cyclone259

My wife and I are at the end of our rope. We have a Red Heeler mix that was the last gift my mother gave my daughter before she succumbed to cancer in 2012. At the time, we were living with my parents and I'd put my foot down firmly about not bringing a dog into their house, but my mom decided that she wanted to do this against my wishes.

Two years later, the dog is more than we can handle. Since he's predominantly a Heeler, he's intelligent, full of energy and needs lots of room to roam. We live in the suburbs, with a small backyard, so he becomes bored easily and digs. He's not neglected at all, but we don't have the time, space for him to run or resources to train him and know he needs a good home.

I've tried Heeler Rescue, Craigslist and even posted a flyer at work, with little to no interest. We called Animal Control to come get him, but at the last minute, cancelled due to guilt about putting such a friendly dog down. Does anyone else know of an organization who would take him immediately in the Tulsa area? Please help...

My daughter has an old Compaq laptop that the hinges for the monitor have broken off (non-repairable), so she's now using an external monitor. I have acess to a very nice, yet a bit older, Dell Inspiron 1440 with a bad hard drive.

Both the Compaq and the Dell use SATA hard drives. Would someone recommend moving the Compaq drive into the Dell (and would it work?) and would I have to re-install Windows?

A replacement hard drive for the Dell is around $50, but I'd have to reload all of her data and a swap would make it much easier. Any feedback would help.

I was raised Methodist, Presbyterian and finally baptized an Episcopalian/Anglican and have found my home there. My fiancee was raised Southern Baptist, graduated from a Baptist University and has found the Anglican tradition (or at least Episcopalians to be 'lax' because, we don't have an altar call, don't have bibles in the pew although we do read from the Old and New Testament) and usually baptize by sprinkling (full immersion is available, though).

Her general feeling is that we're an 'anything goes' kind of church. The way she was raised, you just accept scripture and don't question it. In the bible study groups I've been in, we take scripture, break it down and discuss it, asking questions to our priest or clergyman/woman. We're taught that none of us has 'the answer' (even the church) and we arrive at our own interpretations based on our faith and experiences. We do believe in The Trinity, Jesus as the Savior and forgiveness of our sins. While not all agree, my priest has declared that he supports gay marriage (he's straight, married and has two kids). That declaration really set my fiancee off and she was very disappointed in his stance, although she respects him on a friendship and educational level.

Long story short, I'm not interested in becoming Baptist and she doesn't want to be Anglican/Episcopal. We've considered Presbyterian (that's what my parents are) and Methodist. Neither of us like mega-churches, churches where they entertain rather than educate (or challenge) you and evangelical churches (although she's much more religiously conservative than I am).

I'm pretty open-minded and educated (as is she). Any thoughtful feedback is appreciated.

Is there a happy medium?

I've moved from one county (Oklahoma) and to another county (Tulsa) and want to get an attorney to help me deal with custody/visitation issues. Do I have to get an attorney from the county of the divorce or can I get one locally? What happens if we go to court? Will that be here or where the divorce was originally filed?

I'll be in 7th grade next year and have a best friend that I've known a few years now. Since starting middle school she's started making friends with the popular crowd and whenever they're around she acts like I'm not even there. It's very confusing because at times we're still very close, but I feel a distance building up between us.

Most advice I've read said to move on and find new friends, but I'm not what some would call a people person and make friends easily. Because of this, I've had some people make rude comments to me at school. I don't want to lose this friend and want to know what I should do and also to maybe know why this person might be doing this.

I'm asking for real and helpful feedback. Thanks.

I recently discovered (it's probably old news for the Zune community) that Microsoft is discontinuing the Zune HD, so I'm assuming that means no more new apps.

I'm definitely not a technology/computer wizard and would just like to download homebrew apps that others have created since I'm not likely to create any of my own anytime soon. Is there a site that just has these apps available for download and/or others share the apps they've made?

I appreciate any guidance I can receive.

I'm traveling to Australia next month and need advice on a power converter (not adapter) that someone has personally used and is reliable. It's for charging small electrical devices and not for hair dryers or other heavy use electronics.

Also, where did you purchase it (please provide link if possible)?

I am flying from the the U.S. in November to Australia. After checking with my insurance carrier (Blue Cross/Blue Shield) I find that I will be covered overseas, but have to pay all the medical fees upfront, THEN wait for reimbursement (same with my AFLAC policy).

After looking through all the confusing plans on insuremytrip.com, I'm not sure whether to get medical insurance, travel insurance or both and just how much coverage. I'm in decent health, although I have hypertension and diabetes (Type 2) that are managed quite well through a physician's care and don't cause me any problems.

BOTTOM LINE: Has anyone from the U.S. traveling overseas had to use one of these plans for medical/travel and did the carrier of the plan come through when needed in a time of crisis? What was the name of your carrier and how much did the plan charge? Was it found at the insuremytrip.com website or somewhere else? I need to know because my trip is coming down to the wire and my friends in Australia said I should never travel without insurance coverage.

