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Beware of fixing your own stove, fire hazard! nm

Posted By: oldtimer on 2008-12-16
In Reply to: Well, as far as the cat goes - skeptical

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When you say gas stove, are you referring to the same stove you cook on? I ...
just recently transcribed a dictation about a patient who used her gas stove to heat her house, I suppose because her energy company shut her service off, and as a result, she suffered from carboxyhemoglobinemia or carbon monoxide poisoning with resultant symptoms including tiredness, dizziness, and eventually unconsciousnesss requiring hospitalization.  Stay warm all, but please be careful.
Darlin', I saw fight fire with fire. Oh, I know, it's not being the "bigger person" BU

it's better than keeping it all inside and letting it fester.  Your MIL sounds like mine and your DH sounds like mine as well.  My husband doesn't want to deal with his mother, so he pretends he doesn't notice anything she says or does and the same goes for my FIL.  He knows how is wife is, but he just ignores it.  My husband will tell me privately "oh, you know how my mom is."  For about the first year of marriage, I bit my tongue with his mother.  But when I saw that my DH was never going to stand up for me, I decided to start biting back.  She would say stuff like "You like you've put on a little weight, sweetie." and I'd say "you look like you've put on a few years." 


My MIL and I have full on yell fests sometimes.  We don't speak to each other for weeks or months because we're mad, but we always make up.  Also, my DH has come around too.  He has gotten to where instead of ignoring comments that his mother makes, before I can come back at her, he'll jump in and let her know that what she said was not acceptable.  So now there are less fights because mommy doesn't like to be called out by her baby boy. 


I think for a long time my MIl was just jealous of me because she was the main woman in her son's life for years and that changed when I came into the picture.  So she turned every family gathering into a competition for her son's attention.  I hated the first years, but now being married 16 years, I really don't care if she gets all his attention when we get together.  Let her fix his food and tell him how great he is.  Gives me the day off. 


Fabric softner - a health hazard??

I was sent an email by a friend concerning the hazards of fabric softner last night.  I was wondering if anyone else has heard of this?  The article he sent to me was from Allergy and Environmental Health Association (http://aeha.ca/help-with.htm)


He was also talking to an associate who has having many health issues.  He awoke one morning with a "texas-shaped" lump and redness on his neck.  He went to the doctor the next day and the doctor suggested that he go home and look at his pillow and call him back and tell him what he found.  There was a dry sheet in his pillow case - and you guessed it - in the shape of Texas.  His doctor told him that it was unbelievable the illnesses that are caused by fabric softener.


It seems like there are some many things you shouldn't eat, you shouldn't use, and the list goes on.  Sometimes I think we are doomed if we do and doomed if we don't.  I guess it is an issue of pick and choose.  Does anyone know an alternative for fabric softener? 


By the way - If you don't want to look at this article for any other reason, look at it for the great list of alternatives for cleaning without using chemicals.  They have a great list and it is quite lengthy.  I printed it off just to have for a household reference!


thank you MTStars for fixing authentication

Fixing a flat (soft drink, that is)....... (sm)
I do this one all the time: Ever leave half a Coke in the fridge, only to come back later and it's FLAT? I simply open up a new one and add some in with the flat stuff, and the result is actually a smoother, yet still carbonated soft drink. And then you haven't wasted half a can.
Buyer beware!
I've had several experiences on e-bay, one as seller and others as buyer.  I should have known better, but sent a money order for a piece of software to the UK and never received it.  The price was too good to be true--about $20.00, so that should have been a tip-off, also.  This seller also had good feedback record.  When I tried to follow up, the seller was no longer a part of e-bay.  The other buying experience I had was nerve-wracking; had to follow up with the seller of a C-phone several times before shipment.  As a seller, I researched info on an old vase (Roseville) and listed it at a fair price.  Other sellers had a similar vase for $1.00--so I gave up.  Just my experiences!  Glad to know others have had better luck!
Beware. There have been studies that
what you order is not necessarily what you get.
Settlement offers - beware
Just be aware that if they do a settlement offer of $3500  on the $7000 then you will have to include any portion that they write off as "income" on your taxes and they will send you a 1099 C that will show the amount that they cancelled and will report it to the IRS.  If they already have a judgment against you, why are they taking you to court?  I thought that once a judgment was placed that was it, of course if the judgment was placed prior to you making payments and then you began making payments again, that might require another judgment.  And of course that begins the start of the cycle of the 7 years before they will write off the entire amount and with the new laws that could also generate a 1099 C requiring you to report that as income.   Of course the amount of taxes you pay on the "income" is a lot less than the amount of the debt but it is still something to think about.  Good luck. 
I just need to VENT and see what you all think...Beware...this is long...sm

