Neilis

I moved into a new house last year and decided to plant some "useful" trees/shrubs out back. My parents have about a dozen Blueberry bushes that produce very well so I decided to try and transplant one of theirs to my property. I took a ~15 inch plant that had sprouted there, and transplanted it to my property last June.

It didn't die, but didn't seem to fare well. The leaves very slowly turned yellow and fell off by around mid September. I thought it had died, but I didn't bother it.

Around March of this year I noticed some tiny growth starting from the very bottom of the remaining stem. Throughout March and April it grew out two new canes about 5" tall that are covered in very healthy looking leaves. The problem is - they just kinda stopped there. Those two canes came only from the very bottom of the plant. No new growth along the rest of it, and they've been stuck there about about 5" tall for around a month. I'm kinda worried that if the plant doesn't grow a bit more before winter that it might not survive.

Am I just being paranoid or is this normal?

PS I wish I could provide the specific variety of the plant but my mother just got them from a friend about 12 years ago so I just know they're "blueberries" :).

Ok, long story short, about 4-5 months ago my sister was over at my house cooking and she didn't know what to do with some old frying grease, so she just took it outside and poured it out. Now I have about a 3' diameter circle of absolute bare ground in the back yard.

It was just before winter when the grass generally doesn't grow anyways so I didn't bother to try and fix it, but with spring just around the corner I'd like to get this corrected if possible.

I'm guessing with the oil seeped into the ground I can't just spread new seed from something like Turf Builder. I had thought bout trying to dig up the top couple inches of soil, discard that, and then lay down a bag or two of potting soil, leveling it, then putting down the grass seed.

Am I looking at this the right way or is there a better way to handle it? Thanks.

I had a ceiling fan do something weird yesterday that I'm concerned about and I wanted to check on. I was sitting in one room and heard a bulb blow in the room down the hall- LOUDLY. It was a very audible pop.

When I went in that room I noticed that all 3 bulbs were out so I figured they'd all blown. When I removed them though one was actually blown forcefully enough to shatter the glass. When I put in new bulbs I noticed that none worked and the breaker had actually tripped.

Would just the bulb blowing be able to break the glass and throw the breaker or is it more likely that some electrical issue (ie, one that I should be worried about) caused both?

FWIW I've been in this house for 5 months now and haven't had any other electrical issues and after replacing the bulbs and resetting the breaker I haven't noticed anything further. It just had me worried that I might come home to a smoldering pile of rubble or something.

Thanks!

Ok - got a tax question here. My sister and my two nieces (ages 3 and 5) moved in with me earlier this year when my sister and her boyfriend split up. Prior to this she was living with the kids in their mobile home though he wasn't permanently residing there (he worked out of state). She is currently unemployed but receives a child support check for roughly $800 per month from her ex. She has primary custody - through the recently agreed upon custody settlement he gets the kids every other weekend and 2 weeks in the summer.

I don't charge any rent,utilities, etc.I know that the residency requirements for a child require that they live with you for at least half the year. My nieces are with me for that, and are not with their father. My sister is unemployed so she won't be filing taxes.

Since I'm paying the vast majority of the expenses of maintaining the home, can I claim my nieces as dependents?

Thanks.

Simple question. I've moved into a new house and upon checking the attic there is no subflooring - just open insulation up there. I'd like to utilize this space for storage and need to put down at least a partial subfloor.

I know 3/4" plywood is the primary choice for this, but I'm currently driving a very small car. Its hard to transport plywood but I can rather easily fit in a bundle of 8' boards by dropping the rear seat and putting them through the trunk. I also only have a very small attic access opening by which to get the wood up there so any plywood flooring would have to be cut length-wise first to fit.

So, long story short, do you guys see any issue with using 1x6 planks in order to construct a sub-floor up there? Not really that interested in the appearance - mostly just the strength.

Thanks.

Hey guys. About two weeks ago I noticed a couple bruises on my arms for which I couldn't remember where I got them. Those went away, then I had another one come and go and this morning I've got another. I have no memory of hitting my arms in a way that would form a bruise.

I just thought it was kinda odd but when I Google'd "random bruising" the first thing that popped up as that being a symptom of was Leukemia.

I've got a standard checkup scheduled with my doctor in 35 days. I was going to mention the bruises to him then but I'm having a bit of a freak out at the moment. Do you think its worth trying to schedule an appointment even sooner or should I just wait until my scheduled appointment and then talk to him then?

Thanks.

Hey guys - quick question. I'm doing some remodeling downstairs and am planning on putting down some laminate flooring.

My living room and dining room are/were carpeted with the connected kitchen having glued down vinyl flooring. I know I can do laminate over the concrete slab, and I know that I can do it over vinyl, but my question is about the ending point of the vinyl being slightly higher than the concrete.