It would be greatly appreciated to get some useful, intuitive real world information.

For my basic purposes, Windows 7 Movie Maker works quite well. The only problem is that in the version for Windows 7, it seems to have lost some of the features as the one XP had. Are there any upgrades, plug-ins or add-ons that would work to add effects, transitions, etc.?

Having been a videographer in the past, I realize that the depth and money one can put into editing software and hardware. I got out of the business and now just throw together photo montages for family and friends.

I know about all the software I can purchase, so no help needed in that area. Just anything specific to Windows 7 version of Movie Maker.

I have some self-made DVDs (non-copyprotected) that I'd like to transfer to my computer. The problem is that I don't have an RCA to USB connection or any special software.

As an experiment I took a DVD I'd made on a separate (non-computer) DVD recorder and attempted to transfer to files from the DVD to my computers hard drive. While the files copied, they video is choppy and drags, while the audio seems to be ok.

I used to have an editing computer with all the necessary components and software (Adobe Premier) for doing this sort of thing without much hassle. I don't want to re-invest in anymore equipment unless I have to. My questions are:

Am I doing something wrong?

Is there some way to transfer the video without glitches using only the computers existing equipment/software?

Is there free software to fix the problem?

My computer has a Windows 7 operating system with (6) gigs of RAM and Windows Movie Maker. I decided not to get back into serious video editing and find that for simple things, Movie Maker, works pretty well.

Any positive (no negative feedback about Microsoft... yes, I know it's not Apple) would be helpful.

I am traveling from the US to see friends in Brisbane, Australia and would like to know about bringing food into the country. I'm going to be preparing traditional, American chili con carne and want to bring the prepackaged (dry) seasonings I always used. I'm also interested in bringing in a packaged bag of my favorite ground coffee and a jar of picante sauce and perhaps BBQ sauce (it's a regional manufacturer). I know I'll have to take special care of any products in glass containers, but are there any rules for packaged food products?

None of the ingredients can be used to grow anything (ie. no seeds or living plant material) and will be used solely in food preparation. If it's too much a hassle, I'll leave them at home, but thought I'd check and see if someone knew the regulations or could direct me in the right direction. I wanted to bring some foods from home to share. Thanks.

I'm going to Australia in November and know that the voltage output is different in Australian homes, but is it different in the power outlet of a cars lighter socket? It may sound odd, but I've never heard anything one way or another. I'd like to buy a power inverter like we use in the States to plug-in to a lighter socket to charge various electronic devices when on the road, but didn't want to risk any meltdowns. Any feedback will help.

I'll be in Brisbane in November and want to browse some local, used c.d. shops. I haven't had any luck looking online for one. I'm coming in from the states and hope to get some Aussie released c.d.'s since they usually have bonus tracks, but cost a fortune to buy over here.

I am traveling from the U.S. to Australia and want to know the best, most efficient way to take money. I want to be prepared for anything, since I'll have layovers (1) in the U.S., which isn't a big deal. My main concern is when I go through New Zealand and then into Australia itself. My local bank says the VISA credit/debit card they issued will work fine overseas, but we found out that they charge .18 per/transaction for 'currency conversion'. My friends over there said I should take some Australian dollars just in case. So, is .18 a big deal in the scheme of things or is there something else I can do? What is the most cost effective way to do expenses/spending? I'll have about $1,500(US) for spending while I'm there.

Also, I assume US cell phones won't work while I'm there. Do they have the disposable kind there or low-cost calling cards?

I'll be going there in November and want to get a jump on planning.

I watched a program called 'MARS RISING' which was about a hypothetical mission to Mars, involving all the risk factors, engineering, etc.

Of course we also had movies like 'Red Planet' and 'Mission to Mars' among many others. How plausible do you think it is to set-up a colony there? and how soon do you think it will happen?

New Model Army is my favorite "undiscovered" band rom the UK. Ironically, they've been around since the very early 80's, but haven't caught on stateside, namely because their sound is difficult to pigeonhole into one genre. Some people have called them rock / punk / folk, etc. but they're much more than that. They won't appeal to everyone and that's ok with me.

If you are a fan, what do you like about them? If you are reading this and haven't heard of them, check out their website @ www.newmodelarmy.org.

In the movie "Stand By Me" one of the characters made a reference to the popular western show of the 50's "Wagon Train". The show was about settlers on a never-ending wagon train to the "promised land". Somebody in the movie said "When are they going to stop wagon-training? You can't wagon train forever."

There are a lot of shows (both past and present) that should've quit way before they did. What are some shows that you think have run their course or are just tired or the genre (reality t.v., forensic, supernatural, etc.)?

The biggest irony in society is reading put downs written on bathroom and building walls by someone who can't even spell a curse word or slang term. Which is sadder? A "tagger" putting their lack of education on display or their hatred for those different than them?