Trixie

I went to Sam's and bought some of their Fresh Salsa. It needed to be refrigerated, but then we went to a movie and were there about 3, maybe 3.5 hours. It sat in the car where the OUTSIDE temp was probably at least 87 degrees. I did refrigerate it as soon as I got it home. It's been a while since I've had it so I don't know if it tastes different than I remember because it's been a while or because I left it out. Do you think it's ok to eat? Serious answers only, please.

I have been with my boyfriend for about 5 years. We talk about marriage and our future all the time but he still hasn't proposed. Before you jump to any conclusions about what type of guy he is, I know that he really does want to marry me. I also think that right now he's worried he wouldn't be able to support the two of us financially, which I can understand, even though it's difficult to keep waiting! I'm hoping that he will be in a position to propose within a year. So my next thought is about rings. We really have not discussed what kind of ring I want, because I have felt like there was no real timeline for the engagement. But now I feel like he might start looking soon and I want to make sure he knows what I want! So here's my question. Is it ok to ask him to take me shopping/looking, even if we have no intention to buy that day? And, on a related note, is it ok to go try on rings by myself and show him pictures of what I like, or describe them to him? I don't want him to feel bad but also I want him to know how important it is that I be involved.

My boyfriend and I have been together for about three and a half years, and we're serious. He's 25, and I'm 26 and we know that getting married is in our future. We both have had some setbacks, but I am finally about to graduate college, and he should be close behind. After that, our plan is to get engaged, get married, and settle down.

For the last year I have been letting him know that I'm ready to get engaged. I understand that he doesn't have a lot of money to buy the ring, isn't where he wants to be financially (who is?) and is concerned about supporting the two of us. And while these are legitimate concerns, I also have been trying to be very patient, knowing it might be a while.

For those of you who might think, he is going to promise me the ring and then just string me along.. he won't. But I do wonder how long it will be.

So he has been doing things like taking on extra jobs and doing things to get ready for our future. Well one of his friends called about 2 weeks ago and told my boyfriend that he is getting married, and wants us to fly down to San Diego for the wedding. We live in Tennessee. As much as I would love to go to San Diego, that will be an expensive trip. So as my boyfriend is committing to this wedding for a friend who is probably about a 6 or 7- on a 10 scale, as far as friends go, I'm thinking, "this trip is going to cost $2k that he could put toward my ring and OUR wedding.. and that's at least another year it will set us back, probably."

Well then he comes to me and tells me he wants to go to Bonnaroo. He tells me that tickets for that are something like $280/person for a 3-day pass. Well it wouldn't be a trek across the country but it would still be expensive.

Again I find myself thinking the same thing. I want him to have fun, but I'm starting to get really upset at the fact that he tells me all the time how much he wants to marry me and then wants to to these things that are so expensive. It's like he knows I'm not going anywhere so he has no problem making me wait.

I brought it up to him and he seemed ok with it, but he was also drunk and it came up by accident. Sober I don't know how he would react. Do you think I am justified? I will reiterate that I do want him to have fun, I just want him to keep his perspectives in order.

I really would like to know what some guys think about this. Please give truthful, sincere comments only. I do not need anything mean or stupid.

I'm 26 and phasing out of "juniors" clothes, but still want to have some style.

I'm looking for some cute, comfortable pieces that I could wear to work or mix with other things for a more casual look. I'm also looking for some nice dress clothes.

Where do you shop?

I would also like pieces that don't look like everybody else has one just like them in their closet.

Any suggestions? Serious answers only, please.

I'm graduating in May, and need something to wear. I know that most of my outfit will be covered up by the gown but I still want to look nice.

Here's the thing, though. I really do not like my legs. So wearing a dress is out of the question. So I really want some pants that would still look nice under a black graduation gown.

Any suggestions? If you have worn pants to your own graduation I would love to hear what you wore.

Thanks!

I love to drive, and I love to drive fast.

