Clayton W

Trying to settle an argument. One friend (a girl) says this is extremely common. My friend and I (both guys) have never heard of this and think it wildly inappropriate for high schoolers. Agree?

I consider myself a pretty tech savvy guy, but even this has me stumped. I'm running a Windows Vista 32-bit OS and have a 320 GB HDD that's full. I tried to add a 1.5TB HDD. I managed to get it formatted, but it only worked about 2 weeks before that HDD failed, and I sent it in for a replacement. When I got the new (refurbished) HDD, I can't even get it to format. It errors out with a quick format, and locked up around 73% if I do a long format. I talked to tech support who was completely unhelpful/unsuccessful in helping me get it formatted. So I gave up and bought a 2TB HDD, but I can't get it to format either.

A quick search online did reveal that 32-bit Vista may not allow HDD over 1TB, and the solution was to partition the HDD into sections no larger than 1TB. After partitioning the HDD's I was able to get both the 1.5TB HDD and the 2TB HDD to format the first 1TB partition, however any and all subsequent partitions will not format.

What's up with that? Is there any way make full use of these HDDs in my 32-bit Vista OS? Is something else the problem?

Over the course of several days I asked a girl out.

On the first day, I suggested an activity that might be fun for the both of us to do. She agreed it would be fun.

On the next day, I checked her availability (she wasn't available the day I suggested), then asked for her phone number. (We'll say this day was Thursday).

Two days later (Saturday), I called and suggested we go out to Dave and Busters on Thursday the next week. She agreed, and I told her I would contact her later, or we could catch up at work to figure out the details.

Tuesday night I know she's in class, but I call and leave a message. She never returns my call.

Wednesday night I know she's working, so I text her asking if 6 o'clock was a good time to meet for our date. She never returns my text.

Today (Thursday, the day of our date), she texts saying "Hey, I don't think it is a good idea for us to hang out. My boyfriend wouldn't really like that. I would have said something at [work, when you asked] but you kind of caught me off guard. I hope this doesn't make things awkward."

I'm 26 years old, and have asked out a lot of girls and been turned down plenty of times. I'm unaffected by it now, but it got me thinking. She has said within the past 2-4 weeks that she doesn't have a boyfriend, and I tend to believe she still doesn't. I think the "boyfriend" is her way of trying to reject me without hurting my feelings. But as you can see above, I asked her out slowly over the course of several days and gave her plenty of opportunity to say no (or to inform me of her boyfriend, if she actually has one).

So back to my original question: How hard is it for a girl to say no to a guy she's just not interested in? Is there another reason this "boyfriend" manifested itself days later?

My girlfriend and I broke up around Thanksgiving. We were together for about 18 months. She has a little girl that's not mine, but in the course of our relationship I began to feel for this little girl like she were my own. When we broke up, my girlfriend pushed me out of her life completely (and her daughters) until a few weeks ago when we started talking again. She really wants me back, but I haven't made up my mind whether I'm going to take her back or not, and she knows this and is giving me time to make up my mind.

The thing is I would really really like to see her daughter again, and my ex-girlfriend has agreed to let me see her again, and be in her life. I've really really missed her. She's 3 and a half now (she was not quite two when my girlfriend and I got together). The daughter really misses me too. Apparently she's always asking her mom where I am, and what happened to me, and why I don't come around anymore.

The question is do you think it's in the daughters best interest for me to re-enter her world again? I know I miss her and she misses me, and I would love to see her again, and spend time with her again. I just don't know if it is in her best interest.

If you feel you deserve a pay increase, or a promotion you were promised, how do you go about asking your employer for that? What do you say? What should you bring to the table when asking? Is there a right way and a wrong way?

I'm going to be going on a first date with this girl on Valentines day. We haven't decided what exactly we're going to do yet.

I don't typically do this, but I wondering since it's Valentines day if I should possibly bring her some flowers or something to at least acknowledge the day. I don't usually bring a gift like that on a first date, but it is Valentines day.

Girls, what would you think if a guy brought you flowers on a first date? Would it matter if it were Valentines day?

Guys, have you given flowers to a girl on a first date? If you haven't, or normally wouldn't, would you bring flowers to a girl on first date just because it's Valentines day?

I'm thinking of starting a collection of fine time pieces (watches). I really don't know anything about fine watches. Is there a web page I could look at that covers the major manufacturers of fine watches? Maybe a magazine for watch lovers?

