Teddy

He was hit by a car while walking down the sidewalk a week ago. He's very badly injured (many bone fractures) and until today was on a breathing tube. It sounds as though he's been slowly making progress though, and I am positive he'll pull through. This situation has been incredibly traumatic for his entire family, including me.

I came down with a cold three days ago, and the nursing staff says that it is best I don't visit him until I am better. I don't mind staying away because I know it is a part of keeping him safe and improving his recovery. Does anyone out there know how long it will be until I can see him again? Can I see him once my symptoms are cleared up, or do I need to stay away longer than that? Any hospital staff out there who can comment?

Thanks so much!

Hi all,

I am returning to university at the age of 32, to complete a degree I left behind 10 years ago. I am nervous for a number of reasons:

1. I will have much less money. I have applied for a number of scholarships, but I know I am going to taking quite the financial hit by going from working full time to being a student. Any suggestions on part time jobs that would suit a 32 year old?

2. Social life. I have no kids, and lead a fairly fun lifestyle, but I am nervous about the social dynamics at university. I will be 10 years older than most students, and am not sure if it will be strange for me to joins things like the campus newspaper. This is important to me because I want to move on to a post-graduate degree, and I know my activities while in school will be scrutinized when I am applying to post-grad programs.

3. Studying. I have done a few correspondence courses over the past few years, and have done very well in those classes - in fact, much better than I ever did when I was first an undergrad. However, I will have a full course load, and am absolutely determined to get a 4.0 average. Any tips for getting those types of grades? The best I ever did in my previous attempt at uni was a 3.25, and I was admittedly a slacker who didn't do the readings and skipped class. Unfortunately, I had a very negative attitude and was completely directionless. Now I am totally focused on what I want to get out of returning to school, and I plan to use my past failure to help motivate me.

Thanks for any tips you have guys!!!

I'm really curious. Was it something weird, improperly cooked, or just plain gluttonous? I ask because I just ate 20 Timbits and am feeling a little nauseous. I also have a habit of stuffing myself on two McChickens every now and again. The grossest thing I ever ate was a Thousand Year Egg from a Chinese restaurant. It was like a hard boiled egg, except the white part was grey, and the yolk was black and slimey. It tasted nearly flavourless, just a little bitter, but it was the texture that really turned me off. I was in the habit of being quite adventurous about food up until then. Eating that egg seemed to trigger some sort of innate pickiness towards foods that I'd been supressing.

I have a 2006 Chrysler 300, which I love. It is my first car, and I'd love to keep it, but I have been accepted into university for the fall, and don't think I can afford the payments. Since this was my first car, and first time driving a vehicle, I have been prone to lightly brushing and bumping poles and barriers with it. It has light brushes off its paint on all four sides, and a small, shallow dent in one door. The worst damage is the driver's side mirror. I bumped into a barrier, and the whole thing popped off. The electronic components in the mirror are still working fine, but I had to glue it back on, so it doesn't look that great. Will these imperfections prevent me from selling the car? I am thinking of only selling it for the amount that I still have owing on it (around $7000) which is a very good price for this vehicle. Any advice? Should I try to repair these auto-body problems myself?

Hi All,

I have a friend, I'll call her Sandy, who I have known for about 10 years. I know her through a job that we both had in our youths. I also have a boyfriend, who both Sandy and I met through that same job. All three of us used to be co-workers. My boyfriend and I only began dating two years ago.

Sandy is notorious for being hard to get along with, but I enjoy her friendship, as she has diverse interests and has a unique perspective on life. Over the last few years she has lived in China as an english instructor, but we have had an email friendship. I always had a crush on my current bf, which I was open about. I learned that before I was dating my boyfriend, Sandy propositioned him for sex. He said no, and that was that. She told me about how annoyed she was that he had turned her down (this was all before I had started dating him).

Well, Sandy recently came home for a short visit, before returning to China, and I was happy to make plans to hang out during her time home. The thing is, when we met, she seemed very anxious, and kept asking where my boyfriend was. When she learned that he was working that day, she insisted that we hang out at the apartment where my boyfriend and I had just moved, even though everything was still in boxes. She was in a very negative mood while we were hanging out. As soon as my boyfriend walked in the door from a long day of work she insisted that we all get drunk, and proceeded to start asking awkward questions about my relationship with my boyfriend. She also constantly "playfully" slapped my boyfriend around. He was very uncomfortable, and so was I. I felt that her behaviour was strange, and if I had to judge, I'd say that she was angry at both me and my boyfriend, and not acting very "friendly". She also kept offering to sell us her household items. All in all, confusing.

