Gene

We bought a home in Anchorage, AK. The mast bath is attractive, but has a feature in it we can't stand. It has a double-wide jetted tub. It's not the corner tub type, just a standard tub, but twice as wide. We hate it! It takes forever to fill, and it empties the hot water tank.

Home is a 4BR, 2.5 bath. The other upstairs bathroom has a standard bathtub/shower in it.

The Master Bath has a built in tiled shower stall, but it is 36" X 36"... TINY in my book. What I want to do is rip out the tub and make that area a NICE walk in shower with nice tile and tempered glass doors. Then MAYBE put an infrared sauna in the old shower stall spot.

The concern I have is will the lack of some sort of soaking tub in the master bath detract from the value? Oh, there is NO WAY you could bathe a baby in this giant tub, unless you were in there with them, so either way, babies would have to use the guest bath.

What are the thoughts on this big old tub in our bathroom? Is the jet tub more attractive than a really nice and roomy shower?

I am building my emergency cache container for 48 hours of support in case of an earthquake or other natural disaster. I have the basics in there now... food, water, shelter, blankets and first aid. What I am struggling with is an antibiotic that can be stored and used in WELL below freezing temps up here in Alaska. The cache sits outside, so things like Betadine would freeze. Not only would frozen liquids not be immediately available in an emergency, they also may not be effective when thawed.

Does anyone have suggestions on an antiseptic powder? I figure a powder would work well at all temps and not suffer from cold temps. I'm not having any luck finding anything except medicated skin powders. I want a fairly powerful antibiotic for wounds in a serious emergency situation (not home first aid). Specific brands would be helpful, I'll likely need to order from the internet.

44 y/o male. I just got back from a one week moose hunt in the field. We didn't get a moose, but I did come back with some valuable points I want to condition for. I actually wasn't too tired packing in and out of the site each day, what DID really lower my morale was how much I sweat! Even down to my very base layer in 40 degrees, I got so sweaty and wet in my clothes, it made me miserable until I dried out hours later... repeat on the way back in. With no shower, by the end of the week, I just wanted to go home.

I have always sweat a lot. When I exercise, I soak my shirts. It seems the BETTER shape I am in, the earlier and MORE I will sweat.

I'm going to begin a routine that will enhance my overall lower body strength and endurance, which will ALWAYS help, but does anybody know any techniques, diets or something that can help me reduce the amount I sweat?

I manage the sweat with compression wicking layers like UA, essentially no cotton, and breathable clothing. I learned to strip down, but I find it hard to up and down layer my LEGS. If I could reduce the sweat, I could improve my mood.

Any helpful tips appreciated.

While I know I’m just opening myself up to getting flamed, looking for a little help diagnosing the glowplugs on a 2002 Ford F350 7.3L diesel, auto trans, single rear wheel, 4WD with A/C, non-ambulance package truck.

I replaced/upgraded the glowplug relay with a new (much bigger) relay, and I tested it with a test light. I am getting voltage through the glowplug relay and the timer is about right.

The symptom is when it is cold, say below 32, it starts OK, but has a LOT of white smoke and it runs rough for about 1 minute and then smooths out. It almost feels like I lost one bank of the glowplugs. So, I know the relay is providing voltage, but where can I probe to see if the glowplugs are getting power directly?

Thanks for sharing any experience you have with the 7.3L.

My daughter has a tendency towards SAD, and we live in Alaska. Plenty of places sell "Happy Lights" and those are great if you come to terms with the fact you ARE SAD impacted. She has not and essentially is a hostile patient when it comes to her depression treatment (14 y/o).

So, my question is can you simply use full spectrom CFL or incandescant light bulbs in the room lighting fixtures and get SOME benefit, or do you have to sit in front of the box light and really get a high dose of light for the light to make any impact?

If the full spectrum lights in her bedroom will at least help some, I can do that. But telling her she has to turn on a special light and sit in front of it for any amount of time will just become a fight which only serves to worsen the overall issue.

Any experience with full spectrum bulbs in regular lighting fixtures helping with SAD? I assume a 5000K full spectrum bulb is what I need.

Thank you!

My dog has seizures and is required to take 1 1/4 pills of phenobarbitol twice a day. To accommodate, we have to cut a lot of pills. I am mildly concerned that through skin absorption, I may have trace barbiturate in my blood. But, I'm not sure if phenobarb can be significantly absorbed through the skin. I have started using gloves since I thought of this, but do I need to worry?

