anima1_kid

To ease my roommates' minds, when I didn't renew my lease I wrote a sublease agreement with them allowing me to stay and pay rent to them while we found a replacement tenant for me. In it I agree to pay rent until a suitable replacement is found, subject to the approval of my two roommates. I've found many great people, but one roommate has rejected everyone without any consideration, insisting the replacement must be of her same religion (not a common religion).

Neither roommate has made any effort to search for a replacement, and they're content to force me to live with them for another year if a member of their religion doesn't come along.

Our subletting contract doesn't mention subletting duration. The landlord said over the phone she is fine with our arrangement, but didn't sign anything. My two roommates and I signed the sublease agreement I wrote, and they are the only ones on the new lease.

If it means anything, the master lease says the landlord must accept a reasonable replacement tenant if a tenant moves out before the lease is up. The master lease also requires a $100 subletting fee and has a 3 month maxiumum subletting limit, which the landlord said we could ignore.

I've been trapped a month now after my lease expired, with my roommate rejecting very good, kind, candidates who agree to live by the lifestyle standards of the other roommates. They aren't making any efforts to find roommates, and would be content to force me to live out the next year with them. Am I legally a hostage, or is there something I can do?

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Should a graduate student (getting a master's degree) who has around $100,000 in debt but is able to live modestly but comfortably for the present on student loans use food stamps?

Two serious thoughts to consider:

- Are food stamps meant only for those who are truly desperate and have no other way of eating?

- If the graduate student will be building more debt and interest on government loans without food stamps, is it better to get different government help in the form of stamps now to prevent a difficult future where food stamps might be vital?

Is there a way to increase the audio quality from my USB bluetooth adapter on my PC to my wireless headset? I'm thinking something like increasing the bitrate. My headset sounds good connected via bluetooth to my phone, but through the PC it's muffled like an AM car radio with bad static on high frequency sounds.

I'm using:

Kinivo BTD-300 Bluetooth 3.0 USB adapter - For Windows 7/Vista, Mac OS 10.3.9+

LG Stereo Headset HBS-700

Windows 7

Bluetooth might not sound amazing by its nature, but any improvement would be wonderful.

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How long can I macerate thin-sliced lemons in sugar before they lose quality? I've heard refrigeration slows maceration.

I'm making a Shaker Lemon Pie (http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/shaker-lemon-pie... that calls for macerating 24 hours at room temperature. I think the pie would be most pleasant if the lemons didn't become a homogeneous mass.

I'm making a Shaker Lemon Pie, similar to: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/04/shaker-lemon-pie... , but I can't serve it for 4 days (Tuesday night). I had to start the lemons macerating in sugar because they weren't going to last longer in the fridge. What should I do with the pie to keep the optimal flavor and texture?

I put the bowl of macerating lemons in the fridge to slow the process, but I'm worried that they will get too mushy if I leave them long. I'm concerned about assembling the pie and then freezing it, because I don't want to change the texture or flavor of the lemons or make the crust rubbery (or anything less than divine. I have heard that refrigerating unbaked pie makes the crust soggy. I don't know if I could bake the pie and leave it out, because it contains eggs.

This pie is to showcase the lemons my little tree FINALLY produced, so I want it to have the best flavor possible. I splurged for good Irish butter and real lard in the crust too, to make it tender and flaky. It'd be a shame to lose any of these qualities.

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If New York is East Coast, California is West Coast, Illinois is Midwest, Arizona is Southwest, and Georgia is South, where does Utah fit?

Does it not have a consistent geographic region?

Despite my best efforts, my parakeets (budgies) won't eat pellets or dried fruit in birdseed mixes. I assume much of the nutrition in mixes comes from the pellets, and that concerns me. What's a good, nutritionally-balanced seed mix with low or no pellets?

(Hand-preparing fresh wet food for every meal isn't an option.)

Thanks!

Two months ago I left a very dry climate for grad school in Chicago. In that time I've aged years in my face, despite an increase in humidity. My skin is dull and blotchier and sinks in around my bones more. I have sunken eyes always and for the first time in my life, puffiness too. I have fine lines constantly that don't go away with moisturizer and signs that they are deepening to real wrinkles. Even my boyfriend admitted he could see a difference in photos.

What's going on? Could this all simply be stress? I'm freshly 24 and usually mistaken for much younger than that. What can I do (affordably) to bring back some glow?

Are there any rooftop hot tubs in Chicago that a person could spend the evening in without paying a hotel fee (just paying for the hot tubbing ideally)?

