Bob

The receipt says no returns, and that they only do exchanges? Do you know, does this mean you can exchange any $1 item for another $1 item, or does it have to be the exact same item you are returning?

I am getting over a bad viral upper respiratory infection. I have had a sore throat, cough, and congestion for over three weeks with and intermittent headache and earache. My throat still hurts but finally seems to be getting better. However, I notice there are five bumps on my hard and soft palate that are especially sensitive. Some are painful, while others completely painless. All are under 5 mm in diameter One of the ones on my soft palate is particularly bothersome and the back of my tongue keeps irritating it. The most anterior of these bumps can be felt with the tip of my tongue. It has no taste, but feels slightly warm to the touch. None of these bumps were noticeable before my recent illness. I'm assuming these are some kind of mucoceles. Is there anything that can be done at home to help reduce the pain and inflammation associated with these bumps on the roof of my mouth?

I have 65K in Stafford loans at 6.8% interest, all from grad school. I have no trouble making my monthly payments but I am experiencing some financial hardship due to the pressure to pay off my loans in less than 10 years. On the standard repayment plan, I will owe nearly 25K in interest alone, so I am trying to pay off my loans in five years. It would be nice if I could pay just the minimum or a few hundred more than the minimum so that our family could afford to save up for a downpayment on a house. I am really looking for some way of significantly lowering the overall amount I have to pay over 7-10 years so what I do not have to put all of my resources into avoiding exorbitantly expensive student loan interest each month. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to refinance graduate loans so that the interest rates are closer to those for undergraduate loans?

How many non-college-student adults age 22+ work at your Panera? How many of the hourly associates there have college or graduate degrees? Are the majority of managers college educated? How would an adult in their mid-30s with several years of post-college professional work experience but no food service experience be treated by the managers and other employees (especially teenagers) at your Panera cafe?

For the past four years, my husband and I lived in a tiny apartment with a claustrophobia-inducing galley kitchen that had little counter space almost no storage. Consequently, we spent as little time as possible there and ended up eating out a lot more than we should have. We just moved into a house with a much larger, nicer kitchen. We are finally looking to get some decent cookware, and we would like to learn how to use it!

Here are the pieces we would like to have in a pot/pan set:

1 8-inch skillet

1 10-inch skillet

1 small (1-3 qt.) sauce pan with lid

1 large (4-6 qt.) sauce pan with lid

1 3-4 qt. saute pan with lid

1 6-7 qt. enamel coated cast iron dutch oven

1 double-handled lightweight wok with lid

We do not need a stock pot for just the two of us, and I don't think we need a bunch of small sauce pans as we can cook a lot of side dishes in the microwave or slow cooker.

Can you recommend a good beginner set or collection of pieces that might fit our needs? We'd really prefer ones that are both non-stick and dishwasher safe. Our budget for all pieces is around $300-$350.

Thanks!

I know there is Kohls, Sears (which is nearly dead), JCPenney (ditto), Macy's and Nordstroms. Nordstroms is too expensive, and there aren't enough Macys around. (The one in Hillsboro is tiny!) So where on earth do people shop here? I'm looking for something similar to a Younkers, Dillards, Belk, or VonMaur. It seems that the Pacific NW is a black hole of department stores and chain food restaurants, as we are also missing Jason's Deli, Honeybaked Ham, Taco Johns, and Chick-fil-A. Restaurants here are great, no doubt, but way too expensive!

Someone stole my phone a few months ago. I told the company to suspend the line until I could afford a new phone and have the number re-activated. Instead, the re-assigned my number to someone else. My entire life is wrapped up in that phone number. I've been calling it day and night from my husband's phone trying to get the lady who has it to switch numbers. How else can I get annoying telemarketers and the like to annoy her until she finally gives me back my phone number?

Still have some swelling but not as much as I did the first two days. I have been RICE-ing constantly. I can put pressure on the front of my foot but I can't put my entire weight on the back of my foot, and my foot only hurts when I try walking. I'm currently using crutches to take some of the extra weight off my sprained foot, and I can't walk on the heel of the sprained leg at all. Also, I started to notice some bruising for the first time today. Is this normal?

How long does it usually take someone to begin walking with a normal motion after a sprain?

