THE SHOP

This is a grown woman 60+ years old. She has a mass of hair that goes down her back, tied with ribbons, rubber bands, even pieces of fabric. It drags on the ground. She never washes it. In fact the bathtub/shower at her home look like they have not been used in years ... same with her washing machine. The house is a filthy mess with flies all over. She has two cars both of which are filled with junk (as is her house). If we try to get her to wash clothes or get the hair cut she goes into screaming, foot stomping fits. She refuses to see a phychiatrist.

I am in the process of getting quotes for re shingling the roof of my house. Just getting started with this, but the very first contractor I've spoken with has told me that there is no warranty on whatever shingles I choose because I live near a NAS base and the jets fly overhead damaging the roof with jet fuel. . Has anyone else near airports or military bases ever heard of this? And if there is no warranty why is the price the same?

One night I had problems with the headlights on my car so I chose to stay put until first morning light. My mother became anxious and called police to find out if there had been any accidents. They made a report to be on the look-out for my vehicle. The next day after I arrived home I received a call from a non-local police department that I had interviewed with. (not for a policeman position, but civil). They informed me that they could not hire me because I had an "unstable" family life. Does this really happen? I was 1 out of 4 finalists and they were hiring two people. It strikes me as odd that a police department frowns on people being worried about family members.

I have applied for a job and the HR person said they need to do a drive by of my home and wanted to know when someone would be home. It sounds suspicious to me, but it is a job with the city where I live. I've never heard of a prospective employer looking at the place a person lives "for violations".

Each month I promptly send in my mortgage payment via electronic transfers. The bank making the payments has verified with, Chase, the mortgage company that the funds are being received on time. So we know they are not late. Chase acknowledges this. In each of my payments I include additional funds designated for principle reduction and I have been paying this way for 4 years. Chase has always applied the payments correctly, at least up until recently. Now all my payments are posted into a 'suspense' fund and not applied to my monthly mortgage payment. After three months of not posting my payments to the mortgage, they began sending collection letters in January. On January 2 I received a call asking where my payments are. I told them they have them and I can prove it. I speak to representatives on an almost daily basis and am getting no where. And, I noted that even in November when I sent in the exact payment, it was still placed in 'suspense account'. Has anyone had this problem and how can it be resolved. Snail mail takes too long and I hate the idea of going back to old ways just because of computers and non-humans running a bank.

Each month I promptly send in my mortgage payment. I send the full amount, as billed, that covers principle, interest and escrow for taxes. I round it up, so they are actually receiving $.33 more than billed each month. For the past four years Chase has been able to post that extra $.33 to the principle. All of a sudden they can't accept payments written this way and they put the entire payment into what they call a 'suspense' fund. And then after not posting the payment to the account they consider it late and start with the collection calls. And to make it worse, they keep telling me I am not sending ENOUGH money to cover the payment. I am beginning to think computers are running Chase and no humans are there at all. Anyone else have this issue? I even tried sending the exact dollar amount and they still put the payment in 'unassigned'.

I think my mortgage bank is committing fraud and I don't seem to be able to get any satisfaction from them. Back in October 2014, I sent in my usual payment that covers principle, interest and escrow. I also sent another separate check in the amount of $425 that is supposed to be applied to 'principle reduction'. I do this every year with my bonus check from work. They initially applied everything correctly and then at the end of the month pulled everything and placed it in a 'suspended' account. They did the same thing in November. I sent the mortgage check that covers principle, interest and escrow and they didn't apply it to any of those things. It went into the 'suspended' account. Ditto December's payment. These are full payments, paid on time. They are not applying them. Then on January 1,2015 they issued a letter demanding payment, that stated I was in default on three months payments and threatened foreclosure (veiled threat). They have all the payments. They are not applying them. Then they told me this morning they needed proof from my bank that the payments had in fact been received by Chase. They know they have the payments. They are sitting right there in unapplied funds. Is this even anywhere near legal. Collection calls and dunning letters are inexcuseable when they have the funds. Suggestions as to who I need to complain to would be very helpful as the bank doesn't seem to care.

