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I have a master plumber repairing a showerpan in my bathroom that didn't hold up. It was made out of some sort of felt paper. He gave me two options for showerpans: rubber or fiberglass. I heard from others that a rubber showerpan can leak. The plumber claims that it only leaks when not installed properly. The plumber also mentioned that a fiberglass showerpan will have a chemical odor that might be dangerous to my 9-month-old son for the first day. We can stay elsewhere for a day, but is it really worth the bother? Should I just go with the rubber showerpan?

I have a garage door that tends to stick when first opening it. I don't use the door too often but when I do, it sticks the first time I open it. The second time I open it, it does not stick. Once it moves just an inch or less it works like a normal garage door. I looked for junk at the bottom and nothing seemed like it could create an adhesive bond to the cement. What could cause this behavior? Is there something I can do to fix it?

My employer recently went bankrupt. I got this letter at the end of the year stating that my 401k plan would change to Merrill Lynch. They let me know that I can take a lump sum (with the standard 10% early withdrawl fee) or just leave it in there. I left it in there. Yesterday, I noticed a letter from Merrill Lynch welcoming me to their new plan and gave specific details that I was never told. It was loaded with fee upon fee:

*$50 annual fee

*$15 quarterly fee (since my account is below $20k)

*even a significant termination fee if I decide to leave

My previous 401k had NO FEES. None of the fees were described before the funds rolled over. Now if I don't roll it over today, the termination fee goes up another $25 (increase in Feb 2010). How can I quickly rollover the funds? Can I just take a lump sum (to get the transfer started) and re-invest in a Brokerage IRA or would I be limited to the $5k/year limit unless I rollover direct from one bank to another? I don't think I can get a new IRA account started in just a day.

We had the perfect kid-friendly cat, but it just died. You could literally play the bongos on its stomach and it would purr in delight. We found the cat in a litter of free kittens many years ago, so I'm quite sure it's not a particular breed.

I want to find another cat like her. One that will not care if our child is a bit rough. Most cats are extremely scared of a little rough play and will run and hide for their lives. How can I find a brave cat that will be more tolerant to children still learning to be gentle?

I know a lot of people don't believe in time travel..fine. But, maybe most people are going about it the wrong way. I want to try an experiment that will tell us if time travel is possible. Here's what I want the participants to do: Write yourself a note and include the current date and time and the URL to this post. Keep the note in your wallet. Then, if time travel is invented in the future, just go back to the moment you read this post and tell us how it's done.

Who knows, if you take this post seriously you might meet your future self in a few minutes. Wouldn't that be cool! C'mon try it!

While digging a hole, I accidentally broke a pipe for our irrigation system. There's a very small stream of water shooting from the very small hole. After removing more dirt, I noticed a second pipe next to the first. They are white PVC pipes about 1" in size.

I really don't have any time to fix it and I don't need the sprinkler until spring. So, I turned off the valve to the irrigation system and turned on the sprinklers. The water from the pipe stopped flowing. Then, I turned off the sprinklers and the water started flowing from the pipe again! Should I just leave the sprinklers on? Nothing is coming out of the main line..I check the water meter to be sure. Will dirty water backflow into my main water during rain? I'm also afraid that the water will backflow if I leave the sprinklers off and the the pipe with the hole floods that part of the lawn.

Also, what's the best way to fix this? The guy at the plumbing supply store gave me a contraption that basically requires removal of a section of the old pipe. It's clay soil and a bunch of huge roots. I saw this link:

http://plast-aid.com/

and it looks promising. But, this is a water supply line. I need it to hold for years and changing temperatures. I'm not sure if I can trust this product. Has anyone used it? Is there a better way to plug this hole without digging and destroying roots of the nearby trees?

The gas company had a leak outside our house. They turned off our gas inside our home for their repairs, but didn't turn the furnace back on (it was too hot to need it anyway). Now it's getting cold and the furnace won't start. I turned on the valve to the gas for the furnace. Other gas appliances in the home work fine. I hear this constant clicking when the furnace should be starting. It seems it can't quite ignite.