What kind of watch are you wearing right now?

What watch do you consider to be the finest?

Of the watches that you own, which do you consider to be the finest?

Any other advice on starting a collection of watches would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone is familiar with the Urban Spoon app for the iPhone, I'm looking for one similar for the Droid. I checked the app market for the droid and there isn't any app called the Urban Spoon.

Basically it allows you to set certain parameters like location, price, cuisine, and will then randomly choose a restaurant within those parameters. I have Where, and OpenTable, and neither of those really fits the bill. Free would be good, but I might pay a little something for it.

I just bought the new Motorola Droid. I can look at different apps to download on the market from the phone, but I wanna know if there is somewhere on the internet I can look at the apps from my computer.

I'm looking for an app where it will search for local restaurants, with adresses, and phone numbers, that I can sort by cuisine, price, distance, etc. Maybe even make reservations. I haven't had any luck yet. If you know of a free app that can do these things, then tell me about those too.

Right now I'm dating a girl and I've had to catch myself from saying I love you more than once. I really like her and all, but I don't really love her, and I don't want to say it without meaning it. I'm afraid I'm going to say it on accident.

So, have you ever said "I love you" on accident? How did you handle it? How did the person you said it to handle it?

I only recently started to casually date this new girl. We've only been dating about 10 days. Although we're not in a committed/exclusive relationship, we really like one another, and aren't currently seeing anyone else. I'm beginning to feel like I should get her a Christmas gift. Besides, I want to get her something.

Since it's such a new relationship, and not really all that serious, I'm not really sure what I should get her for Christmas. Suggestions would be helpful.

(If it helps, we're both in our mid 20's)

I've tried shaving, but I have to use a new razor every 2 or 3 days. I tried Nair, but it didn't remove the hair below the surface of the skin, or make my stomach and chest smooth as advertised (it also caused some minor skin irritation that I might be willing to ignore if it removed the hair, but it didn't). I tried waxing, but it was too difficult to wax my own chest and stomach because it's a funny angle. I'm not really comfortable asking someone else to was my chest or stomach, never mind I can't really afford to pay for those services either. I also don't want it permanently removed (like with a lazer treatment).

Any other suggestions?

I recently got out of a long-term relationship. I was bummed and depressed about the breakup when an old friend (one I haven't really talked to in almost 4 years) "came to my rescue" talking about how I deserved better than her, and so forth (her words, not mine). I initially didn't think much of it, thanked her for her concern and said that "we used to be such good friends. We should try harder to stay in touch, and hang out. We should get together sometime to catch up." A few days later she invited me out for dinner. I already had dinner plans and politely declined, but suggested we should get some after dinner coffee. She said she had some pending plans, but would call me if they fell through to go get some coffee.

It might be important to mention that I had asked out this girl twice in the past. Once in high school, and once in college (roughly 8 and 6 years ago). Both times she declined stating "I can't date someone I can't imagine myself marrying."

Well her plans did fall through, and we got together for coffee. I assumed we were getting together as two old friends to catch up and talk about the good times of years past. I thought I was picking up on a vibe, and that this coffee was more date like. We actually ended up going back to my place to play some ping pong and watch a movie. I have other female friends with which I'm so close that although there might be some flirting, and touching and so forth we know that we're just friends, but I never had that relationship with this friend in the past. A few days later, I needed to get my tires replaced, and decided to call her "to waste a few hours while they replace the tires on my car". Still being a little confused about our "coffee date" I told her "When we got together for coffee, it seemed awfully date-like. Was that just two friends getting together catching up, or was it supposed to be something more?" Her reply was "I don't see anything wrong if either of us were to want to take some physical comfort in the other." Unfortunatly that didn't clear much of anything up in my mind. Wasting two hours for a tire appointment ended up being nine hours of friendly relaxed fun and we ended up cuddling on the couch (per my suggestion). Cuddling on the couch like that is something I've done with some of my other really close female friends, and of course girlfriends, so the simple fact of cuddling on the couch isn't conclusive to me.

