Liz H

My family came together for a few hours Christmas Day. Just a few hours after coming home I felt very sick with indigestion which progressed into vomiting 3 times and a single diarrhea. I was wiped out for a good 24 hours with fatigue.

After a couple of days we took count, only 2 of the family were spared, most were sick, as I was, within hours. Two got sick a day later than the rest. The two that got sick later, lived in the host house (with all the leftovers)

I'm convinced it was improperly stored food. Shrimp with cocktail sauce was put out early and was out for several hours with no ice. A chocolate cream pie was served with dessert and it was room temperature and a bit soft. If it wasn't one, it was the other. Some of us ate both, some ate neither. My mother and son didn't get sick. She had both, he had neither. I'm stumped? Nothing else makes sense?

Any ideas.

I installed 4 LED ceiling cans (ecosmart) and new Lutron dimmer for CFL/LED for up to 150 watts 8 months ago. This week the lights started blinking, turning off then back on again. (single pole fixtures) The dimmer seems to be the problem, I can watch the side lights go down, flash, and up again.

It worked fine until now. Puzzled.

Any suggestions?

I have an Everhot Thermaflow, 50 gallon water heater. I would like to turn the temperature down a few degrees but can't locate a way to do so. Is there a thermostat? Can I turn temperature down myself?

I am 50 years old, recently divorced with 2 kids still dependents.

I am going to school and will have little to no earned income in 2013.

I will probably have $10,000 in capital gains earning.

My real estate taxes are 13,000 a year.

My mortgage balance is 97,636. Monthly payment is 1706. At 4.75% interest. There is 5 years left on the mortgage.

Investments are paying a little more than the mtg interest.

I pay off credit cards monthly and have no other debts or loans.

???

Am I better off paying off the Mtg completely?

OR

Should I refinance at a lower rate (for 10 year loans, offers are 2.3 - 2.7% , many with no points)?

I've been looking online for the best solution to remove a wallpaper border from a painted wall. no idea if it was sized, probably not.

Suggestions include, white vinegar, fabric softener, laundry detergent, all diluted with water and sprayed on the border. then scrape off.

Anyone have a preference?

I was out late last night. I came home to find the two guest teens asleep, but my 15 and 17 year olds were still awake at 1:30 AM. My husband goes to bed very early, leaving them basically unsupervised from 9 PM till 1:30 AM.

The result is a 15 year old with cold symptoms, again, from not getting enough sleep.

They are all basically good kids, but the older one doesn't always get along well with others.

What if they were all awake and doing something they shouldn't? In a month our pool will be open, our liability if another kid gets hurt in our pool is HUGE.

We are in the process of getting a divorce. Amicable and I'm trying hard to be nice and not bash his parenting skills (or lack of..). But one of my big complaints has been his inability to handle the kids. He either over reacts or does nothing, usually because he's asleep.

He has objected to them staying up late, but refuses to see anything wrong with going to sleep and leaving them without supervision.

Opinions?

Once he moves out I can run the house as I see appropriate, but do I gently put my foot down till then.

I was out last night, quite late too. I came home to find the two guest teens asleep, but my 15 and 17 year olds were still awake at 1:30 AM. My husband goes to bed very early, leaving them basically unsupervised from 9 PM till 1:30 AM.

The result is a 15 year old with cold symptoms, again.

They are all basically good kids, but the older one doesn't always get along well with others. We have a dry house, no one smokes, too far from town to get into trouble. I just don't like the repercussions that result from a super late night.

We are in the process of getting a divorce. Amicable. But one of my big complaints has been his inability to handle the kids. He either over reacts or does nothing, usually because he's asleep. I expressed my concern. He has objected to them staying up late, but refuses to see anything wrong with going to sleep and leaving them without supervision.

Opinions?

Once he moves out I can run the house as I see appropriate, but do I gently put my foot down till then?

I replaced my dying Kenmore with a new Stainless, GE Profile dishwasher. It has the automatic soap dispenser in the door. It's worse than the old one! It requires phosphate free soap and rinse agent. My glasses are cloudy and look awful. It doesn't even seem to clean the dishes very well.

There isn't a debris catch.

The pipes are clear, so it's not backing up or draining slow.

Totally frustrated and using it as a drying rack.

Any tips or help?

Just updated a 4th device (2 iPod Touch 4 gen, one iPad) iPod touch 4 gen to the new OS5 on iTunes. (Using our Mac). Had no issue with the first 3, but this time the apps are missing. I know other users had a similar problem. How do I fix it?