Sandy has since sent me a few messages asking to spend more time together, but I just feel like avoiding her since the last get together was so strange. However, I also want to be a friend to her. I feel like she's moved away to China because she feels unwanted here, and that she needs a good friend. I feel in conflict about what to do. I sort of suspect that she is using me to spend time with my bf, since she seems to have feelings for him.

I did suggest that she and I go for a nature walk, since I thought it might help her to feel more relaxed, but then she sent me a message asking me to buy a bunch of her odds and ends household items, which I found confusing.

Has anyone out there ever had a friendship that confused them or made them uncomfortable? How do you maintain good relations with somone who is so anxious and quick to negative thinking? (As a note, Sandy is on anti-depressants, and is prone to panic attacks and very extreme mood swings - one reason why I feel nervous around her).

D.H. Lawrence is credited with saying "Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot." I feel like I understand the majority of the quote, excepting the last phrase - "say it hot". What does it mean to "say it hot"?

Thanks!

My boyfriend and I have just had to incur approximately $1500 in unexpected moving costs due to misinformation we had received from our rental agent:

My boyfriend and I first met with this rental agent, who was working on behalf of the condo owner for the apartment we just moved into, nearly two months ago, to discuss our renting the apartment offered. During the times that we met with the rental agent, he assured us that we could move on the date of June 30th (Saturday morning). We also looked carefully through the condo regulations for the apartment before signing them, and no where was there noted that the building we were about to move into had moving time restrictions.

We scheduled our move for June 30th, including booking professional movers, and informing our old landlord that we would be vacating on the 30th. I requested the contact information for the building manager from our rental agent, who did not provide the information until June 29th, the day before the move. Upon contacting the building manager for our new apartment, we were informed that we could not move in on the 30th, and that we would have to do it during a weekday, the soonest being Tuesday, July 3rd. She informed me that this information was in the regulations for the condo. Neither the building manager, the condo owner, or the rental agent will take responsibility for the misinformation we were provided, but the unexpected hold over in our move ended up costing us approximately $1500. Both the building manager and the rental agent have laid the blame at the owner's feet, but as I have not spoken with the owner, I cannot say whether he accepts the blame.

The only forms of material proof I have that we did not have the information about the moving time restrictions, is the set of condo regs that my boyfriend and I signed. I tried to engage the involved parties via email, but they would only communicate over the phone. If I decide to take these parties to small claims court, will my proof be enough? I am very concerned, as we had to borrow money in order to pay for the emergency move and storage costs. I feel bad about thinking of suing my landlord at the start of our relationship together, but should I? Would he hesitate to sue us if we did damage to his property which cost him over one thousand dollars?

Any advice?

I am thinking of making him a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing, but I'd love any suggestions...

Also, I want to prepare vegetarian tacos for our dinner together (since he's a vegetarian). Let me know if you've got a better idea.

My boyfriend and I live in a house with three other roommates. I tend to feel that our home is cluttered with too much junk, and that I never have space or privacy to relax and decompress in our house. Recently my bf and I have been discussing moving into our own place, but I am worried because I feel that I am constantly losing my temper with him. The things he does that bother me include staying out until past 1 am partying on a regular basis (I work a 8 - 5, mon - fri job), constantly signing repetitive songs at the top of his voice, not cleaning up after himself as well as I would prefer, smoking, making spurr-of-the-moment decisions that impact both of our lives only to change his mind several days later, and not keeping the promises he makes to me (such as quitting smoking, making me breakfast or dinner, spending time with me). On the flip side, he's faithful to me, very loving, funny, and interesting to be around. I enjoy his charisma but am often left boiling mad by his behaviours. I don't want to move out, thinking that a quieter, less hectic home life will solve my anger issues, only to become an irritable hag that he has no escape from.

Why am I so angry with him and how should I solve my problem?

Thanks!

