KAL

How do you give a cat a bath without donating a pint of blood to the bathroom floor?

...and on a related note, would you donate blood to help a moron who tried to bathe her cat?...if yes, please meet me at the emergency room...I'm on my way there now...

The flower beds in front of my house (2 about 20 x 8 feet each, irregular border) were, at one time, covered with a few inches of lava rock on top of heavy landscaping fabric. At some point, a previous owner decided to cover the rocks with a few inches of top soil so they could grow something (mostly weeds as it turns out). Over time, of course, the top soil has shifted and eroded to the point that the rocks show through in several places while in others there is four or five inches of soil over the rocks.

I've decided that I'd like to grow a lot more flowers and plants (sort of a cross between a country garden and a jungle...I live in south Texas) but I'm not sure what to do to prepare the beds. I plan to plant perennials and annuals that behave that way in this climate with the goal of covering the entire bed with plants (to choke out the weeds LOL).

Would it be better in the long run to dig out all the rocks and start from scratch?

Or did the previous owners (who owned a landscaping company) know something about the soil around here (hard-packed clay) that favored leaving the layer of rock to provide drainage...or does that layer of rock store water (a form of xeriscaping perhaps?...most of the plants there now are low water use and those I've planted in the areas with thicker top soil rarely require watering)????

Should I just dump on some more top soil and leave the rocks in place?

...and if you think removing the rocks would be best, I'm wondering if digging them out by hand (and hauling them to the landfill) is the only option...seems like such a waste. Would a heavy-duty rental tiller be able to cut through those rocks and the fabric or would it just jam up?...I think if I could find a way to loosen up the entire mess I could pick/sift out enough of the rocks to reuse in another place and leave all the dirt in place. ...and I have already tried digging out the rock in a smaller bed and it was so difficult I just ended up covering it with more rock...you can't get through the clay with a shovel unless it is wet...and when it is wet, it is so sticky that it gums up the shovel...takes me about an hour to dig a hole for a 10" potted plant!

Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated.

I need some help with construction & materials advice. I need to build a bookshelf to use as a room divider. The dimensions would be 4 ft. high by 8 ft. long..the width of the shelves will be 10 inches (though that's flexible).

I want it is look something like this:

http://www.target.com/Exotic-Retreat-Bookcase-Room...

...but set on its side so it is longer than it is tall (I have detailed drawings).

First concern is stability. I can attach one side to a wall but the rest of the shelf would be freestanding in the middle of the room and with pets and kids in the house, I want to make sure it won't tip over easily. ...and since I want it to be open, squaring it up and keeping it that way is an issue (can't use a back to provide extra stability and keep it square).

I originally thought about using MDF, but that would make it ridiculously heavy and it isn't a stable (long term) since I've seen screws pull out of MDF under pressure. Now I'm debating between plywood (quality finish like birch) or regular dimensional lumber (e.g., 1x10). ...any thoughts?

Another thought I had was to use 2x10 lumber for the exterior frame (top, bottom, both sides) and then use 1x10 for the interior shelves. Another thought was to use 1 or 2x12 for the bottom to provide extra stability and then 10" stock for the rest. Is that overkill...will 1x10 all the way around create a stable enough shelf?

I'm also thinking about using metal corner brackets to provide more stability...but I'm not sure how many to use...just the exterior corners or add a center upright support or ???...

...oh, and the basic assembly will be with screws...would like to avoid glue and the need to router out uprights to hold shelves (I don't have a router :( )

Any suggestions greatly appreciated...

Just saw this commercial on TV...do you find it funny, or offensive, or what?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOBdTP9ZB-I

I'm thinking of showing it to my students as an example of an amusing "fear appeal" (boosting brain power to avoid foot-in-mouth)...

I am trying to calculate the long-term financial impact of salary increase that is postponed for three years. Here's the problem in a nutshell...

Two years ago, I was turned down for a promotion that carried an automatic salary increase of $3,000 per year. Annual salary adjustments typically amount to a 3% increase each year. Note that I was denied promotion because of a mostly voluntary decision on my part to accept a particular work-related responsibility...I have now backed out of that responsibility and should be eligible for promotion next year.