My son and I are driving from Atlanta to Seattle late Oct and want to stop in Yellowstone. That late in the year, the lodges are all closed. What are our chances of getting into the park at that time of the year and would staying in West Yellowstone work?

I didn't wash my produce before I fried it up. I cut up some green peppers and onions to fry up for bratwurst. I forgot to wash the green peppers. I served it to my kids. Is there a health hazard immediately?

I'm approaching level 6 in YA! and I'd really have to beg to differ.

Do you truly believe there are no stupid questions? Do you think THIS is a stupid question? In the long run, aren't all questions based on ignorance anyway, thus having a small hint of stupidity?

Your thoughts are important to me. Please answer however you feel is best. And thank you for taking time to ponder this issue.

I had a soft offer to get into investigative engineering in Alaska. I got my BS in ME 20 years ago, and since then I was in the Air Force doing other than engineering. The question: is investigative engineering a growing industry and will the lack of a PE hurt me?

I'm getting ready to retire 1 Feb 13 and I have to go do my SBP briefing with my wife. At first, it sounds so good to be sure my retirement check keeps coming to her when I die. But, the more I looked at it, the less I was sure it was a good deal.

I currently have a VUL policy for $500K, and it runs me about $230/month. That's ALSO the same amount my monthly SBP premium would be. So, if I die, my wife would get $500K (+cash value) all at once, and then get taxed. But under SBP, she'd get about $2k/mo. She would have to get SBP payments for about 20 years before she caught up to the life insurance policy, and she keeps the money even if she remarries.

What have you done with respect to SBP? Seems to me with my life insurance, I build cash value, plus she gets the money all at once no matter how old she is. But SBP provides that reliable paycheck each month for the rest of her life.

Thoughts?

Specifically, when a V-22 is operating, does FAR 91.119(d)(1) (minimum safe altitude) apply, particularly if it is operating as a rotary wing aircraft at the time?

Would a V-22 be classified as a helicopter/rotary wing, a VTOL fixed wing, or BOTH and how do you feel it would apply to FAR 91.119?

Help a retiring dude out someone, please! I have retirement orders effective 1 Feb 13. With my PTDY and Terminal Leave, I am released on 18 Oct 12. I want to move back to Alaska ASAP to begin job hunting while still on active duty, which is doable. Problem is...

I HAD to move in Feb 2012 and took a year lease. It has a good military clause. What I am wondering, and nobody seems to be able to tell me, is will I ever get some sort of travel orders that has October 2012 on them and my new location, Alaska on them I can use to terminate the lease? TMO keeps telling me all I need is my retirement orders but they have no LOCATION on them, just my effective date. I can use my PTDY/Leave forms.

Anyone have any advice?

I graduated in 1992 with my MS in Mechanical Engineering degree, and was inducted in the OOTE, but I went into the Air Force and never really practiced engineering. I managed a lot of projects in my facilities and a lot of huge construction projects. I retire in a few months, and I'm looking at project management jobs I seem to be qualified for. My question is:

Is the Order of the Engineer an affiliation worth mentioning, and does anyone really wear the ring any more (like to an interview)?

Thanks!

USAF, active duty. Retiring after 20 years. I have about 97 days of leave due to recent deployments. I will retire 1 Feb 13 and plan to take all of my leave as terminal. Does anyone know of a limit to how many terminal leave days one can take? If so, what is the reference please... I can't find it. Also, I am a GSU of one person... my orderly room is 500 miles away so forgive the laziness but they don't answer my e-mails. Thanks all!

I mean really, even the baby would want more of anything.

I have two pugs and they have both gone deaf around their 11th birthday. Does the breed have a unique genetic disposition towards deafness? It's just odd that both of mine went deaf around the same time.

It seems the National Airspace System is built to accommodate the no-radio, no transponder Super Cub, preventing the development of a system which mandates participation. Until that happens, do you think we can really make any dramatic changes to NAS efficiency and safety?

Why did transponder encoding go from C to S without any other steps?

My wife and I have been looking at cabins on the HomeAway.com site. We want to go up in the mountains of GA/TN/NC somewhere. All of the cabins look wonderful and all of the on site reviews are superb. That's why I'm worried. It all seems too good to be true. Has anyone had any experience with HomeAway.com? Were there hidden costs, or was it as advertised? Thank you for your opinion.