locosurfer

I have a Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring. A few months back, my wife ran over a nail and ruined a tire. We replaced it with a Michelin (P245-50R20). The other three tires are Yokohamas - same size. Today, I went to get two new front tires because they are wearing really bad. I wanted to replace them with Michelins. But, when I got to the tire place, I was told that the Michelin has a different "speed rating" than the Yokohama. So, I'd be left with one Yokohama (V speed rating) and three Michelin (H rating). They claimed this would make a difference. What do you think? The tires are all the same size. So, does the speed rating really matter?

We are planning a trip there in February 2012 and want to go during a non-busy time. But, Valentine's Day falls on one of the weeks we are considering. Any insight?

I took my Mazda Cx-9 into the dealer to have them check out my automatic transmission. The car shows that it shifts up to 5th gear when going about 35 mph and is often in 6th gear when I am going just 50 mph. Also, sometimes, if I punch the gas to quickly accelerate, I see the display show the gears go down from, say 6th gear, to like 3rd gear. It just seems very strange to me. I don't see how you can be going on the highway at 70 mph and jump into a low gear to accelerate more.

I don't know much about cars. So, maybe this is normal. The dealer said it was a programming issue. They re-programmed the transmission computing and said it was now fine. But, over the past couple days, I haven't noticed much of a difference. What do you think? Is there something wrong with the car or am I just being oversensitive?

I took my Mazda Cx-9 into the dealer to have them check out my automatic transmission. The car shows that it shifts up to 5th gear when going about 35 mph and is often in 6th gear when I am going just 50 mph. Also, sometimes, if I punch the gas to quickly accelerate, I see the display show the gears go down from, say 6th gear, to like 3rd gear. It just seems very strange to me. I don't see how you can be going on the highway at 70 mph and jump into a low gear to accelerate more.

I don't know much about cars. So, maybe this is normal. I took the CX-9 into the dealer and they said it was a programming issue. They re-programmed the transmission computing and said it was now fine. But, over the past couple days, I haven't noticed much of a difference. What do you think? Is there something wrong with the car or am I just being oversensitive?

Keaton

or

Brendan

Our little girl is very active. Since the day she was born, she has wanted to see and do as much as her little body will allow. Now that she is 9 months old, she fights sleep as if it is her worst enemy. She rarely takes naps and, at most, she'll sleep for maybe 30 minutes during the day. Also, at night, she will not sleep all the way through the night and wakes up between 1 to 3 times nightly. Most of those times, she'll fall back to sleep after being fed. But, sometimes she'll be active in the night. I'd like to see her sleep habits become more normal. We've tried everything and she still just doesn't want to sleep through the night. Any tips?

I bought new size R30 flood lightbulbs (i.e. the type of lights that are recessed) that use the new compact flourescent bulbs (CFL). The CFL feature is camoflauged so that the bulb looks like any other flood light. I've bought several of these bulbs to replace flood lights that burn out.

Recently, a flood light burnt out and I used a CFL replacement. The CFL replacement only lasted like 2 weeks! I replaced the CFL again with a Phillips brand (I figured the other brand was not as good) CFL and it only lasted about 10 days. Do you think these bulbs are just not good quality or is it the recessed lighting outlet??

Just curious what people think. I submit that Bud light or Milwaukee's Best might be the worst.

Many of us Americans tend to get lumped into the category of being rude. But, where (city, state, country) has the worst, rudest, and most despicable people on the planet? I would suggest that it might be France, the Caribbean, or New York. What do you say?

For other test results in the past the nurse has called and told me the results were normal (I answered so she didn't need to leave a message). They have secure interactive webpage to interact with RN and MD, I emailed to ask about results and RN messaged me back this morning that the results were in but the MD was out sick and would be back in tomorrow and that he would need to review the results and get back to me. But then this evening I received another phone message from a different staff member to call back. By the time I received the message the office was closed. Should I be worried?

I've noticed that whenever I drink a couple beers in the evening, I cannot fall asleep. I feel tired. But, I toss and turn all night and cannot get a restful sleep.

Although I don't drink very often, I occasionally have to drink a beer at social events or work functions. So, sacrificing a night of sleep is not very good.

It seems like everyone has this urge to see how far they can expand the boundaries of naming. Even a simple name like Amy has been contorted into Aymie, Aimee, Amie. Come on people! I recognize that parents want to convey the uniqueness of their children by thinking up an original name. But, does twisting up a common name really accomplish that goal? In reality, all it does is torture the poor kid with misspellings and innumerable conversations about the correct way to spell the name.

Also, whats the deal with names like Bentley, Fox, Apple, etc. Creativity without some sense of logic and rationale is chaos.

Our little girl has had a very difficult time with eating ever since she was around 2 months old. At the time, she was breastfed. Given her fussiness and cries of pain, we took her to the doctor. The doctor concluded that she exhibited symptoms of an allergy to milk proteins and, consequently, placed her on the Nutramigen formula. This formula didn't correct the issue. He then put her on Pepcid medication for acid reflux. This seemed to help for awhile. But, her symptoms of intense, non-stop crying and refusal to eat continued. We went to see a specialist and our daughter was switched to Nexium and an even more specialized baby formula called Ellacare.

For the past two weeks, she has been fairly good. But, progressively, she has returned to her former condition and, perhaps, even worse in her painful cries and refusal to feed normally. At times, it seems that she cries at the mere sight of the bottle even though she acts hungry and is wanting to eat.

It is a very frustrating situation for us and we just want to know if anyone else has had a similar situation and/or has advice that might help.

Thanks.

My neighbor's dog is left outside in his backyard all day. During that time, he barks incessantly. I cannot even turn on the television in my home or it will trigger crazy barking from this beast. When I go outside, the dog barks, growls, and acts as though it wants to kill me even though it has seen me a 1000x in my yard.

I have tried to talk to my neighbors and ask that they do something on numerous occasions. Nothing has happened. I called the police once because there is a dog barking ordinance in our city. But, the police told me it is very difficult to enforce since you have to show extraordinary barking over a long time (even though the police heard and saw the beasts angry, callous yowling and growls).

In addition, I have attempted everything from a ultrasonic bark control gadget to saying nice things to the beast to screaming in fury at him. Nothing works. I am at my wits end and want some peace in my own home.

Everyone has seen the miniature pirate ships in glass bottles. How is this done?

My brother is getting married next month. We are avoiding flying (i.e. since flu and other illness is spread easily in airports). But, we are considering making the roughly 10 hour drive (broken into two 5 hour drives) and then driving 10 hours back over a period of 4 days. My other option is to have my mother in law come and take care of the baby while we go off to the wedding. Neither option is that great. Which is the best, in your view?

I have a big swollen place on my foot and saw a dead spider near my bed.