Terry E

My flight arrives about 09:30 on a Tuesday at LAX. I plan to rent a car and would like to give a better estimation of when my wife and I will clear Immigration and Customs as we enter the USA (US Citizen's line). Please, can anyone offer a reasonable estimation of how long the queue will be for us? Thanks!

I recall learning PT in junior high school, and again in college. Even though I've worked in the military fixing F-16 avionics, and now work on different, yet electronic, equipment, I can't see where PT would have helped me in my career.

How does one use PT in their career? Towards what can PT be applied?

Thanks!

My company recently changed firms to manage our 401k plan. I registered online and found the page to update/change my contribution. Unfortunately, I am frustrated by the fact I can only state a percentage of my bi-weekly paycheck as my contribution instead of a monetary amount (U.S. dollars). After I spoke with the firm managing the plan, I contacted my HRO and posed the question to it: why a percentage vs a dollar amount? It said we employees can only list our contributions as a percentage.

So my question to you HR professionals, and others with professional knowledge, is what is the advantage of having the employee state their 401k contribution as a percentage vs a dollar amount? I manage my money well, and if could state my contribution as a dollar amount, I would have consistency with respect to my contribution. I don t understand why a company would be so inflexible with how an employee would like to identify their contribution: as a percentage OR as a dollar amount.

I welcome professional responses to my questions. Thank you.

Purely curious: I am searching for information on the Catholic Nun Chain of Command or Rank structure - no other motivation besides my curiosity. I tried Wikipedia, no luck. I tried Google, no luck. I understand the basic process for a woman to become a Catholic Nun: apprenticeship of 6 months to 1 year; journeyman of 1 to 3 years with a simple vow; and craftsman after 3 years with final vows (or a similar process). Any factual responses will be appreciated. Thanks.

I've reviewed recipes online but none are consistent about which cut of meat to use in the stew. Should I use a chuck roast or pork roast? What do you recommend? Thanks.

I recently re-charged my car's A/C with R-134, easy job. What else should I do to help ensure my car's A/C works well with this recharge? I think there's a filter I can clean or change. Anything else? I am not a car mechanic, so if I can't do the job myself, I will pay someone to do it. Thanks.

Whenever I access Yahoo Mail, from my home PC, my home laptop, or my home netbook, Mail behaves slowly. For instance, merely scrolling from the top of the Mail screen downward takes so long I have time to read a paragraph from a book before it finishes scrolling.

Same behavior when I use a public computer (which happen to be much better than my home PC).

Is anyone experiencing this type of slowness as you use Yahoo Mail? If yes, is there a way for me to rectify the slow behavior on my end? Or is this just a fact of Yahoo Mail?

I'm requesting intelligent replies - sarcasm and cynicism will not be helpful for me. Thank you.

I am seeking the correct title of a medical doctor who specializes in the spine and muscles of the human back.

My friend is in pain and she points to her back muscles. Specifically, she points to her left upper back, above the shoulder blade; plus her lower back about one hand span above her buttocks.

If we can learn of the proper name of the doctor she seeks, we can continue our research into finding a remedy for her.

Thanks in advance!

I am aware of Gorilla Glue, Krazy Glue, Elmer's Glue-All, and various other small-name brands. I need to glue/bond some small fishing items (guides and reel parts) but am leery of buying an inferior glue. I haven't bought glue in several years and what I do have is dried in the tube (unusable). Suggestions for which glue I should consider purchasing? Thanks!

Please, I am seeking realistic, not nonsensical, information.

I was looking at my company's 401K mutual funds. None are index funds; none are ETFs. All of the funds charge more than 0.75% plus the "admin fee" of 0.75%, so I'll have to pay no less than 1.50% for the "benefit" of participating in it.

I already max out my and my wife's Traditional IRAs, we own a regular investment account, and I have two rollover IRA accounts. So I am focusing on how to work with this not so good 401K.

I can max out this 401K and receive the employer match, but I'll also have to consider the high costs. The true benefit for me and this 401K is the tax deduction.

I could put in enough to capture the employer match and invest what I didn't contribute into our joint account.

Or is (are) another option(s) I should consider? My goal is to increase tax deductions thereby reducing any potential tax bill.

Thank you.

On the PC I purchased in 2005, it came pre-loaded with Windows XP. I have had a good run with this computer, and am not in the market to replace it.

What I would like to do is make a copy of Win XP on CD (or the like), then reformat my harddrive, and reinstall WinXP from my newly made disk. None of my personal files are on my C drive so saving my files is not an issue for me.

Does anyone know from where I get the original factory installed WinXP off of my current harddrive so I can copy it to CD? My harddrive is OEM and except for installing XP updates (yes, I have XP SP3 on my PC), all the softwared preinstalled is OEM.

Please keep the instructions simple so I can do this with near zero-errors and with minimal hassles. Thanks!

Specifically, how does each major religion on Earth refer to their God? For example, the Christians and Catholics refer to God as "God", and Jesus as "Lord". What does the Islamic faith call their God? What does the Hindu faith call their God? What does the Judiasm (aka Jewish) followers call their God? This is a pure curiosity question and nothing else is motivating me to ask it. Thanks.

On my next air travel, I was considering ordering the Kosher Meal (or Hindu or Vegetarian, etc) just to try it. What is a Kosher meal; it consists of what foods; how tasty is it for the American palate? Thanks.

Specifically, I would like to ensure I have my outgoing email characters set at 80 to 75 per line.

Also, I would like to ensure my received emails display 80 to 75 characters per line.