I currently have a Whistler XTR 220 that was given to me by someone I dated. After only recently putting it back up in my car I realized that it was missing the remote control that originally came with it. It still works but it's hard to reach on my window. So I have been considering looking at other ones. I did some looking online and apparently the brands such as Whistler, Cobra, etc. are really no comparison to the detectors made by brands such as Escort, Valentine, & Beltronics. After reading recommendations about the Escort Passport 8500 X50 I looked at it and was curious:

Does anyone actually own this radar detector?

What about the Valentine V1 or the Beltronics RX-65 Pro. If so, what can you tell me concerning the pros and cons of them? Were they worth the money?

Serious answers only, please. And do not waste my time about how I need to slow down.

This could sound a little obsessive. But we have this Chinese restaurant where you can eat in but they mostly specialize in to-go orders and that kind of thing. There's no buffet or anything but they have a full menu and offer the same types of things any other Chinese restaurant would.

Well I really am not a fan of Chinese but I LOVE the cheese rangoons at this place so I find myself eating here more than I normally would eat Chinese.

However the past few times I've gone over there the meat, it doesn't have the texture of chicken and beef that I know. I've ordered different entrees with chicken and beef and it's just a little bit different.

Like, the beef, for example. Looks like beef. Same color. Different texture. Taste could also pass for beef. But it's kind of shriveled up. Never seen beef like this and I've seen a lot of beef. And the chicken, same deal. It's *almost* the same color as chicken but a little more gray. And different texture. Sometimes it *looks* like chicken but other times not. Kinda more shriveled up and questionable. But again could pass for chicken.

Maybe these meats are perfectly normal chicken and beef and I'm just worried that I'm being fed cats and dogs (bad stereotype- sorry to any Chinese folks out there).

But how do I know? Are the similarities between chicken/beef/cats/dogs that close??

This may seem funny, but I'm being very serious, and serious answers are all I want.

Thank you!

I have started selling Avon to make extra money and have realized that I need something to keep up with all the funds going in and out.

A friend of mine who is an accountant recommended that I go buy Quicken but when I went to the website it seems that this program is only for personal bills.

If anyone has used this software or knows what it's like, would this be what I need?

Basically here is what I need to be able to do:

I need to keep track of the amount a customer paid, how they paid it (cash, check, etc) and whether they are owed any change. I also need to be able to document when the money was paid.

Also I need to be able to see the cost versus the profit on products sold, for tax purposes.

It would also be useful to be able to keep up with mileage, and other expenses, such as samples, books, bags, etc.

Any suggestions? Serious answers only, please.

Thank you in advance!

Ok, so let me begin this by saying I don't know if I've ever really had a party- sad, isn't it? I'm 26, and I don't know a lot of people in the city where I live so I kind of rely on my boyfriend for my social life. A few months ago I moved into a new apartment and was going to throw a housewarming party but it never really happened. My boyfriend went around telling a lot of people we knew (mostly people he knew that I knew through him) that I was going to host said party and then they started asking about it. Well after so many months had passed, I thought it was a little late for a housewarming party, but figured it would do us all good to just get together. So I told him to invite anyone he wanted over the weekend after Valentine's Day- this weekend coming up. He invited his best friend and his wife, a friend of mine, and a friend of his he knows from school. So far I think that's all.

Well I was thinking he was going to be off work on Saturday, and that this would happen around 6 or 7. AFTER he invites all these people he informs me that he has to be at a school function in the morning on Saturday and has to work and close Saturday night, and won't be home until 9:30-10.

We didn't really tell them a time, but my concern is that they won't want to come this late. I mean, 10 isn't that late really, but it is late if you have to get up and go to work the next day or whatever. So I'm either going to be stuck doing this by myself so it can be earlier or much later than I wanted it to be so he can be there too.

