D-Jam

I work in interactive media, and am in a place where I have a good boss, benefits, normal hours (not insane ones)...but I think my pay is less than what "experts" say I should get paid. Plus I think I've hit some kind of ceiling...since the economy is the constant excuse for why many of us haven't seen a promotion or sizable raise.

Here's the dilemma. Whenever I think about leaving and looking for the bigger paycheck and position, I worry how any new spot will have less security and more hours. Literally anyone I've seen who left for the bigger pay ended up going from 40 hours a week to 70-80 hours, and others saw pink slips quickly when a problem hit.

So while I'd love to move up more and get paid more...I feel like I'm stuck, and I'd have to give up job security and my work-life balance to have it. I was thinking to hold off until the economy gets better...if it ever does. I value job security more than anything, but I don't want to hinder my career because I'm "playing it safe".

Am I logical to have this worry? Or just afraid to take chances?

I'll try to keep it brief and to the point.

Model: Amana TA18R2L

Problem: Everything works perfectly up until we get a very hot day in Chicago. Suddenly my freezer won't freeze anything. Keeps things cool, but not frozen. I have it even turned up at maximum.

Did I clean the coils? I plead stupidity and didn't clean the coils since I moved in 3 years ago. I just cleaned them thoroughly last night using instructions I got off eHow. Over eight hours later things are a tiny bit colder, but not frozen.

What should I do? What are possible answers?

Should I just replace the fridge/freezer?

Is there a possibility that my neighborhood isn't getting enough power?

I have a lot of senior citizens in my neighborhood, and when it even gets above 75º they will crank up their air conditioners, thus drawing a lot of power from the grid as a whole. Spring, Autumn, Winter...the freezer works perfectly. However it can't seem to perform when the weather is hot.

If it is a power issue, would an even more energy efficient fridge help?

Thoughts?

I find it astounding both here and elsewhere this rampant attitude that somehow anyone not making a decent paycheck is immediately some lazy irresponsible bum on welfare milking the system.

Don't any of you believe there are hard working responsible Americans out there who just aren't getting paid enough in their lines of work? Do any of you believe employers take advantage of the economic downturn to maximize profits by underpaying employees?

Or is anyone not making a livable wage immediately just a lazy bum on welfare?

I'm curious. If Conservatives had their way and tomorrow all welfare, medicare, medicaid, unemployment, etc were all abolished, would we see a rise in crime?

Assume taxes would go down as well since there are less expenses.

My curiosity is if the poor were not getting any aid whatsoever, and yet there are no jobs or jobs that pay a livable wage, would the poor eventually just revolt or simply rob/kill the wealthy for their money/possessions out of desperation?

I'm not in support of executives getting bonuses the way they've been getting from our tax dollars, but I keep hearing the "why didn't the Administration do something beforehand?" and I keep thinking about all those who cry and complain how Obama is creating Socialism and destroying free market.

So would legislation against bonuses be considered destroying the free market? Or did the Government do the right thing by going in on faith and hope that the Executives would do the right thing with the money?

I feel like one moment we're saying the new Administration is trying to destroy the free market, take over industries, and make Socialism...but then another moment we're crying out as to why the Government didn't pass Socialist laws to restrain these businesses when they receive stimulus.

I'm mostly curious. Men ask to death why women just won't have more casual sex, and the answer most of the time is that the women fear being labeled negative terms like "slut", "skank", or "whore" by their peers.

So what if there were no negative connotations? What if a woman could freely have SAFE SEX with 100 different guys and never be seen as a "lesser being" or "trashy" and would even be seen equally in the eyes of men looking for a matrimonial partner (compared to women who didn't sleep around)?

Just a hypothetical question...so please don't take anything personally.

It's the typical debate I have had with women and I wanted to toss it up for opinion. Women are welcome to share their thoughts as well.