This man admits that he dates lots of women (one or two dates with each woman). He also claims he needs space frequently. I think he either has issues physically or has a fiancee or girlfriend who does not live near him, is in the military and deployed, or??? Either way, I feel he is a very poor risk for a permanent relationship. He will not admit to anything other than he dates 'a bit'.

There were three baby kittens found after the mom was hit by a car - one kitten has died. We think they are about 3 weeks old, their heads are about the size of golf balls. How do we care for these little babies. I don't live near pet stores or Petsmarts or those type of places so the best we can do right now is milk. I would think it needs to be warm but do we add anything. Anyone with experience in taking care of little cats please help me. All they want to do is sleep which is normal for a baby I imagine.

I'm not going to raise a ruckus over this, but it has me baffled. My future husband asked if I wanted to select my engagement ring. I said sure and we scheduled a Saturday a few months ago to go shopping. When he picked me up my future father-in-law was in the car. I had no idea he was coming along and I truly do not know why he was there. He gave his grandmother's ring to his wife upon their engagement and I know he isn't familiar with jewelry at all. It's not something he buys as gifts for his wife and usually just gives her gift certificates for Christmas/birthdays. We selected a nice ring, but I felt that I was being 'guided' toward a price range and setting. My 'fiance' did not put the money down on the ring, he did and his name is on the sales order/payment plan. And that is somewhat upsetting to me. Doesn't the prospective groom normally do this on his own, or am I being paranoid? I've never heard of the future father-in-law being this involved - I looked for other references on line but could not find any. I'm paying for the wedding and my dress and I guess I feel somewhat odd knowing his father is doing this.

The man I am about to marry believes he can get a diamond engagement ring for me, at a jewelry store, for around $400. I've told him it is impossible and that from everything I've read he should be spending about 2 months pay on the ring. He will be a professional once he finishes his internship as a pharmacist, so his pay will be in the $100,000 range by this time next year. Right now he is earning about $600 per week. I graduated a year ago and have a good job teaching third grade. We will be friends with other professionals and I'm afraid that something that cost $400 will be an embarassment to us both. We are planning to be married next April. I would rather not have an engagement ring rather than wear one that looks cheap. I know this sounds money-hungry and I am not, but the idea of spending this little amount when we are going to have an income of well over $150,000 next year seems off somehow. He owns a nice car and has worked every year since he was 16 so he is not exactly broke. I suggested that I put some money toward the ring and he got even more angry. I am 25 and he is 24.

I applied for a job as a restaurant hostess. Duties are taking reservations, seating people. I was told I would be paid $6 per hour. When I asked if there was a pay-out from the wait staff I was told they "may" do so but it was not manditory. That puts the pay rate under minimum wage. Is this legal?

I am widowed since Jan. 2011 and just started seeing a gentleman in May 2013. We see each other about twice a week for dinner or movies. He is recently divorced and neither of us want to rush a relationship. That said, beginning in November he began dropping hints about what he wanted for Christmas, but they were expensive items like a Kayak or mountain bike. I am about to retire and not wealthy, but that expensive a gift is out of range for me and I don't even give that expensive an item to my children for Christmas. He never has gloves, so I bought him a very nice pair of gloves ($50 range) and a scarf (also $50 range). He went to his children's house to celebrate Christmas and returned to town two days after Christmas. He came over to my house for dinner upon his return. No gift for me in hand. Something felt off to me, so I did not give him what I had purchased for him thinking it might embarrass him and that perhaps I was wrong in purchasing anything for him. Have I messed up or is he cheap. He often expects me to pay for my dinner when going out. And, yes, he is financially secure enough that he can afford presents. I'm a bit confused and don't want to bring this up to my friends.

I have a good friend who is gay, so I have been wondering about a couple of things ...

If a gay/lesbian person only has sex with a person of the same sex how can that gene be passed on? I've been told it is genetic, hard-wired, so it is not a societal "choice".

And why do gay people like to have so many sex parties, and travel all over the country to attend camps with other gay people and why do they tend to like very young partners? That part sounds odd to me since the majority of the hetero world have one partner and do not travel all over to have sex with people they don't even know. Going to these activities, having sex with strangers only enhances the chance to acquire AIDS, and yet he doesn't seem to care about that risk.

