Samantha Q.

There are communication problems at my workplace. Often, different people have different pieces of a story, and as a result, no one person has the full picture. I often find myself in the middle of it: I'll have information that someone else doesn't, or vice versa.

When I try to correct inaccurate information, my words are often perceived as "being defensive" - defending my work, defending my coworkers. When someone tells me new information, my immediate reaction is to usually want to confirm (because of the existing and known communication problems).

I'm honestly not trying to "defend" anything or anyone - my only interest is truth, because mistakes are made with incorrect data.

I'm open to pretty much any suggestions for how to frame my responses to as not to offend people when they're wrong and to also not offend people when I double-check their answers.

I'm also open to any suggestion to how to properly respond to someone's accusations of defensiveness without feeding into their misconception.

The battery light suddenly started flickering lately, but only when it was raining so I figured it was a corrosion problem on my positive battery cable clamp. Then this week, my car just plain wouldn't start. Battery is 3 months old and was tested to still be fine. I replaced the clamp today and everything seemed to be okay. Drove it nearly 100 miles, it stopped and started up just fine. Made one last stop before heading home, and when i got back to the car it wouldn't start. A kindly knight in shining truck helped jump it and all seemed fine so I started on my way home. Suddenly, the speedometer and tachometer stopped working and the engine felt like it was dragging. All of my dash lights started flickering: Battery, check engine, airbags. Then the car just died and I was on the side of the road. Battery so dead, the door-dinger sounds like its dying.

Is it the alternator? Voltage regulator? Something else?

I'm using a tried and true 1950s "Joy of Cooking" recipe that everyone can seem to make except for me. I tried twice today, the first time I blame myself for messing up, because I missed one crucial step. The second time, I was sure I was destined for a light, fluffy bread with a solid tasty crust. Instead, its a bread-brick - just like the first time.

The recipe calls for the dough to rise three times, twice in the bowl and once again when its formed in the pan (the step i missed the first time). It doubled in size all three times, just like it should. But once in the oven, the bread did nothing. It came out the exact same size it went in, though I expected it to grow into a nice pillow-like mound.

What am I doing wrong? Is the oven temperature maybe too high at 375?

I have a container garden. This is my third year. Some of the flowers on my 2 tomato plants have bloomed, were fertilized, and have been growing great, green tomatoes.

But some of the flowers appear to have been fertilized and are not growing. When I look where the blooms used to be, there is what appears to be a teeny-tiny baby green tomato inside, but they don't grow. Some have been the same tiny size for weeks.

Also, some of the stems where the flowers grow are turning yellow and then the individual bloom falls off. Its only happened to a few blooms, but I've never seen it before.

There is no sign of disease on the leaves, the rest of the foliage, or the actual fruit.

Any idea why some of the tomatoes on these plants are growing but some seem to be stunted, even before the fruit is set? Are there too many flowers trying to produce on one plant maybe?

I have 8 bell pepper plants of yellow, orange, and red varieties. 2 of the 8 have darker colored leaves. The markers fell out, but I think they are red peppers. The other 6 have bright, almost lime-green leaves.

Well, the 2 with the darker leaves seem to droop around Noon, after they've been in full sun for only 2 hours. When I bring them in the air-conditioned house and put them in the windowsill, they perk right back up. I don't think it is overwatering or underwatering, I push my finger into the soil an inch or two before watering to make sure they're dry. Also, if it was one or the other, I don't think bringing them into the house would make them any better.

This has been going on for a few days now, ever since I lost my 9th pepper plant: It wilted, I brought it in the house and it was fine, I put it back outside the day after it recovered, and it promptly dropped all of its leaves.

I've thought of just keeping it in the house, but I'm afraid my cats will eat the leaves. Also, I dont' think they'll get enough sun to produce food there anyway. What's more, I just don't understand how this tropical plant appears to be wilting under 70-degree heat. I thought they were good until it hits about 90?

Hoping someone has some answers or ideas, because all my internet searching has resulted in nothing. Anyone have any ideas or are these guys just temperamental?

I have a Ford Escort ZX2 which has given me no problems, but there are some common maintenance issues I need to address. One is I need to get a new fuel filter and the other is I need a transmission flush. Have been tight on funds, but wanted to get them done soon.

Today I drove about 100 miles. After about 75 miles, the "Check Engine Light" came on, which has never happened before. It also seemed to suddenly be a little less responsive. I felt like I had to push harder on the gas pedal to get it up to speed. But once the light came on, I could have been babying it more.

What are common reasons for a "Check Engine Light" to come on at around 100,000 miles? Could the transmission flush and fuel filter needs be a possible reasons the light came on?

I will probably get a diagnostic run on it, if I can find someone who offers free tests. But most of the auto places in Minnesota are closed on Sundays. I'm just freaking out that this is going to cost me a lot of money and hoping someone out there might know some of the reasons these lights come on so I might get a better idea in my head of what this cost might be.

I've successfully grown many plants from seeds. I had trouble with lavender, but have finally determined a system that sprouts many lavender seedlings. I have Lady lavender (1st year bloom) and True lavender varieties (2nd year bloom).

I have successfully grown both varieties to sprouting their first sets of true leaves. The trouble seems to be when they start growing their second set of "true" leaves: When they start growing these leaves, their first sets of leaves start shrivel up (as expected), but then once they're totally brown, the plants die, too. When I pull the seedlings, the roots are obviously rotted.

I try to "neglect" them as I know they're susceptible to root-rot, but I lost a whole flat taking it a little too far and they all died of dehydration. And covering them doesn't seem to be an option because they really don't seem to like the humidity.

Right now I have 6 True seedlings and 15 Lady seedlings. I'd be happy if I could keep 2 of each alive to keep as plants. What are techniques I can use to keep the soil moist enough that they don't go thirsty, but dry enough they don't get root rot?

