Carrie

So I am a 17 year old girl and a junior in high school. So my friend (a senior) and I always go to the library during study hall. I usually beat Sean there because he is usually with his girlfriend before class. The other day I took my usual spot by the chess board and pulled out my tablet to read and this guy walked over and we played a game. Sean came in not much later and I made them play each other. The kid didn't tell us his name or grade until we told him first and he seemed surprised that we were upperclassmen but neither of us were surprised because we did not recognize him and it is a small school. Sean always teases me about being single so of course he had to mention this to the kid and he made it sound like I was looking or something. Today, the kid came back and we played a couple of games while Sean was in guidance and he asked me questions about relationships and I could not tell if he was flirting or looking for guidance but he seems interested. I am not- I would rather not date a boy 2-3 years younger than myself for the mental maturity difference. Not that I haven't dated different ages- when I was 16 I dated a 19 year old and I have dated two other guys, between 6 months and a year younger, however, three years is a lot to me at the moment. I don't really know how to get this kid to u derstand that I am not intetrsted gently.

So I am 17 and have been vegetarian since last August. My family is not, though it will just be my mom, sister, and I as my dad is on deployment. Last year, I did in fact eat the turkey. I decided that it was one time in the year and I insisted we finish it so it didn't go to waste as opposed to just having them throw it away when they got bored of leftovers. I am not vegan- I still eat eggs and dairy products and honey. I am a little anxious over this decision, though, as I have been vegetarian for over a year, but have already had 16 years of this holiday ingrained. Weekend after thanksgiving, my sister is moving several states away for college, so it will just be my mom and myself. I do not miss meat at all, though if i ever went back to it I would opt for local farms as it is healthier for us and better for the animals. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could feel better about doing the turkey or ideas for if i don't?

So I am a 17 year old girl, 5'4 and 120lbs. I do a lot of dancing and am constantly out and about between school, work, dance, the barn, the dogs, etc. My sister is 19 and pretty much never home anymore, and I am the only other kid. My mom has been spending some more time home now that horse show season is over, so the barn people don't need her around for those and stuff. So, with her new energy and time, she has been constantly picking at me. Stuff that she has let me wear since I was born, like tank tops or even just my dance clothes, she sneers and says I am in my underwear and need to put clothes on. (Dance uniform is tights and a leotard, but outside of dance, I wear shorts or yoga pants and a tank top and/or jacket over it.) She gets nuts over it. Just the other day, she and I had to walk down the road together to get the other car to jumpstart one in a parking lot so it was like an hour long walk back to the house. She was teaching me to drive a stick shift up there and the car had been neglected for a few months as my dad is at sea... She flipped out on me when I walked on the road right next to the curb and made me walk in the grass where it was lumpy and folded in on itself and I pretty much almost sprained an ankle like 15 times during that walk. She knows for a fact that I have been on hundreds of walks by myself or with my dog and do NOT walk in front of cars, nor on the lumpy grass. She wondered why I was frustrated and I told her this, but she didn't care. She knows I take my bike everywhere and walk everywhere and has no problem... She even makes me walk down to the gas station to get her an ice cream when it is dark out! Plus, she has started trying to make me go on a diet and getting mad when I eat something she herself will eat- I am a vegetarian. She is not, but accepts my choice. I have been for over a year and am perfectly healthy. I also work at night time, usually Fridays to Sundays. I like to go in an hour early to eat, but my sister was being slow so I decided to grab a piece of pie while I waited in case she was dawdling too long. My mom pretty much flipped out on me and she gets mad whenever I am not eating an apple or something. Yesterday, I got Subway after school, so it was around 3:30. She got home and wondered if I wanted pizza. I said sure and then she saw my subway bag in the trash and said I didn't need anymore food. Seriously? I had dance that night. Subway was my lunch because there is nothing at my school I can eat. She has NEVER been this way, but suddenly she is all over me. I know she was picked on in her family as a kid and lots of other bad things have happened to her, but she has always been fair. I am suddenly being treated like a six year old who does not know how to walk in the road, can't control what I eat, and apparently don't know how to dress. She even accused me of being pregnant a few months ago, even though she knew as well as I do that that is not possible and that I am not stupid. There is no talking with her for many reasons. I'd rather not get into that, but we will say she does not listen to be simple. Oh, and she is always threatening to get rid of my cats or questioning how I am caring for my fish even though she knows nothing about them, etc. I seriously am going to move out next year when I am 18 if she doesn't treat me my own age. Don't know how I will do it, but I will find a way. How can I deal with her and try to get her to treat me my age? This is not cool and I am not used to it, nor do I accept it. I have gone pretty much without parental guidance since I was 11 because both of my parents were working too much, now she is trying to slather me in it like butter, and going about it the wrong way. Advise?