I know that my original decision will cost me $9,000 (the $3,000 per year I didn't receive for three years), but my question is this... What is the true total financial impact over a 20-year career of the three year delay in receiving that raise? For example, I know that in the first year, I merely lost $3,000...but in the second year, I lost another $3,000 PLUS the 3% raise associated with the $3,000 raise I didn't receive the previous year ($3,090 total) and in the second year I lost another $3,000 plus the 3% raise associate with the $3,090 raise I didn't receive in the second year.

How would I go about calculating the total financial impact of the delayed promotion over the course of a 20-year career with the company???

Santa brought my son an ATV for Christmas...it is too heavy for me to load in the bed of my truck to take him somewhere he can ride it. I found a kit from Lund for building loading ramps out of 2"x"10" wood. http://www.autoanything.com/hitch-bed-accessories/...

The problem is that to get a reasonable slope relative to the height of my pickup (Tundra crewmax), the ramps need to be at least 8' long (preferably 10' according to the instructions for the hardware). Because I have a short bed pickup, building the ramps long enough would mean at four or five feet would hang out of the truck when I transported the ramps.

My idea is this...

Would it be possible to hinge the 2x10 in the middle so the ramps would fold in half for storage and transportation? If so, what would I need to do to make sure the hinged section was capable of supporting the weight safely (e.g., making it bear the same load as the other hardware or at least strong enough to hold the weight of the atv and rider during loading)???

Okay, I've exhausted my Web searching skills trying to find the answer to this question.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1oHJR2g7Tw

This video for the song "Mary did you know" appears to contain clips from more than one movie about the life of Jesus (I said appears because I suppose it is possible its the same movie...it's just that the actor playing Jesus doesn't look the same from scene to scene...could be lighting, makeup, facial expression that just makes me think it contains clips from more than one movie).

Anyway, I've been trying to identify the movie associated with a few specific clips. Specifically, the last scene of the video shows Jesus with the backdrop of a body of water turning back and motioning for someone off screen to follow him (starts at 3:11 into the video). What movie is this scene from...

If you don't want to watch the whole video, I'm sure that the clip of him rising out of the water (1:45), the clip where he heals a crippled person's hand (1:57), and the scene where he heals a leper (2:43) are from the same film. (others may be as well, as I said, I just not sure...the only thing I know is that I've never seen any of them! *smile*).

Do you know this movie? Even better, if I'm right and the video contains clips from several movies, do you happen to know which ones?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Do you try to revive them...and if so, how do you know when "dream CPR" is an option...and how do you do it? Do you try to find new ones instead...and if so, where do you look?

Is it possible that dreams involving other people are ill-advised in the first place? After all, I may have had a dream of having someone special to share my life with, but I can't make someone love me...I may have had a dream of seeing my son succeed in school, but I can't force him to do the work...I may have had a dream of having a close relationship with my brother, but I can't force him stop smoking crack and stealing from me and my son.

...and since this is R&S, I'm curious to know what people think about the death of a Christian's dreams? I know that the bible says, "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart?" Is the fact that all my dreams are dying mean that I'm not delighting myself in the Lord?...or is something else going on...perhaps my dreams aren't really the dreams of my heart and their death will finally reveal my true dreams...the ones I forgot or altered over the years?

OK, I got home from TKD class about 45 minutes ago and my leg is killing me. I was doing a roundhouse kick and my shin collided, hard, with my opponent's knee (and he was wearing a metal knee brace). It immediately swelled up about the size of a baseball. I managed to "shake it off" and finish class and it had even stopped hurting by the end of the session. ...but I've been sitting here for about 30 minutes now and my toes have started tingling...the muscles around the injury seem to be tightening up and I can barely put any weight on it.

