Marianne D

My family and I will be in Berkeley for a college tour and we would like to spend the afternoon and early evening in San Francisco. Besides trying to figure out what to do in SF, we are weighing the cost and convenience of using public transportation when we have so little time. We will be done in the Berkeley area around 12:30 - 1:00pm. We are considering taking the BART or whatever else is available from Berkeley to SF but we could really use some insight from locals or recent tourists on whether or not we should just drive or if public transportation would be better given our time constraints.

So what do you think?

I live in California behind a brand new supermarket. I'm fairly certain there's an actual law that states that deliveries and such noise that goes along with that may not begin until 7:00am. Could someone PLEASE tell me where to find the code maybe send me a link?

Thank you!

My sister in law is trying to get her birth certificate but has been unsuccessful so far. She was born in a military hospital in Georgia that was converted to a civilian hospital and apparently many records were lost in the transition including any record of her birth. She's been there in person and they told her there was nothing they could really do for her. I thought there must be some other way to do this so I'm hoping someone here can give some good advice on this. She needs her birth certificate in order to obtain a passport so she can visit her son who is in the Army and based in Italy. He's soon to be deployed to the Middle East and she's desperate to see him before he goes. Any help would be appreciated.

My daughter has been asking to take quizzes and survey type things from various sites that her friends send her. I'm real wary and have told her not to do that, but her friends are having such fun with these silly things I hate to yell my daughter no. Is there a list somewhere or a way to be sure that these sites aren't harboring malicious software?

Do you know about these in particular?

Quizilla

teennick.com

gurl.com

quizstop.com

gagirl.com

Thank you!

My daughter really wants a French / New Orleans bedroom theme and we're looking for a functioning floor lamp that looks like the street lamps on Bourbon Street. If you happen to find something like this online please post the link. I have searched and searched everywhere I can think of, just not sure this exists, especially at a reasonable price. Thank you

I'm looking to find a few things cheaper than Oriental Trading. My Girl Scout troop is hosting the annual Girl Scout dance and we will need a lot of stuff. One thing we'd like to get each girl is a good sized tote bag or draw string backpack to hold their prizes, photos & crafts in. All wholesale places I've seen require a minimum purchase of several thousand and we will need a couple hundred. We also do not want to spend very much per girl because the dance will cost us a lot to put on as it is.

We will also need balloons, streamers, bubble wrap, iridescent items (ribbon, streamers, anything!) Does anyone out there know where we can get the best deal? I did find a site that has 5" round balloons 72 for $1.99 and that's the best so far but maybe you can find better!

thank you!

Hi all,

My Girl Scout troop is hosting the annual Girl Scout dance. Our theme is Under The Sea., This event generally attracts Daisies through Brownies (ages 4-11 or so) We're tossing around a few different ideas as far as names goes because we're not sure about just "Under the Sea" or "Under the Sea Ball" but so far nothing has gotten us all to say, "that's it!" We've tossed around:

Jellyfish Jamboree

Jellyfish Ball

Barnacle Ball (no one liked this)

Fish-a-Palooza

but so far it looks like we'll we'll settle for Under The Sea Ball unless we can find a really cool and catchy name. This event is for Girl Scouts and a partner which is usually their father but can be their mother, aunt, uncle, grandpa, etc.

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone knows if I can do this. I have a 1 day park hopper pass used today. I didn't have a chance before we left to upgrade to an annual pass which is what I wanted to do. Is there a grace period at all like if I went tomorrow would they let me get the annual pass or it's too late now...?

I believe it shows workers in the office freezing cold and a guy talking about productivity? Not entirely sure. If you can find it on youtube that would be great! I haven't had much luck.

Thank you!

For those of you looking to get into the entertainment business as a performer, Backstage always has great articles that you should read and this is one of them. FYI, it mentions plenty of cities besides LA & NY. http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/features...

Enjoy,

Marianne

We're going camping and my girls are split into patrols for different purposes (mostly chores like cooking, cleaning up, etc.) 2 groups were able to choose names but the 3rd had a hard time and still could not come up with a name. The theme of our camping weekend is Old Time Americana and patrol 1 is The Plymouth Rock Stars. Patrol 2 is The Liberty Belles but poor patrol 3 are deadlocked. They came up with 2 possibilities but were not thrilled with either. The 'not-so-bald Eagles & Betsy Ross' Homegirls... You can see why they're looking for help, yes?