So I am 17 and a girl. I am a dancer and fairly active, almost always doing something. My job does involve standing and running stairs for 6 hours on average but only a few times per week. Now that winter is coming again, my back decided to remind me that something is wrong. This is like the third year in a row now that I have a bad back in the winter. My lower back hurts all year but really flares up when the weather gets cold (Northeast US) and can really affect my flexability and simple ability to do much of anything. Now, some pain has returned also to my back between the shoulderblades and a little bit in between my lower back and shoulder blade. Also my right side hurts a little bit again when I breathe in. I have already been to the chiropractor and also asked my doctor about it during my physical before school started back up. They both found that my right hip is slightly higher and slightly puts my back off center, but neither seemed concerned, which is good. After the chiropractor adjusted my back, most of it felt way better, but it seems the pain has returned after a few months and with the return of Winter. We don't have the money or time to really go talk to anyone, though, so I wanted to know if anyone has any experience similar to this and any ideas and how I might help with the pain and not be useless during dance (I take 4 classes and help teach another 4.) I really do not want to go another year like this...

I have a year old rosemary plant. This plant was a cutting from my school and it spent last winter in the greenhouse at my school, then spent a couple months in it's little container in my sister's room in front of the window (to keep it away from the cats). When it got warm enough, I transplanted it in a hanging basket and hung it out on a hook in the garden. The soil appears to be largely clay and silt based, and stays fairly dry if I don't involve myself with the watering and leave it to the rain. When it was smaller, I brought it under the eave in front of the house if it was going to pour and I hung it in front of the kitchen window if it would get too cold. Now I pretty much leave it outside all the time to stick out the weather. The plant is about six inches high and wide now. I checked on it today. No weeds or anything in its pot and the plant looked healthy, as per usual. However, a few of the needles were brown so I pinched them off. This plant has not been harvested from yet as it is still too small. I live in southeastern Connecticut (not sure what our zone is) The temperature has dipped down to 35 degrees Fahrenheit just this weekend so it will probably be a colder winter. I need to do something with this plant to keep it happy and healthy through this coming winter, and I do not think it will do well in its clay soil in a hanging basket outside as it would likely turn into a rosemary ice cube. Anyone had success or any good ideas on how to keep this plant going?

So I do have several bettas. My oldest and the one I am talking about was Kai. I believe him to be about 5 years old. I bred him once and he has always been kept in excellent water conditions. Two years ago he nearly died over winter as his heating pad stopped working overnight, but he survived. He has learned tricks but I retired him from those after I bred him back in May. The past couple months, his fins grew darker and darker. He was cellophane and in the end had a light brown color in his fins. He stopped flaring and ignored any other fish I put next to him. He started laying around and even ignoring me, even though he always used to be so happy to see me amd he would dance in greeting and follow my figer. Over the past two or three weeks he stopped eating, even when I offered him live bloodworms or his pellets or flakes. I realize he was old, but I have done nothing different with him and he was so healthy and happy and well cared for since I got him 4 years ago, so I want to know why he may have just started aging so abruptly and stuff. It is very sad, but I have seen his death coming for a few weeks now. I have his 21 week old young heir(ess) now. He was the fish that got me into fish keeping and betta breeding, so I am sad to say goodbye. Any info at all? And do you think there is a way I can encourage his baby to live longer than him? That baby already eats live foods as well as pellets and flakes, and fasts once or twice per week. I feed it as much as it wants until it stops asking. I have three other adults, two of whom I am conditioning to breed. The baby's mother also just died, but I think she got a bacterial infection in her fins because a tank mate bit her fin pretty low. I removed her when I found out the tank mate was too aggressive. All of my living bettas are all by themselves right now, with mystery snails.

