £3000-4000 and 'that's without really knowing what the problem is'!! They quoted £700 just for a new head gasket.

The car is less than 5 years old with 50k miles. Can this be right?????

I have a 2004 4.0 Sport Jeep Grand Cherokee which I had LPG converted two years ago.

At kast years service they said we had a very minor coolant hose leak which we should get looked at but no rush. This meant we had to top up the coolant every couple of months and we had the odd patch but otherwise ok. As you can imagine we never got round to getting this looked at.

Anyhoo, the car was due to be serviced this weekend. Last night on the way home from work it overheated and we pulled over. We topped up the coolant which was empty, let the engine cool down and then started agin. The car overheated a couple of miles later. We got towed to the garage and they looked at it today.

Car starts but overheats. They advise that liquid is pouring out of the cylinder head and that to remove the head and gaskets will cost around £3000-4000 and 'that's without really knowing what the problem is'!! They quoted £700 just for a new head gasket.

The car is less than 5 years old with 50k miles. Can this be right?????

Hi guys.

We adopted our lovely Saint Bernard aged 8 weeks old from a breeder we heard of through another Saint owner.

We went and visited the home, saw both parents, the health scoring certificates and agreed to buy a puppy. We picked up Mike a few days later with the promise the papers would be posted to us as she was waiting on other info before doing this (I know!). After 6 weeks we still had not heard and so tried to contact the breeder, needless to say he had disappeared!

I have five generation pedigree certificates for both parents (IMP THA) from the Kennel Club but obviously not for Mike. We do NOT want to breed from him (he is neutered), we cannot show him for this and health reasons he is just a well loved family pet.

I am just intrigued, any ideas?!

Hi guys

Spend a little too much time on here, especially in the dog section!!!! It never ceases to amaze me the amount of strange/dumb/stupid/wierd/crazy questions people ask.

What is the most wierd and/or stupid question you've seen in this section?

Whenever a bible is sold who does the money go to? The church? The publisher? Does anyone have copyright?

My 2 1/2 y o St Bernard is due to get neutered in a couple of weeks.

We have been considering whether to have his dew claws removed at the same time. He has both front and rear claws but we are only considering the rear ones. They are the unattached kind so just really wobbly and loose. He has not caught them yet but he is always chewing on them and I'm concerned that he will cause himself an injury on a walk.

I have consulted two vets. One advised to get them removed and to do it the same time as the neuter to save on anaesthetic. Another vet said this was cruel and he would not appreciate having so much done at once and to leave it be.

I have had so much conflicting advice regarding this and am sure I will get the same here but has anyone else had this procedure at the same time as a neuter?

Sensible comments welcome!

Hi

My 2 1/2 year old Saint Bernard is going to get neutered at the end of the month (overdue I know).

He has had major surgery before and I remember that when he was still housebound he got very boisterous and mischevous with the reduced excercise, especially when my other dog went for her walk.

Any ideas on fun games etc to occupy him while he's on reduced excercise. He's not very food oriented, unless it's fruit or carrots, it's all about the love. He is very energetic and extraordinarily clumsy!!!

Any ideas appreciated. I am taking a week off work to spend some time with him!!

I have a GSXR 600 S reg and use to commute to work on a daily basis. After leaving standing for two days the bike won't start, no power at all and won;t turn over.

In order to get it to a garage I need to check the battery to jump start but have no idea how to get to it. Can't see any obvious way of removing the main seat.

Any ideas?

Hiya Guys.

Am moving to Devon v soon and looking for dog events/classes in the area. Would love to do agility with my Newf as she's very active and loves that kind of activity. The two classes in my current area could not cater for a dog this size unfortunately.

Anyone know of anything suitable?

My newfoundland loves to suck her favourite pillow like a dummy while watching TV and my St Bernard loves to eat salad and fruit and will choose it over sausage!

What is the cutest/craziest/strangest thing your dog does?