Any suggestions for bringing down the swelling AND keeping it from tightening up...I want to be ready for class on Thursday but the way I feel now, I'd have a hard time even doing the warm ups. I thought about jumping on the exercise bike for thirty minutes to loosen it up but a friend suggested that could be dangerous if the blood was clotting around the injury and that I'd be better off just elevating it and seeing what it looks and feels like tomorrow... Opinions?

I saw a bumper sticker today that struck me as wildly ironic...I've seen it before, but for some reason I hadn't identified the irony before...or am I reading too much into it today for some other reason?

The bumper sticker is for the Catholic Shoppe (a local thrift store)...the message reads "Proud Catholic" with the name of the store underneath in smaller letters.

Isn't pride one of the seven deadly sins recognized by the Catholic church? Isn't calling yourself a "proud Catholic" the same as calling yourself a "seriously sinful Catholic"?

What do you think? Is it inherently inconsistent with the message of Jesus to express pride in your religion? ...or are there certain kinds of pride that are not sinful? And would this be a mortal sin or a venial sin?

We adopted a 6 week old Golden Retriever/Yellow Lab mixed puppy on Sunday. He looks more golden than lab. Does anyone have a great creative suggestion for a name for him?

Right now we're calling him "Puppy" or "Sweetie" but we need to give him a real name soon (for one thing, he needs a tag with his name on it!).

Some of our ideas so far: Scooby Do, Scrappy, Goldie, Super Dog, Chewy Louie, and Tinker (can you tell I have a seven year old LOL).

I'd like something a little more unique to "fit" with our other dog (Lokai). I thought of Phoenix, Reno, Cobre, Pavlov, and Einstein. Can you give me any other unusual names that would appeal to my desire for something creative AND my son's desire for something cute?

My kitchen sink clogged up yesterday (I had just run some stuff through the disposal and it stopped draining). I started with some liquid plumber (generic brand)...the water drained our within an hour but when I ran hot water through the pipes, it clogged again. Tried Liquid Plumber Foaming Pipe Snake (brand name) this morning...most of the water drained but stopped. Tried plungers...still nothing.

I took apart the trap nothing there...went outside to find the clean out and see if I could find anything from that end. I noticed some water leaking out through the bricks in my house and down the foundation right outside the kitchen window (no doubt where the pipe makes a right turn at the wall and runs over to join up with other drains (e.g., washing machine)??? Could that joint be leaking (big problem) or could it just be that the pressure from the plunger forced water through that joint and it will stop leaking when I get the clog cleared? Any ideas before I call a plumber?

I awoke this morning to a loud crash from the living room. My son ran in to tell me the Christmas tree fell over (darn it, I knew I should have taken it down yesterday). It seems that the cats, who should have been named Trouble and Mischief decided that the kitty repellent had worn off enough for them to mount one last seige on the angel on top of the tree...when my son tried to stop them, the leg on the poor old tree just snapped sending it toppling to the floor with the cats along for the ride.

Poor tree...it's been a part of my family for over 15 years but when I surveyed the damage, I knew that a mercy killing may be in order. The thing is, after talking about the pagan origins of the Christmas tree on Y!A, I actually considered not putting one up this year...is the destruction of my tree a sign that I should have listened to those feelings?

I teach two "web-based" classes (university level, entirely online). When Yahoo! took its little breather, I logged in to the electronic classroom and started reading the students' answers to recent discussion questions. About halfway through one particular one (related to ethics), I found myself searching for the "thumbs up" (and "thumbs down") button...it became increasingly difficult to keep reading without wanting to express my opinion visually.

What does this mean...should I ask the Blackboard folks to add a thumbs up/down routine to WebCT?...or would that be too harsh for a college classroom?

Or am I addicted to this place...is it time for Y!A-A? If so, does anyone know of a group I could join (online of course...or would that defeat the purpose???)...

I recently read a book called unChristian (Kinnaman) that reports the results of hundreds of research studies related to the impressions young Americans have about Christians. Interestingly, if you spend just one hour in the R&S section, you will see at least one question or answer that directly supports every significant finding in the book.

When people, primarily those outside the faith but even those inside it...and especially those in the 18 to 29 year old age group think about the term "Christian", words that come to mind include insensitive, judgmental, hypocritical, antihomosexual (or homophobic), sheltered, arrogant, and hostile.