We're going camping any my girls are split into patrols for different purposes (mostly chores like cooking, cleaning up, etc.) 2 groups were able to choose names but the 3rd had a hard time and still could not come up with a name. The theme of our camping weekend is Old Time Americana and patrol 1 is The Plymouth Rock Stars. Patrol 2 is The Liberty Belles but poor patrol 3 are deadlocked. They came up with 2 possibilities but were not thrilled with either. The 'not-so-bald Eagles & Betsy Ross' Homegirls... You can see why they're looking for help, yes?

Thanks for your suggestions!!!

OK, I have absolutely no knowledge of how to use the bus system unless I don't have to switch buses. I haven't ridden one since I was in junior high school so I really need help. My daughter is doing a math project and she's trying to figure out all the different ways (including costs, etc.) to get from our home to a specific destination in Orange County, CA but the buses in our area are run by one company and the buses in the destination area are run by another company. The trip planners these companies have on their sites have done us no good... can anyone be of assistance and help us navigate these darn things or give any helpful advice?

Thank you!

I have a very nice friend of mine who just told me he's going through gender reassignment. He's been taking hormones and plans to have the surgery eventually. Within the next few months he will start living as a woman but he's scared it may cost him his job and some friends and acquaintences. In all honesty I never expected this of him but of course hindsight is 20/20 :-) I am worried for him with all that he has in his future. With the strike in Hollywood, he's been out of work for a little while and with talks going on by the time he goes back to work the change in him physically will be evident. He hasn't met much resistance in fact most people have been supportive of his decision so far. Just wondering for any of you who have done this or helped a friend through it, what practical advice can you give to help get through making such a big change publicly? He's already gotten an amicable divorce and his grown children and ex all seem ok with it (mostly) but work scares him.

Please, this is for guys in their mid to late 30's or anyone who has bought these items for the same and knows their truthful reaction to receiving the item. Just wondering what you all think of the Ecko line of Star Wars stuff, t-shirts, hoodies, etc. What did you buy or receive and did you like it? I can't find a sizing chart so how are the sizes? How do you feel about the rhinestones, too 'fabulous' for you or do you kind of like that? Would really like your input all the way around, thanks :-)

http://www1.macys.com/search/index.ognc?SearchTarg...

I've seen a few of these things and truly it's not my bag. I'm pretty good at searching and finding what I need but I haven't found one site with a comprehensive comparison on video game chairs! Anyone out there know of one so I can see what raters and consumers think of several products all in one place? Not to mention get specs, etc. I need something that the husband will enjoy :-)

Thanks!

My daughter is in AP US History and for the first time ever is really having a difficult time in a class. She reads the same paragraph 3 times and still does not understand what she read. She takes notes as she reads, she uses a few different methods such as flow charts but still doesn't seem to retain the information. The teacher says he wants to be helpful, but his degree is actually in Psychology and is teaching AP History because he has to (he said this to the class and to parents at back to school night). The strategies he's given my daughter and told me to give to my daughter when I asked for help again are the same things he's repeated over and over again and are not helping her. We cannot afford a tutor. Any other suggestions? Her grade is slipping fast and she feels like she's drowning. I don't know what I can do to help her. Staying after school with this teacher seems to be making things worse because he doesn't help her understand.

There is a person in a specific area of answers who consistently give a thumbs down to every answer that comes before hers. The answers are generally good, but you can easily see the pattern. There's no reason for any of these people to receive the thumbs down, but this girl consistently gives them this distinction. So, how can I report this person? Technically her specific answer is not a rant, or anything reportable in itself but it's her actions as someone who participates here that I think should be reprimanded. I messaged her privately but she ignored me. I just think it's rude. Any ideas?

Yes, I'm using my points to let other theatre freaks know that today at 1:00pm EST and Pacific --- MTV will be airing Legally Blonde THE MUSICAL! Woo hoo! Please leave comments about the show after you've seen it. Your favorite part, song, etc. If you miss it, they're also airing it tomorrow, Sunday Oct. 14 at 7:00pm. Don't miss it!

I do not want to unnecessarily stress out my daughter so I would very much like some outside opinions. Do you think if she were to take a couple of subject tests right after her finals for the same subjects that it would be too stressful or is that killing two birds with one stone so to speak? At first I thought it may be a bad idea, then I though well if she has to study any way... I would actually appreciate the advice of high school juniors and seniors here and those who were recently in that position. This would be for the end of the semester in January. If she doesn't do very well we'd do it again in June which would be right around finals anyway, right? Though she would have a few more months knowledge in some classes but then she'll know what to expect on the tests.

Also any other tips would be appreciated.

Thank you!