I have tried twice to tell this story but deleted it both times because the story is just too long so I will be as short as I can. 


I have a bunch of ROTTEN TO THE CORE sisters.  My sisters are just about the worst people I have ever met in my whole 43 years on this planet.  There is one who is especially bad and I just told my other sister that if she ever dies, to please not call me as I won't come to any wake or funeral for her because I HATE her guts.  I come from a very large family with 5 sisters and 1 brother with my brother being the oldest.  He is not involved.  He sort of "left" the family years ago because he couldn't take the bulls**t of my sisters anymore.  They did terrible things to him after his divorce.  We rarely see him now.  I am considered a scumbag and a loser because my husband and I don't make a lot of money.  We don't own a home.  We don't have gorgeous cars.  We can't give our 3 children everything they want and we can only give them small amounts of what they actually need, but we do try.  We love our children with everything in our souls.  They have made fun of me and my husband and insulted us to our faces.  My husband and I have a difficult marriage as he is tough to get along with so they hate my husband's guts.  My sisters have all gone out to dinner without inviting me.  I have found out because of someone's slip of the tongue.  They have made threats and sent rumors flying throughout the family, without me knowing, about calling DCYF on me.  I heard that one too from a slip of the tongue.  I cried for 2 hours in the shower that day.  They talk about everyone and I mean everyone badly.  They have a well known reputation in a couple of our towns here for being mean horrible girls.  They are about as fake and phony as a person can get.  Sweet and all smiles to your face and when you turn around, they stick that knife in as far as they can get it in.  They have what they have in their lives because of what someone has given them.  My sister had her property given to her by her in-laws.  It is worth about $1,000,000.  My other sister had land given to her by her husband's family so they could build their house and then his parents used to come over with BIG fat checks "to lessen their mortage burden" so now they owe almost nothing on their $500,000 house.  They think they are fabulous people.  They think they are the cat's meow.  In the past years when we were all talking and I would be invited to a holiday, I was not spoken to at all the whole time I was there.  I am a venter and I always have been so if my husband and I are fighting, I will always go to my older sister (one up from me) and vent and vent until I can't talk anymore because I just get so angry.  She gets on the phone the second I leave and tells every person in my family what is going on.  They in turn judge me and my husband, make their threats, and so on.  This is also happening to my oldest sister and her partner (she is in a gay relationship but was always dating a man and was married twice) and my sister's daughter and her family.  The three of us, me, my sister and her partner, and my sister's daughter and her family, talk.  We get along well.  We are happy with each other.  We don't judge each other.  Whatever happens in each other lives, we just accept it and don't judge each other because we realize that each other has their own life and they will deal with whatever comes on their own with their own family in their own way.  I now attend holidays at my sister's daughter's home.  I don't leave her house after a holiday feeling lonely or sad or angry because no one would speak to me.  I don't feel judged.  The sisters (I like to call them the Witches of Eastwick) all attend holidays with each other up at my sister's husband's family's cabin in the mountains.  The three of us are not invited.  My older sister has a son.  Several yeas ago, my sister and her partner had a terrible fight with him.  He went to the witches and told them a bunch of lies and now they have pretty much shunned her and her daughter and me too because we still talk to her.  I have a sister, who is involved in all of this, that I speak to on a regular basis.  She is close to my kids or at least my oldest son.  She pretty much ignores my other two children and they tell me, It's alright mommy, we know Aunty Becky hates us."  She is the one who has spread rumors about me in the family trying to get everyone to call DCYF on me.  I heard this too by a slip of the tongue from another sister a few years back.  I tend to be a forgiving person so I quietly forgave her for this without her ever knowing that I knew what she was trying to do.  Now that they are all inviited to the holidays up to my sister's cabin up north, this rotten sister of mine (the one closest to my son) has 3 cats that are fed twice a day.  They are extremely fat just like her.  These holiday trips up north are usually kept quiet and I only know about it the day before they are leaving to go, which is when she inevitably asks me to come feed her f******g cats.  This is how I know that a big party is going on up at the cabin and once again only the chosen selected few are going.   This is usually for 3 or 4 days and they get fed twice a day so I have to go to her house twice a day.  Sometimes I have to give them medication and the last time she asked me, I even had to soak her sick cat's feet in medicine.  She lives about 20 minutes away from me.  This girl would NEVER, NEVER, EVER do this for me.   My husband and I took our children on a cruise 3 years ago and we have a cat and I never asked her to do this for me as I know she would have laughed in my face.  I have been feeding her cats for years now when she goes away.  Keep in mind though that she was in the select chosen few to be invited up to the cabin.  I was not as I am considered trash in the family.  I am SICK AND TIRED of feeding this girl's cats so SHE can go up north to have fun with the family on the holidays.  My sister who invites everyone to go is a mean, horrible, sadistic, vicious, backstabbing wretched b***h.  No one will say anything to her like, "Gee Pat, where is everyone else?  Didn't you invite this one, and this one, and this one?"  They could care less.  All they know is that THEY were invited. 