And I don't know what to do about it. They've had this dog for a year and when they first got him, he cried all the time because he was a puppy and hadn't been away from his litter before. That I understood.

In the last few months, they've been home less and less and less. Now the dog starts crying and screaming every time they leave the house. And it cries from 7 AM, the time they leave, until usually 7 PM when they get home (I'm not kidding, it barely stops). I'm pretty sure the dog is kenneled and a tiny dog doesn't have much for a bladder and bowel control because they're so small. I'm sure the poor thing is crying because it has to sit in its own pee and poo. But I don't know for 100% certain because I've only seen the dog a few times lately and when I see it, it appears to be clean.

I don't know what to do. I hear this thing crying ALL DAY and its not only annoying but it breaks my heart. I've called the manager of our building and reported it on several occasions and she said that she doesn't know what to do either. She said that maybe we should consider calling the Humane Society or the ASPCA, but neither of us know for sure what is going on in that unit, so we're not sure how to approach this. Not sure anything would come of it.

The ideal situation would be this lady spends more time with her dog, finds a dog sitter, or gives the dog to someone who has a lifestyle for one (For some reason, they got rid of their CAT which was perfectly suited for their not-homeness).

Any idea what qualifies as neglect in Minnesota? Does this sound like something the ASPCA would help with? My other consideration is to call the police and report a barking/nuisance dog, but if that is something that could be avoided, I'd like to. Any ideas? Help?

I've never grown bell pepper plants in a container before. I have 2. The first (orange pepper) is just starting to set fruit and it has 6 tiny peppers on it and is producing new blossoms with no trouble. The second (green pepper) also has 6 peppers on it, but they are considerably bigger. 1 is almost ready for picking. Now I noticed that all the blossoms it was growing shriveled and turned brown, then fell off. The fruits are still firmly attached. I've had some aphids, but I've been spraying regularly with organic solutions and it seems to be keeping them to a minimum. Now I only seem to find that new leaves get a few on them, as the older leaves still have organic insecticides on them.

My questions are: Are the fruit falling off because of aphids? Do I need to step up my control efforts?

OR

Do container peppers have a limit to how many peppers they can grow at a given time? If there are 6 already growing, could it be shedding blooms to focus on growing the fruit?

I suppose it could also be a combination of both?

The weatherman can't seem to get it right. There have been predictions for heavy rains on and off for three weeks in between hot and dry days. It has gotten cloudy and threatened rain, but never did. I would wait to water, it wouldn't rain, then it would get hot. My plants would be fine, then a few hours later wilting from heat and thirsty for water. The plants bounce back within an hour or so after I give them a good soaking. This has repeated a few times. On the one hand, I'm afraid of over-watering these container plants when it finally does rain, but I'm also afraid this on-and-off wilting is going to effect my crop. Any ideas?

Two separate catastrophic events killed the two different sets of bell pepper plants I raised from seed, so I bought the last two viable pepper plants left at the nursery here. They're doing much better now in my container garden, but some leaves on one appear burned from too much sun at the nursery. Should I pull the 2-3 damaged leaves? There are 13-14 leaves on the plant and no blooms.

I worked as an independent contractor for 6 months of the year for Company X. Then I had to form an LLC because of a change in state law.

I was working under the LLC for the same Company X for 3 more months of the year. When I received a 1099 from Company X, it had all of my earnings for all 9 months on it. This doesn't make sense to me.

Shouldn't I have a tax form for the money I earned for the first 6 months and a different one for the last 3 because the money is taxed and counted differently? Should I have two 1099s or one 1099 and something else?

I have a 1099 and a statement of earning from an S-Corporation. I was working as an independent contractor, but partway through the year we needed to start the S-Corp due to a change in state law regarding our work and worker's compensation. The 1099 has my earnings for the entire year on it, including all money earned personally and under the S-Corp. I used TaxSlayer and put in the information on 1099 when prompted and information for S-Corp. Beacuse the info from S-Corp and me personally are on the same 1099, the earnings figure was wrong, it made it seem like I had made 1/3 more money than i actually had. I subtracted the S-corp earnings from the 1099 and everything looked "like it should" in regards to earnings made and taxes due. Now I have a letter from the IRS saying I didn't claim all the money I made on my 1099. Do I need to refile my personal taxes without the S-Corp earnings (since they are included in 1099), ask my employer for a different 1099 or something else? I don't know how to fix this and sending photocopies of what I have to the IRS will probably just result in them telling me I still owe them money. I'm never doing my own taxes again.

My cat will be 6 in one month. There is a lump the size of a golf ball on the right side of his neck, 2 inches below his ear, which was not there one week ago. I brought him to the vet thinking it was an abscess, it was not. The vet thought it could be his thryoid (least likely), saliva gland (50/50), or a lymph node (most likely) but the cells looked weird and he could not say for certain. A sample is being sent to a pathologist. Results won't be back until Monday or Tuesday. Vet doesn't think it is cancerous at this point. FIV doesn't fit with his history or symptoms. He is happy, active, alert, i'm feeding him canned food because I'm afraid he'll choke on dry kibble. Any ideas what might be wrong with him?

I found many small business related questions, but not quite this one. I live in Minnesota. I sort-of fell into having my own freelance writing business. It started with one contract job, and now I have 4-5 regular clients. I have a part-time job, but I make more with my writing. I receive 1099-MISC forms from my clients so all of my taxes are fully documented. There is no cost to me for this business, beyond keeping my internet connection and a phone line. I sell informational articles and webcontent that I research and write myself basically. Is there a point at which I'm required to become a "real" small business, such as Sole Proprietorship? What are the tax benefits?