I work in a desk job. The work is alright - not my dream job by any means, but I am learning a lot of business skills. I plan to go back to school full-time in September, 5 months from now (my current boss is fully aware of this).

I often feel anxious and pent up in this job because it is so sedentary, and I love physical activity.

I have a friend who work for my city's Parks and Rec who offered to get me a job doing horticulture over the summer before school starts. At first I was enthusiastic at the idea of spending the summer out in the city parks, but as more information about the position has been provided I have become wary. I would be taking a pay cut from around $25.00 per hour to around $18.00 per hour. Also, I will be spraying herbicides which would mean I'd have to wear full coverage clothing which would get really hot when doing labour outdoors.

My friend was really kind to help me out but now I am not sure I want the help he has offered. He's already gotten me a job interview and seems really enthusiastic about us working together. Is there a way that I can back out of this gracefully, or should I take a chance at what might turn out to be a relaxing and low-stress parks job, and forget about the loss of $$$?

Thanks all!

My little sister and I are going tobogganing tonight. I think Gallagher Hill is the biggest and scariest (just her style!) but I'm wondering if there are any bigger and badder hills in E-Town?!?

I recently accepted a new position which pays me less than what I was looking for, on the basis that the benefits were really good. The main benefit that I was interested in was the free courses that I was told I could take through the company. I asked the Human Resources department about this benefit prior to being hired and also mentioned it as being a reason for my applying, during my job interview.

When I started the job I made a point of asking my manager about signing up for courses on three separate occasions. She at first put me off, then told me I'd have to wait a year until I could take advantage of the free courses.

After that I attended a new employee orientation and was told by other new employees in the company that they had been able to sign up for courses immediately once their employment started. I took this information back to my boss and she responded by saying that the rule in our particular department is to wait one year.

I now feel as though I've been tricked into taking a lower paying job, because I am not receiving the benefits that had been advertised as being part of the job.

Also, during my interview I told my supervisor that I plan to go back to school within one year. She hired me knowing this and she also knows that I will not be here in a year to take advantage of the free courses.

Any advice? Does this sound fishy to you?

I am getting a new computer and want to sell my 2006 Macbook on ebay if it can make me a little money. Here are its details:

-13" lcd screen with a small bright spot on the bottom edge.

-500 GB hard drive (replaced original in 2010)

-logic board is wearing down, so will no longer sleep, fan runs, bottom gets hot, and internet port does not work

-no power cord (just stopped working a few weeks ago and I've been borrowing my boyfriend's to charge it)

I'm guessing it might be usable for parts but I would like to get others' opinions.

Thanks!

I have a multitude of gripes against my bf which cause me to constantly ***** and fight with him. The last two days we haven't spoken and have slept with a pillow partiion between us. We've just gas one too many fights and nothing ever gets resolved. Can it get better after getting this bad? How?

Although I had to work early this morning, my boyfriend pressured me to go to a party last night (so that I'd drive him to and from the party). Then he ditched me at the party where I didn't know anyone, and I saw him full frontal hugging another girl and allowing her to rub his head. I decided I wanted to leave the party when I saw that, and after we left he gave me a hard time for "not saying I didn't want to go to the party before hand". The thing is, I did tell him that I wanted to stay home and relax instead of going out, and he didn't listen. He seemed really mad to have had to leave the party and now we aren't talking. Can someone please explain what the problem is? I am really socially awkward and sometimes don't understand why people do the things they do...

Here is a picture of the dress I'm wearing to my sister's Gothic/Victorian inspired wedding:

http://imgur.com/s38Gd

Does anyone have jewelry suggestions?

I like both asking questions and answering questions. Is that a problem?

I ask because I am considering making a slight switch in fields. It would mean taking a job that pays a bit less but in which I'd be exposed to tons of new skills, and which would pay for free education since it is at a post-secondary institute. My current position does not stimulate me very much.

I am curious how other people rank money vs. enjoyment of what you do/career engagement.

Hi there. I am writing a play about bullying. I feel that bullying, especially of those in the queer sect, needs to be addressed. I have a scene written but am uncomfortable with my use of the word "***", because I feel that even though it is a word that can be realistically used, it is also a hurtful word that may make some who see the play uncomfortable. Is there a way around using hurtful language to get the point across, without being hokey?