My questions...

1. Are these perceptions an accurate reflection of the instructions Jesus gave his followers?

2. Should Christians be concerned about these negative perceptions?

3. Do all Christians share some measure of responsibility for these perceptions and, if so...

4. What should we be doing to alter these perceptions?

Feedback please? What do you all think of the idea of going to church online? Would any of you (especially my friends) be willing to check out an online church and provide me with your thoughts on the experience?

I'm a member of a multi-site church that launched an "Internet campus" earlier this year. I attend the Saturday evening service online (and the local "live" service on Sundays)...I'm part of the leadership team that assists with site design issues, brainstorming new features we could offer, and more. The service starts in about 15 minutes at http://www.reallifeconnect.org/ ...click the "Worship Experience link and, if you like, open the streaming feed in Windows media player (or just watch it on the little box embedded on the page). The feed will start right at 7 PM CDT.

The message should be an interesting one on the trinity...I'll be in the chat room if anyone wants to talk. General feedback on the idea or specific feedback on the experience welcome. Thanks!

"Corpus Christians can drink from the tap once again"

I laughed so hard when I saw this headline in the newspaper this morning that I spewed Coke all over my monitor! Does that mean that atheists and followers of another religion still need to boil their water to be safe?

The headline appeared in the Corpus Christi Caller Times. The city was placed under mandatory "water boiling" orders on Tuesday following the discovery of fecal eColi bacteria in the water supply. This headline announced the lifting of that ban yesterday evening.

I know what they were trying to say, but didn't anyone realize the way it would look at first glance? LOL

Returned from 2-week vacation, discovered pool filter stopped working during trip (probably shortly after I left given the mess). (Above ground, 12' x 20' easyset...saltwater chlorine generator system). Green water, some floating goo (and two dead birds), lots of mosquito larve, and bottom covered with layer of sediment. Fixed filter and let it run for 48 hours with the generator also running. Skimmed off gunk with regular pole skimmer. Water returned to clear and all the mosquito larve disappeared (found then caked in the filter cartridge) but sediment remained...when I vacuumed it with filter vac attachment I noticed that there were several kinds of "kritters" still living in it ...mostly some thin red worms (kite string sized abt. 1/4 inch long) and some white/clear things that looked like little shrimp! Now after one week, I'm still finding the red worms (alive still)...is it safe to swim yet...should I drain and start over...do I need to shock it on top of generated chlorine

I have a large pond (about 10' across about 5' deep at the center) in my backyard. I had two larger goldfish, two smaller ones (the only offspring to survive last years' spawning), and three koi. This spring they had a major orgy and about two months ago I discovered about 100 small dark gray (mud-colored) babies...about 50 left when I counted today (the seagulls love my house). About half a dozen have turned mostly gold (small patches of black on their fins still), one turned white, and about 20 have started showing patches of orange, gold, and/or white color. But I'm confused by one in particular. The ones that have already developed color are about 1.5 to 2" long...most that size have at least some color. Most of the really small ones are still gray, but there are about 10 that are about 3" long (and one big boy that's at nearly 5" long) that show no signs of developing color. Why are there so many sizes and why haven't the largest ones changed color yet?

When we introduced our new kitten to our older dog on Christmas, we were told that is was important to establish that the kitten was "alpha" (because the dog is 80 lbs. and could easily kill her!)...but I think it may have gone too far.

She (kitten) took less than a week to start dominating him (dog)...she stole his dog bed and his food dishes and wouldn't let him use them. I gave the dog an old sleeping bag last week, she urinated on it within a few hours...got an old comforter for him and moved it to a new location...same result. Last night, the dog slept in my son's room on a blanket...I just found it wet. She uses the litter box regularly, but I think she's just finding a new way to dominate the poor dog!...wet on his bed so he can't use it!

Any ideas for stopping this behavior short of kicking the kitty outside or making the dog sleep on a hardwood floor (no carpeting fortunately!)