Anyway, I am sorry this is so long.  I can't take my sisters anymore.  I have been thinking of this all day all weekend long.  I am really to the point where I just don't want to see them ever again.  I am going to tell my fat a** b***h sister to fnd another way to get her cats fed because I'm not doing it anymore!!  She is just using me and believe me when I tell you, she enjoys it.  She is very diabolical.  She loves it that I am not invited and she and her husband are.  She even questions me and counts the cat food cans to make sure that I came on all of the days they were gone.  These people have balls of brass and I have had ENOUGH.  I am just sitting and waiting patiently for the next time she says, "Oh, we're going up north for a few days.  Can you come and feed the cats?"  I just can't wait to see the look on her face when I simply say, "No.  I can't.  I will never feed your cats again!  Find some other sucker to do it!"


I believe that they are severely narcissistic people and this is nothing to take lightly. These types of people are very destructive.  Do any of you have family members like this and what do you do about them?  How do you stop them from making you feel sad, lonely, excluded and less than you are or deserve?  I think it is time for me to cut all ties with them.  I just can't take their crap anymore and I do think I would be much, much happier and calmer. 


 


Well, now it's my turn to tell my story...(Beware..this is long)
Well, I just don't know where to begin.  I was 26 years old when I met and  married my husband.  It will be 14 years ago this August.  I was a platinum blond, Swedish, 26-year-old, voluptuous virgin waiting for my prince to come.  I had never dated because I was too fearful and shy.  My mother always told me that my prince was coming.  She just didn't tell me he was going to be the prince of darkness.  It has been a nightmare, although he says it has been great with only a few bumps along the way.  He is abusive in every way including verbally, mentally, emotionally, some physical although very little (not an excuse, just telling it the way it is), what I feel is sexual abuse with me but not the children, but the worst by far is his financial abuse.  He has told me many, many times, "Who do you think YOU are?  What do you think...that you're _____ is golden?  I can find a dozen more women like you."  I have three children, now ages 14, 13, and 11.  14-year-old has ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. My husband is just like this although he has never been diagnosed and never would be because in his own words, "I am perfect just like God made me.  There is nothing wrong with me.  The problem here is you."  My credit is down the toilet.  Credit score is about 500.  His is 800.  Through the years, when the children were babies I had to feed them dry cereal with a cup of water because he wouldn't buy any milk or any groceries.  One very hot night in the summer, I had to feed them generic hot dogs and pink beans, which were some kind of bean that slithered out of the can in a gelatinous material.  The kids were were dry heaving at the table.  One day when I was about 8 months pregnant with my last child, he came up to me and said, "Well, I've made a decision."  I said what's your decision.  He said (very matter of fact), "I'm not going to pay for you anymore.  I won't help you pay your bills, I won't buy you clothes, I won't buy you anything.  If you want something, get off your f______fat a__ and get a job."  I had a 6-month-old and a 1 1/2-year-old and 8 months pregnant with the third one.  What!!  Get a job!!  Are you crazy??  He said, "Oh well."  Famous last words.  That is all I ever hear.  He has ripped out phone lines, denied us food and clothing.  We have two cars.  He used to hide the car I would drive around the neighborhood so I couldn't have access to a car.  He would even take the carseats.  One time when I was pregnant, I had no money so my girlfriend needed a babysitter a few hours a week.  She lives in Connecticut, which is about 45 minutes from my home.  She could only pay $45 a week but I would drive up there four days a week to watch those kids just to get that measly $45.  