Robert

I have dental insurance, of course only 2 offices in Portland Oregon take it... My problem is that unlike a doctors office, a dentist requires payment at the time of service.

A normal doctor will bill you, every dentist that I've seen, including the 2 offices require that I pay right then and there.

So I am broke (just started a new job, no cash and savings were blown while unemployed) and in extreme pain with no way of ending the pain.

Does anyone know how someone can get the work done?

It's the furthest back molar at the bottom, an oral surgeon killed it while removing a wisdom tooth and it's been a nightmare ever since.

If I had a credit card I'd have used it, the credit is shot due to unemployment... you need to choose between paying bills and feeding the family, the creditors would rather the kids starve.

I swear the dentists enjoy seeing people in pain, I feel it's extortion and completely inhumane.

Nearly every single one of the killings that have been in the news over the last 20 years have been done with stolen guns. You can make all the laws you want but that doesn't stop someone from stealing.

People posting "Gun Safe" zones are also posting "Shooter Safe" zone signs. They're telling the bad guy to come there and kill people, "Gun Safe" zones scare the hell out of me.

Do Democrats and liberals, gun control nutjobs and the similar honestly think that a killer is going to see a sign and say "Aw shucks, I can't kill people here, they said I can't take my gun in there!"? Really?

All the gun control laws in the world will not stop bad people from getting a gun. Hell, I know I could probably get a gun within 15 miles of my house for $50, it will be junk but will get the job done. (Not that I would ever do so)

I think that they are making laws because they don't know what else to do. Personally, if I were a bad-guy and knew a place had people properly trained and armed, I'd go somewhere else. The same holds true for metal detectors etc, though that is not as scary, a bad-guy could just gun down those at the gate.

So why keep guns out of the hands of law abiding people?

It's a cliche but a true one, "Outlaw guns and only outlaws will have guns".

This is a Mitsubishi 73738 TV. It was working one moment and then not working the next. The TV was on for a couple hours, no one was in the room (called away, did not expect to be gone so long) and when came back, the screen was blank and there was no sound.

Turning the TV off and on does nothing, nor does unplugging it. Pressing the menu button does not work either.

It's clearly not a cable issue, if it was then the menu should come up. I doubt it's a lamp issue since there's no sound... but that might be wrong.

Usually if the lamp goes out you have sound but no picture, now there's no sound AND no picture.

If anyone has some ideas, please share!

The two job offers are very similar and both offers changed shortly after the whole interview process...

I repair computers for a living and usually make around $25 to $35 an hour, with over 20 years in IT and more certifications than I bother to count. The problem is that since I keep getting stuck with contract work, the pay as been horrible. Neither job has benefits or vacation time etc.

Offer #1

$7 an hour less than I used to make, was a long term contract now is a 1.5 month to unknown duration. The client company was bought out by a company that only uses internal staffing for IT. My hope is that I might be brought on as an internal employee but there's no guarantee. Usually the pay-rate increases when brought on as an employee because contractors cost more. (They pay the staffing company who then pays you, the difference in pricing is often HUGE!)

The work is hands-on, I get to actually repair desktops, laptops, printers, tablets etc.

Pros:

I love hands-on work

Good opportunities to find really hard issues (The harder it is, the more fun I have)

Well known company

If the client opts not to convert me to an employee, the staffing company might move me to a similar position elsewhere.

Cons:

No stability, unknown job duration.

Almost no chance of becoming an actual employee

The belt starts to smoke if I turn the car on, it s clearly the AC because just before this, there was a weird metallic sound whenever the AC turned off. Now all I get is a squealing sound and smoke.

Can I cut the belt going to the AC pump so I can drive the car to the shop?

I have a 1998 Jetta GTS that won't start. When you turn the key, all the proper lights come on etc.

After turning the key, I need to keep the key turned all the way and then wait 5-10 seconds for the engine to turn over. It would sometimes take up to 15 minutes of this to get it to start but it would eventually start and then it would run great! Sometimes it would start normally, Now it won't start all, it just turns over and that's it.

The engine will turn over like it wants to start, but it will not start. Sometimes turning the key doesn't do anything, the engine doesn't turn over at all.

I've verified the battery is good by having it tested at a place that does car batteries and nothing else, I then took it to a car parts store to have it tested there and both tests came out as not just good but great.

