<Alex>

I'm not comfortable wearing socks and shoes, with the only exception being winter conditions.

However, I hate feet. In particular, I can't stand mine.

I wear ugly-as-sin toe-covering sandals whenever possible to cover up as much of my feet without wearing socks, but I still hate the thought that people can still see any part of my feet. I feel uncomfortable in anything else, and I've noticed that sock and shoes can greatly increase my heat discomfort (I have a low tolerance for even room temperatures).

Anyone else feel this way? How do you manage?

I am a man, if that helps any.

Yesterday I went over a median and blew out three of my tires. (It was dark and raining, okay? Don't judge me.) I lost control and slammed into another vehicle. Both cars were totaled but somehow no one was hurt.

There were six people in the other car, and the driver seemed really shaken up. So while we were waiting for the police, and the driver was sobbing off to the side while her friends discussed what to do, I went up to her and put my hand on her shoulder gently. I asked if she was okay. Before she could even look up at me, BAM! One of her friends tackled me to the ground. His friends then pulled him off me and the police arrived shortly after. I have several bruises and scrapes from getting tackled and I've taken pictures of them. Haven been in a big accident, I wasn't thinking clearly and didn't mention the altercation to the officers.

.

The other party wants to press charges on me for causing the accident. (They claim I was intoxicated, although the only proof they have is the large can of beer that sprayed all over myself in the accident. To be fair, I probably smelled like a drunk and the officers gave me a ticket for having an open container of alcohol. I was not given a breathalyzer or anything, though.) Can I counter with an assault charge, even though I have no name or information on the guy who tackled me? Does they other party have grounds to sue me for the open container (is that enough evidence)?

I've decided I want a pet rat... Thing is, I'm still living in my mom's house, and will be for about the next 12 months until I go back to school. (I'm 25 and degreeless...)

I've owned a guinea pig before, even gerbils and a hamster as a kid, but my mom has a fear and hatred of mice and rats, mostly thanks to one highly invasive and incredibly smart rat that once got into our house.

My friend told me that if I come visit her, she'll buy me a rat and, in her words, my mom can "suck it." I would keep it hidden in my room except that my mom still enters my room (because "your room, MY house") and I expect the rat won't be too quiet, what with the running and the chewing and all.

So, how would I convince someone with a fear of rats to let me have one? Because I WILL be letting it out of its cage on a frequent basis to interact with. ;)

As a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I love me some cheese. But singling out what cheeses use animal rennet versus non-animal rennet is seemingly next to impossible, as what type of rennet used is almost never specified in the ingredients listing.

I've heard that 80% or more of cheese produced in the U.S. uses non-animal rennet, but I've yet to find any reliable sources saying as much. Furthermore, are certain types of cheeses more likely to contain animal rennet than others? I've heard that parmesan cheese, even in the U.S., is always made with animal rennet. Are certain kinds less likely to use animal rennet? I love making pizzas and primarily use cheddar, monterrey jack, and mozzarella cheeses. Are those relatively "safe" for me to eat? I've heard organic cheeses use animal rennet less often, but with my $10 an hour income, is that really something I can afford to buy on a frequent basis?

Note: By animal rennet I mean that which is directly derived from a calf stomach.

A week or two ago I bought a second ghost shrimp for my tank. It's literally a third of the size of my other and I'd though he'd have been eaten by my betta by now. That hasn't been the case... And now my big shrimp, which I've had for over a month, is carrying eggs. (The eggs weren't there last night!)

I have them in a ten-gallon tank with a betta, three neon tetras (used to have five), two cory catfish, and a nerite snail. The ghost shrimp are there as a clean-up crew and I did not intend to breed them... So what should I do?

I have a spare five-gallon tank I can move the pregnant shrimp to, but how long does it take for the eggs to produce itty bitty shrimpy babies? When should I move her to the spare tank, or will they be fine in my ten-gallon tank? Should I let my other fish eat the baby shrimp or raise them for the purpose of giving them away? (Petco takes fish "donations.") What should I put in the spare tank?

Please help. I know nothing about breeding ghost shrimp.

First, the Paranormal Activity series is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's cheap entertainment at best.

The Marked Ones is considered a "spin-off" rather than a sequel. But I call loads of bullsh*t. The sixth movie will be called Paranormal Activity 5 even though it's obviously not the fifth. The Marked Ones delves deeper into the story of the series, even giving a name to the coven.

It does not contain long gratuitous shots of absolutely nothing happening like the others... Is that why it's a "spin-off"? Because it doesn't use a fixed camera installed in a house? Because Katie is only in the movie as a cameo rather than a character (loosely) central to the plot? That's ****ing stupid. The Marked Ones had characters and references to the other films and adds much more to the overall plot than any of the others.

