Fermat

We are moving to a new house next month that is right across the street from our children's school. The only crosswalk is 100 yards down the road and there is no sidewalk to get to it, just the street and a ditch. The family that lives there now will either jaywalk or drive the kids 50 yards to school.

I live in unincorporated Sacramento county. Who do I petition to have a cross walk added?

I remember hearing that there is a state law in California that states that if you are using a vehicle primarily in CA, you must register it in CA. For example you can't live, work and drive in CA and have your vehicle registered in Washington.

I want to use the FireFox plug in Video DownloadHelper to save some educational videos. Does anyone know if the site that hosts the videos can detect that the video is being downloaded?

I have some educational DVDs that I use for a test I am studying for. I want to watch these videos when I am traveling, but my work laptop won't play DVDs and they are too large to fit on my phone. I have been able to rip them onto my computer.

I was thinking that I could upload them to youtube as private and watch them on my phone. Will youtube automatically zap it because of its copy-write, or do they only do that if someone complains?

I work with a local charity helping them by maintaining their registration and donation databases. I am technically a 1099 employee, but I only bill them once or twice a year for a token amount, usually around $500 total.

Recently, they asked if I would be willing to be paid in full for my work (around $4000-5000/yr) and donate that back to the center. I suspect it is so they can show higher giving amounts. From a tax stand point, would I be exposing myself to a bigger liability by doing that, or would it all just wash?

I don't take a deduction for volunteer time because it is more hassle to me than it is worth, but I do 1099 work for business, so that approach is much cleaner for me.

I have this employee who takes about 15 minutes every morning to do his business. Bathroom business. Here is what happens:

At about 8:00 am he clocks in, goes into his workspace, starts up his computer and logs in. The he grabs a paper from the break room and runs into the bathroom. (And he does almost run. He clearly has to go.) He will be in there for about 15 minutes, then comes back to his desk and gets on with his day.

The thing that bugs me the most is that he waits until work to do this. It's a joke with the other people on my staff that 'Bob' starts his day at 8:20.

I've looked at the union contract and there is the standard clause about breaks for the restroom, but there is nothing that prohibits what he does, it just seems unprofessional.

Here is the kicker and why this is now a problem. In two weeks we will announce that we purchased a new manufacturing site. Union rules state who becomes the new senior at that spot. Bob. But his 8:20 start time just won't cut it because of what his new responsibility.

Because of the union rules, Bob's seniority makes him the person for the new job. How do I tell him to poop home without sounding demeaning? I am not sure how to bring this up with the union rep. He is a bit of hardass we don't get along really well. I want to make this work, but, oi. If Bob misses the 8:05 role more than once in a month during his first 90 days, I have file and action against him and he will go to due process.

Thoughts?

I have a 2006 Kia Sedona. The tires are 235/60R17. I just had new tires put on the tires show a max pressure of 44 psi. The shop filled them to 35 psi. Should I leave them at 35 or take them up to max rated pressure cold?

I just found out that one of my old roommates was arrested and plead guilty to child porn charges. He lived in Reno when it happened. I want to send him a letter to express my disappointment and disgust, but I don't know where he is. Is there a way to look up a prisoner to find out where they are?

Everyday I drive to work in a HOV lane in California. I drive a van that has me and two of my kids, ages 1 and 3. I have looked for a definition to what qualifies as a 'person' for a carpool lane, but I have not found any. Given that, I have been assuming that I have three 'persons' in the car, therefore I can use the lane.

But since this *is* California, I wanted to make sure there was no obscure definition for 'persons' when using the carpool lane. Any insights?

I just took a job with a school district in the Sacramento area and at my HR meeting, they told me that they take out monthly dues and I don't have a choice in the matter. Is that true? Can I be compelled to pay union dues for a union I don't want to be a part of? They used some legal term to describe the process, but I didn't catch it. I want to challenge them on this, but I need more information. Thoughts?

Every morning at around 7 this car drives by and honks. This has been going on for about six weeks. I have the license plate number and I want to get her address so I can send this gal a letter asking her to stop. I live in California. I imagine this is public record, but I no idea how to access it with paying some website for the answer.

Where is what I am trying to understand: What happens to the calories I eat? I know that based on my height and level of daily activity, I burn between 2,100 and 2,600 calories in a day. I also know that unused calories will convert to fat at some point. How long does that usually take? I have heard that things like high fructose corn syrup converts quicker than a complex carbohydrate.

And once those calories convert to fat, how do they un-convert? Right now I am about 15 pounds heavier than my ideal weight. If it takes 3,500 calories to burn a pound of fat, then I should have 20 days or so where I don’t need to eat. (I’m not serious)

So how does all that work?

There is a copy of Office 2007 on e-Bay that I want to bid on, but the seller states that it is 'used'. If the seller keeps his copy on his computer and sells the disks, (or has copied them) will that affect my ability to load the software on my desktop and laptop?

I am looking for a technical definition (as opposed to a personal definition). Give me a source.

The roof on my house is the old split wood shingle and it is on its last legs. I probably won't get more than a year out of it.

I am going to start going for estimates, but I want to try and get a ball park figure. That way I can control the eyes popping out of my head if it is a high price.

I am looking for a good 30-40 year roof, figuring in labor and having at least some of the plywood underneath replaced.

I live in Northern California, if that makes a difference.

My Saturn L200 will hit 100K miles in a month or so. I know there is a somewhat extensive list of things to do to this car at that point, but I can't seem to find a comprehensive list any where. Any anyone help me out? I plan on doing all the work myself and I don't want to leave anything out.

Give me a good reason. I'm not looking for answers like, 'To keep the moral majority out of my body.' or 'Because no one has the right to tell me what to do with my body.' I am looking for the why behind the why. Why do I have the right to do what I want with my body? Where do these rights come from, etc? I am just looking a balance explanation that does not try to play on fear.

I am helping a friend out with this:

She filed a 1040A for 2007 and reported 0 on line 27, taxable income. She is hearing impaired and received SSI benefits for her daughter; however, she did not report this income on her 1040A and wants to file an amended return so she can get the payment. Her total total income, including those SSI payments was 7018, 5000 or so of which is the SSI payment, in 2007. She is filing single with one dependent

Is she eligible for the 2007 economic stimulus? I looked on the IRS website and it seemed to indicate that she was, but when I added the SSI payment to her return the taxable amount is still zero.

Any help is appreciated!

We have an old dog who has stopped eating and drinking. Rather than letting her starve to death we want to have her put down, but don't know how much it costs. We have almost no money to spend and are afraid that the vet will require a bunch of tests. Can we just say 'Do it' and they do it? How much would just the putting down cost? We have place in the yard to bury her.

Thanks

I have a compost pile that is made up of mostly kitchen/food waste. Lots of veggies, fruits, coffee grounds, tea bags and some animal leftovers. The pile is about three months old and growing nicely, but it does not seem to change much. I water a few times a week, but do I need to do anything else? Turn it, water more, etc.