I've replaced all of the spark plugs and it would still run after that, it did not help the starting issue at all though.

Oil was just replaced and is at the proper levels.

I am at a loss here and it's causing major problems. I can't get the kids to school or pick them up if they get a ride from a classmates parents (no bus service). I can't get to work without buying a bus ticket and the same goes for the wife. Going to church is out as well because we can't afford bus tickets for all 5 of us.

I am hoping it might be the ignition switch, those cost a lot less than a starter or something more severe.

Can you help?

It's sad that the first female ship captain featured on the series (there were some here and there, but mostly just for an episode or two) was inept and I felt her character was written by someone who really didn't like women.

My perception was that unlike Kirk who's main response to a threat was to shoot and ask questions later, or Picard and his desire to talk and then shoot; Janeway's primary response was to surrender the ship, crew, etc. Very early in the series she surrenders the ship and then has to take it back... and it seems that it happened over and over.

I recall they were stranded on a planet after surrendering, she surrendered Seven once, there are more situations were surrendering, giving up etc was her primary move; the available space for the question prevents more info.

Enterprise was even worse, Especially once the writers got lazy and started naming people by what species they were, Aquatics were fishy types, Arbroeals were plant type people, Avians were bird types, Insectoids were bug people, and Primates where monkey folk and the Reptilians were lizardmen... Wow, lazy. And they referred to each other by these names, who refers to themselves by their appearance or root species? Know anyone who refers to themselves or our species as Primates? No one I know, that isn't being silly that is..

The government should get out of the marriage business. And that's what it is to the government, it's a business. It's all about charging for the privilege. I suggest that they remove Marriage from the definitions and paperwork, call it a Civil Union legally. (Marriage License becomes a Civil Union license, etc) after all, legally that's all it is.

Marriage is a personal thing. If everyone who wants to get married gets the same document, sans the word Marriage. They can then go to a church willing to do the wedding and they can just call themselves married.

It would still be just as real as it is now, liberals would be able to have anyone who wants to marry get married and conservatives could keep the same marriages that have been around for thousands of years.

Seriously, this fight over the definition and the "Right" is silly.

Remove the government from the picture and the fight is over. Everyone wins and that's that. The only ones who would not be happy would be the crazy ones at both ends of the spectrum. (the wacky ones that think that being gay requires special rights and the insane ones that think that just because someone is different means that they should be denied.... They're both crazy.

So I guess my question is, why hasn't anyone suggested this? People are spending millions on this fight on both sides. It's about Love right? So why not use a peaceful and loving answer. Remove the word and get married by someone willing to do it, easy enough.

Cecil is my grandfather and for some reason I can't find much on him. He was a fairly private person but I loved listening to his stories and experiences in the war. He's a Bronze Star recipient and a former Drill Sergeant. He died a Corporal after apparently having been demoted more than once, a fact he seemed to find humorous. He also had sandbags on his tank and loved to shoot planes with the Sherman's canon. He was not a nice man, but he did pretty well as a grandfather.

He has a story about how the Germans used a donkey drawn cart with a record player (phonograph?) that would play popular American music but then after it had you listening, the record would change to anti-American propaganda and demoralizing messages. He said that their tank was hidden in the ruined walls of a blown out old house and after some time, I always understood it to be a few days, they got tired of the messages etc. One day, after waiting for the music to stop, they shot the cart with the tank.

That was one of the more lighthearted stories but he had countless to tell. He even had one he told rather sheepishly where he and his crew were drunk and did not realize that they had crossed enemy lines ahead of Patton... thus making his crew the first to cross, not Patton... I doubt historians would change the records to favor some lost drunks...

I would like to have some images from his time in the military. All I have of him are from my life with him as my grandfather and one from his childhood.

He was from San Francisco and eventually married Gloria Fitzgerald and moved to Burns, Oregon. He had a gas station in Bend, Oregon and taught welding at Roseburg High School, also in Oregon.

He worked for the Forest Service as well after the war, but was working for the Army at the same time. He said that he couldn't go into details on this but had done some engineering work.

When he died he had 6 kids, 23 grandchildren and I think 6 great grandchildren (though that has grown to epic proportions).

So I am hoping that there are veterans that served with him, people that knew of him or those that just happen to have things etc.

Any help is appreciated! Thank you in advance.