So I am nearly 17. I am a dancer and the managers of the studio decided I could help the teacher Kayla (she is 21 and teaches two of my 4 classes) with intro children. It is 4 hours every saturday. I have the basics down- help correct positions and teach technique and stay on the opposite side of Kayla to help the kids not on her side, and help with bathroom breaks, etc. I don't really know how to talk with little kids though. Last week a little girl decided to sit down and didn't want to dance and Kayla asked me to try and help out with that situation, but I couldn't get through to her. Then, in the tumbling class, I have to make sure the kids who already had their turn sit and stay quiet and off the mat, but a 3 year old decided to run around and the other kids started following her. I got the 5 year olds and a couple 4 year olds to sit, but the three year old didn't listen and neither did her followers. I didn't chase them, of course, because my dog handling kicked in and said that if it's a bad idea to chase a running dog, it's a bad idea to chase a toddler. How can I start being able to talk to these children and getting them to trust and respect me? What else can I do to help make this year go smoothly? The classes range from 5 to 12 students, btw.

So my birthday will be on October 28th which is a Monday. I'm a junior in high school. The last time I actually did something with my friends was when I was in, like, 4th grade or something. I feel bad because my friends always want to hang out but I am usually working. Last year I went to 6 flags with my older sister and a couple of my coworkers who I didn't know well last year. I have a small idea of inviting my guy and girl friends bowling or something so they can all be comfortable if they don't know each other (my bff who goes to another school and knows none of them, some friends from dance, the majority from school, and a few from work possibly.) It would prob be between 10 and 15 kids in all. I have done it before. I was also thinking of trying to have a little halloween party but my dogs probably wouldnt like the energy and my mom might not let me. I have no clue what I should do, if I do anything. What are some good (appropriate) ideas?

I feel terrible. My best friend and I are juniors in high school, and we go to separate schools. So our friendship has been strained and stretched out to just hanging out a few times per year. I am also not a big texter and we have long ago lost stuff to text about. When we do hang out, we are back to how we used to be. We have been best friends since the second grade and totally inseparable through elementary and middle school. I got a job about 10 months ago and it takes up most of my weekends, which we used to hang out freshman year. My phone is broken which she knows. She knows everything but I feel like I am hurting her with having no time to hang out with her very often. She spends most of her time babysitting her 1 year old niece. Today was that baby's first birthday party and I was invited, but my bosses at the last second asked me to work today so I missed the baby's party and I feel terrible for doing that. I absolutely love my best friend. She is like a sister to me and I wouldn't hurt her for anything. We just need to get through the next two years and then we can be done. What can I do to make this up to her? How can I let her know I still care about her and haven't replaced her and am not trying to forget about her?

So I am working on breeding my bettas. This will be my second spawn, but it is a new breeding pair. The female is all set and ready to go. The male is showing interest in her through the tanks but is yet to bubble nest for me. I got them about 2 weeks ago from a breeder down in Arkansas. Both are fat and happy and healthy and eating a good diet between both prepared and live foods with excellent water quality. My last pair did not have any issues with conditioning, but I am not breeding either one of them again as the female is pretty ripped up on her fins still, even 4 months later and the male is 5 years old and no longer interested. Is there anything else I can do to encourage the new male to bubble nest for me, or should I just wait it out how I already am?

