ellenoid

There are so many out there, and I just bought the complete collection that looked genuine. It had cardboard box and even a picture on the inside. It was shrink-wrapped and came from Japan, I believe. There were options to listen either in Japanese or English, but the English had a completely different cast of characters than the ones from television here in the states. The music was different too.

It s not what I wanted.

Any experts out there who can show me pictures of all the authentic seasons and/or boxed sets? I want to get the right thing!

Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned, but I'm a firm believer that it's the guy's job to do the pursuing. I'm in my early thirties, and I'm very careful about the types of people that I date. By this stage in my life, I know what I'm looking for and what I'm not.

I have my sights set on someone, and I have been interested for the past 5 months or so. At first I thought he was giving me signals that he was interested, but now I'm not so sure. He's a very friendly guy so he's hard to read.

We are casual friends and only see each other about once a week at church. We don't have the opportunity to talk for long periods of time, but it's clear that we have a mutual affection for one another, even if it is only friendly on his part.

I have been waiting to see if he will make a move, but he hasn't yet. At this point I'm wondering if it will happen at all.

I'm not bold enough to be forthright. I'm absolutely petrified about making the mistake of putting myself out there too soon or making a total idiot of myself.

But if he hasn't got a clue, I think it's time to give him one. Any creative ideas as to how I can let him know I'm interested without being too forward?

I'm certainly not a flirt, but I am very friendly. I show guys I'm interested by showing that I'm happy to see them, and eagerly engaging in conversation. My body language is appropriate and amicable.

Apparently, that's not working, so what is the next step? How do I give him the hint without getting burned?

I've been trying to get in touch with someone regarding business. Generally, he responds in a timely manner, but I haven't been able to reach him for a month. I've tried several times, both through email and phone.

Most people would move on at this point, and while I know it's good to explore my options, I really like his work and do want to work with him again.

We've had a good working relationship in the past, and nothing odd has happened that would prevent him from responding to me.

What is appropriate at this point? Should I be stubborn and just keep trying every few days until I get him? Once a week? Check back in another month or two? I don't want to be a pest, but if the reason is that he simply hasn't gotten my messages, or hasn't read them yet, I know persistance pays off.

Or should I just forget it? I mean, I know he's still alive, and he'd better have a REAAAALLY good excuse for falling off the grid.

I liked his work and I enjoyed working with him. It's hard to find a good producer. We got along well, and I know the feeling was mutual. So I think it's pretty safe to say that it isn't personal.

What do I do? Wait and hope? Keep trying? Or move on?

I ordered a package from France several Weeks back. I had to wait 4 weeks for to be shipped because the payment needed to clear. That was fine.

but it has been about 5 weeks since, and although I have been provided a tracking number, the sour is not working. I had no luck over the phone either.

I have ordered from this seller before and I know he shipped the package.

I paid over 600 dollars for this package, but if he DID ship it and I just did not receive it for whatever reason, how do I get my money back?

If he shipped it, he should not be charged, should he?

What is a fair solution, and how do we arrive at it?

I frequent Craigslist and Facebook, and both options work relatively well. However, finding students to fill the early afternoon gaps has proven to be somewhat of a challenge, since most students are school-aged and seek after-school hours.

Flier distribution is timely and not that effective.

Can anyone recommend another idea that won't cost me anything?

Thanks!

I frequent Craigslist and Facebook, and both options work relatively well. However, finding students to fill the early afternoon gaps has proven to be somewhat of a challenge, since most students are school-aged and seek after-school hours.

Flier distribution is timely and not that effective.

Can anyone recommend another idea that won't cost me anything?

Thanks!

If someone you have been secretly in love with for a long time decides to propose to someone else, what would you do?

Would you:

a) Suck it up and tell him how you feel, knowing that this could be your only chance, and at the very least, you gave it a shot.

b) Cry it out and let it go, realizing he's happy, and you just need to move on.

Explain. :-) Your responses will be helpful.

