venus_smrf

I've been trying to catch this stupid Pokemon for way too long. I always get it down to a single health point, and I always managed to paralyze/put it to sleep, but it just keeps breaking free again. I've used great balls and ultra balls. What am I doing wrong that this is so difficult?

I watched part of a drama years ago and would like to find it. I want to say it was named "Younger Man" or something like that, but nothing is coming up through searches, so I could be wrong.

I'm also hazy on the details.

The show was about a woman--maybe in her 30's?--who was interested in a younger man she'd see at the gym. The man, however, unknowingly fell for the girl's mother, so the girl started dating her younger brother's best friend.

I honestly don't remember any more than that. Anyone recognize this?

I have a Toshiba Satellite S75Dt-A7330. I've only had it since just before Christmas, but in the past week, it's developed a problem. I keep getting disconnected from my home network. I can usually connect again, but a few minutes or seconds later, I'll get kicked out again. This can go on for quite some time. However, it doesn't always happen. There are times when I can stay on for hours, and nothing happens. It doesn't seem to happen at the same times, either, so I don't think it's a usage problem.

I have another laptop and a desktop in my home. They're not having any problems.

I can also take my laptop to my campus, where it connects just fine.

If anyone knows how to fix this or can even just name the problem, please give me the idiot's version. I'm not even remotely tech savvy.

I'm reading Art Spiegelman's Maus I, and there's a point where one of the characters, a prisoner of war, has a dream in which his grandfather tells him he'll be free on Parshas Truma. From the explanation in the book, I take it that's a day when a certain section of the Torah will be read.

How familiar would this term be for most Jews, though? I need to judge how "religious" the man's son is if he doesn't recognize that. Should he know what that means?

There was a terrible storm last night, and a couple I'd met a few months before showed up at my door, saying the roads were blocked and they needed a place to stay. I didn't mind, but I'm trying to decide if, when they came to me in the morning and asked for clean towels, they were being rude, or if it's just me.

For the record, I wouldn't have minded giving them towels at all, even though the ones in their bathroom hadn't been used, and even though the roads were open by then and their home was only fifteen minutes away. I think part of it was the fact that the tone of voice made it clear this was an expectation rather than just a request. It also could have been the fact that we'd found my grandfather lying unconscious in a pool of blood that morning, and the ambulance hadn't even been gone five minutes before they started asking (he's mostly fine, but we didn't know that when they came to me).

...which is why I'm asking this at all. I don't know if I was just annoyed by their timing and this was a reasonable request, or if they were being slightly rude. I have a lot of guests in my home, so I need to know if I should temper my responses in the future.

Opinions?

Two days ago, I noticed that my Norton was flashing red. There was something about needing to uninstall and re-install Norton for it to work. I did. Everything seemed fine, but when I went to use my computer today, I realized that my computer has essentially been wiped. All of my documents are missing. Anything I'd bookmarked is missing.

In my defense, when I did this, I had a 104 degree fever and was hopped up on medications. I probably wouldn't have done any of this if I'd been even remotely coherent, but now I need to figure out what I've done and see if there's a way to get my documents back.

Help?

My neighbor told me the other day that a stray cat had gotten into her garage and had kittens behind her washing machine. They couldn't get the kittens out, so her husband blocked off the garage to keep the mother from getting in there. He apparently thought that if the cat had easy access, she'd have kittens in the garage again.

Anyway, the neighbor emailed a bunch of people to see if anyone wanted the kittens. When she hadn't had a response after two days, I have reason to suspect that the husband took the kittens and threw them off a cliff into the ocean.

I obviously can't prove it, but I feel sick every time I see these people. If I could prove it, I'd report them. As it is, I teach their little son in church every week. I see them all the time at functions. I hesitated to say anything, and there were certainly repercussions when I did, but I couldn't have lived with myself. That was too messed up.

So how would you handle it?

I purchased a seemingly healthy tomato plant at Wal-Mart. It was fine for a week, and then one day, I noticed that one of the stems was shriveling. By the next morning, the entire plant was like that--shriveled to the point of no return. I have another tomato plant nearby that seems fine, so I'm guessing this is a fungus or something. Any idea? There weren't any bugs around that I could see, but it happened too quickly to be anything innocuous.

I live on the North Shore of Oahu, if that's pertinent.

So I took my four-year-old dog to a new groomer the other day, and when I picked her up, the groomer said, "Your dog is a mess. Her teeth are falling out. Her leg is stiff, and she's going blind."

...what?

I just had my dog's teeth cleaned. They are certainly not falling out! I also had my dog in for a full physical not even two months ago with a vet I trusted, and he checked her eyes, as he always does when I take her in. If my vet had thought there was the slightest hint of a problem, he'd have told me.

And yes, my dog has a bad leg. She had surgery a few years ago, and part of her bone had to be removed. It was my fault for not remembering to tell the groomer, but my dog was in physical therapy, so I know exactly how much someone can pull on her leg before she starts limping, as she did for a full day after the visit.