So my 20 gal sw setup has been battling cyano for the past couple months. I have tried the meds for it but it didn't work. Best thing was shutting off the lights for a few days which killed most of it. I keep my lights on for about 16 hours per day. The fish are fine with it and used to it. It seems long but it's honestly the only light in my room because my ceiling light is different sized and it is a pain to find different ones, lol. Anyways, I am finding more cyano. I will siphon what I find out or shut off the lights a couple of days. I found the source turns out to be from the tap that I use to top off the tank after evaporation in between water changes. I did a test and the tap has about 1ppm of phosphorus, which is not perfect. So the tank is at about .5ppm of phosphorus. That is VERY high. But no matter what I do, the cyano comes back which is irritating. I also have some type of green algae that I think may be hair algae starting to form. I am focusing on my bettas right now but I do plan on starting up soft corals and possibly macro algaes in my sw within the next several months. Would these plants help me with my cyano issues and possibly the hair algae? My juvenile maroon clown will pick at it sometimes but she doesn't do anything, and the juvenile green chromis ignores it entirely. My zombie snails (for lack of being able to spell their actual name, lol) obviously just eat the excess food that the fish miss so they are of no use algae wise. -I know my clown will have to be moved. She will be changed to a 50 when she outgrows this one. She isn't growing particularly quickly and is only about an inch and a half or so.-

Hello, everyone! So I have a question. I am getting into breeding bettas. The first round from May didn't end up so awesomely and I only have one little survivor who will be 15 weeks on Thursday. That is besides the point- this next batch will do so much better, hopefully! I have some freshwater copepods coming and I was wondering if I could culture them directly in my 5.5 breeding tank, if I added some rocks for them to live in. I will have java moss soon to put in there and am considering turning it into a planted tank, though I haven't decided on that yet. The copepods would be here a few weeks before I breed again. I plan on breeding early to mid September and the copepods will be here probably around this Saturday. Would the adults eat all the pods during the few days they are in there? Would the fry eat all of the pods before they can move on to banana worms, vinegar eels, and microworms? I want to be able to keep some so I don't have to buy more the next time I breed. The fry will be moved to two 10 gallon tanks when they are probably 7 weeks or so, unless they grow too big for the 5.5 sooner, and I imagine they will be big enough to eat the nematodes after a week or two, so would they continue eating the copepods? There is a sponge filter in there already. Perhaps there is a set up with hiding places that fry would be less likely to get into? I need ideas on how I could make it work, and your ideas on whether I should try or just set up an individual tank for them. I am just starting on my second spawn, so it is not like I am a heavy breeder or anything right now, but I do not want to totally decimate the entire population before they can get the job done and have to buy more for the next spawn.

So my mom is not a cat person, but she got our oldest cat back in 2000, when I was 3 or 4. We then found our other cat in 2008 or 9, as a little tiny kitten. Milo, the older cat, does not always use the litter box. Rhoda breaks stuff sometimes, but that is getting much better now that I got her some cardboard she can claw and other outlets for her boredom. My cats live in my room during the day and only have free reign of the house at night time, because two of the dogs are not very nice with them, so it is for their own safety until the dogs are in bed. My mom absolutely hates the cats. Any time they do something wrong, she is like "Okay, we are getting rid of them." Or, "Why don't you just get rid of them?". For example- I am breeding bettas. I had a gorgeous silver crowntail male in my room. Most of my fish are perfectly safe- the bowls and tanks cannot be dropped, the lids are secure, the male cat doesn't care about them, and my female can safely watch them. It's like tv for her, and she is not harming them. But that silver male I had died at her claw because I had him in a different tank that I hadn't used in my room yet. I didn't think she could lift the lid, but that is exactly what she did and she wound up eating him when I wasn't home. I was sad but it taught me that I really need to make sure the lids are taped or clamped securely, so I have to work to get in the tanks, never mind the cat. My mom told me that if I get rid of her, I won't have to worry about it. That is true, but I absolutely love my little cat. She is a sweetheart and she talks to me when I get home and she curls up with me and she is just a little lovey. But little things happen all the time and my mom's threats of getting rid of them are more and more severe and common. I am nearly 17. In a little over a year, I will be 18. When I am 18, if it is what I need to do, I will move out and in with a friend or if I have enough money saved up by then, an apartment or something, and I will take my cats and my sheltie with me. Likely my fish too but that is a problem to deal with when the time comes. Bottom line- my mom will not /have/ to put up with my cats for much longer. How can I hold on to them for until I can get them out myself? How can I convince her to let them be and not just take my pets and rehome them while I am at school or something? I've even considered moving in with some family friends with my pets who would like to take me in if she insists- then they are out of her way and I am as well to not screw everything up all the time anyways, so it is win win to my mom, but I would rather not do that. I would rather stay put until I am 18 or a little longer- till I am graduated from high school.

