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I woke up this morning at 4 am...and about fifteen minutes later there were these horrendously loud BANGS coming from outside. LOUD. And CLOSE! It wasn't like any fireworks that I've ever heard. Seriously. And it's definitely not like the backfiring of an old car either...the sheer amount of "bangs" made that option questionable anyways.

The bangs went on for a good 20 or 30 seconds, maybe a second or two in between each one.

I live in the suburbs, not in the booneys, but the first thing I thought of was a shotgun blast. The sound it made was just that guttural and had that snap to it. But lets be serious, if someone was firing off shots all willy-nilly outside, I'd likely hear other commotion by now...which I don't. Totally silent. Plus, firing a shot gun probably takes more than a second or two to cock each time you fire...even semi-automatic weapons take a little time.

Anyways, I've never heard one fired in person, but it was similar to what I'd heard on tv...only louder. Like house-shaking loud; it woke my family up.

Any ideas? I think it's bugging me because you don't understand how loud this was and how close. I've heard similar things in the past, but from really far away. This was too close for comfort. Really, I know you might be thinking firecrackers or whatever (since some people ARE douchey enough to set them off at 4:15 in the morning on a week day), but it was just a bit different, I think. Not that I'm a firecracker connoisseur, or anything though. 😜

I'm writing my very first novel and need some help over here. The main characters' mother is a white female who is in her late 30's and very beautiful. She has a slim build, dark brown-black hair, bright eyes...the usual, really. I just need a to chose the country in which her family hails from.

With her being the quintessential "raven-haired beauty" and all that, I was trying to avoid Sweden - though I know many would choose that country in a list like this. Mostly, I just think that if she's Swedish, readers will likely expect her to be blond...I guess it just might be off-putting.

Anywho, who do you guys like for the top 2 countries where beautiful, dark-haired, predominately Caucasian women might reside?

It's strange, and it isn't constant, but every so often the air outside my house (and other parts of my neighborhood) smells really strange. It doesn't smell like sulfur or any chemical I've ever encountered before, but it's not pleasant.

I had asked my husband a few times in the past if he noticed it and he said no, blaming it instead on my 'overly sensitive nose', until one day recently when it was particularly strong, and he finally noticed it too. He agreed that it was a weird smell and didn't have any ideas regarding it's origins.

It happened again today to the point that I didn't even want to open the windows. There were times in the past that it didn't even matter if the windows were open or not, it still permeated the house. It doesn't seem to matter what time of year it is, it just happens.

I moved into this neighborhood last August and I can't remember smelling it at any previous residence.

The first word that came to mind when I tried to name it was 'ozone,' though I haven't a clue as to what that actually smells like.

Any research I have done has come up empty. Some people online complain of a waste smell or a rotten egg smell (sulfur) and the like, but nothing that seems to match this scent. I really can't think of a comparison, either. Any ideas or similar problems?

Bear with me here, please, I'd like to explain my situation thoroughly :)

My husband and I just bought our first house in August. It was built in the late 1950's which is not my favorite year for houses being built, but someone did some updating along the way and they kept it in decent shape (knock wood!)

The house is mostly ideal for us, except it did not come with a designated eating space. No really...I'm serious, there is none.

The kitchen is quite small and with the cabinets opening and the much-used door to the garage being on the one free wall, there isn't really a spot for a real dining table (at least one that seats more than 2 people which we don't want).

The previous owner used one side of the living room as a "dining room" with a nook table that he left behind for us. The trouble is, the thing was just so bulky and look up a lot of space...plus, it just looked weird to me, having this random table there. It felt weird eating there with the fam on Christmas too.

A neighbor told us that the owner before the last used to use a spare bedroom as a dining room. I have no kids yet, so it's an option...but again..it seems weird. I think my family would be confused at holiday dinners. Mostly it's just so enclosed and far from the kitchen.

The MOST concerning thing to me is resale. I can deal with it, but can the next resident? This is our starter home, so in say 5 or 6 years, we'd like to move. What will families think when they see no space to eat dinner each night?

What would you do in my situation?? Creative solutions?

(Btw, we have very, very little money to spend doing anything crazy, lol. So no putting up new walls or anything.)

So, I'm really looking for opinions here, especially from those of you who've had pets with fleas before and found a good technique to rid yourselves of of those tiny bloodsucking bastards.

I've done some research online, of course, but I would like to get some first (or second) person accounts of what was done in your case (or someone you know).

Should I "bug bomb" with a flea killing bomb and wash my little dog in a flea killing shampoo? Wash the bedding, vacuum, and use a flea treatment as well on the dog?

So far it seems to be a very small infestation (knock wood). We've only physically seen 2 of them and until today, I hadn't gotten bitten.. But when I brushed the dog a few days ago, there was quite a bit of what I suspect was "flea dirt" and this morning I noticed two itchy spots on my legs. Sigh. I really hate the thought of them multiplying.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. What did you do?

My husband and I are fostering a 5 year old female Chihuahua and we've just about fallen in love with this little silly girl; so much so that we are going to be adopting her.