So why is Paranormal Activity 6 going to be called 5?

My ten-gallon tank's water has been cloudy ever since I overstocked my tank. (I "rescued" a panda cory I had no room for who was getting bullied by gouramis and had nipped fins. I was going to keep him until his fin healed but he's gotten along so well with the other fish I want to keep him.)

The panda cory seems to have been too much for my tank, which, including him, has two corys, four neon tetras, one mostly unaggressive male betta, one nerite snail, and one ghost shrimp. My tank is cycled so I know it's not a bacterial bloom.

Is overstocking the reason's the water's cloudy? Is it the fish flakes the fish don't eat (because my filter's current sweeps it away) making the water cloudy? I would think that the corys and the ghost shrimp would take care of that, but maybe I'm wrong? I feed my corys once a day and my betta and neons twice a day, so I don't think I'm overfeeding...

The water clarifier I bought helps clear up the tank but it's not addressing the problem. Will adding another ghost shrimp or two help keep my water clearer? Smaller ghost shrimp get eaten up by my beta (and corys, post-mortem), so I don't think they'll be permanent additions unless they're fully grown.

I have one cory catfish. I don't have room for more than two total. I asked a question yesterday if two corys were better than keepng one by its lonesome self, and the consensus was no, (I only received two answers, though.)

Both answerers recommended I rehome my cory. The Petco about 20 minutes from me accepts fish "donations," and they're who I gave my zebra danio to after his buddy died.

But... I want to keep my cory. I've grown attached and enjoy seeing its active behavior. It has the same energy level as corys I've seen in schools and has done really well with my betta. (At first my betta nipped his fin, but he's since left it alone and the fin's completely healed. Even when the cory bumps into the betta they act like nothing happened.)

I don't want to give up my cory. And there's no guarantee he'll find a better home if I "donate" him. So this is as much a moral question as a fish-related one. What's the right thing to do? Can corys live happily without other corys? Or is giving him away the best thing for him, regardless of what I want?

I know that corydoras should be in groups of at least four, but when I bought mine on a whim I didn't know that. Oops. According to aqavisor.com, I barely have enough room for a second cory. Will getting a second help my cory be a little less lonely? (And by lonely I mean stressed.) Or will I just end up with two very lonely corys?

I've heard they live 8-10 years, and in a year or two I plan on upgrading my ten-gallon tank to a twenty, so they should both live to see a day where they have a bigger tank and other corys to be with, right?

I was kind of relieved tonight to discover my betta male hasn't been attacking and eating the neons. He was just eating the dead bodies. I caught him dining on one of the two neons I had bought today. It seemed to have died of shock, although I've done nothing wrong. I've lost maybe eight neons in the last month. I have four now. Less than half seem to survive past a week. Is this normal?

I add them into the tank the same as I do any other fish, and I've had no problems with the betta, snail, corydoras and ghost shrimp. I add the bag they came in into the tank, wait 15 minutes to an hour, and them add them to the tank, without using any of the water they came in to avoid contamination of my aquarium's water.

It sucks. I want a school of five, no more, no less, and I seem unable to keep that many for longer than a few hours. Suggestions from people with neon tetra experience would be welcome.

Earlier I posted a question about the mystery surrounding my shrimp's death. Now I've got another one.

I just found a very chewed-up-looking tail-half of a neon tetra in my tank. When I noticed I had a missing neon I looked everywhere for it and found nothing. I then took out my two filters (I only have one on at a time) and dismantled them. Still no trace of the neon. I gave up, had a few disheartened sips of cheap wine, and started looking again. In one corner of the tank I found what was left of the neon.

The entire head was gone, and all its fins have been either nipped or torn off. A chunk was missing from one side of its tail. I did some research and found this video of a betta attacking and/or eating a smaller fish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-sxCsMfP8I

Based on the video, I suspect my betta for this atrocious murder, but I'm not sure if his mouth is actually big enough to have committed the crime. The dead neon was rather small, though. Could one of the filters have mangled the neon? Or are bettas capable of biting off the heads of smaller fish?

I also now wonder if my betta was involved in the nipping death of one of my first neons. Because I had caught zebra danios in the act of nipping the neons and the betta, I got returned them, but the dead neon I just found has injuries similar (but much more severe) than the first's, including the tail bite mark.

Is my beloved betta a murderer? Should I buy a replacement neon and hope a repeat doesn't happen?