How do I do set my Yahoo Email Classic to set my characters per line?

At one time in the past I was able to set this up, but now over time, I've forgotten how to do this simple task. I'd appreciate bonafide assistance, please. Thank you.

I eat Chuck Roast frequently; easy to cook (e.g, I slice it and make my own steaks) and I enjoy it. I am not a Chef, Cook or Dietician.

However, I would like to "upgrade" to the next level of beef. So, which cut of beef is the next level (in quality) up from Chuck Roast?

Also, when marinating Chuck Roast (for flavor), for how long should I leave the meat marinating in the fridge?

Thanks.

I recently came upon some canned food items (enchilada sauce to be exact) and none of them had expiration dates on the can.

I can't recall when I purchased them but it would have been after Summer 2005. Contacting the company to ask them this question would be a waste of time; the customer service rep would tell me to throw them out and purchase new cans of sauce (so the firm will make more money). (I'm basing the above on a previous experience of mine).

But, from your experience, for how long will enchilada sauce in a can remain good/edible? The expiration dates are not on the cans. I was going to use the aforementioned cans in my chilequilas but am waiting on answers before using or chucking them.

Thanks!

I prefer to make my own hamburgers at home with 93% ground-round beef. I am seeking advice on how to make the meat more flavorful. After I cook the meat, the cooked meat is devoid of any flavor except for "plain cooked meat" flavor. Typically, I put into 1.5~2.0 pounds of ground-round: garlic powder and onion powder, worcestershire sauce, a few shakes of fine black pepper, one shake of salt, and Mrs Dash Table Blend. I broil the meat patties until medium-well to well done. Once I take them out of the broiler, I taste the meat and guess what? it's just not flavorful - it's pretty bland.

Does anyone have tips on how I can make my hamburger patties more flavorful? Thanks!

My current desktop (Compaq Presario 1200(?) year 2005) is not fast enough anymore to make me happy. So I am in the planning stage of building my own computer (I can get the proper components to build it and it'll give me a project to work on) but I lack the knowledge to decide which components are the best (regardless of price) and which ones I can afford (two distinct entities). I prefer actual names and the specs not websites, please.

Here are my desired requirements:

Speed, speed, and more speed - I want the fastest components (suggested by you);

fastest hard drive, then number 2 and number 3;

fastest motherboard with room for growth for memory, NIC, video, audio;

More than 2Gb of RAM, I'd prefer closer to 10Gb, if possible

DVD player (mine is a 40x so I may just keep it (unless suggested otherwise)), must be Region-Free (meaning I can play all regions (especially Regions 1 and 3) without having to download any codecs);

USB 2.0 or better (with several ports);

Must be SUPERB for playing tunes; watching TV shows/movies over the Net (especially from YouTube and the like); downloading files as quickly as possible; can play well with Windows OS (XP or 7), Internet Explorer 8, Adobe, SpyDoctor AV, RealPlayer, QuickTime, Quicken, MS Office Suite (Professional) 2003 or better, and digital camera software.

I use my computer for business writing (school, resumes, research) and entertainment (mostly surfing for fun and knowledge, plus watching TV/movies and YouTube-like videos). I want components that will be 1,000 times faster than what professional gamers use in Korea or Japan.

Suggestions? Please advise.

Thanks!

Hi, I was thinking about this scenario recently:

December 31st, 2035, I turn 70; December 31st, 2036 I'll be 71. I will always take my RMD before Midnight, December 31st of each year once I begin taking them.

To calculate RMDs from my and my wife's IRAs (excluding Roth IRA) and my 401K, is the calculation a one-time formula calculation? OR, is the calculation performed each year to account for increases resulting from gains/dividends?

Stay focused now...for example, IF all of my traditional IRAs plus my 401K balances equal $1,000,000, on December 31st 2035 and the following December 31st I plan to begin taking my RMDs, do I calculate my RMD with respect to December 2035 or December 2036?

Is that a one time calculation and I'll never have to calculate it again? OR, do I recalculate my RMD every year, with respect to my balances on December 31st of the current year or the previous year?

Also, if my RMD is (hypothetically) $40,000 but I "earn" $60,000 in gains/dividends, can I withdraw only the $40,000 and allow the remaining $20,000 to continue working for me within my accounts?

OR do I need move that $20,000 into another account (i.e., savings, money market, etc.) so it isn't "co-mingling" and "tainting" my accounts? In other words, are my traditional IRAs and 401K balances allow to grow with gains/dividends even if the gains/dividends are greater than the RMD?

Perhaps this is a confusing question but I am constantly thinking about my retirement, and I wanted to see what I can expect regarding how to manage my RMDs and gains/dividends. Thanks!

I'm looking for additional retirement plan options and was wondering what else is available to us middle income earners?

I participate in my firm's 401K.

I have a Traditional IRA and contribute to it.

I have a Roth IRA (recently opened to receive an old 401K via the 2010 Conversion).

My wife has a Traditional IRA (spousal IRA which I fund on her behalf).

We have a joint mutual fund account.

I am aware of three types of annuities (immediate, variable, and fixed).

I am aware of universal and whole life insurances (as part of a retirement portfolio). Have I left out any insurances?

What else is out there that I should consider and research?

I'm 44, I plan to fully retire at age 62 ~ 64 depending on the overall financial environment. I plan to sign up for Social Security benefits (at age 62) but will delay taking any payments for myself until age 70, although my wife (at age 63) will begin collecting benefits based on my earnings.

I'd appreciate any ideas for me to consider and research.

Thank you.