I've been in my apartment for five years now, and just recently, the doorknob broke and would not turn. My landlord went over to try and fix it and put on a temporary doorknob, one that didn't work well and wouldn't lock, but would get me by for the time being. A short while after that, he replaced it w/ a closet doorknob. This is the cheapest thing he could have bought, and contains no lock. I do have a deadbolt, but that's beside the point. When I moved in, I had a doorknob with a lock on it, and I would like him to replace it appropriately.

He sent me a letter staying that it was the apartment's "standard procedure" to replace doorknobs without a lock. He advised me that I could have one installed AT MY OWN EXPENSE.

I think I should be entitled to the type of doorknob that was put on when I moved in, but I'm not really sure if there is any legal advice that can back me up.

I don't want my safety compromised because my landlord is cheap.

Anything I can do to change his mind?

I've been in my apartment for five years now, and just recently, the doorknob broke and would not turn. My landlord went over to try and fix it and put on a temporary doorknob, one that didn't work well and wouldn't lock, but would get me by for the time being. A short while after that, he replaced it w/ a closet doorknob. This is the cheapest thing he could have bought, and contains no lock. I do have a deadbolt, but that's beside the point. When I moved in, I had a doorknob with a lock on it, and I would like him to replace it appropriately.

He sent me a letter staying that it was the apartment's "standard procedure" to replace doorknobs without a lock. He advised me that I could have one installed AT MY OWN EXPENSE.

I think I should be entitled to the type of doorknob that was put on when I moved in, but I'm not really sure if there is any legal advice that can back me up.

I don't want my safety compromised because my landlord is cheap.

Anything I can do to change his mind?

I babysit for an incredibly sassy nine year old. She displays absolutely no regard for authority and from the moment she gets out of bed, nearly everything that pours from her lips in cynical, negative, condescending, and just plain rude. There is no apparent trigger; I think she just desires power and attempts to get it by using her tongue as a weapon. I'll make coffee and she'll pass through the kitchen and grumble, "it smells disgusting in here!" Or I'll comment on how much I like a particular food and she'll immediately kick in with a snide, "that's gross." Today I was singing quietly in the kitchen, and she stormed in, and without a word, and slammed down her backpack. I asked if anything was wrong, and she (with a ripe display of attitude) replied, "Ye--ah, something's WRONG!" I don't like it when people are SINGING." If I tell a funny story, she will roll her eyes and tell me that its stupid. If she walks into the room and sees me, she will walk right past me without a greeting. If she needs something, she'll walk in front of or squeeze past without saying "excuse me." she never askes me how I'm doing or greets me. She has absolutely no regard for anyone but herself. She has two younger sisters who are both very sweet, and I rarely have any issues with them, so we can't pUT the blame on parenting. I also must stress that I am a very kind person and very loving toward the kids. I've done absolutely nothing to her to make her dislike me. I don't think it's that she doesn't like me; it's just that she doesn't respect authority. The kids have very loving parents and are raised in a loving Christian home. They are disciplined and reprimanded for inappropriate behavior. The thing I hate is the level of disrespect I receive from her daily. I speak sternly to her, let her know that her behavior is inappropriate, and give her a warning. She loses a priveledge if she continues. Yet the problem persists. Any ideas? How can I help her see that she needs to change?

I ocasionally babysit for an awesome family. It seems the going rate is at least ten dollars an hour. This is usually what I am paid, but the mom, although sweet, is a little flaky at times and sometimes doesn.t pay quite what she should. She seems to absentmindedly disregard half hours and will round down. Because we are somewhat close, it is a bit uncomfortable for me to bring up the issue, although I need to. What is a professional, kind, sensitive way to ask that she ensures proper pay? Please note that not asking for a raise; just that mom pay attention to my hours and pay me correctly.

I write worship music and am in the process of saving money to record a CD - either full, or demo. I don't have thousands of dollars and I've heard it can cose between 10-30 thousand for a complete CD, complete with hire of musicians and everything needed to produce a good one.