When we picked her up at the shelter she was being very good...she didn't seem to mind us holding her - or anyone else for that matter. We didn't even hear her bark for the first two days. And she's been nothing but precious to my hubby and myself....but starting a few days after picking her up, she began to skitz on anyone that wasn't the two of us.

I understand that this breed bonds tightly to one or two people, and that's great for us since we don't have kids yet and it's just us two right now...but why does she growl/bark/bare her teeth/bite anyone else who comes even remotely close? I want our family and friends to love her as much as we do and see the side of her that she shows us...but she's not having it at all. She's so affectionate and adorable to us...but dear God, she's the devil to anyone else. She's the worst with men, but women aren't much better for her.

At first I figured it is because she was perhaps abused or neglected by her previous owners (all I know is that her owners surrendered her to the shelter after having her since she was a puppy because the husband liked their pit bull better...yeah, I know...nice, right?!)

But the more I research about the Chihuahua breed, the more I find that this behavior is not that uncommon, really.

Does anyone have this problem? What did/do u do to remedy it??

A question for all you Chi people! My hubby and I are fostering a sweet little Chihuahua. We love her sooo much that we are going to adopt her. We picked her up at the end of an adoption drive because no one adopted my poor little girl. But the staff (volunteers) were all so busy and frazzled they forgot to tell us how much to feed her (and we were so flustered by all the madness there that we forgot to ask!).

They did give us two big bags of dry food though. The shelter guestimated her weight at around 5 lbs. She's a little longer in stature than a lot of standard Chihuahua's, I think. So lets just say she is about 5 1/2 lbs....how much should I give her? I've been giving her 1/4 cup twice a day. I also give her a couple small treats during the day. Is this ok? What do you guys do?

I am making settlement on my first home with my husband on Thursday. I know every home has it's quirks, and I knew I wasn't going to love everything about the place...but the bathroom is weighing heavily on my mind right now:

...The toilet, sink, and tub are...green. Like dark green. Like 1970's flower-power, army/avacado green. It is pretty ugly.

I can't afford new fixtures...we are pretty tapped out right now. I am hoping that in the near future I can at least replace the sink, though. It seems to be the first place to draw the eye. But in the interim, what can I do to make it look and/or mesh better? One thing I need to do is come up with a color scheme that works with this putrid green. Brown? Yellow? White? ...These are the safest colors. What others would work? For example, I need to buy a shower curtain; what colors would help make the room look a tad nicer/more contemporary?

Just to give u a little taste of what I'm working with here, check out this pic. It's not my bathroom, but it's a pretty close match (green-wise) that I found online: http://p-ec2.staticat.com/51a8bcbbfb04d664f0000fdf...

Did u see it? Yeah, I'm gonna let that marinate for a second. After you get done vomiting, lemme know what you'd do. Thnx!

My husband & I found the perfect little house for our first home. It's in a great neighborhood, excellent school district for future children & has everything we need like a large two-story garage for my husband, four bedrooms & a full basement. I really want this house!

Now, we got into a little bidding war with another buyer and ended up offering our best and finale offer, to which the seller finally agreed on. She signed the papers last night and my realtor finally emailed the forms to us this morning after biting our nails all night (the seller almost accepted our last offer and said she would sign the morning before this but the other offer came up in price before she signed, so we had to offer asking price).

So she finally signed and we have the documents...but we really need to know what's next. I emailed the realtor twice asking if I can go ahead an hire an inspector (keep in mind, the agreement says we only have 10 days to do this), but she never answered me. My husband texted her and all she said was that she is waiting for the sellers agent to give her some other paperwork and she'd talk to us later. Well, its much later, almost 12 pm and I haven't heard anything. I txted her twice earlier, around 6pm, and didn't get a response. Then I emailed her again around 10:30pm and still haven't gotten a response. Time is of the essence here & we are just sitting here, wasting time, worried out of our minds. What could be happening here?

It also might be helpful to note that the buyers agent we are using is only acting as our agent...she's actually a 'duel agent' because she works with the sellers agent in the same company. But she is supposed to be representing us primarily. The reason we didn't use an outside realtor was because we figured they would be more willing to help us get this house because they won't need to share this commission with an outside source. It might have helped us get the offer accepted, but right now It's not really helpful. Advice?

My husband has to take random drug tests and his last one came back positive for Amphetamines, which he doesn't take. He is honestly at a loss here, as am I. The only thing he has taken that is different from all the other times is that he recently switched from drinking one 5 hour energy daily to a cheaper brand called "Liquid Energy Shot" made by Equaline. Could this really have caused this result?

Now, they are sending it out again for further testing which is good, but you can see how we'd still be a tad nervous...the fact that this happened at all doesn't really inspire faith in this whole system. Now, the guy administering the test asked if he took any antihistamines lately because apparently that can potentially cause a false positive. Unfortunately, he didn't.

So could this energy shot be the culprit or what?

-Can anyone help me out with this? I was married last April and my husband and I are trying to save for a house. Nothing huge, just something with three bedrooms and a garage in the suburbs. Anyways, I've been researching what help there is for us since our credit is less than ideal and, more importantly at this time, we haven't been able to put away anything like I thought we'd have by now. So, I'd like to call or meet with someone who can help me to get what I need including (but not limited to) a First Home Buyers loan. Basically, I need to take a chunk of the downpayment/closing costs out of the equation here. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

-More specifically who or what group would you recommend I speak with first? I live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania if that helps at all.