I have a good friend who is gay, so I have been wondering about a couple of things ...

If a gay/lesbian person only has sex with a person of the same sex how can that gene be passed on? I've been told it is genetic, hard-wired, so it is not a societal "choice".

And why do gay people like to have so many sex parties, and travel all over the country to attend camps with other gay people and why do they tend to like very young partners? That part sounds odd to me since the majority of the hetero world have one partner and do not travel all over to have sex with people they don't even know.

Everyone knows the beginning of the Christmas story and the manger. It starts out by stating that "Joseph, being of the house of David, ...." The House of David was obviously important to the status of Joseph and therefore of Jesus in that society. Why then, if he came from Kings, and was a member of the house of David, would they crucify him.

My husband and I are having a disagreement over the cancellation date that the Post Office stamps onto an envelope. My husband claims it has no meaning, it's just a date. I think it is the date that the envelope is received into the Post Office's delivery system. In otherwords, when you put an envelope into a blue mail box at 10:15PM on the 25th and it is picked up and taken to the Post Office at 12:15am on the 26th, that it will be stamped the 26th and sent out for delivery. He said they can put a cancellation on an envelope at any time they feel like it. My question then is if a tax return is required to be posted by Midnight on April 15 in order to be a timely filing, how do they know if you really mailed it on the 15th if they put the date stamp on the envelope at any point in the delivery process? Just wondering.

I posted this before and the question was removed. Don't understand why. I am retired, age 64. I have applied for, and been accepted into the Food Stamp program. That said, my original question, was: I volunteer at a couple of community sites (library, rec center) which have seen brochures that are published by Social Services. These brochures state that people age 60, NOT 65, are eligible for SNAP (food stamp) assistance and are evaluated on a somewhat different standard than the general population. It states that "The USDA considers anyone age 60 or older to be elderly" and that there are different regulations for seniors and disabled applicants. Someone associated with the government and obviously aware of the rules stated this is incorrect and that the rules are the same for everyone and that age 65 is the mark at which the rules change somewhat. Does anyone know what the change mark really is - 60 or 65? Just curious.

Circumstances recently caused me to apply for Food Stamp assistance (SNAP) in Virginia. I filled out the online form and had an interview. Today I received a letter requesting 1) proof of address.They already have a copy of my driver's license with the address on it 2) Separation agreement as proof of income . We separated 10 years ago and everything on it applied to our situation at that time. I was still working. Amount of support was less than 1/2 of what I currently receive. 3) child support amount as addressed in the separation agreement. My daughter just moved back in with me due to no work. She was attending college Masters Degree program at the time of our separation and was not even included in the separation agreement. My ex voluntarily is sending a small amount of additional money to help pay for her being here: gas, food. My address can easily be verified by them with DMV since they have a copy of my license. I have no idea why they want a copy of the separation agreement since nothing they are asking about is in that agreement. I have given them a copy of the checks sent to me each month. He does not send a separate check to my daughter. Is this normal information for SNAP agents to want or am I getting the run around. All I need is about $30 per week to feed us temporarily until she gets a job.

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Circumstances recently caused me to apply for Food Stamp assistence (SNAP) in Virginia. I filled out the online form and had an over the phone interview. Today I received a letter requesting 1) proof of address. I've lived here 14 years, am in the phone book and can easily be located on-line. 2) Separation agreement as proof of income 3) child support amount as addressed in the separation agreement. These items all look like "hoops" to me. My address can easily be verified by them so there is no question about where I live. My separation agreement was drawn up 8 years ago and the amount of money my ex sends has been adjusted two times since then BY HIMSELF. And my daughter is living with me currently TEMPORARILY because she is between jobs and just finished college Masters Degree but still can't find work in her field. When the separation agreement was drawn up all my children were over 21 and on their own, so none were even mentioned in the separation agreement. What are they looking for that they would want to see a copy of my separation agreement which is irrelevant to the questions they are asking. They have also asked for a copy of alimony agreement ---- I am not divorced, they know that, so there is no alimony.

Any ideas, suggestions. I only need a few dollars to help pay for the food, otherwise I can squeak by. I am 63 and was told the criteria are different for seniors.