I would like to have a good quality CD produced so that I can send it to the local radio station. I have some connections in that department, but I want to make sure I am not overcharged, while at the same time, not spending so little that I get a crappy quality recording.

I need something good enough to be played on the radio, but at the same time something that won't cost me an arm and a leg.

How do I "shop around?" What do I look for, and what questions should I ask?

What is a reasonable price to spend?

Should I do a whole CD, or just a few songs to save money?

Thanks!

I work for a first time mother with a seven month old child. I've been there for several weeks, and I enjoy the job. I get along fine with the parents and adore the baby.

But the mother is a very type A personality. Although I am a type B, I am pretty adaptable in the job environment. How to appropriately wash bottles, hang dry the clothes, which side of the sink to use for dirty dishes, to not allow the little one in the bathroom or to play with the shoes by the front door, apply lotion with a cotton ball and cream with a q-tip I can deal with, but this parent notices every tiny mark on her little one and questions me about it each time (which isn't very often, but often enough for me to raise an eyebrow.)

Although I've reassured her that I handle him carefully, she is convinced that the scratches are coming from my nails, which I keep on the longer side.

Now, the first time she questioned me, the mark she noticed was about three millimeters long. Ever since I noticed her perfectionism, I've been very careful to ensure that he does not come in contact with my nails during diaper changes and to notify her of every mark I discovered.

He's a feisty baby and squirms and moves a lot! He's very strong, and he's cruising and pulling himself up on a lot of things. He will randomly get boo-boos which is perfectly normal and inevitable.

I offered to use gloves, but she wasn't convinced. Her concern was "That's fine for changing, but what about the rest of the time?"

I don't understand what she means by that, since every mark she's ever referred to has occurred in the areas only exposed during changing.

I've worked with children for 18 and years and have never once had a parent question me like this.

Now, this mommy knows that the occurances are not intentional, and I don't feel that she is blaming me for being careless, but I'm not going to cut my nails down to do this job. I feel that's ridiculous. I told her I would be careful and keep them on the "shorter side" and that I would do my best to notify her whenever I found a mark.

But I can't possibly notice everything. It is just not possible! The glove idea didn't work for her, my reassurance didn't work, and athough I am pretty certain that whatever she is noticing is not because of me, she is not convinced.

What can I do to show her that I am only human and am doing the best I can? I suppose I could inspect his entire body at the end of each day and document everything I notice, but that's absurd, and even if I did that, I don't want to overdo anything to look like I'm insulting her.

Any suggestions? And don't tell me to cut my lovely nails! ;)

I'm nearly 30, so I'd appreciate input from people older than teenagers. :)

A friend of mine wanted me to meet this guy about a year ago and although we (as a group) got together and had a good time, nothing came of it. Yet for some reason, just a couple of months ago, the same friend arranged another get-together with her family and invited me again (presmably for the same reason.) Same thing again. Nothing happened, although we did have fun! He never asked for my number or followed up.

Three weeks later (so as not to appear too interested), I looked him up on FB and he responded, seeming (by the tone of his letter) quite excited that I had befriended him, and we chatted via FB about once a week, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. (His responses took the longest.)

After about 2 weeks of no message from him, he sent me his phone number, I gave him mine in return, and he called just a couple days later and after a two hour conversation, he arranged a get-together for that weekend. The word 'date' was not used and nothing at all 'romantic' happened. Also, his kid was included in the outing. (I can't tell if he was meant to be a buffer, or to signify that this was indeed NOT a date. It must be noted that I had met the kid previously.)

After that one, I didn't hear from him for a week, so I sent a FB message and straight up asked him if he was interested in maintaining our "friendship" or not and he responded exuberantly and favorably... yet it still takes him a week or two to call. (It's been a couple of months.)

We certainly have established a relationship or some sort... but I am unsure if he is interested romantically or not. I assumed that if a guy was interested I'd hear from him at least every few days... not a week or two...

Isn't that generally the case?

I might add that we haven't gotten together in person since the initial "non-date"; he'd had medical issues he was dealing with at the time, so I cut him a little bit of slack for that time... but those issues are watered down and I am still dealing with the same patterns from him.