A friend of mine was raped several times by her pastor when she was little, and now that she is an adult, she has begun having night terrors where her pastor attacks her in her sleep. She can not afford her own apartment and is afraid to live alone. I told her I would help her find a place to live, but I do not know anyone who would want a roommate that has night terrors. She can not live with me. My brother and I are already both living with our parents because we are working part-time jobs and trying to pay off massive college loans.

My friend has a full-time job, but it does not pay enough for her to be able to afford an apartment. In addition, she is spending a lot of money on psychotherapy. The church that she belonged to when she was a kid has agreed to pay for 10 psychotherapy sessions, but she has been in counseling for over a year. Criminal charges were filed against the rapist, but he disappeared, and the police have not been able to find him.

In the meantime, I am very worried about my friend, as she seems to be drinking frequently to calm her nerves. She really needs to be able to live with someone so that she feels safe and so that she can save up money to eventually afford her own place, but I don't have any idea how to help her find a roommate. Nobody wants to share an apartment with a stranger who wakes up screaming in the middle of the night and who has such an enormous amount of emotional baggage.

Got any suggestions??

I'm looking for something similar to ProMove in Atlanta. Husband is possibly accepting a job at Intel. We could never afford Promove apartments as grad students, but we are looking for someplace a little nicer now. We are looking for something in the $1200-$1400/month price range. The big thing is, we need help finding a place that will allow our two dwarf rabbits. Searching online is no good because the pet policies are only listed for dogs and cats. I have no doubt that our rabbits meet the weight restrictions, as they only weigh 2-3 pounds each. Other things we would like include washer/dryer hookups, open kitchen with large refrigerator, 2-3 (preferably 3) bedrooms, near Intel Ronler Acres. We are from out of state but will be visiting this weekend and would like to see what is available in the area.

I already have a four-year degree in psychology. I graduated seven years ago and have been substitute teaching since. I used to love teaching (and still do), but the classroom management part of my job has become unbearable. I am now looking for a career change, which will almost inevitably require additional education.

I am interested in pursuing a degree in nursing and am trying to decide if I can get by with an associates degree or if I need a second bachelors. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with Honors, so my academic standing and ability to get into either a two or four-year program should not be a concern. However, I also have a lot of student loan debt, and I would not qualify for federal loans for a second degree (either two or four year), so cost IS a major concern. Two-year community college programs are a lot less expensive than four-year programs. Would a two year nursing degree + four-year psychology degree be comparable to a four-year nursing degree, or would I be limited in what I can do professionally without the four-year nursing degree?

I tore my recently-purchased, much beloved Hanauma Bay t-shirt that I bought at the gift shop. I'd really like to find a way to purchase another with credit card and have it sent to me in the continental U.S. Please, if anyone lives in Hawaii and could pick up another and send it to me or if anyone could tell me how to get ahold of the gift shop, I would really really appreciate it.

It was a very cheap jacket, and I can't afford to pay much for alterations. I've gotten two quotes over the phone, and both seem really high. There are no buttons or other embelishments, and no stitching at the hem of the sleeve. The quilted lining is sewn to the leather and the cuff is rolled under. There is no adhesive. The only thing holding the cuff together is a thread between the inside of the lining and the seem along the arm of the leather near the cuff. The lining would have to be opened a bit to snip this thread, but I'm not sure you would even have to sew through the leather, as I think you could put a pleat in the lining near the shoulder and pull both the lining and the cuff inward once the thread near the cuff has been cut.

I've had the crown about 1 year. During the past week, on and off, the gums around the crown are starting to feel bruised, and it looks like the gumline may be receding a tiny bit. It's hard to see because it's in the back of my mouth, but it looks like there may be a darker line under the crown, even though my crown is pure white zirconia with no silver/gold alloy underneath. It does not hurt to bite, and there is no cold/hot sensitivity, but it hurts a little when I press on the gum under the tooth. The tooth has not had a root canal.

I had my teeth cleaned just last week, and the hygienist said my gums actually look better than the last time I was in for a cleaning. I've never really had major gum problems, though. The dentist did not see any cavities or other problems when I was there last week. I was actually back at the dentist this morning to have my night guard adjusted. Even though he wasn't really looking for gum or crown problems this morning, don't you think he would have said something if he noticed anything really wrong with it?