Well, my apartment is fairly open and not too small for a one bedroom, but I only have one couch. And a very small TV. The only other chairs I have are 4 wooden chairs that go to my kitchen table. When I got upset with him about the information he was telling me he was like, "well this is your thing. Do you expect me to go invite all the friends and plan the party?" I thought that was a little rude and uncalled for. I obviously do not expect him to do that, but we have been together for 3 years! Even though the party is at my apartment, we are inviting mutual friends and I kind of thought it would be *our* party. Not where he just invites his friends over then leaves me to do all the work.

So I'm mad at him, because I feel like he has no intention of helping with this, and he thinks I'm dumping it on him. Then, I'm kind of in the dark about what to do. I don't want everybody to just be bored out of their minds over here.

I was thinking about buying a game, like Cranium, and getting some beer and maybe some Smirnoff or something. I also have a couple bottles of wine. I was also going to pick up a couple of pizzas. I have some speakers, so I can hook up some music, I guess, but really I just feel totally in the dark about this.

I mean yes, it's just some friends coming over to hang out. But I still want it to be fun. We will drink but I don't want it to be the main focus.

Any ideas? Thoughts on entertainment, seating, food, beverages, or the boyfriend situation would be greatly appreciated. Serious answers only please.

I have thrown my sleep schedule completely out of whack. Now I am staying awake most of the night and am going to sleep when most normal people are waking up. I work and go to school during regular hours so obviously this is not a good schedule for me to keep. I did some research on some different sleep aids, natural and non- but all over-the-counter, and went to WalMart to get the one I wanted. However when I got there, they didn't have it. So I brought home a different one, called Alteril. I don't know anything about this sleep aid, and when I did a Google search on it, one website was giving all these reasons not to take this drug.

So, before I take this, I was wondering if anyone else had taken this and if it helped them sleep. I usually need more than just a couple Tylenol PM or a Benadryl to get to sleep, because I was in a really bad wreck a few years back and was on a lot of pills for pain. Because of this my tolerance is much higher than it should be. So if you've taken this, I also would like to know whether or not you think it would work knowing that information about me.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I used to work for a store that sold medical scrubs but they went out of business. During that time, I used to wear scrubs to work all the time (good for business). When I quit, I was hoping I could find a job working in a clinic so I could still wear them but haven't been able to, so the scrubs are just taking up lots of room in my closet.

I'd like to try to sell them on ebay and actually make some money for them. I am registered on ebay, but have only purchased things.

Do you have to do something different to be able to sell things? Is there a fee to sell merchandise? How do you know what to charge for shipping?

Any other advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Ok. I'll admit that I need a little help here.

I got a pair of boots and I want to wear them with jeans, so I've decided to finally get a pair of proper jeans- but I'm not quite sure what kind to get!

I know that skinny jeans are smaller at the bottom than straight jeans, but mostly I want to be able to tuck them into my boots without them bunching up. What do most girls get?

My questions tend to be a little long and this is no exception. I hate that but I feel that I always need to give a little background in order for people to provide me with a good answer.

I just moved into a new apartment, which was furnished and included a washer & dryer. Since I had my own furniture and washer/dryer, the landlord had the furniture and washer/dryer moved out and I moved all my stuff in. Well AFTER I moved everything into the new place we were moving the washer & dryer into their little room and realized that the doorway was too small to get them both in (like, if you put one into position the other one won't fit through the door to the washroom) but the room itself is big enough. So after lots of moving them in and out we concluded that the washer would have to be slid in first and the dryer would have to be lifted up into the room. Well the people who came and moved all the other furniture came and moved the washer and dryer in for me, and also hooked them up. They also decided that the washer and dryer would have to be switched from the positions they were supposed to be in in order for me to be able to open the dryer door. So the hookup for the washer is on the right, but the washer is on the left- and the hookup for the dryer is on the left but it is on the right. Well they got them both in there and turned them on and they both worked.

