voluntarheel

My 70 yr old aunt is in the hospital with viral pneumonia (she hasn't responded to bacterial pneumonia meds so they assume it is viral). She may die. My mother is her health care power of attorney and has been to visit her in the ICU. My mother lives an hour and a half away. It would be nice if my mother could stay with me since I live about a mile from the hospital. But I have a 10 week old child. Is my aunt contagious and would my mother possibly give something to my son by staying here with us?

I'm trying to record an NFL game tomorrow that is on the Sunday Ticket package (not network tv). I am signed up for and have paid for this ST package. When I set the DVR to record this game a $ came up. Does this mean I have to pay additional money to record this game eventhough I already subscribe to Sunday Ticket??

My expanding family is planning to purchase a new (2012) minivan before the arrival of our child expected on 1/22/12. I'd love to wait until mid-Jan or early Feb to purchase this van, since it isn't really needed until then. But everyone keeps telling me this week (last week of the year) is a great time to buy a car. Is that true? How much am I likely to save on a new car that would probably cost around $34,000 if I bought it this week as opposed to around Jan 15 or Feb 1? If it matters I plan to pay cash for the full amount or take advantage of a 0% or 0.9% financing if it is offered. Also, if it matters, I will not have a trade-in. Thanks

I'm adopting my aunt's 7 yr old toy poodle (she's can no longer care for the dog). Basically she feeds this dog lots and lots of pupperoni - like a bag every 3 days. So when I give the poodle treats that I feed my golden (usually dried sweet potato treats from Dr. Foster & Smith) she (the poodle) spits them out. It's clear what she wants...pupperoni. Is there a healthy alternative similar to pupperoni I can try? Ideally it would be soft and meaty in flavor. Thanks.

My family is getting bigger and I need a bigger auto. I've already picked out exactly what I need (model and particular package). It's a Honda and right now Honda is offering 0.9% financing for 3 years or 1.9% for up to 5 years. However, I have cash to pay for the vehicle if I choose to go that route. I expect to this vehicle will cost in the range of $33k-$35k w/o taxes, fees. I will not need this auto until January. But ultimately I just want to save money. I've always been told that the dealers bake in a higher cost if you finance. Is that true? Or do you establish the price before letting the dealer know you will be using their low financing? Ultimately I just want to pay the lowest overall cost for the vehicle whether its through financing or paying cash. Thanks.

My husband has to get a new phone for work. He currently uses a 3 year old blackberry, but now has to upgrade. We've narrowed it down to 2 choices - the iphone4 or the Droid Charge - on the Verizon network. I have an iphone4 - so we know what to expect with that. Money is not an issue since work pays for everything. He's a doctor and would use some medical apps, but mostly it will be phone calls, texts, emails and some internet browsing. He really doesn't use his phone much for "play" - music, streaming video, etc - just basic internet usage and probably a couple of simple games.

The pros of the Charge seem to be an incredible screen that is also quite large. You can also customize it, if that really matters. The cons seem to be a terrible battery, an awkward shape and durability (it's made of plastic). Plus it's rather large - bad to carry on belt, but good for me cause their fingers tend to be larger.

So is the battery life on the Charge as bad as I've read during reviews? Frankly if the battery is as bad as I've read about that's a BIG problem. Anyone who uses their phone primarily for work have a preference one over the other?

I'm about 5 weeks pregnant. I'm 38, first child, married 10 years, excellent relationship, planned pregnancy. But I've been so down in the dumps for about a week. This is so uncharacteristic of me as I'm usually upbeat, happy and optimistic. But now I feel mildly depressed - don't have much interest in things I usually enjoy - don't really want to do anything but sit and watch tv (something I don't usually do much of). My husband has noticed this change in me, too.

Is this just hormones? As I said there is no outside stress in my life - pregnancy was planned, great relationship, finances are fine. I am not currently working, but it was by choice and I've been completely fulfilled up til now. I've never been depressed at any point in my life. If this is hormones how long can I expect it to last?

PS - I'm headed to the doc on Monday anyway so I'll consult with them, but I'd like some answers from others who my have experienced unexplained depression during their early pregnancy.

I had to reset my router. I get an excellent signal on my laptop, but no internet connection. I've tried getting a LAN connection to my laptop to re-setup the router, but I can't. I can only get a LAN connection to my desktop, which doesn't have a wireless card so I can't set-up the router using this PC. What should I try next?

I changed the security mode on my wireless router because I was trying to set up a Roku box (which is a pain in the a--). So now I'm disconnected from my wireless. But the worst part is I can't access my router anymore when I enter the default gateway into my browser. It just times out. How do I get back into my router to reset the changes I made so my wireless will work again? Thanks

I have an iphone4 and am a current subscriber to XM radio. I want to get XM on my iphone. The app is free to download, but how much is the music subscription - either monthly or annually (I am already a subscriber)? I can't find this information anywhere.

Also if I subscribe to XM over the phone then I assume I can use the aux cable and have it play through my car speakers as well as through an iphone dock set up in my home. Thanks.