My son wants to try to straighten his VERY curly hair. His hair is fine, very kinky, and a lot of it too. He's been told to use a flat iron. I'm a skeptic. I don't think his hair will stay straight and he may damage his hair, even on low heat. It will only last until it gets washed, or sweaty...

Any experience and advice will help....thanks.

I am trying to place the correct name on this connector...

It's a 2 piece connector - the first is a U-shaped metal piece with threaded holes in the end of the U......

so that the second piece, a bolt, can be inserted and screwed into place.

The result turns the 'U' into a 'D' .

The second piece (bolt) is usually an 'eye' bolt - having a flattened end with a whole in it.

Trying to look it up on line, but without the proper name, I get garbage.

Any help?

I'm trying to buy an electric guitar for my teenage son. Looking at Gibson, Les Paul editions and Yamaha. Not sure what to look for when shopping on Ebay. If I stick with these brands will I do well, or do they make stinkers for Walmart like Fender does?

I took in a Labs4rescue dog on August 1 as a foster dog. She is great with my 2 dogs as I did a proper introduction away from our house. She is a 2 to 4 year old Chocolate Lab, spayed, but has had litters. Timid, submissive. Plays well with our 8 month old mix. Adores our 6 year old Entlebucher Sennenhund. But other dogs scare her and she gets defensive. I've been walking her alone so I can use chicken and distract her. Learning "look" command at the same time. We are making progress. I'm not a professional trainer, but I'm doing alright. If I'm missing something please chime in. Thanks.

My 3 year old Nephew is so hard to understand that we joke about his "foreign language". But less and less, by 3 he should say more than 2 word sentences and be understandable at least 1/2 the time. He is aware we don't understand him and it frustrates him. He will say a word, we repeat what he said, but he says "no" then says the same thing again, so we start guessing similar words. Birth to 3 said to wait, even the pediatrician said wait, he will develop in his own time. Hogwash! All my reading says to wait is to doom him to take this into grade school.

Please suggest where to go next? Should we just be more insistent?

Live in North central Connecticut, near Springfield, Mass.

My Nephew is just 3 years old (born June 2006), and we joke about his "foreign language". But it's not funny, he gets frustrated because we don't understand him. He uses two word sentances most of the time because he is aware of the problem. We patiently listen and repeat what he said, but he'll say "no" but repeat the same word again. We try to guess similar words because sometimes he repeats a sound when it should change, or visa, versa. He kept saying what sounded like "teacher", we guessed t-shirt, picture. Each time he would say the same thing. When we say exactly what he says, he'll say "no".

As if to make it all the more frustrating, the Birth to 3 and Pediatrician are brushing it off and saying to give him more time, speech developes at different rates, don't compare your other son.

I know they are wrong, but don't know who to go to. We live in North central Connecticut, near Springfield, Massachusetts. Any experience or ideas of where to go next?

We have a 3 month old Border Collie/Lab cross that we rescued a month ago. She has been eating like every meal was her last. She eats too fast and with much intensity. I was concerned she may develop food aggression or guarding so we are putting the food in the bowl in small handfuls, putting our hands in her bowl, even letting our adult dog come next to us while she feeds. She does not mind us and will take her head out of the bowl and sit for more, but she still eats way too fast!

Any tips to slow her down? We would like her to eat slower and be more relaxed.

My Sister-in-law is bidding on a Mobile home in Tampa for $8,000. It's in a 55 and older Park. What other costs should she expect?

Dues/Park fees, Electricity, Cable, Heat/A.C., Taxes, Sewer/water?

New American SportWorks 150 cc Quantum Carbide go kart. It was working well for a few minutes, but now will only go in reverse. I wonder if the cold is and issue? The temp. here is 24 degrees Farenheit.

I live in Connecticut and need to know if my home heating oil company is within it's legal rights - or ripping me off......

I have used the same oil company for 13 years. Last year we asked to be taken off the budget plan and auto delivery because we installed a wood stove and were using a lot less oil. This year they put us back on auto delivery - without our asking - and want us to pay $3.44 a gallon when the going rate for "float" customers was a dollar less. This is the price for "lock-in" customers, who must sign a contract to get a guaranteed price. We have never locked in and have never regretted it, the float price has always been lower.

Are they pulling a fast one?

How do I find out?