Would laying the laminate planks over this cause an issue, or will the variation not matter?

Just wondering as my primary concern is smoothing down (or scrapping up if need be) the glue under the vinyl if it has to come up. I'll do whatever is needed I'd just rather not do extra work if not needed.

I'm looking at purchasing a house and need to have the power turned back on for a pre-purchase inspection. Before the electrical company will do that though any devices of an electrical nature must have covers (no exposed wiring).

One outlet didn't have a faceplate which at $1 each seems easy enough to throw one on there. There's another item though that is baffling me. Its in the garage (though an extra wall was built in the garage so this part is enclosed), somewhat close to the hot water heater but without any buttons or anything it doesn't look like its a control box.

I have no clue where to find a cover for this thing. I had thought at first that it might be a smoke detector but I'm thinking that's not it. Any clue as to what it is? (pic linked - sorry for the clarity but being the garage with no power its rather dark).

Thanks.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y-KIbzC-ki8/UVs...

Ok, I'm confused as heck and looking for advice. I've got a female coworker that I hang around with a lot. We go to lunch all the time as a group with several other coworkers, and she spends a lot of time just coming back to my office and chatting (as well as IM'ing me from her desk). She DOES have a boyfriend, but she's been seeing this guy for several years and has mentioned several times that she's tired of him not committing and is ready to move on. Nearly every weekend she in some way or another asks me what my plans are - to me it seems like she was dropping hints that maybe she'd like to go out.

Fast-forward to last night - we went with most of our work friends (both of us) to dinner and drinks. When everyone was leaving I headed out and planned to go by to a party at another friends house for a while. She texts me at this point and asks what my plans are for the evening. I tell her I'm heading by another friend's house to hang out and drink for a bit. She then responds to the effect: "Well I guess I'm heading home - didn't plan on going home this soon but oh well". I responded that if she'd like to come to the party with me she's welcome to. I then get a response that she appreciates the offer, but she's going to a bar with her sister. To me that was shot down and that would be the end of it. 20 minutes later she texts "Maybe another time".

I'm confused here. I honestly do like this girl, but it seems like I'm getting mixed signals. Should I just write this possibility off or should I try actually asking her out a bit later?

Thanks.

OK, quick question. I suffer from gout and to try and help it my sister got me a gift certificate to a local spa for a 1 hour massage.

I'm really not comfortable with a male masseuse, but all their females look like supermodels. This has me worried that with an attractive girl doing the massage I might "spring to attention".

Is this something they would be used to and just ignore or do I need to go in with a strategy to keep my mind off it?

Thanks.

Ok, this is one question that I feel I should know the answer to, but don't, so I figured I'd ask.

Some of my baitcasters have a solid spool. On those there isn't much option except to tie the line around the spook and reel it in to fill it. However, some of my other reels have drilled spools. My initial instinct was "Hey, threading the line through the spook will provide a more positive anchor than around it!". I've done it that way for a while and not had any *obvious* problems, but wanted to check: is this a good practice or should I thread it around the spool as well?

Thanks.

As the title says, just looking to find out if Pabst bottles have a twist off cap or not?

PS In case anyone is wondering, I'm not looking to actually drink it. I need ~48 bottles to bottle up a batch of homebrew beer - I can't use twist offs, shipping on bottles is insane, and the nearest local store is a 2 hour drive a way. With that in mind It's cheaper for me to just buy beer just for the bottles, so I'm looking for the cheapest pry-top brew I can find :).

Hey guys. Just figured I'd check on here. I've been dealing with a very uncomfortable task chair since we moved into our current building about 3 years ago, and my boss recently gave me the go ahead to order a new office chair.

This will be used for a normal 8 hour office work day, 5 days per week. I'd like to get a decent amount of longevity out of it, and most importantly I want something comfortable.

About what price range should I be looking at here? Looking mostly for function and durability here. IE, I don't want a piece of junk that will tear up in a few months, but also not looking for a show piece that's merely meant to impress visitors.

Naturally in addition to cost, any specific attributes or features that I should seek out or avoid would be helpful too.

Thanks.

Ok, I've got an issue. About 3 months ago there were some personnel shifts and someone who had been working at another building was moved to a cubicle right outside my office. No big deal, UNTIL I notice that this guy whistles. Constantly. It's like ballroom music and the kind of crap that plays the end of an epic lassie movie. The most annoying tunes imaginable. When he's not whistling, he's SINGING the stuff (or rather, singing/humming the stuff with "LA DAH DEE DA DAH"'s).

It's literally driving me up the wall. More often than not I'm now wearing headphones to drown it out, but I really prefer to not have to listen to podcasts or music all day. Don't want to shut my office door because that just looks to closed off and unapproachable (nobody in the entire office typically shuts their doors unless they're on a conference call).