One day when I was leaving to go, I wanted $2 for an ice cream cone (I was pregnant at the time and that was my thing during that pregnancy).  I asked him for $2 and he said no.  I reached into his wallet and took $2 anyway.  So he came after me.  I took out the butcher knife but he ran outside to get to the car first so I couldn't get in.  I put away the knife and ran out the back door to try to get to the car first but he got there before me.  I reached in to try to grab the car keys out of the ignition when he rolled the window up as hard as he could.  I was screaming at the top of my lungs.  I thought he was going to break my arm.  I was able to backhand him and he unrolled the window.  A little while later I ran to the neighbors to call the police because he ripped the phone lines out.  I was there for about 15-20 minutes calling the police, family, and my friends to come and help.  When I got back to the house, he had taken both cars (hid one in the neighborhood) and went to work.  He left my 9-month-old and 1 1/2-year-old children all by themselves (and at the time I lived on a very busy street where cars would drive by at 50 mph).  When I walked in, they were sitting on the living room floor screaming at the top of their lungs.  The next morning I was in the shower and I lifted up my arms to wash my hair when out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the underside of my arm.  It was a jet black bruise about four to five inches long by about two inches wide.  It was literally jet black.  I was stunned.  When I called the police, I told them what was going on with his abuse.  I told them I was pregnant with two little ones at home.  I told them I had no food.  I told them and showed them the bruise and I told them I wanted to press assault charges.  They said, "He did that to you?"  I said yes.  I said, "I want him arrested for assault."  I told them where he worked.  They turned around and told me that because the incident happened the day before that there was nothing they would do and that they weren't going to go get him and arrest him.  They told me to just let him lie low for a while.  This happened in 1996.  We are not talking the 50s here.  This was just before they handed me a pamphlet on battered women and battered women's shelters.  The pamphlet said there does not have to be any sign of physical abuse.  If you are in a situation where you simply fear for your safety, the person can be arrested.  And I am sitting there pregnant with a huge, jet black bruise underneath my arm from where he rolled my arm up in the window.  This is just a few tidbits of the life I have had with him.  There have been some good times and good vacations but mostly bad.  We have fought so bad for years and years that I know the toll it has taken on the kids.  The guilt I have is insurmountable.  If he buys groceries, I have to pay him back.  If he pays the phone bill, I have to pay him back.  If he buys me anything or gives me a $10 or $20 bill, I have to pay him back.  Most of the time, I am not allowed to go into a store with him.  I went with him once to Wal-Mart and I put a $2 box of sweetener into the carriage.  That was it.  I am now not allowed to go into a store with him.  He screams at us that he pays the rent, therefore, it is his house and we have to learn to live the way he wants us to and we should be catering to him.  If we don't, he will take away things.  He has told me for years that he is a king and that the house is his castle and that he has allowed us to live with him because he is kind, loving, and gracious.  He will only buy one Christmas gift for his kids and no stocking stuffers or tape or wrapping paper or anything like that.  I have to do that with what I get paid to do MT work.  He doesn't buy them summer clothes, school clothes, winter clothes, NOTHING and never has.  When they were little, I would tell him that the children needed some cool clothes for summer.  He would take their little pants and cut them off and then take their turtleneck shirts and cut off the turtle neck and cut off the sleeves and say, "There you go.  There's their summer clothes."  