?

I've found lots of baby birds and know to leave them alone for the most part. This baby is a robin, mostly feathered and I have seen the parents feeding it even though it seems weak.

The problem is, we are under a severe thunderstorm warning and this little baby is stuck on the ground. What can I do to make sure the poor little thing doesn't get drenched or drown in the storm that's on its way? Right now he's in the courtyard of my apartment building and although there are lots of trees, there's no bushes for him to shelter under. I'm afraid if I try to put him somewhere safer, like on my porch, the parents won't come feed him. Plus, although it was 90 degrees today it's barely going to break 60 degrees tomorrow.

I am about to inherit a ball python from a friend who is moving and cannot take her snake with her. We are uncertain of the snake's age, but he's at least five years old. (We also do not know the sex, but generally refer to him as a "he".)

She's giving me his tank (30 gallon), two hides, some kind of plastic leaf decoration, the mesh lid to his tank, a bungee cord to keep it shut, two heat lamps (one for day, one for night, apparently), and the timer that switches one lamp off and the other on.

She's been keeping him on paper towels, but I went ahead and bought some aspen for reptiles for him.

My main issue is the feeding. She feeds him live mice because he simply has zero interest in pre-killed. He also refuses white mice and will only eat brown or spotted or other non-white mice. Now I have no problem with buying him a live, brown mouse once a week, but it would be more convenient for me if I could just buy a pack of frozen mice and thaw one for him once a week.

How can I switch him from live mice to pre-killed? And can he really distinguish between a white mouse and a non-white mouse? Not that I think she's making it up, but maybe she just tried giving him white mice when he wasn't in a mood to eat.

Also... he's about to shed. Should we wait until he's done shedding to transport him from her house to my apartment (like a five minute drive) or is it OK to move him while he's shedding?

And one last thing. I do know of a vet the specializes in exotics nearby. Do I need to take the snake to the vet for a check-up, as I would with a dog or cat, or do I only need to take him to the vet if something's off with him (the snake, not the vet )?

Thanks in advance!

I've lived in this particular complex for two years now and the heat's always worked just fine. (Perhaps even a little TOO well since in past winters I've actually ha to open the windows to cool down my place.) It just recently started getting cold here in Chicago and while the radiators in the living room, kitchen, and bathroom work just fine... the ones in the two bedrooms aren't working adequately at all. Both are open all the way and they are steaming and hissing like normal, but not nearly enough heat is being out out.

Is this something I can fix myself? Or do I have to call the maintenance guy to check it out? Seems weird that some of the radiators work and some don't.

I've been on unemployment since May 2010. Been calling in my certifications regularly and everything's been going fine. Until now. I never got paid for the weeks ending in 10/2 and 10/9. I got a letter saying I had a phone interview scheduled because they thought my dependency status had changed (it hasn't). They never called me. I called the main office and they said just to keep waiting, that my interviewer had not tried to contact me yet. Finally, at the end of the day, I gave up and just faxed my local office (where my interviewer was supposed to be calling from) a statement verifying that my dependency status has NOT changed. My payments for the following weeks were paid as normal, but I'm still missing the payment from 10/2 and 10/9.

I called the main office today to try and figure this out and they said I HAVE to contact the local office. The local office (Lawrence) never picks up the phone and their voice-mail is always full so I can;t even leave a message, let alone get a live person on the phone. I don't have a car and (because of the missed payments) I am flat broke and can't even get a bus pass to get down there. No one I know can take me there.

What am I supposed to do? This is ridiculous that I can't get ahold of anyone in that office after a week of trying. And by trying, I mean I am calling them practically every twenty minutes during their business hours.

So my friend is homeschooling one of her children. She is 14, has some pretty severe learning disabilities (dyslexic, ADHD, etc.) and is operating at roughly a seventh/eighth grade level, with her reading a little closer to a fifth-grade level.

We are planning a trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire this Labor Day and we want to turn it into a learning experience.

We've already got a photo scavenger hunt that will require her to use her vocabulary words (picked with the ren faire in mind; words like halberd, chainmail, wimple, etc.). And we are planning on attending the more "period" activities like the joust and the falconry and such.

Does anyone have any suggestions of other activities or lessons we can apply at the Renaissance Faire?

Thank you!

I'm looking for a clip from the Oprah show that showed Nate Berkus helping a young man out with his dog. The young man had been told by rescuers that he could not take his 14 year old dog on the bus and was sitting on the sidewalk crying because he could not leave his dog. Nate knelt down and promised him he would look after the dog and make sure they got back together.

I've searched google and Oprah's website but I cannot find that clip anywhere. It just aired again today since they were rerunning the Farewell to Nate show, but I missed it.

My hair is naturally a bit wavy, but very thick and heavy so the natural curl tends to fall out and just look messy.

I love how Alice's hair in the 2010 movie Alice in Wonderland looks. Not ringlets, just tight waves. How can I do that to my hair? Are those rag curls?

Picture of Alice - http://cdn.sheknows.com/articles/2010/03/mia-wasik...

I dyed my hair with Garnier Fructis Sangria about two weeks ago. Despite my using a color sealant shampoo and conditioner, washing my hair every other day and using lukewarm water to do so, my color is still fading fast.

How soon can I dye it again and how can I keep it from fading so quickly?