About 4 days later I decided to finally do a load of laundry and I tried to turn on the washer and it's not working at all. Like, I go to start a cycle and there's no water coming into the washer or anything. It's like it's dead. But it's plugged in in the back and it was working just a few days ago. I checked the hoses and plugs and it all looks good- AND the dryer still works fine. I mean I know this doesn't mean much, but it does suggest to me that it's not the plugs back there or anything like that.

I really have no idea what to do when it comes to washers and dryers. In fact I'm really not very mechanically savvy at all- I just need it to work, and soon. Does any one have any suggestions?? Thank you!

Ok, so I know the title was a little vague, but it was either a little vague, or way too long.

Here's my issue. I'm going to try to explain this the best way I know how. Somehow, a while back, I accidentally downloaded all these different stock images. They were pictures of things like flowers, fruit, and country flags. Well when I realized that I was downloading these I canceled the download. Then, I think they showed up in iPhoto, and I think I just highlighted them all and drug them to the trash.

Naturally, I thought the problem was taken care of.

The thing is though, I'm still seeing these pictures, but I can't find them on my hard drive, does that make sense? It's like they just rear their ugly heads at random times. Like for example, I went in to System Preferences because I was going to make all of my photos kick in as a screensaver and when I hit "test" some of those stock images kept popping up in the demo, but they are not in my iPhoto library! Those pictures are obviously still on my hard drive but I don't know where. And it's weird because they were sort of attaching themselves to my other pictures in the test. Like, there would be a picture of my own I would recognize in the background and then a giant, pixellated pear. But then when I clicked on that same picture in iPhoto it didn't have those stock photos attached to them.

These are annoying, because I thought I had already gotten rid of them, and I'm concerned they might be some kind of virus. I currently don't have any kind of virus scan or spyware blocker either (need to get one but I'm broke). So, can you tell me how to possibly find them and get rid of them?

Any help would be appreciated. Serious answers only please. Thank you in advance!

I am looking at a used Saab 9-3 Linear Turbo. It is a 2003, with about 88K miles. It has all the bells and whistles on it and the car appears to be in good condition. I have test driven it at least twice. I like the way it handles, and I like the turbo.

I have fallen in love with this car, and really want it. However because my dad is the one paying for the car he still has some concerns. I am hoping to ease his mind by finding out more information about it.

What would be ideal here is to talk to someone else who owns another '03 Saab 9-3 Linear Turbo, but I may not get that lucky. If not, maybe just someone else who owns a model just a couple of years older than the '03.

So, here are my questions and concerns. I would appreciate honest and objective answers to these and also any additional information you could give me that would be helpful in making my decision.

My dad says he doesn't know a lot about Saab. His concern (as well as my mom's) is that it will cost a lot to be repaired, will only be able to be repaired by certain people, and that parts will be difficult to find. Is this true? I understand that repairs will be higher because it is a foreign car but what are we talking about here? How much higher (percentage) would repairs be on this Saab than a Ford for example ( or other American-made car)?

I have also read that this particular model has a lot of electrical problems- however this may not be true with all year models. Have you experienced this to be true? What about any other problems you have experienced with the car? Have you talked to other Saab 9-3 owners who said that they have had similar experiences?

What kind of gas mileage does this car get?

Finally, what is your overall impression of the vehicle, company, and anything else associated with it? Would you recommend this car either new or used, to a friend?

Thank you very much, in advance. Your answers will be very beneficial to in helping me make an informed decision about the used car I am about to purchase. As always, please do not waste my time with answers that are a waste of yours.

Ok, so I've been considering taking on a little side business for a few months now, and I saw an Avon commercial advertising all of the reasons Avon would be a great thing to do- whether on the side or full time. Now I know each company is going to talk up its own company and products, but the more I think about it the more I think doing Avon would be pretty good for me. I have some questions for other women who have just recently begun selling Avon.

I'm 25, in college full time, and I also work an 8-5 job, but only part time. That's my basic information.

The Avon website said that the startup fees were minimal, so my first question is, what are the startup fees?