I'm hoping for a place to take my long-distance boyfriend when he visits, but don't need a hotel and can't afford something pricey.

I was given a plain rectangular box-mix white cake, frosted with white frosting (probably a Cool Whip sort of frosting). Since I can't eat it alone I decided to bring it to my friend's birthday party to share, but it seems too boring the way it is.

I'm trying to come up with serving ideas, tasty or interesting additional toppings (another layer of frosting? a sauce? nuts? fruit? maybe set it off with a cool sorbet?). Halloween or fall theme is welcomed too, although I wouldn't use inedible accessories or flowers.

My new 3rd generation iPod Shuffle cable plugs into my 4th generation Shuffle but does not appear to charge or sync with my computer.

Does the cable have to be specific to the GB of the Shuffle maybe? My Shuffle is 2GB and the cable says 4GB.

Rent is $1500, w/o utilities. In square feet the first room is 154, 2nd room 121, 3rd room 110. Each room has one window and a small closet, although they may differ some in size and angle.

The apartment is 985 sq. ft. total.

A rent calculating website suggested this split, entering the common spaces as "average" sized:

154sq ft $557.37 ($560)

121sq ft $495.89 ($495)

110sq ft $446.74 ($445)

I am for splitting it based on room size, plus evenly split utilities. However I have a feeling one roommate will be opposed to not splitting it all evenly (she wants the master). I am curious what the widely-accepted approach to this is, and if you think the difference in room size is enough to negotiate rent.

I'm trying to find a swimming hole in Moab that won't have lots of people around (like the now-crowded one in Millcreek). Does anyone hike a lot around there and know of any cool secluded places?

Would anyone who has lived in or knows Uptown recommend for or against living there for 3 women, early twenties, who haven't lived in a big city before? What's the neighborhood like?

I know there will be crime wherever in Chicago but the apartment can't be unreasonably far from downtown. I'm curious if Uptown is particularly bad, however. I naturally haven't been able to get a very trustworthy answer from potential landlords.

I'm trying to find a pair of honest-to-goodness clear jelly shoes in women's sizes for a reasonable price. I do NOT want jelly sandals! I'm looking for flats.

Bonus if they have glitter.

SUPER bonus if you can find these Melissa Campana Corallo jellies: http://www.stylebistro.com/shop/Melissa+Campana+Wo... I'm struggling to find a pair of them in clear that's not sold out or $99 in Australia.

I need to enclose my single axle 7.5' wide flatbed trailer so that the contents stay secure and dry on a cross-country trip. Cost is a big issue so renting an enclosed trailer is not an option.

I will be hauling art consisting of a few 4' x 8' Foamular insulation panels, one 8' x 8' Foamular panel, and one 4' x 8' Masonite panel, so it's a lightweight, flat load but long and wide.

Since the trailer is only 7.5' wide I will need to rest the 8' wide painting flat on top of the fenders (or remove them) and above the rest of the art, then find a way to enclose it all so that it won't blow away or let any water leak in.

Any ideas for materials, process?

I'm searching for retainer cases that are thinner than usual, or maybe U-shaped to take up less room in a purse.

I have Invisalign-like (Simply 5) clear, U-shaped retainers and feel like regular retainer cases are unnecessarily bulky.

I made a delicious shaker lemon pie (http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Shaker-Lemon... It has no dairy but it has eggs. It's cooked at 425 for 20 minutes then 350 for 30 more.

I don't want to refrigerate it if at all possible because the crust is light and flaky and I fear it will get soggy and rubbery. Do I need to? If so, is there an alternative (maybe leaving it outside, 30 degrees)?

I have an old electric ice cream maker and want to know if I pack the bucket with snow instead of crushed ice would it freeze my ice cream correctly? If it would work, how do I go about it and how would I treat the salt?

I'm having a very hard time procuring crushed ice and my blender does a bad job of it. I do have ice cubes (could I sprinkle snow in layers to fill in the ice cube gaps?).

Note: I am not suggesting adding flavor to snow to create ice cream. The snow would be outside the ice cream mixture container, in the bucket where the ice normally goes.

I bought a pair of Bandolino Castalina riding boots and the shaft is too wide for my calves. (The foot fits well.) Does anyone know of a good place locally (anywhere from Logan-Provo, UT) that could make the shaft narrower so that it fit me more snugly? Or is there an inexpensive (but quality!) alternative (inexpensively shipping them away)?

Here's a link to the boots: http://www.bandolino.com/on/demandware.store/Sites...