Let's hypothetically say a man is out and about in life, be it a walk in the park, bar, party, social gathering, etc. There are single women there, what do you think his first instinct is as he meets and gets to know these women?

a) Find someone worth dating

b) Find someone to sleep with

c) Make friends

I'm curious if I can purchase any mini-SD card for my Curve...or is there some kind of special formatting on the cards T-Mobile sells?

I see a 2GB for $39.99 on t-mobile.com and yet 4GB cards from other companies elsewhere. Any advice or experiences?

I'm used to custom-building my own, but my client has asked me to instead find one from a reputable company and use it instead...mostly so he's got a place to go down the road for technical questions and/or updates.

So does anyone have any suggestions for a good 3rd party Content Management System for a web site? One where I can easily skin and change the look for whatever graphic layout I come up with?

Not making fun of Europeans, but more doing a project where I need to dress a male model as "Eurotrash" or dress him like a trance DJ.

What would you all suggest I do in terms of hair, clothing, etc?

My best friend is a single mom, and after taking time off the dating scene with the birth of her child and unfortunately the "running out" of the father, she's now meeting interested guys, but isn't sure when she should tell these guys about her daughter or even how the best way to say it.

SO...two questions:

1) WHEN should she tell potential men about her daughter? Some of her colleagues say she should wait a few dates, others say right now on the phone before anything even gets set up. What is the best timing in your opinion?

2) HOW should she say it. She doesn't want to make herself sound like some Maury Povich guest, because in all honesty, she's not. She simply wants to make it clear that she's been single for a while, her life is in order, and she's not in some heated drama with the ex.

Thanks in advance.

Hey all, I'm actually a Chicago resident, but I wanted to ask my question here simply because I would more like opinionated answers over marketing answers that I would get on a metromix.

What Street Festivals do you think are worth hitting this year? The "must-see" ones?

City or burbs, regular or ethic or even Church ones. Speak up and tell me in your opinion the fests I should hit up this summer.

Thank you!

We've all seen those who speak of how they want to be "friends first" with someone before dating, and many more who speak that once you are friendzoned you're stuck there for life.

It's a back and forth debate, and I'd love to see who here more subscribes to the idea that good friends can make for ideal lovers in life, while who here believes that you could never fathom anyone that's your "friend" being a lover for you?

I'm not saying you should not make your lover your friend as well, but more just settling the debate for now on how you personally view your friends?

a) No way...you get in my friendzone you have no chance with me.

b) Maybe...if I have no other options in life.

c) Hell yeah...I would rather date friends than total strangers I just met.

From watching this election, I've noticed that Obama had a pretty clean reputation until the Hilary camp pulled out Reverend Wright, then Reverend Pfleger, and even now possibly Michelle Obama.

All these people in Barack's life speaking so loudly and wildly, using their 1st amendment rights...yet never a word out of Barack through his whole career that says he is 100% in agreement with any of these people.

Yet I see people buying into the homemade conspiracy videos, the TV blurbs and even buying into the ridiculous idea that Obama is some sleeper for Al Quaida.

I guess my point is that if you put Obama in a room alone with only his words to go by, then where does it show that he possibly is like Wright, Pfleger, or Michelle?

What does what any of those people outside of Obama say really have to do with him being an ideal candidate for president?

OK, you meet someone you're not attracted to and he's asking you out on a date (if you're a girl) or she's flirting with you like crazy and talks of getting together sometime (if you're a guy).

Do you just hand them an honest "I'm very flattered, but I'm not interested. Sorry." Or some excuse that's a total lie? Examples:

"I just got out of a bad relationship and I don't want to date anyone right now."

"I'm too busy in my life with work and school to date anyone."

Or even worse, you instead say: "Tell you what, call me Friday and I'll let you know if I'm free this weekend." when you have no intentions of picking up the phone when he/she calls and don't plan on calling back.

So if you do hand the excuses over honesty, why? Why lie when an honest polite rejection will remove said person from your life and you can move on? (provided he/she isn't a psycho or stalker after the rejection)

Is it because of the ones who take it badly or won't take a "no" from you?