The Divine Bubba Blue

My neighbour's cat is in heat, and I have seven tomcats on my porch going YOWL MROWL YARL YAHOOYEEYAH. They've been there since six AM (I believe they're taking shifts).

They don't care if I hose them down - I've done it twice. They don't care if I empty a bucket of water on them - done it five times. They don't care if I yell.

I've even tried spraying the deck with vinegar and water in case she sprayed there, but they don't care. Any suggestions?

Bonus excitement: I'm allergic to cats.

I shut off both hot and cold water under the sink and then I left both faucets open to depressurize the system. I have tugged and pulled and twisted the damn thing so hard that I've pulled a muscle in my back. It has not moved a hair - not a micron.

What am I doing wrong?

It is an under-sink filter with three cartridges.

The worst part is: without filtration, the water may be "safe" but I wouldn't give it to an enemy. Tastes like chlorinated algae.

Some idiot tried to steal my mail today and in doing so accidentally ripped the mailbox off my house and broke it into about 40 pieces. Some parts are ruined beyond repair, so I'll have to go out and get a new mailbox.

I know that attaching the mailbox will mean I'll have to drill holes in my stucco with a masonry bit (the old holes were destroyed when idiot ripped it off the wall), then put in two molly bolts, then screw in the screws, then hang the mailbox on the screws.

Problem: it's the dead of winter. It's -28 right now not including wind chill. I won't get my mail without a mailbox. But won't the tines of the molly bolts just shatter when I screw the screws into them? Is there something I can do to stop this from happening? Or should I use another form of attachment?

I can't afford to be going back and forth to the hardware store: it's a 20-minute and $2.30 bus ride away. So it would be a big help to know whether I should be using something else to attach it.

(Incidentally, I live in Canada; in my neighbourhood, having a mailbox on a post (like in the US) is actually against regulations and I would not receive mail. The mailbox has to be attached to my house. I don't even have a post.)

Thanks!

About half of the posts sent to my private group over the past week are stopped by the Groups spam trap and sent to me to moderate.

Not one of these is spam. Not one. Most are from members who have been on the group for five to ten years, some even more.

How do I make the constant "Moderate?" posts completely and permanently stop, and let every post from registered members go through?

I'm getting ready to paint my front hallway. Over the door is a remnant of the old (90s) alarm system a former owner had installed - a small sensor, I think. The rest of the system is long gone.

The sensor is connected to two thin wires that snake back into the wall. Am I correct in thinking that those were simply connecting wires to the main alarm box, and that I can just cut them and shove them back into the wall? The sensor did have a lithium battery in it, so I don't think they're power cords, but I'd thought I'd check first.

Thanks!

I have a dryer with a four-inch vent. The vent in my wall is three inches in diameter. I don't want to use a step down since that's a really good way to have a lint fire (and because the hole in the wall is about 20 feet from the dryer), but it's going to take a couple of months before anyone can come out and drill a new hole in the concrete. I'd really like to wash clothes in between then and now, and given that it's rained every single day since June 2 I suspect I won't be air drying much.

Can I stick the end of the vent out of a covered window while I'm drying? (I wouldn't leave it there otherwise: I like my windows closed and locked when I'm asleep.)

Does a kitchen vent absolutely have to be in a range hood, or can it be a ceiling-mounted fan over the range? Do they make such things?

Because my choices are a ceiling-mounted fan or no fan at all, no exceptions no discussion. I have a gorgeous stained-glass antique window situated directly over the only place the range can go. (Small kitchens are fun!) Putting in a range hood would mean rebuilding the back wall and would without exception cost in the neighbourhood of $10,000, according to three estimates I've received.

I just bought a new house and for the first time have a finished basement. There are two recessed lights in the basement ceiling, and I've noticed that on the main floor, the floor above where the lights are is warm. Not hot: just a bit warmer than the surrounding floor.

Is this normal, or is this something to be concerned about? I am intending to call an electrician to do some minor work, but should I get him in early to look at this? Thank you!

I need to buy a new lawnmower and I've been looking at the Gardena 12V cordless lawnmower. Has anyone used it, and what did you think if you have?

Just to note: I have a perfectly flat yard (like a pancake run over by a steamroller) roughly 45 x 100 feet plus an 8 x 45 boulevard to mow.