So how would you respond? I just paid her and left, and I obviously won't be going back, but what would you have done?

I've just reached my favorite part of every school term, the day when the first paper is due and the excuses start rolling in. My favorites so far?

"I found a kitten three weeks ago."

"My roommate had a headache."

"I had a cold."

"I forgot the paper was due."

"I wasn't done, so I was just going to turn it in next week."

What about you, teachers? Best excuses you've had?

My brother went for an interview at a cafe today. During the interview process, he was told that not only would he not be allowed to keep his tips, but that, as part of an "extended interview," he would have to work two full shifts for free. IF he performed well enough during those free days, he MIGHT be hired. No guarantees, of course.

When my brother,having already decided there was no way he was taking this job, questioned this, the interviewer became defensive and said that of course the cafe wouldn't be doing anything illegal and that all of their current waiters had gone through this process.

I'm just curious--was this legal? My brother claimed he looked it up and found that it wasn't, at least not in the state of Utah, but I'm not convinced that five minutes on the Internet really answered the question. Anyone know?

My mother is...technologically challenged, and she keeps pushing buttons. So far this morning alone, I've had to fix her cell phone and the computer, all because she touched things.

I can't, however, figure out what she did to the TV. She has an HDTV--I don't know anything about it beyond that--and there is now a black strip down each side. The program airing isn't cut off, just smaller. It's the same for every channel, and though I called the cable company, they claim it isn't them. My mother said she pushed the "zoom" button on the remote, even though there isn't one, and I can't find anything even similar on any of the setting functions. Help? She's panicking and now saying she'll have to take the TV back but still won't leave me alone until I fix it. Any suggestions so I don't have to smother her with her own pillow?

I've decided to start making bread bowls to hold chowder and things, but my bread always spreads out a bit. This is fine for normal bread, but I think it would be better if the bowls were taller and deeper rather than wider. Any suggestions for getting them that way that won't harm the flavor or the appearance of the bread?

My brother is engaged to a Chilean girl. Her fiancé's VISA finally came in, and since he doesn't have access to a computer for a few days, I'm trying to figure out how long it'll take for her to become a permanent resident once they're married. I've tried going online, but the government site is...confusing. Any ideas?

I had a party for the holidays and invited about twenty people. Several of those people invited others without bothering to tell me, and over fifty showed up. I did know all of them, but party crashing aside, many of those who came--invited and not--decided to take a tour of my home. They went through the bedrooms and bathrooms, opening cupboards and looking through closets, and some even went out to my garage and storage area to look around.

I wish I could say that only a few people did this, but except for the really close friends who'd already seen my house and a handful of more polite individuals, almost all of the guests did this at one time or another. Was this rude, or am I just operating under a different standard of what is acceptable during a party? I've never gone to someone's house and felt that, as a guest, I had the right to go through their home. I've certainly never even thought about going into their bathroom and inspecting the contents of someone else's closet. Maybe I missed something, though, because I had over thirty people doing this.

I've seen a couple of white watermelons online--ones with white or very light pink flesh--but I think I read somewhere that they're not edible straight and have to be candied or baked. I don't want to bother with that. Anyone know?

I'm looking for a sonnet I read back in high school--longer ago than I care to admit--but while I think it was one of Shakespeare's, I'm having trouble locating it.

It had something to do with death/youth/time, and may have included a description of a grave or graveyard. I think the person who had died had been young, though I'm not sure, and though I could be completely wrong about this, I think there was also some kind of implication about finding eternal youth through death.

I know that's not much to go on, but if anyone recognizes this, I'd appreciate the help.

I asked a question a few days ago about an Asian drama, A Thousand Kisses, I'd been watching.

One individual responded by accusing me of racism (only in terms that were excessively racist in themselves), used several epithets that had to be censored out, and then informed me that I was a terrible person.

Judging by the response, the person was obviously not the most rational or polite person, but if I was being offensive, I'd like to know, if only to avoid repeating the behavior in the first place.

I can't repeat the question verbatim, as I've discovered that it's been deleted, but it was something like this:

I've been watching an Asian drama, A Thousand Kisses, and two of the characters are incredibly upset because one man just found out that his girlfriend's sister is dating his cousin. There are a lot of tears over this, and I don't get it. Who cares, since they're not blood related? Is there some sort of legal or cultural taboo I'm missing that prohibits cousins from marrying into the same family?

This is an entirely hypothetical question, but it's bugging me.

Let's say I'm offered one of four prizes. I'm guaranteed to get one, but the selection is random. If I'm trying to get a specific one of the four, but I can enter the contest three times, what are my odds of actually getting that one?

I haven't done statistics in years and can't remember how to do this. Can someone explain?

My grandfather fell down the stairs the other day. He escaped with a few bumps and bruises, but he could have seriously hurt himself, and so I'm looking into medical alert systems. Everything I've read online indicates that LifeStation is a good way to go, but I'd like to hear from someone who has it.

My grandfather lives with me, and I work from home. I'd only need something capable of letting me know if he's fallen while I'm out running errands or something.