Any ideas what could be going on here? I don't see any white bubbles on the gums anywhere, so I don't think it's abscessed. Can pressure sensitive, receding gums be a sign that I need a root canal even if the tooth itself doesn't hurt? I doubt it's tartar buildup, as I just has my teeth cleaned last week.

I have a beautiful coat in a beautiful cut that was a hand-me-down. Except, it's just too long. I need an inch taken off at the hemline and about two inches off the arms. It is a bit wide in the shoulders, but at least it will be wearable if shortened.The arms should be easy, and the hemline would not be a big deal if there wasn't a zipper down the middle. Yes, I know I should just buy a different jacket that fits, but I've looked all over the nearest major city, and I've hardly found anything in a petite XL, and definitely nothing in leather in a petite XL, so altering some existing regular XL coat seems to be my only option. Can heavy zippers on leather jackets be shortened?

I had been using the store bought ones with the bite pads for a year when my dentist insisted I get his custom made piece of crap for $850. It has never fit right. I've had it adjusted three times, and it still gives me extreme headaches when I try to wear it. I never had headaches from grinding. I only grind my front incisors and cuspids; my molars are barely even able to touch when I clench my teeth unless I shift my jaw into a weird, unnatural position even without the night guard, so I don't think the back teeth are much of a concern. I do have a front bottom tooth that sticks out and makes it hard for me to clench my teeth because it is in the way and tends to grind against the tooth above it. I had braces years ago, but my mouth is very small and my teeth have become overcrowded again. I AM worried about my front teeth chipping and shortening, but the dentist made one is just horrible. I can't sleep with it, and I can't talk to my husband with it in, which is a real problem because we tend to have our most personal and meaningful conversations while we are lying in bed waiting to fall asleep each night. It also makes me drool, and there is not enough room for my tongue.

I can't wear the boil and bite night guides because the plastic base is too wide for my mouth, but the ones with the bite pads work fine as long as I wear two of them at once. I've gone back to the store bought ones because they are so much more comfortable. Even though they are only supposed to last three nights each, I can wear each one for about a month before there's any wear. on the bite pads. I haven't noticed my front teeth getting any shorter in the year and a half I've been wearing them.

Are the store bought ones really that bad??

Since the acrylic dentist made one that cost and arm and leg hurts so badly and is basically unusable even after several adjustments, do I have any other (affordable) options?

Husband is finishing a Ph.D in engineering from a respected school, and has no job prospects. I make minimum-wage with no benefits as a substitute teacher. We really have no choice.

Actually, nearly all of our close friends have graduate degrees, and about two-thirds are unemployed or have only found part time jobs. This includes two other Ph.D level engineers, both of whom have graduated within the past three years. :( Some of them do live with their parents, or lived with their parents for awhile after grad school to save up money. Most are able to make ends meet because their spouses are less highly educated and are employed in skilled trade jobs.

We are going to Oahu the first two weeks of October and would like to do some snorkeling. It sounds like the water is likely to be 75-80 degrees F. Is this very cold? I get cold EXTREMELY easily (recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism) and generally can't tolerate swimming if the air temp is below 80 degrees. Because I am short and fat, wet suits will not fit me. I can get a lose fitting rash guard at REI that should be big enough for me in a women's size XL (I also have really short arms, so anything made for a guy who is 6 ft. 2 is not going to work!). Is it worth the money to get a rash guard? Will it provide any additional warmth? Even though I'm blonde and fair skinned, I have a very good tan, and I almost never sunburn, so I'm really not concerned about the SPF, just warmth.

I have been helping my husband, a grad student in engineering, proofread a paper for publication in a scholarly journal. I was appalled to see that he had included "Methods" as a section heading since this would be a glaringly obvious error in my undergrad field of study. I graduated in psychology, and I know that APA style dictates that the second section be given the heading "Method" (no "s"). My husband insists that he is right in retaining the s. Is it okay to use "Methods" instead of "Method" in an engineering journal? The editors of the journal did not comment on this after the initial peer review. It is a British publication, so perhaps that also accounts for the difference in the section heading?