all work and no play

I need to know for a novel manuscript the material of film used in the 1950s United States for 35mm film. Specifically, what is compatible or common for an Argus C3 in that time period. I've read that cellophane didn't come around until the 60s, and it would either be Mylar or polyethylene terephthalate (or is this the same thing???). I just want to get this right. Anyone know? Thanks!

Hey, not sure where else to put this. My mother-in-law is studying English, and asked me a grammar question:

Which is correct, or are both correct, and why:

1.) There was not clean water.

2.) There was no clean water.

I instinctually would write the second one, but I'm not sure why exactly, or if that necessarily means the first isn't also correct. Just curious, and if you can be as detailed and straightforward as possible about this grammar rule, it would be appreciated. She is a native Spanish speaker so the simpler/more direct, the better. Thanks!

This may be a dumb question, but here goes.

In this sentence:

"Do you know how to drive a car?"

Is "how" a necessary component?

I saw someone write it this way:

"Do you know to drive a car?"

It looks wrong but I wanted to be sure. If it's incorrect can you explain why? Thanks!

I have a five year old jack russell/ terrier mix. She is 50 pounds and very energetic. She has not been around many dogs and so when she encounters another dog she gets a little aggressive. I found an australian shepherd 2 month old puppy and would love to adopt it, but since it is a female I am not sure if it would be a horrible idea for this to be the first puppy my dog is introduced to. I was thinking that since it is a puppy she might get to love it and not be as aggressive as with an older dog. Thank you all.

Why do doctors feel they can get away with not doing their job by diagnosing anxiety in patients they've just met without any medical testing? I feel a lot of cancers and serious conditions are overlooked for years because western medicine is so shitty that it teaches doctors it's okay to, instead of doing their job and looking for medical causes to complex physiological problems, say "your symptoms are made up." Anxiety may be real and may cause real-feeling symptoms for a select group of people, but I feel a MAJORITY of people diagnosed with anxiety by general practitioners are incorrectly diagnosed because they're lazy and don't want to do real f-ing doctor work.

Why are general practitioners even ALLOWED to give patients anti-anxiety drugs? There's a complex psychological working involved that MDs don't study in school the way psychologists do. I don't even think they should be allowed to make diagnoses like that without referral to a psychological specialist.

It's just frustrating that you see horror-story time and time again of doctors saying "anxiety" or "IBS" or some bullsh*t answer (yes, they almost always are bullsh*t--equates to "I don't know and I don't care").

Do you think doctors should EARN their porsches and practice real medicine? Or can anyone join a frat and get a college medical degree just to become a mediocre flu-shot applicator for the elderly?

Is this just ultimately harmful, a known BS answer to real problems that may be obscure and a way for doctors to scheme their way out of making a real diagnosis, or just flat out saying "I don't know"?

I'd rather have no diagnosis than a wrong one. And I would stake my life on the fact that the doctors who say anxiety have no freaking clue what they're talking about. They just want to look like they're earning their fees (when they aren't doing the research or hard work with their patients), so they give a diagnosis to make you feel better. To me it's a blanket statement--probably 100% of people have "anxiety"--it's a stressful world out there. So anyone could technically be diagnosed with this vague overarching "condition." Like I said, could be real for some people, not real for most who are just shuffled out the door with Xanax.

What do you think? Maybe hard work and actual ingenuity and intelligence beyond treating the common cold would solve more problems?

I don't understand, perhaps you can share some insight into why those of you who ask where you can "read books for free" aka steal (we all know you aren't talking about project gutenberg or similar sites, we aren't dumb), think it's okay to disparage the authors you love. Because there's no legit reason, that I'm aware of.

This is a serious question--feel free to answer because I feel offended at the level of piracy these questions exhibit. Just know also, that I frequent these boards and will report those who try to elicit illegal activities from others.

Sorry, people, I'm a writer trying to make a living, as are others here I'm sure. Especially if you're a young person on here trying to become a professional author, think about how contradictory your actions are if you download free books. Just some thoughts. Answer if you'd like.

We have a 14 year old cat (or thereabouts) that we took in as a stray. She was pretty rough back then but she's got a lot of issues a few years later.

Recently she got a cold and she can't really breathe very well out of her nose. Also, her eye seems to be infected and has a snot-like substance coming from it.

But the most serious issue we're worried about is that only about a half hour ago we were feeding her warmed up pate meat food mixed with water (so she can eat it easier) and she started bleeding real bad from her mouth--dripping a lot of blood. She's mobile and breathing, and has an appetite and thirst. Currently she's trying to sleep despite the congestion in her nose.

Not sure what to do, I've never had this happen to me before. Any help appreciated.

I read that it's considered socially unacceptable to include any mention of money or gifts on wedding invitations. However, we are asking that those who are going to give something give cash instead of gifts, and we haven't registered anywhere. We prefer cash to help pay back what we owe on the wedding, since we don't need furniture or appliances of any sort.

So how do we let people know that if not on the invites?