There is an ugly buildup of mold on the vanities outside of my shower. When we first moved in, an inspector noticed moisture was coming from the shower to the underside of the vanity. Then, a plumber did a test by blocking the drain for 40 minutes to see if the water would leak through the tiles. We let it run for like three hours, the water line didn't fall much more than a millimeter. I definitely feel the moisture under the vanities. The tiles at the bottom of the shower lead me to believe that the shower pan was replaced some time ago.

How is this happening and more importantly, how do I fix it?

Here are a few pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43522369@N08/tags/sho...

I found this nasty looking bug crawling up my wall. I've seen these things outside hanging (literally) from the side of my house. I wasn't too concerned because they looked like cocoons of moths or something. But now I found one inside the house!

It basically looks like a pile of tiny twigs. It couldn't fly, but it can make thread like a spider uses to spin a web. Is this thing a wood destroying insect or anything that I should be concerned about? I was quite surprised to see it inside.

Here a link to pics of this gross bug:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43522369@N08/

What is this thing?

I really like the enormous following of Yahoo, but its features are quite annoying. I can't leave comments on individual answers. The question is only active for a few days, even if no one gave a good answer.

StackOverflow.com is wonderful, but it doesn't have categories like parenting or real estate. Is there a better organized, all-purpose forum out there?

As a means of investment, I was considering purchasing a small plot of land within a 50 mile radius of my house. I may visit it every once in a while for camping or fishing, but it would just be for investment (no house or anything fancy on it).

How would I find someone willing to sell such a property? I'm hoping for a motivated seller who needs extra cash very quickly. I'm in no hurry to buy..just trying to diversify my investments with something that can also be fun.

I've been reading a lot about technical analysis. There is a huge variety of indicators (moving average, Gann, Fibonacci, etc).

Which ones are the most effective in today's stock market? Is there any sort of evidence to support one indicator over another? Has anyone found a good mix of indicators to use when investing?

I have a lot of book knowledge about these indicators, but could really use some guidance on a useful process to implement them into a fuller investment plan. What's a good next step?

Today at the store, I was in the check-out in front a guy wearing doctor scrubs. There were pockets everywhere and a built-in belt. There was even a pocket on the sleeve of the shirt for pens. It looked very comfortable and very useful.

I'm not a doctor and do not work in the medical industry. Where can I get a cheap set of scrubs for myself?

We have a two-week-old infant. He was born 22" and 9.0lbs. At first he lost a lot of weight (down to 7.5lbs or so). So we started supplementing breastmilk with formula as ordered by his doctor. At first, it was only a total (breastmilk and formula) of 2oz or so per feeding. Over the past few days his appetite has steadily increased to 7.5oz per feeding.

He doesn't vomit or have any other digestive issues from what we can tell (except a nightmare load in a diaper). Our pediatrician doesn't seem too concerned, but most new moms have told us that this is a very unusual amount. If we feed him less, he cries a lot, makes frantic sucking gestures, and won't sleep. As soon as he eats enough, all is well. We use simulac formula.

Is this normal? What should we do? What are the risks of overfeeding an infant like this? What are the risks of not feeding him if he is truly that hungry?

We just had a meeting with our lactation consultant. We aren't making enough milk for the baby so she suggested upgrading to the Medela Symphony pump. We are currently using the Medela Pump in Style.

Has anyone upgraded from the Pump in Style and noticed an increase of milk extraction?

There's an old hymn that I like and here are the lyrics:

http://www.hymnlyrics.org/requests/be_not_afraid_i...

It's also called "I Go Before You Always". Does anyone know the author? I would like to use it, but can't find a copyright or even its origin. Is it public domain?

I have a house built in the early 70's. The bathroom plumbing seems fine, but the kitchen has horribly slow hot water. It's about half the pressure of the cold water.

Also, the dishwasher doesn't seem to be doing its work. There are large amounts of detergent stuck to the side of the door that never really dissolved in the last load of dishes. We've tried different detergents with similar results. In addition, the dishes on the top rack barely get cleaned at all!

I'm thinking that the contractor just put the wrong size pipe for the kitchen, but how would I know? And what could I do? Replumb the whole kitchen??

Basically, I just need clean dishes. What can I do?