Ms. Mimsie

People at my condo complex constantly leave trash in the courtyard including loose garbage and furniture. The management company will only pick it up once a week. I've complained to the property management company for years and called the city several times. I'm at my wits end.

I have a friend, who is an excellent mother. But her ex-husband is brainwashing their son against her. The sole reason for this is that he is mad because he has to pay hefty child support (which is completely ridiculous since he didn't support his own son for three years). He is telling his seven year old son that he can't buy him things because he has to send Mommie $300 a week. He has also told his son that if Mommie touches him in any way, he is to tell his teacher immediately or he'll be in trouble. The kicker is that she doesn't even spank the child. As a result, children services has been brought in. The child told the social worker that he wants to live with Dad because he's "scared," but won't say what he's scared of.

My friend is scared and miserable about this. She is a loving and devoted mother who works, provides a beautiful home and is loving and affectionate toward her son. Her lawyer has advised her to keep a journal of what's going on. But what else can she do to stop this brainwashing before it gets worse. We live in Ohio by the way.

There's a lot of good stuff out there right now. Most of it is on cable. I just finished watching The Big C on Showtime and really enjoyed it. It got me wondering what other people think are really good shows. I also really like Boardwalk Empire, True Blood and Justified.

I regularly walk on the stepper 30 min. a day, five days a week. I find that when I sleep at night, I get a pain the left groin area. I'm a side sleeper, so this prevents me from getting a good night's sleep, cuz I'm constantly tossing and turning. Are there any good exercises for strengthening these muscles?

and if so, how can you do it? I tried using my cd writer program and selecting the files for the individual songs, but it didn't recognize them.

I have a friend who has breast cancer and she has a 35-40% chance of recovery. How can I encourage her to fight to stay alive, when she is pessimistic?

A small tree (about the size of a quarter in diameter) has grown in the patio at my condo. It was there when I moved in. But now, the HOA says I have to remove it. What's the best way to do this? I've cut off all of the limbs and it isnow down to about eight inches in height.

There is a hole in my basement wall, where I believe a lot of spiders and centipedes are coming in . It's less than an inch in diameter. How can I plug it?

My niece just turned seven. I went to visit her in Texas for her birthday. (I live in Ohio) She is my favorite person and I adore her. But she's being extremely spoiled. Her parents always give in to her.They also allow her to say mean things to people. For example, she said her Daddy is a pig, because he had a large smoothie. My sister isn't one to take criticism well. So, how can I help influence them to raise her to be a person with good moral character.

I really liked Future Sex Love Sounds. I'm kind of disappointed that we only see him in commercials and small movie roles now. I'd like to have more music.

The picture quality is all wrong. The help files are crappy. I've tried using the WMV8 Best Quality profile. I want to produce a video file to upload to our company's intranet site.

There is a sore area near the bottom of my breast. It aches after I've been walking around or using the stepper. Could this be a pulled muscle and if so how did I pull it?

I am sitting at my desk trying to work in agony. I think I pulled muscles on both sides while on the elliptical stepper. I have lidacaine patches on and have taken two ibuprofren. I don't know what else to do!! Any suggestions. I hate to take more ibuprofren because it messes up my stomach.

There is a group of people standing at the cube behind me talking about deoderant and other bodily functions. I'm trying to work and they are annoying the he!! out of me! How do I get them to move on? They do this often. One of them is a manager, so I don't know what to say. I'm trying to listen to a CD, but it isn't helping.

The IRS thinks I owe them 2,000.00 b/c they have my social listed wrong. One of my good friends is being a total b to me. Who else is having a bad day?

The courtyard area at my condominum complex is often filled with garbage. People just dump bags, furniture, and anything else they like in the courtyard. The garbage men will not pick up anything that is not in the containers. As a result, there is often loose garbage around and I saw a rodent there on two occasions. Children also play in this area. I have complained about this to the property management company for the past two years. I have even sent them pictures of the court yard. They eventually clean up the courtyard every week or so, but it always returns and then the cycle continues. They've sent letters asking people not to put garbage anywhere other than in the containers. But people don't care.

I have filed code violation reports with the City of Columbus several times and they have done nothing about it. Finally, I was told by them that since it is a common area in a subdivision, they couldn't do anything and that my only recourse is to sue the condo association. I also advised the property management company that I'm going to file a small claims case to have my HOA fees placed in an escrow account until they make arrangements to regularly clean the area. They haven't responded to me.

I don't know what else to do. It's disgusting and I'm ashamed to have anyone come over. Please help!

Michael Douglas' son plead guilty to dealing methamphetamines and should get a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. But his lawyers and family are asking for a reduced sentence because of absentee parenting and the fact that he shared some info with the dea.

According to an article, "The 31-year-old's real-life drug drama in a court has since laid bare the details of his downward spiral — which friends blame on a toxic mix of privilege, neglect and a family legacy of substance abuse — and his loved ones' deep despair over it. Douglas' lawyers have argued he deserves 3 1/2 years in prison at most. Read the full article: http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/nyc-dow...

Anybody else would have been in jail long ago.

Every five minutes, I see an add for a new phone, GPS, music player, pc, laptop, or tv. I feel like it's too much to keep up with some times. Sure it would be great to have an IPAD, IPOD, Droid, PS4, 3D TV and a car that parks itself. But, that stuff is so expensive, how can the average person afford to replace all of their stuff, when new things come out every 16 months or so? But if you don't tweet every five seconds and watch Youtube on your IPOD, you feel like you're out of the loop. Sometimes, I think we should all just refuse to buy the next thing that comes out and take a breather. Am I the only one?

Help me settle an argument with an obnoxious friend. I say a lot of people may not even know who Ricky Gervais is.

Please forgive me. I know absolutely nothing about football.