Also, if you don't mind, please give me a rough estimate of about what you make per week or month and how active you are as a representative.

Also please tell me how long you've been selling, and whether you think it would be a good thing for someone like myself to get started with.

Also, does it cost extra to maintain a website so that customers can order online?

And, is there a way you can find out if there is another representative in your area? Because I wouldn't want to start selling to find out that many women who order Avon in this area already have a rep they go through.

Another question I have is, how do you market, and what do you do when the orders come in? Do you deliver them yourself, or do you just call customers and let them know their orders are in?

Any additional info you can provide would be great. Please be honest but objective. All information would be helpful. While I would appreciate information from veteran reps too, I am mostly interested in what the newer reps have to say because things change so often. Serious answers only please.

Thank you in advance!

I saw this truck and it had chrome pipes, but they were coming out of the top of the truck- like what you would see on an 18-wheeler. What do you call those, and does anyone have a link with a picture? I am curious about these.

Thanks.

BTW: The truck was not a semi. It was just a regular truck with that kind of pipes, so if you have a picture of a regular truck that would be appreciated. Also, where do you buy these?

Ok, so I have no hair experience except for what I do myself out of a box. But, I've been dying my sister's hair now for probably about a year. I've gotten pretty good at it, but there is still one problem. She has really long hair. I mean, it is probably down to at least her low back. And it grows fast. So it takes a long time to do, but because of the length, it is inevitable that there will be a pretty long period of time where color is processing on one part of her hair while I'm still putting it on the rest.

Usually it is not that noticeable. But, the dye starts to fade and her roots start growing in, we can really notice it. Basically her hair right now looks like it's 3 different colors. The last 7 or 8 inches of it is where the dyed color has grown out. Then above that is where it has faded so it is a little lighter. Then at her roots is her natural color.

In the past I have started at her crown and moved down but the bottom half is still darker even after a fresh dye job because of the roots that have grown out.

So what we are thinking this time is to just put the dye (remember this is a box) on about the first half of her head and then just touch up the ends. But what we don't want is for it to be really obvious when she washes the dye out.

But, when it grows out you can really see all the different colors- and, after I dye it you can still kind of tell where the ends are darker because they hold the dye so much better.

So, any colorists out there.. professional or those who do their own and are just good at it, I need your help!! How can we fix this?

Oh, and the reason she doesn't go get it professionally done is a few reasons. 1) she has so much hair it would cost a fortune, and 2) for some reason the dye they were using at the shop wasn't staying in her hair (and they told us it was a permanent dye).

Ok, so I have my cell service through Verizon, and I have an LG Voyager.

I also have a MacBook. For any other Mac users out there, you know that I am using iPhoto to store, edit, and view all my photos.

Well I wanted to somehow put a picture on my phone that is currently on my computer.

My phone came with a USB cord but I wonder if I could transfer photos, and if so does this only work with a PC?

I could really use some help here. I don't have to do it by USB if there is another way but I want the picture quality to be as good as it is on my computer (or comparable to as good as can be offered on the phone, if that makes sense).

Any suggestions will be appreciated! Thank you!

I live in an apartment, and I have to admit, I've been pretty rough on the carpet here.

Since I live by myself, I have a bad habit of eating in my living room. About 2 or 3 times I've spilled almost a whole Coke (or other dark colored soda) on my carpet, in roughly the same place. Now there's this spot on the carpet that's about a foot wide by about 2 feet long, and it's really noticeable. When I spilled the drinks I blotted them up with paper towels or dry washcloths and then sprayed some carpet cleaner (the Resolve foam, I think) on the spot and blotted it up again. But there's still this horrible spot.

I don't have the money to pay someone to come in and clean my carpets, and it's stupid to anyway because the rest of my apartment really doesn't need it.

What are some other things I could do that would take this out? It's embarrassing when people come over.

And please, serious answers only.

Oh, and I have invested in a TV table...