So today I am expecting two bettas in the mail from the breeder. The tracker says they are now out for delivery for me. So hopefully it will not be a problem but I have to leave for work at 4. What if I am not home to receive them? I would hate for the poor creatures to have to go on more of a car ride but I highly doubt the person would just leave them on my doorstep, which would be okay because temps are fine for bettas. So what happens in the event that USPS arrives AFTER I leave for work?

So I am getting into betta breeding. I already had my first spawn back in May. I unfortunately only had one little survivor but he is happy and healthy and will be gorgeous when he is an adult. With that spawn, I did bare bottom in their 5.5 gallon and removed the father after they hatched. I fed them on egg yolks and infruenza for the first few weeks, then started feeding them First Bites powder. I did water changes weekly with airline tubing carefully avoiding sucking up fry and rescuing the ones from the bucket that I missed. So for this next spawn, I am trying a totally different technique. I have a pair of quality fish coming from a breeder. I also have java moss for the breeding tank coming, as well as microworms and vinegar eels on the way. I am using the same tank and will have the java moss in it and remove the male after the fry hatch, like before (besides the moss). Then, I will feed on vinegar eels until they are a couple weeks old and then do microworms. I am going to get two 10 gallons to separate fry when they are bigger. I wanted to know if I could have an actual planted tank, though. The lighting can support it, and I think it would be good for the fry to have lots of plants and stuff to explore in. Some of the plants would need substrate, though, and there would be some rock in there to give it a shape. I know the father would probably have a hard time finding eggs with substrate and in a planted tank, however, so I am hesitant to go past the java moss with this tank. Should I go for it, or should I do that with the 10 gallon grow outs? I see pros and cons to both sides on whether I do it or not. Has anyone had success WITH planted tanks?

So I have this betta. He is old, around 4 or so now. He is also a father to a 14 week old son, who is bi color purple, after his mother. Now Kai, the old man, always used to be perfectly skin toned. Over the past few months, it seems his fins have started getting darker colored, like a brownish side to them. It is not fin rot colored, though he may have a little of that that I am working on treating, and he is completely happy and healthy and relaxed with just a little mystery snail as a tank mate, getting fed daily and some occasional live blood worms as a treat (he doesn't eat the ones out of the jar. *sigh*). But why would a 4 year old betta just start changing color? I have had him for about 3 years now (give or take) and he has always been well taken care of, and never changed. Is it like when mammals get old they get gray hair? He is still pretty, albeit starting to show his age and reduce some of his energy. He is next to his son but the little one looks like a very small little female right now, about 1/3-1/2 an inch and still short fins that he is developing, and the father hasn't seen the mother since breeding back in May, so there is nothing interesting to encourage his colors to enhance such as competition or a female. He shows no interest in his son besides occasionally looking at him out of curiosity. Any ideas for this change?

So I am getting into breeding betta fish. My first spawn, I fed egg yolks, followed by fry powder, and then super crushed flakes. I wound up with one surviver, my dear little 13 week old baby who is happy and healthy. I think a bacterial infection of the gills took out the rest, even with precautions and treatment (no chemicals). I have a quality breeding pair coming from a breeder now, so I can try breedig higher quality animals. I have different ideas, and read how java moss is excellent for reducing nitrites and can help cultivate infrusoia. I also have microworms on order for when the future fry are big enough to eat it. So my question is if anyone has any experience with java moss and breeding betta fry? Has it helped or hindered anyone?