A few days ago my only ghost shrimp died of unknown causes. After coming home from work, I found him lying on his side next to one of my live plants. While fishing his corpse out of the tank, I discovered he had molted the tail-end portion of his shell and it was very loosely hanging on to him. I noticed the body had not turned pink as ghost shrimp are supposed to do when dead. I think it had just recently died, as poking and prodding it got no reaction and it continued to lay on its side.

Now at this time my tank had just started a bacterial bloom, which I assume is from my tank cycling, as in ignorance I had not done so before adding my fish. The ammonia levels are nonexistent and the nitrite is a little high. Water is a bit on the hard side at 150ppm. Alkalinity varies each time I test the water from 80-120ppm. Nitrates and pH are good. Temperature is around 78 degrees.

His tankmates included a male betta, a corydoras, a snail, and four neon tetras. I have a ten-gallon tank with three fake plants and four live plants. There isn't much in the way of hiding spaces.

Potential causes of death:

1) While molting, the ghost shrimp was attacked. The betta had previously paid no attention to him, though. The other suspect is the corydoras. While not aggressive, she often moves around erratically and could have bumped the shrimp.

2) Something was wrong with the water. What are the ideal conditions for a ghost shrimp?

3) Maybe it wasn't dead when I removed it?

4) Other?

Every time I test my water, the ammonia comes up as zero. The color on the dipstick doesn't change even slightly. My 10-gallon tank's water has been cloudy the last couple of days, and I think it's a bacterial bloom. Reading up on causes of bacterial blooms, I was worried about ammonia, so I checked it. Same as usual, zero. Shouldn't a betta, four neon tetras, and a corydoras create at least a slight bit of ammonia in the water?

I have a Tetra brand "EasyStrips" water test kit, by the way. Am I dong something right with my water or are the test strips not working or what?

First, I'm not a fan of the Terminator franchise. I've seen all four movies and I don't care for any of them. But I was rewatching Terminator Salvation (with the hilarious commentary from Rifftrax), and I noticed that John Connor seems to think he's Jesus in the movie.

When the resistance command wants to bomb Skynet HQ and end the war once and for all, John Connor throws a hissy fit because Kyle Reese, his younger-than-him father who will go back into the past and father him, is being held at Skynet HQ. So if they attack, John Connor will never have been born. Obviously John Connor's self-preservation instincts kick in, but he gets on the radio and tells everyone that the Resistance needs to give him a chance to save the people being held captive at Skynet, that if they don't all will be lost.

But that's stupid. If they attack Skynet, only John Connor will be lost, and the war will be won. I understand that Kyle Reese needs to be alive to go back into the past and do the nasty with Sarah Connor, but John makes it seem all about him instead. That HIS survival is what's important.

In the movie, it doesn't seem like John Connor is even remotely vital to the Resistance. He doesn't DO anything. He's just some guy, listening to prerecorded audio tapes his mother left him telling him he's so special. It seems John really let that go to his head. It seems like the studio forced emphasis on John Connor's character rather than Kyle Reese, and that just hurt the overall story.

Because my Tetra Whisper Micro filter was poorly designed, with a small hole in the back of it where the suction cup used to be (crappy as it was, it fell out), one of my neons is now dead and things aren't what they used to be.

Background: The Whisper Micro filter is for a five gallon tank so I have a 10-20 gallon filter I turn on for a few hours a day (I have a 10 gallon tank and the second filter creates too strong of a current to have on all the time). While I was running the bigger filter, the little neon must have been a bit curious and entered the smaller filter's hole. He became trapped and I turned back on the Micro filter not knowing he was in there. Basically he was filtered to death.

So now I'm down to just three neons, and they aren't shoaling anymore. Each of them is doing their own thing. Is this normal after the loss of a buddy or do neons need to be in groups of 4+ to shoal?

I plan on getting a replacement neon tomorrow if I have the time, the day after if not.

I have a 10g tank with four neon tetras, a betta, a julii cory catfish (shouldn't grow to 3" like other corys, I was told), and a nerite snail. It's a bit crowded, I know, but I plan on upgrading to a 20g in a year or so. Most or all of them should live to see that day come. (I read somewhere that neons live 5+ years, I think? Bettas are 2-4 years, and I don't know about the lifespans of corys or nerites. Tell me if you know.)

Anyways, I added a 41 cent (with tax) ghost shrimp to the tank, thinking that it will either make a tasty treat for my centerpiece fish, the betta, or, preferably, will be good for keeping the tank clean. I did some research, and the ghost shrimp will eat algae, fish waste, and leftover food that's sunk to the bottom. Correct me if I'm wrong. The cory helps with the leftover food and the snail gets the algae, but I thought it couldn't hurt to add a creature that'll eat fish poop. Sorry, I mean "waste."