We seem to get along great and we have a lot in common. I have never called him; I've let that be his job since he's the guy.

It is possible that he just considered us friends from the beginning and I made too much of it? Or is he just one to go reeeeeeeally slow? After all, even though it's sparatically, he does take the initiative to call which allows me to believe he's somewhat interested. Yet he's made no move to get together. He's a good guy from a good family. He's a Christian and very involved in Christian activities and really seems to love the Lord, so I don't at all think he's the type to be a "two-timer."

And no... I'm not gutsy enough to just ask him. :) It's been too long and I'd prefer to just take things as they come. I'll find out sooner or later... but for now... I just want to pick the brain of some of you mature guys out there. Maybe you'll have an interesting perspective to offer!

And thanks!

I'm recording music with Cakewalk (basic program) and I have two questions. First of all, how do I get the mic to stop making hissing noises during recording? Please also explain where the find the appropriate buttons/menus. The help section wasn't very helpful because it showed no pictures. I couldn't figure out what they were talking about.

Secondly, how do I plug in my MIDI keyboard (what cable do I need?) and record it?

One more thing... how do I view individual recorded tracks and rename them? And why does Cakewalk give me two audio sections with the same recording each time I record? One is red and one is blue, but they appear to have the same content.

Thanks so much!

I have a one-year-old chihuahua who has never fully been potty trained. Although he would do fine with I'd take him outside to pee in the warm weather, he would usually poop inside. He never learned to let me know when he needed to go, and would just silently slip into the corner when my back was turned and I'd notice it too late to redirect him.

He REFUSES to go in the snow, and since I live in an apartment, I have decided to indoor train him. I just bought a puppy patch three days ago. I've been really buckling down. I reluctantly turned my house topsy turvy for the blasted dog. I overturned a bench he liked to hide under, and blocked off the dining room, which is where he has inappropriately decided he would like to do his business.

I now have complete visibility of him when I am home, and whenever he shows signs that he needs to go, I redirect him to the kitchen area where his spot is. But he won't go. I do it over and over and OVER again... and he just doesn't get it. I want to be in there with him when he goes, so I can immediately praise and reward him.

He went 2x yesterday on the patch -- peed AND pooped on it this AM (with some help) and I over-exaggerated my praise when he succeeded. But initially, he will continuously run around sniffing and whining when he feels the urge, and I'll have to redirect him OVER and OVER... to no avail. He will opt to HOLD it for hours. Literally! He started showing signs that he needed to go about an hour and a half ago... but refuses to go where I want him to.

I have even sat in the kitchen with him when it's time to go, put the baby gate up, and only gave him a direct route to the potty patch. This has worked the past two days in the AM. As soon as I wake up, I let him out, sit on the floor, or make tea in the kitchen, and he will go within 15 minutes, since he's been crated all night. The morning is no problem.

But is it normal for them to hold it for HOURS during the day? It's driving me crazy because I can't leave him alone at all. I am trying to see EVERY successful attempt so that I can instantly reward him.

Even if I DID leave him in the kitchen alone, I would have to listen to his incessant whining all day. I had to deal with it for over an hour yesterday. It was intolerable. I was ready to drop-kick him!! He is SO stubborn! And the separation anxiety doesn't help.

I am not going to be able to do this when I'm at work. I just leave him in the tiny kitchen area with his food and water, bed, toys, and potty pad. He almost always goes on the pad... except poop. He will poop in the middle of the floor. I have heard that is a harder habit to break.

When he needs to go potty, he runs around whining, as I've said, trying to find his former (unacceptable) spot and gets irritated that he can't get to it. This is good, but it also shows the fact that he doesn't get that he's supposed to look for this NEW spot.

How long is this going to take? And will it be harder since I won't be there to reward him when I'm at work?

It must be noted that I do give him a LOT of love and attention. He certainly isn't neglected.

I am just about to lose it! It's only been two and half days... but I'm just not sure what is working and what isn't. How long do you keep trying things before you learn that they don't work?