It is actually a funny story; my mom decided to borrow my tablet. She then called me down after a while and asked if I was pregnant. The funny thing is that I simply like reading what different people have to say about many controversial topics and I like reading on how humans evolved our social and political selves, as well as just how we are in general. I like reading about human evolution and behavior, end of story. I am a virgin (16, going on 17) and single, and quite frankly after some thought, I find it kind of funny, but there is NO way I will be forgetting about this awkward conversation any time soon... I have anxiety and depression and am quitting cutting, in favor of painting. Yes my mom knows about that, so please nothing saying how stupid I am. Just some ways that I can look my mom in the face preferably tomorrow and pretend nothing happened, lol. I already told her about all of that and she says it's fine so she is over it and not worried, but I am in that awkward embarrassed stage where I kind of want to laugh and kind of want to cut and was considering painting to continue with my quitting yet here I am instead. I believe it deserves a pat on the back, lol. Just kidding. But still, any pointers on forgetting awkward situations like this?

Alrighty. So currently, I have a little 20 gallon nano. It just has live sand with plastic and rock decorations. It has been running since January and had fish in it since February. Everything is just dandy- all of my parameters are ideal and really the only algae is the regular stuff that grows on the glass that I scrape off during regular maintenance. I recently had a little cyanobacteria outbreak but took care of that with some medicine and a few days of lights out. The cause was the phosphorus in the tap that I use and condition. This tank currently has 4 Nassarius snails in it who I affectionately call the zombies, a maroon clownfish juvenile, and a juvenile green chromis. The two fish get along swimmingly. At first, the clown was a little snippy with the chromis but she got over it pretty quickly and doesn't mind him. He tries to school with her- I thought my tank would be too small for a small school and had read horror stories of chromis killing each other all the time till one was alive anyways. But these two love each other- the chromis doesn't leave the clown's side. There was an orange spotted goby but he mysteriously disappeared. Water stayed the same, he wasn't hiding in the ship or plants, and I went through the sandbed with a toothbrush and didn't kick anything up. Davinchi. So anyways, I want to turn this tank into a little reef now. I am experienced enough that I think I can handle it. I want to use live rocks and get some soft corals and some green plants. I will upgrade the lighting from LED. So I need some advise on what types of plants and corals I can use that will stay small enough for my tank, at least for a while. Eventually my maroon will have to be moved to a 50 gallon when she is bigger, but honestly, she is still only about an inch and a half or so and is not growing quickly even with a proper and varied diet. I think she will stay small enough for the 20 for a while. When she needs to move, I will be happy to move bigger corals and plants with her, but not before that. So again; coral and plant ideas are welcome, as well as some websites or information on the types and how to care for them properly. I use the lighting from maybe 6am to 9pm ish regularly. Also, I want to add some more livestock to my 20. Again, I realize that people don't advise more then what I already have, but I want to hear other peoples sides and decide for myself what is best for my fish. I would like some more color, and some different personalities in the tank. Something that will not harm my two lovely fish already but will not be harmed if my clown bullies a little at first. She doesn't bite or even chase that much, just snaps every once in a while. They are both mid swimmers so some fish of different levels would be nice. I have had experience keeping an ocellaris clown with my maroon (didn't know the difference when I got them together... Did a lot of research since them and am much smarter) and the maroon didn't mind the clown. She followed it everywhere. She was even protective of the goby for a while before I got the chromis. So I don't think she will be that much of a problem... She is still timid of my hand but getting a little more brave slowly. She is not vicious, but I believe she prefers to be the boss of the tank with fish that will not be harmed by her but will not instigate. So numbers, types, experiences, and information on ideas of fish is good, so is a fish stocking list idea that I can do my own research on, but something as a guide sheet to go off of. Thank you! :)

My cat has this stuffed animal. It is a stuffed animal (a tiger) that I got as a kid and it is double or triple her size. Granted, it is soft. She loves to snuggle with this tiger in front of her favorite window. Earlier, I caught her hugging it with her front paws and licking it, which explains why its hair is not as soft anymore. Now, I get that cats lick people or other animals because it reminds them of their mother and comforts them, and I get that she snuggles with it because it is comfy, but why on earth would she be treating this toy like another living being? I just readjusted it because it was falling and she grabbed onto it as if to tell me to leave it alone. It is very cute and has made her stop eating towels, and the tiger is unharmed, so there is nothing wrong, but I am very confused by her behavior. She is 4 years old and spayed, by the way, if that has to do with anything.