Of course the ghost shrimp will produce waste of his own but my thought is that having him will help keep my water healthy and clean for my fishies. Since he's so tiny and is good for cleaning, does he add the the overcrowded nature or biological limits of my tank? If not, and my betta ignores him, could I add another one or two shrimp? Maybe he'll eat one or two then, because so far my betta hasn't noticed the ghost shrimp. (It's only been a couple hours though.)

Boring fish tank? What a question. It's so naive and vague, and even insulting to my existing fish, who are not boring.

So let me explain: I have a ten-gallon tank with four neon tetras, one betta, one false julii cory catfish, and one nerite snail. I intend to get a fifth neon and then I'll stop there. (The poor cory that I bought on an ill-thought-out whim is on her own, as I don't have the biological room for more fish, as I am constantly reminded.)

For decor and hiding spots I have two five-inch anubias nana (live plants), two supposed-to-but-doesn't-glow-in-the-dark fake plant things that take up a little more space than the anubiases, and an eight-inch fake plant that goes in the corner. The tank itself is 13 inches tall and 20 inches long.

Sounds like a good (or decent) set-up for a 10-gallon tank, right? But there's a huge empty space in the tank, where the water from the filter pours out. The current there is apparently too strong for the neons and the cory (that's what I get for buying a filter for an up-to-20-gallon tank) and too rough on the anubiases, which get uprooted by the current because their roots are stupid and like to float above their leaves. (I fear they might be suicidal.)

So... what should I do with this empty space? This question is not a very serious one, just something I'm throwing out there and maybe someone will come up with an idea I'll try out.

I have a betta, four neon tetras, and just bought a cory catfish. Can I fit in another neon or two? Or even a second cory?

I don't want anyone telling me what I'm doing wrong. I know bettas do best without other fish. I know fish enthusiasts think dwarf cories and neons belong in a 20-gallon tank. But my 10 gallon is working just fine and I test the water weekly for nitrites, ammonia, pH level, etc. I also don't have the available space for anything more than ten gallons.]

Basically, what I'm asking is that if I keep the water filtered and cleaned and cycled, what's the biological limit I can go before the tank is overcrowded and unsafe?

I had two zebra danios, two neon tetras, and one betta in a five gallon tank. When I changed about 20% of the water with newer water, one of the zebras went belly-up literally minutes later. The other fish weren't affected... Directly, that is.

I thought about buying my now single zebra danio a new companion or two, but instead bought three more neon tetras the next day so I could have a nice sociable group of five. When I added the neons to the tank, I could instantly recognize the new guys from the first two, as the original two has significant chunks of their fins nipped off by the zebra, something that had happened since the other died.

So without his buddy, I've noticed that the zebra spends all his time going after the neons and nipping their fins. He's stressed, I get it, and I just quarantined him in the little 1/2 gallon tank I originally bought for my betta.

What should I do with him? One friend told me to just flush him or return him to the store where they'll flush him. (Saying that like used returned items, fish don't do back on the shelf.) But is there something else I can do?

I'm aware that I have a five gallon tank with a betta and five neons and that's about as much as I should keep with that tank size. And the betta has gotten along well with the others, so he's not the problem. But now I have one stressed out zebra danio and probably not enough tank space to house a couple more. Do I mercy flush him? Do I buy another zebra and hope that two is enough?

My psychiatrist has recently been upping the dosage of Luvox for me, at first starting off with 100mg, and since *I guess* it seemed to work out well for me, we decided to go to 200mg. Everything's fine, possibly some sexual side effects but not enough for me to have noticed at the time.

Using the philosophy "we can do better than 'okay'!" I'm now taking 300mg, the max legal dosage, or so he told me. I wasn't too excited about using any medication at the "max legal dosage" but my mother is adamant that I've been doing much better on the increased doses.

(I'm not so sure. Am I doing better because of the medicine, or because I've got a job now and am starting to get my life back on track after my 'breakdown' in May?)

But now that I'm on the 300mg Luvox, I'm lucky if I can ejaculate ONCE a week. Keep in mind that I regularly masturbate every day...

My problem is that although my sex drive is normal, I just can't come. There are times when I'm like, "Dude! (talking to my penis) How did that NOT get you off?!" And what I mean by that is there are times when I feel my penis is about to explode into an orgasm and... nothing happens. So much of nothing happened this evening that I could have almost cried.

This has become frustrating, and it's an emotional let-down after a failed attempt. (Probably something to do with them brain hormones and such.)

So here's my question, and I thank you for reading through all this: If I'm doing better on the Luvox, if I'm getting my life in order because of it, is it worth putting up with so much sexual frustration?

(If I was regularly having sex, the answer would be easy. But right now I'm single, so I don't know...)