I'm looking at buying a used R class Mercedes - probably 2008, 2009 with low miles (<40k). I was wondering if there are any inherent problems with this model of car. I did a search and there were some electrical problems - mostly on 2007 models. I know Mercedes builds good cars, but I want to know if this particular model is free of serious problems. Thanks.

Tried to find a maintenance schedule online, guess I could look in my owner's manual, but I'm trying to figure out how often to change the transmission fluid. This car has 115k miles on it and the transmission was replaced at 55k miles. I believe the fluid was last changed at 90k miles, but I'd need to check my service records to be certain.

Also am wondering from you Acura mechanics out there if you recommend changing the trans fluid more often since the transmissions in these cars are garbage. Thanks.

I'm headed down to Atlanta for two day games - one at 4pm the other at 1:30. I'd like to get seats in the shade so I don't fry. I don't think the upper deck is covered at all, but honestly I can't remember since I haven't been in about 5 years.

At least at old Fulton County Stadium there was no one there so you could buy a cheap seat and sit anywhere you wanted. Oops I just showed my age.

Thanks.

My 7 year old Golden Retriever (who is a rescue I've had for about 3 months) has taken quite a liking to the wild animal (possibly feral cat) poop that is in the yard and surrounding fields. I'm not sure what animal the feces is from, but it's not a dog or likely even a domesticated animal. We have feral cats, deer, raccoons, possums, rabbits, etc in our yard and in surrounding woods and areas around the home (hard to believe I live within the city limits of a place a quarter million in population). But its a wooded area with lots of interesting widlife - but I'm mostly sure the poop he's eating is from the feral cats.

When I'm with him I make him stop eating the poop and I guide him away from the area, but since he's sometimes in the yard off leash and I dont' always know what he's sniffing around for it's hard to stop him. Is there anything I can do besides what I'm already doing? BTW, he is fed an appropriate amount of senior Nutro Max twice daily - he isn't hungry and he isn't being fed poor quality food. Thanks.

I need to get info to my accountant about my stock sales this past year for personal income tax purposes. I keep a spreadsheet of the stock, date purchased & # of shares, date sold & # of shares, price of stock at time of purchase, and price of stock at time of sale. I've also calculated cost basis. But my accountant doesn't need all these numbers do they? What information should I give them?

My Golden Retriever used the bathroom yesterday morning and we noticed 3 worms in his feces. In the past when my dog has had worms they've looked like little grains of rice and were moving quickly. But these were much larger and flatter. They were about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, about a cm wide, very flat and white. They were just barely moving - in fact my husband (a physician) wasn't even sure they were worms at first.

So my first question is what kind of worm is this?

Then in the afternoon my dog pooped again and there were no worms. So should I be concerned and rush him to the vet or just take a wait and see approach? His temperament and energy level hasn't changed a bit - he seems normal (he's pretty low energy all the time).

Also how in the world did he get these - he just had a full physical in November in which he was checked for everything and was negative. He's on a heartworm preventative and he's an indoor dog. Besides its been so cold there's no way there are any fleas out there to give him worms.

So I'm just curious what kind of worm this might be, should I get him to the vet tomorrow or wait, and is there anything I can do to prevent this (although we pretty much take every precaution I've ever known about). Thanks!

It's cold outside and I'm too lazy to go look at my car owner's manual, but how often do you change the brakes on a car - specifically a 2001 Acura TL? This set of brakes probably has 50k miles on it and a lot of it has been city driving. I'm not hard on my brakes, but do more stop and go than I do highway miles.

I just adopted a 7 year old Golden. He's a great dog and very loving. He's still getting comfortable in our home, but is adapting well. He isn't the least bit interested in tennis balls. Nor does he play much with plush toys or squeakers. I realize he may still be getting comfortable around us, but I get the impression he isn't interested in these toys. This is just odd to me as our other Golden loved toys, especially balls. He'd chase them til he collapsed with exhaustion. All other retrievers I've know just loved playing fetch.

Our new Golden has energy - he enjoys our 20 min walks and loves coming home looking for every family member that didn't accompany him on his walk (he'll run around the house looking from room to room with a big smile on his face and wagging tail). But he is totally dis-interested in balls and toys. I realize I may not be able to change this, but I'd like to at least try. How can I bring out his "inner retriever"? Any suggestions?

I'm thinking of financing a new car. After trade-in and down payment I'd be financing about $25k. I'm not concerned about the size of my monthly payment, I'm just concerned about getting the best deal possible. I can finance that money over 36 months for 0%, over 60 months for 1.9% or over 72 months for $3.9%. Obviously the 0% is the best deal, but if I get a 5% return on my savings would I be better off going with either of the other two loans over time? Thanks.

I'm thinking of financing a new car. After trade-in and down payment I'd be financing about $25k. I'm not concerned about the size of my monthly payment, I'm just concerned about getting the best deal possible. I can finance that money over 36 months for 0%, over 60 months for 1.9% or over 72 months for $3.9%. Obviously the 0% is the best deal, but if I get a 5% return on my savings would I be better off going with either of the other two loans over time? Thanks.