Do I need to wait until he actually STARTS to pee in the wrong spot to redirect him? I am looking for the warning signs, because I thought that was best, and I really don't want any more pee on my carpet. :(

Any ideas?? I'm at my wit's end! Am I on the right track.... or am I missing something?

(Dog had to pee two hours ago... was running around like mad... and now he's asleep on the couch, under the covers. Go figure! This is what is confusing to me! How often do these guys have to go??)

I was on my way home from church tonight, when I saw a deer that had been hit by a car. The poor thing was lying on the shoulder of the road, and there was a car that had stopped to call the police. They hadn't hit it, but they had found it, and had called. I got out of the car and waited until the police came, because I wanted to see what they would do.

They were preparing to shoot it.

The poor deer was conscious, and was tossing its head around, looking at us and, writhing in pain. It had a missing leg.

The thing is, I know that there are many deer in the world, and I know the animal was in pain and putting it out of its misery was the EASIEST thing to do.

But obviously, the only problem was the leg. Couldn't they have possibly drugged it and taken it to an emergency shelter where it could have been helped?

I think the decision they made was a crappy and ill-thought out one. The poor deer really could have been helped if they hadn't been in such a hurry.

What do you think?

Last week, I noticed that my control key had stopped working, and just yesterday, my "L" key stopped. I have to apply a lof of pressure each time I touch it. I have no idea what could have caused this. Is there any way to fix it? Can I pop the key off and mess around with something? Thanks!

I have taught piano for nearly a year, and I just started to teach voice.

I have taken lessons myself over the years and have worked with four different teachers at different times. I know the tips and tricks and quite a few exercises. My question is... how can I expand my teaching technique so my students won't feel like they're just doing different types of scales at every lesson? That's all I seemed to do at my lessons, and although they helped, I want my students to feel like they're "going somewhere" week after week. Eventually we'll work on songs, but for now, I'm teaching the basics.

Voice lessons don't come with a book like piano, so you don't have a "new piece" to learn every time. I am not concerned about repertoire because I have quite a few ideas. But I consider working on songs to be more of "voice coaching" and I really want my students to learn how to breathe, use their air, experiment with different exercises that touch on different things, and all of this WITH repertoire.

How can I expand... and possibly make my own personal "voice book" to get some ideas?

I would like some ideas, in list format, if you could. Something like:

Lesson 1: Breathing exercises/discussion of how the voice works/support/breath/flow/hear to chest

Lesson 2: Pentatonic Scale up and down on E, vibrato discussion

Lesson 3: Major Scale through the 9th and back down, focus on continuous air flow

Lesson 4: Ooh-Eee through the 5th, loo slowly from the fifth down

This little dog is so smart, when he hears the "ding"of the computer shutting down, he runs to hide under the table because he knows it's time for me to put him to bed!

This results in my having to chase him around the room with the squirt bottle. I hate to do that, but it works. First I try nicely to get him to come, which rarely works. If I try to get him, he'll nip at me. So I squirt him out, he runs away, and I have to use my firm voice. Eventually, he'll cower and I will slowly reach him, pick him up and tell him he's a good boy and give him lots of love.

I leave him in the kitchen at night because he isn't fully potty trained, although he's a year old. I am not home a lot, and when I am I don't have that much time to spend training him. He's smart though. He can sit, lay, stay, and come... but he still usually does all of those things on HIS terms.

How can I teach him that bedtime is a GOOD thing? (Treats don't work.) He has his little crate, his doggy bed, his teddy bear (which he loves) and a chew toy. Also, food and water are readily available and so is his puppy pad. He has everything he needs, and I always love and cuddle him before I leave him... but he still whines and fusses for about ten minutes.

I put him down when it's time for me to go to bed, so if I am quiet, eventually he will shut up and realize he's not missing anything. But if I get up to go to the bathroom, he starts fussing all over again.

How can I get him to a) either let me put him to bed or go own his own... happily, and b) shut up and stay there nicely until the morning?