Yesterday, I asked her what should I do for the evening. I was trying to decide between making plans, watching TV, or making plans to watch TV. For the record, I wasn't looking to make plans with her, just wanted suggestions of what to do with my free time. She suggested that the two of us go out for some dinner (it was subway... not a big deal), then come back to my place to watch TV and a movie. During the movie she cuddled up in my arms again (her move this time). But later when we watched TV she sat in a different chair entirely (I was sitting on the couch). Those are the only times we've been physically close.

I'm basically wondering if I'm overly open to affection and flirting because of my recent break-up and this girl just wants to remain friends. Or are the signals I think I'm getting really invitations to see if our relationship could be something more. I've never been this concerned about being rejected in the past. I've always kinda had a crush on her. I don't want to lose her as a friend, but don't want to miss an opportunity to see if our friendship could be something more.

I recently got out of a long-term relationship. I was bummed and depressed about the breakup when an old friend (one I haven't really talked to in almost 4 years) "came to my rescue" talking about how I deserved better than her, and so forth (her words, not mine). I initially didn't think much of it, thanked her for her concern and said that "we used to be such good friends. We should try harder to stay in touch, and hang out. We should get together sometime to catch up." A few days later she invited me out for dinner. I already had dinner plans and politely declined, but suggested we should get some after dinner coffee. She said she had some pending plans, but would call me if they fell through to go get some coffee.

It might be important to mention that I had asked out this girl twice in the past. Once in high school, and once in college (roughly 8 and 6 years ago). Both times she declined stating "I can't date someone I can't imagine myself marrying."

Well her plans did fall through, and we got together for coffee. I assumed we were getting together as two old friends to catch up and talk about the good times of years past. I thought I was picking up on a vibe, and that this coffee was more date like. We actually ended up going back to my place to play some ping pong and watch a movie. I have other female friends with which I'm so close that although there might be some flirting, and touching and so forth we know that we're just friends, but I never had that relationship with this friend in the past. A few days later, I needed to get my tires replaced, and decided to call her "to waste a few hours while they replace the tires on my car". Still being a little confused about our "coffee date" I told her "When we got together for coffee, it seemed awfully date-like. Was that just two friends getting together catching up, or was it supposed to be something more?" Her reply was "I don't see anything wrong if either of us were to want to take some physical comfort in the other." Unfortunatly that didn't clear much of anything up in my mind. Wasting two hours for a tire appointment ended up being nine hours of friendly relaxed fun and we ended up cuddling on the couch (per my suggestion). Cuddling on the couch like that is something I've done with some of my other really close female friends, and of course girlfriends, so the simple fact of cuddling on the couch isn't conclusive to me.

Yesterday, I asked her what should I do for the evening. I was trying to decide between making plans, watching TV, or making plans to watch TV. She suggested that the two of us go out for some dinner (it was subway... not a big deal), then come back to my place to watch TV and a movie. During the movie she cuddled up in my arms again (her move this time). But later when we watched TV she sat in a different chair entirely (I was sitting on the couch). Those are the only times we've been physically close.

I'm basically wondering if I'm overly open to affection and flirting because of my recent break-up and this girl just wants to remain friends. Or are the signals I think I'm getting really invitations to see if our relationship could be something more. I've never been this concerned about being rejected in the past. I've always kinda had a crush on her. I don't want to lose her as a friend, but don't want to miss an opportunity to see if our friendship could be something more.

Two shots I frequently use are video shots out the windshield of my car, and shots of my friends snow skiing (or other sports). I can't afford $800 for a steadicam (especially when I'm going to be using it with a $300 camcorder). Plus since I'm also skiing along side my friends it needs to be small, and light weight, preferably usable with only 1 hand. I wouldn't mind buying, or building, if I had a good idea (or good directions) on how to put it together.

Additionally, if anyone knows of a way to mount a camcorder to the dash of the car without permanently modifying the dash, or the camera, that would be appreciated

Currently my ex-girlfriend has sole legal custody of her daughter, but her daughter stays full time with the father and his mother. What we know is that in the state of Indiana, the house in which the father is staying isn't fit for children. If child protective services went to the fathers house, they would remove the child from the home. It's not that it isn't clean or anything, they would have to build onto the house or remodel. I now believe that my ex-girlfriend isn't of sound mind enough to take care of her daughter either (it's why we broke up). If I had my way, I would remove that precious little three year old from the nightmare that is her current childhood and raise her myself, which brings me to my question. Is there any way in the state of Indiana that I could possibly get custody of my ex-girlfriends daughter?