Jappalachia

I've been tasked with planning our barn painting project at the pig farm where I work, and I don't know too much about painting. I'm hoping y'all have some straight answers for me because hiring a contractor for a totally doable DIY project is just not an option! Things I need to figure out, though, are as follows:

1. Water OR oil-based?

2. Two coats of self-priming paint OR 1 coat primer + 1 coat paint?

3. Does anyone have experience with BEHR Flat Deep-Base Barn and Fence Paint? This is paint & primer combo for $67/5gal bucket @ HD and seems well-reviewed.

4. Any other protips from barn-painters out there?

Thanks!

My husband is studying to take the PCAT--a strenuous exam for admission into pharmacy school--in about two months. I would never describe him as irresponsible or lazy, but he is the type of person who, when faced with a daunting and unavoidable challenge, wants to ignore it until it's too late. In fact, he was registered to take the PCAT last year but canceled his registration because he was so intimidated. He's certainly qualified to be a pharmacist: he teaches Pharmacy Technology at our community college part-time and is a full-time data analyst for the core pharmacy at the largest hospital system in the southeast for crying out loud! He's been working as a pharmacy technician for three years until recently. He has a BS in both Chemistry and Conservation Biology. I have absolute confidence in him, but he doesn't have much confidence in himself.

Has anyone else out there ever been in a supporting role for a partner preparing for something like the PCAT before? If so, what did you do to encourage your partner? Especially if that partner sometimes needs someone to put her foot down, redirect, and re-motivate him?

I have an automatic '97 Honda Civic, and she's been good to me. She's got 207,000 miles, and I've only been able to find the service intervals up to 100k. Do the intervals just repeat after that? I've already got the timing belt changed--did that as soon as the odometer hit 200k--and recently had the radiator replaced. Of course, she gets oil changes every 3,000 miles with 5w-30. She's got another one coming up at 209,000, and I figured I'd ask my mechanic to take care of any other scheduled service then.

A few months ago, our friend's dog bit my husband on the face. The dog is older and was startled, and we are not seeking to have the dog euthanized. We are long time dog owners and life-long dog people, and we understand that accidents happen, and this was one of them. The accident resulted in a few hours in the emergency room, six stitches, and an absurdly large bill. Fortunately, we have health insurance, but we've been contacted by the lawyers of our health insurance company, and they are looking to find who is responsible for the accident. I want to cooperate with their investigation, but I don't want our insurance to do something legal like press charges. We have no interested in taking our friend to court for this. LET ME REPEAT THAT WE HAVE NO INTEREST IN TAKING OUR FRIEND TO COURT TO GET A SETTLEMENT. Our agreement with our friend, thus far, has been that he will reimburse us for the medical bills, and as they are trickling in, he has followed through very responsibly. From here on out, though, can our insurance deny our claim if we refuse to press charges? Can we go about cooperating with the investigation without getting our friend and his dog in trouble?

I have a '97 Honda Civic Coupe. The check engine light came on, and the code is for lean exhaust. I expect I might have to get a new 02 sensor or even a new converter. Does anyone know what price range I should be looking at?

I have a '97 Honda Civic Coupe. The windows are manual, and the driver's side window gets stuck about halfway up. I can roll it all the way down smoothly, but raising it is the problem. I can see that it's slipped off the track as I'm raising it and it starts to get harder and harder to crank. The window is not damaged, and the track, from what I can see is not damaged. I had to drop it off at my mechanic's after hours, and I'm wondering how much I should anticipate it costing.

I have a two year old border collie mix, about 75 pounds, spayed, and finished growing. Our vet says she's very healthy--up-to-date with shots and vet checks, eats vet-recommended food, goes on play-dates with our friends' dogs, running with me every other day, and to the dog park regularly. I might go so far as to say that she's a little spoiled: she's allowed on all the furniture and she sleeps in the bed with us! She is fully house broken and is very good about letting us know when she needs to go out. We don't give her endless amounts of water, just with meals or when she noses at her water bowl. The only time she ever has accidents is in her sleep. She wakes up with that face that dogs make when they know they've done something bad, and I know that she's peed in her sleep. We never punish her for it, but I imagine she sees getting a bath as a punishment. It used to happen rarely and only when she'd had a very active few hours at the dog park--when she's there, she's running and playing nonstop and she drinks a lot of water, so that seemed to make sense. But now she's having accidents more frequently, but still only in her sleep. I know that bed-wetting is a sign of some deeper upset in children. Could this be the case with my dog? Any recommendations?

My wedding is on September 23rd, and my fiance and I are going almost entirely DIY--mostly because we like self-sufficiency but also because we don't want to spend exorbitant sums of money on stuff we can do ourselves! Our budget is $5000 for the wedding & honeymoon! So, because I am planning this myself, I've been trying to make sure all my bases are covered. All the big stuff is taken care of: invites, location, officiant, food/drinks at the reception, cake, music, decor, dress/tux/rings.

If there are any other DIY wedding planners out there, was there anything at your wedding that you really wish you'd thought of before the date? Any tips? Any caveats? Thanks so much!

I have a 97 Honda Civic Coupe. Automatic. 200k miles. I check my transmission fluid regularly, and it is currently translucent and full. Sometimes, the car shifts smoothly--particularly when I do not try to accelerate quickly--other times, though, the car jerks between 1-2-3. Doesn't make noise or shake excessively. Still gets fabulous gas mileage. It feels rather like I'm in a car with a manual transmission being driven by someone who doesn't quite have the timing right. I don't think it's my torque converter since the car doesn't shake. Any takers?