-If you've been in this situation, I'd love to hear what you did.

For quite a while now I've been getting thin and fat strips of skin peeling on my big toes and the ball (pad) of my feet. The worst is on the big toes and though it doesn't seem too unsightly, it can be pretty sore. Also, it catches on socks and carpet which compound the pain.

I'm getting really tired of it. I work in the medical field and my first thought was athletes foot/fungal infection. But that typically happens in between toes and itches. This is much different. Regardless I've been trying Lotrimin X8 weeks with no positive results.

So anyone have this problem? Of course I've tried strong moisturizers and aloe, anything I could think of. I've considered other common skin problems, like Eczema, but that is usually characterized by dry and patchy spots, so this is really strange to me.

If you've had this and saw a Doctor, please let me know! Ty!

I am a 26 year old female who is getting married today in a courthouse ceremony. I know, I know, not completely ideal but it was honestly our best option. We'll have roughly 18 people with us and afterward we are going to a nice restaurant where we have a small room rented for an early dinner.

The thing is, up until tonight I've been living with my parents. My Fiance and I have been dating for 9 years and wanted to wait until we got married to move in together. It just makes it more special, I think. But, while we both have jobs, we don't have any savings and do not want to rent an apartment and put all that money toward something that will never be ours.

We want to buy a house, but realistically we will need about a year and a half to save for the down-payment. So, his parents offered to let us "rent" (for a small fee) the downstairs half of their house. It's a finished basement that they converted into a living room/bedroom/bathroom for us. I thought that was super nice of them, and it looks great. We will have privacy (though no kitchen) and they have said they will leave us to do our own thing and not interfere.

I guess my question is, do you think this is a negative way to begin a marriage? I don't want to be just a glorified girlfriend whilst living with my in-laws. They are very nice people and have been nothing but supportive and helpful and I have no doubt they will give us space, but did I make the wrong decision marriage-wise?

I mean, I never thought I'd be living with in-laws. And we could get an apartment, but we would never be able to save for a house that way. Do you think we can make this work?

There are five US presidents who were not buried in the US. Who are they?

*(Best Answer for who gets it right first or for the best guess)*

A man and his son were driving down a busy intersection in the city. Out of nowhere, a car plows into them. The father is killed instantly. The son is taken to the hospital by ambulance in critical condition. When he gets there it is determined that he will need a life saving procedure. The surgeon walks into the room, takes one look at the young man and says, "I can't operate on him. He's my son."

How is this possible?

Alright, so my fiance and I are getting married on April 4th and I have a couple questions for anyone who's been married in a courthouse or went to a wedding at a courthouse.

We went to a larger court to get our marriage license last week so we got that covered. Than I called the smaller courthouse near my fiance's house and got an appt for april 4th. Check.

My question is, is it a little awkward with all your family waiting in line on a busy court day? The lady said we might have a wait because they have hearings and such the same day.

Also, about exchanging rings, would you recommend I hold on to his and he holds on to mine so that when it's time we can just slip them on each others fingers that way?

Basically, what did you do? How did it go? Any regrets?

Thanks!

I played it last week (found it on some site that I was playing Family Feud on) and I totally forget the name of it and can not find it again for the life of me. I can't even remember what site I was on.

It's a game that's sort of like Diner Dash. Same principle, at least. In this game, mostly everything you need to serve is laid out on one of those big, kitchen, line tables and you have the put the food together (like hamburger with plate and bun and cheese) and then serve the customer. Some things like chicken or fries or soda need to be made.

Anyone have any idea what this game is called??

I live in Pennsylvania, right around the Philadelphia area. I have some new equipment I'm just dying (no pun intended!) to go try out.

So far my fiancee and I have gone to Eastern State Penn., Valley Forge, The Van Sant Bridge ("Cry Baby Bridge) in New Hope, and Lambertville High School in Lamberville, NJ.

We need some places that are open to the public, within an hour and half or so of the Philadelphia area (say...NJ, New Hope, Delaware, ect.) and preferably, ones that do not require tour guides. We want to do our own investigations.

We are going to Gettyburg, PA next weekend, so that should be cool but I need more idea's!

Anyone know of any haunted places in the surrounding areas?!

Thanks!!

So...

I've been writing for long time and I am working on a pretty good book right now that I hope to get published one day. It's about vampires, (I know...surprise,surprise, right?) and in it all vampires have porous teeth in which a natural anticoagulant and sedative is expelled. The liquid excreted is much like saliva in humans as far as the way it looks and such, but I don't want to call it saliva since it really isn't...

It's also close to what Stephenie Meyers described as "venom" in the Twilight books, but I really don't want to use her word.

So what does that leave me? I need another word for a saliva-venomy substance that would sound good if used over the course of the series I am writing.

Example of what I am looking for: "He reached for me, his teeth bared, (blank) dripping from his fangs."

You get the idea. Please help me out. Thanks in advance!