I don't want to be abrasive or seem petty - heck I've worked here for almost 7 years and never made a complaint on anything in all that time, but this is just driving me so crazy that sometimes I literally can not even focus on anything.

Ideas?

Thanks.

Just looking for some advice. 8 days ago I had 2 wisdom teeth on my right side removed. The lower one was horizontally impacted and had never broken the gumline (which was the main reason for getting it out).

Everything seemed to be going ok. I ate only liquids for the first 2 days. I don't smoke, and tried to avoid straws (I accidentally used one for a few sips of drink on day 3 without thinking, but realized it quickly - started using them again regularly on day 6 or so).

Thing is, the upper socket in particular is doing something that may or may not be strange. I don't think it is a dry socket, because there is no pain at all, but it seems to be slowly oozing a liquid of some sort. It's not blood - it's something with a yellowish tint, as after a while if it builds up I can spit it out and it sort of empties for a while. Has a very unusual taste to it. Can't describe it. Unpleasant, but not enough to really make me feel sick.

I know they said some amount of "oozing" was normal, but I thought that wouldn't be lasting 8 days after the extraction.

Any ideas? I know the typical response will be "go to the dentist", but this practice is very busy and it would probably be a week or two before they could get me in anyways. Since they didn't schedule a followup anyways, I'd rather not contact them about something that may be normal.

Thanks.

Question pretty much says it all. I'm interested in purchasing a home, preferably through the USDA Rural Development Loan program. My income exceeds that required for the direct loan program, but meets what's needed for the guaranteed program. Credit score is very good - low 700's last I checked on it. Anybody know what banks are still lending through this program?

Thanks.

Ok, this may sound completely trivial, but I'm a bit confused here :P.

Being a gentlemanly sort of guy, it's always been an obvious thing to me that a guy should hold open the door for his date (or really all girls). Ladies first and all that.

Now, this is simple when you are approaching a set of doors that swing towards you. Pull open the door, hold it for your date to walk through.

Now, those pesky darned doors that swing OUT away from you. Those have me confused. Do I push open the door and step through to hold it for her (essentially holding the door, but she ends up stepping through after me), or do I push open the door with an arm and stand there waiting for her to walk through (she steps through first, but it's an awkward looking and feeling position).

Any suggestions ladies? I know this sounds trivial but I've just started seeing a new girl and I get obsessive about little things like this. Trying not to offend her :).

Ok, I'm in a pickle. I cooked some dishes for our work Thanksgiving luncheon yesterday - including green beans. While transporting them, some of the juice (which had some bacon drippings in it - southerners don't cook vegetables without meat :)) spilled out of the pan in my car's floorboard. I had a towel beneath them, but some of it seeped through.

Now, there is a bit of a smell that has developed. Never would have thought that tiny amount would cause a problem, but it did. I've tried carpet cleaner, soap and water, and Febreeze on this spot. It's helped, but the odor isn't completely gone.

Any ideas on this? Other cleaners to try? Will it just fade in time?

Normally I wouldn't be in a rush, but I've got a date this Saturday that will be very important to me, and I don't want this girl to step into a smelly car.

Thanks!

Ok, I'm confused here and figured given the situation, a "social networking" type site would be as good a place to turn as any.

I've been single for a while now - brokeup with my last girlfriend a little over a year ago. My sister has a "friend" (more like an acquaintance - she admits to not knowing her that well) that got divorced nearly a year ago as well. Trying to play matchmaker, she suggested that I friend this girl on FB and get to know her. Did that, been talking a bit, and she does seem very friendly and interesting. There's but so much you can really learn about a person through text though.

My question is: do you think it would seem creepy or whatnot to ask for her number to talk in person? Or even to ask her out?

It's something that I would like to do, but there's a nervousness about asking her out without actually having truly met her in person (though that is admittedly a chicken and egg problem).

Anyways, figured I'd ask.

Just curious. If I go to a friends house or something and we're going to be drinking, I'll often bring a bottle (or two) of spirits and whatnot. Depending on what everyone's drinking, some of those bottles might just get 1 drink or less poured out of it.

Now, if I'm drinking and don't have a driver I'll usually just spend the night, but the question is regarding the next morning: is it possible at all for me to transport an opened bottle of liquor back home? If it's in the trunk of the car is that still considered to be a ticketable "open container" offense?

Typically I wouldn't care, but just recently I ended up leaving an $85 bottle of scotch at a friend's house that was still about 3/4's full, just to be safe. Figured I'd check on it before making that sacrifice again :).

Thanks.

PS I know that this might vary by location. I'm in South Carolina if that helps.