Captain Awesome

Let me start by saying that I'm not a fan of the guy. I didn't vote for him and I'm not a Democrat. So let's keep the answers relevant to the question. Thanks.

Is there anyone who is openly against Obama that was also one of the people saying, "If you are against Bush you should be punished for treason" or something to that affect? If so, how do you justify blind loyalty to one president and not the other.

Serious answers only please. Let's try to keep this civil.

I'm looking to build a Dissipator style AR. I want a 16" barrel with a mid-length gas tube and I'm looking at the Magpul MOE rifle length handguard. With the MOE being a two-piece handguard, could I mount it without using the standard M16 style fixed sight? I was looking at using a flip up sight. Yankee Hill has a FUS with a gas block that is pretty inconspicuous. Makes using a fake gas block a little easier to swallow (form follows function, right?) Any ideas? This is my first AR build so I'm trying to hammer out the details before I buy the parts and make a mistake.

Thanks.

My 6 month old Portuguese Water Dog puppy just got diagnosed with a benign tumor in his mouth. I can clearly see it and see that it is moving his tooth to a weird position so I'm not questioning the diagnosis. What I'm curious about is if anyone else has had this procedure performed on your dog. The specialist wants to take out three teeth and take out a small portion of jaw. From what I've read, this is the standard procedure for removing these kinds of tumors so they don't grow back. He quoted me $1500-$2500, depending on how long it takes and how Tino does with the general anesthesia. He expects it to be on the lower end of that scale, however. Any opinions on this cost? This is in the Washington, DC area so I expect it to be a little higher than somewhere in middle America.

I had a power surge and apparently my surge protector is useless. Afterward, nothing happened when you push the power button. Even when directly plugging the computer into a proven outlet. I replaced the power supply and now the power button turns amber but nothing happens. No fans or anything. My questions are does it matter where each SATA connector goes between the HDD, DVD, and CDRW? At this point should I assume I need a new motherboard? Is a CMOS battery failure wishful thinking? I'm not a computer guy, just a DIYer, so feel free to dumb down your answers. Thanks in advance!

We are having a boy. My last name is Lee. My wife and I really like names William, Robert, and Adam. She is dead set on his middle name being Samuel. I'd pick William in a heartbeat, however, I'm hesitant because I like the name Will and Will Lee sounds like Willy. What do you think? Not a problem?

My rules for names are:

Nothing weird or made up.

No last names as first names (Taylor, Jefferson, Madison, etc).

No normal names with weird spellings.

I'm designing an automatic ball launcher for my dog. I'm toying with the idea of attaching a shaft on an electric motor. The shaft will spin and hit the ball, hopefully far enough to make this fun for the dog. Would a 12 volt, 200 rpm motor be strong enough? Too fast? I was going to power it with rechargeable AA batteries or something of the like. The shaft will probably be made of aluminum and about 12" long.

Thanks for the help.

2000 Mustang V6. I had no problem until I went to pick my kids up at their babysitter's house. Got the kids in my car, started the car, then it began to shudder and stalled out. Now car cranks but doesn't turn over. The coil tests okay. When I push in the schrader valve on the fuel rail, I get nothing. The IFS switch button is still down. I can't tell if the pump primes when the car is on. It was never that loud to begin with. I'm about to get the car towed back to my house so I can jack it up and test the pump power and replace the fuel filter. Any other suggestions?

Honest question. Just curious.

I'd like to get a tactical shotgun for home defense. However, I would also like the opportunity to shoot clays and possibly hunt. What are my options here?

I'm leaning towards a Remington Express 12 gauge with an 18 inch barrel for the home and a 24 inch barrel for everything else. I can get different choke tubes for different applications. Does this sound like a reasonable setup?

Also, I don't need any 13 year olds suggesting some $5k custom gun they saw in a movie once. I was also looking at a Mossberg 500, so you can see what kind of gun I'm looking for.

I have 2 kids at an in-home daycare. The lady's husband just called and told us he is kicking his wife out for being unfaithful (frankly, I don't care about their personal lives). He says, because she doesn't have insurance, our kids can't come back starting tomorrow if we don't sign a liability waiver that says he is not responsible in case something happens (he owns the house). The lady says she has insurance for her daycare business. To me, it sounds like the husband is just trying to ruin her business. She's a great babysitter and she is half the price of comparable places around here. I couldn't find any laws regarding kicking our kids out or about not having insurance. She is licensed. The daycare is in Fairfax County, Virginia.

How long will Democrats bow to lobbyists and keep making this country worse?

See, it works with both parties...

How long will Republicans bow to lobbyists and keep making this country worse?

It works with almost every rant you can think of! It's like a magic trick!

My kid had a tonsillectomy recently so I've been staying home with her all week. When she was taking her nap I started watching Predators. I'd never say this was a good movie but it did its job keeping me less bored for a little while.

In the beginning of the movie we see a cage and a guy with a hole in his abdomen. I was under the impression there was an alien (from Aliens) on this planet. Yet, no alien (aside from the Predators) ever shows up. What's up with that? Am I missing something.

I recently got a quote for some landscaping. The landscaper told me if I paid with a credit card their 3rd party processor would charge me 4%. Is this legal? I'm not doing business with the card processor. I'm doing business with the landscaper. Can the processor charge my card like that?

I think by now we can safely say that Republican candidates love to say they are anti-abortion, however, it's also safe to say that none of them will ever try to overturn Roe v. Wade. No Republican president has ever tried to overturn it in almost 40 years -- even with a Republican Congress.

Is this just lip service for the masses?

How are conservatives supposed to choose between a Mormon, an adulterer, and a black man? Is this a cruel joke?!

I was at my my wife's company holiday party and I got in good with the owner of the company. I schmoozed so well I had the guy fetching me glasses of his private reserve that they kept behind the open bar, available only to him. This scotch is a single malt and comes in a wood box with a medallion on it. You turn the medallion to open the box. I forgot to ask this guy about it while we were talking. I've heard that this scotch is from the 1880s, 1860s, or as old as 1818 from my wife's coworkers. It could be from 1996, for all I know. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Thanks for the help.

I currently have a fried Crane HI-4. I have recently been hearing they aren't what they used to be. I am now looking at the Dyna 2ki and the Daytona Twin Tec. I'm a running a dual spark coil. Any opinions?

Also, I'm not going to relocate the ignition module or switch to single fire. I don't want to make this an exercise in rerouting wires and I already have a dual fire coil. Plus there is no evidence that single fire is any better.

I will make about $100k from my primary job this year. I also started doing some handyman work for another company on the side at $50/hr. Is there a minimum amount of money I can get paid for the second job so I won't have to pay taxes on the income? The handyman work is few and far between. I will probably end up making $500-$1000 from it this year.

I need to switch credit cards due to my variable rate going up, however, I'm looking at a home equity loan within the next month. Would the credit card switch affect my equity loan?