Are there factors which would make it impossible for doctors in the future to predict a date of "natural decay" of a person's body over the course of their life? Say, down to the minute they will die, barring accidents?

Research for a sci-fi short story. Thanks.

I tried using turbo tax and it told me I owed like $500 to the fed. govt. This makes no sense, because I make $10 hourly and when I was hired I agreed to let the govt. take out the full amount of taxes. I am single with no dependents. My co-workers are getting refunds. Did the payroll screw something up for me on taxes?

Here's what I make:

$21,056.25 annually.

$835.40 withheld for federal income tax

$1,305.49 withheld for SS tax

$305.32 withheld for medicare tax

A coworker who is parttime and makes much less annually got a $400 return or thereabouts. WTF?

My Federal Income Tax Status (on paystubs) is S/3. I don't even know what that means, HELP!

Anyone else having trouble getting onto Absolute Write? Seems the forums are down as well as the main site. Not sure if it's just my computer, though.

This is just an FYI that came to mind.

Was wondering: if a dog bites an attacker or a thief that could hurt you in your home, would the dog be put down? I mean, generally speaking you can shoot the jerk, so can people really hold it against a dog to protect their master in their own home? What if the criminal dies or is crippled badly from the bites, or needs surgery? What is the law on this?

I'm really at my wit's end. My Jack Russel/pitbull mix, who is about 35 pounds of energy, is very aggressive and dominant when she plays with me. She has never bit my face and always licks, and she's never seriously hurt me, but it still smarts when her big sharp teeth nip at my hands and her claws do cut me inadvertently when she's jumping and pushing me.

When I try to grab her and calm her down, she becomes aggressive and barks and nips as if she is dominant in the situation. She's too quick for me to grab so it's just me trying to grab her and her nipping and running, even loud yelling does nothing to curb her behavior. She doesn't know no and slapping her butt does nothing either (something I gave up on early).

I've even tried grabbing her snout in close quarters and holding it gently shut, saying "no biting" until she stops, but I fear she may accidentally bite her tongue and it doesn't work anyways.

I really don't want any advice that is abusive, or snide comments about "you should give her back to the pound" aka kill her (she has been a member of my family for a little over a year and will remain one), or "you can't train her, hire a professional" because if you've seen the economy lately, dog trainers are a commodity some of us can't afford.

So, in a reasonable, rational way, can anyone give me some advice on how to handle this on my own?

It would be more than appreciated.

Need to replace the syncro on second gear in my 2000 Hyundai Tiburon (5 speed, 4 cylinder). Depending on RPMs, the grinding is pretty bad. The only halfway descent way to solve this is to give it a second or two in neutral between gear shifts and then yank the shifter down into gear (there's still a quick 'crunch').

How much could this run me?

My video card runs at a little over 60 degrees C when I play games; it's a GForce 6200 and has a heatsink but no fan currently; it shipped without a fan so I assume it's okay to run that way. But I wonder because I just installed it; what is the best temperature for the card? Is 60 degrees celcius too high?

In the original Apogee side-scroll platform, Duke's name was spelled Nukum. In the ID 3d it's Nukem. Is there a reason for this? What's the deal between Apogee and ID, are they part of the same company? I heard ID was a breakoff of Apogee or Sierra or one of those but I wasn't sure.

Any insight into this would be awesome.

Thanks

When reading a horror, what is more scary to you late at night behind a flashlight, a book that has subtle effects and language like Jackson's Hill House, or extreme over-the-top bloody violence and dark sex like pop-horror type books. Each have their place in the world of literature, but which really is more effective?

To me, I prefer a bit of subtlety in a ghost story.

Was F451 the best Bradbury had to offer or was its brooding and continuing popularity based on the controversy and social/political message it gave out? Are there other Bradbury books you prefer to 451? It is, no doubt, as well written as any. But is it his best? Your opinions?

Of what I've read of him, I enjoy his shorter work, as well as Something Wicked and F451, though I like the former more.

What is the rock band in Home Movies (the cartoon), with the rocker kid with the hair in his eyes. Does the band have a name? They play at like every event the show has in a public place and there are always all these wicked Queen-esque backup vocalists and things. I'd love to know the name. Thanks!

Well, okay I guess blunder might be too strong a word. Let's call it a possible relapse.

In "Dandelion Wine," during a conversation between Douglas and I think John or Tom or another boy, someone named Jim pops up in the conversation and then vanishes from sight. No explanation of who Jim is is provided, and he never comes up again. Using context clues from Bradbury's style and writing, he refers to unimportant characters as "the children" or "kids" etc., not by name. So to suddenly bring "Jim" in seems out of character seeing as the rest of the book is at a higher level of writing than to make such a mistake.

My theory is that Jim is actually Doug, and that in a slip-up Doug Spaulding became Jim Nightshade from Something Wicked. Since they are both from Green Town and seeing as how long and deeply attached Bradbury's knowledge of his characters are, this doesn't seem totally incapable of happening.

Is there any credence to my theory?