Or he would just tell me, "Go ask your sister to buy them some clothes."  He has threatened to kill me and the children if I leave.  He has told me that he would kill me and the children before I would ever see child support.  He has a sex fettish where he wants it all the time, every day multiple times in a day if he could get it (not that he does, mind you.  I stopped that crazy crap a long time ago), and I am just supposed to stop all that I am doing and fulfill his needs (even though sex for me offers virtually nothing other than soreness, swelling, and boredom and has always been like this).  If I don't, over a few days he will get very nasty and vindictive.  I am very overweight, I smoke like a chimney, my credit is destroyed, I don't even own my own car or my home (we rent).  I have less now 14 years later than I did before I married him.  At least before I married him I had my own very nice car and some clothes.  I don't even have that.  My clothes are tattered, stained, and worn.  And...I had dreams of what my life was going to be like when I got married.  But it certainly was not a life like this.  My kids are older now and they are seeing their father for who he is.  He blames me and tells me it is all the bad stuff I am telling the children.  I keep telling him it is what they have seen for 14 years.  They beg me to divorce him.  My youngest, who is 11, was diagnosed last year with severe ulcerative colitis.  He has had a flare now for the past six weeks with at least ten bouts of diarrhea with blood every day.  He talks about depression a lot and always asking me what it is.  When I got the call last year from his pediatrician telling me to take him to the hospital for a possible blood transfusion (this was when we got his diagnosis), I almost fell on the floor from fear.  I called my husband at work to tell him he needed to come home.  He said, "I can't come home.  I have to work."  He said, "Don't you all think this is a bit overkill?"  His red blood cell count had dropped to 7.2 from a normal of 12 because of his bleeding.  He came to the hospital when he got out of work.  He showed up at 6:00 p.m.  We went outside and talked for a bit and then about 20 minutes after he showed up, he said, "Well, I have to go home to eat and shower.  I'm tired."  When I got angry, he said" Hey, I'm tired.  I need to rest.  Besides, there's nothing I can do here and it looks like they've got everything under control."  We still didn't know what was wrong with him.  I didn't know if it was cancer or what it was.  I was scared to death.  But he had to go home to eat and shower and rest!!!!  I think that was the beginning of the end for me.  I once read something on these boards that someone posted saying "Marriage is not supposed to be a good deal for one and misery for the other."  That is what my life has been.  My marriage was a great deal for him...kids that he never has to pay for (I mean nothing...not school projects and believe me there are a ton of them, not clothes, not shoes, notebooks, backpacks, nothing), free sex, and a wife that he doesn't have to take care of or pay for.  I believe in my soul that my marriage was a good business deal for him.  If you knew my husband, you would laugh at that statement because he is extremely uneducated and talks like a mentally retarded person.  People in the past have actually asked me if he was mentally retarded.  He thinks that if my son would drink lots and lots of water, that that will cure his ulcerative colitis and makes fun of me and insults me and everyone else.  I tell him he is a moron and he doesn't know what he is talking about.  His abusive mother made them drink nothing but water.  She would not buy them anything or strive for a better life.  They lived in a nightmare life.  So now he gets very angry when we won't drink tons of water to "cure" everything.  He tells us that he is trying to show us how to "live right" but we just won't listen.  He tells this to other people too including our landlord.  He has the most disgusting habits.  He picks scabs and eats them, he has eczema and psoriasis so he is one huge flake, which he enjoys picking off chunks and dropping them in a pile on the floor, he passes unbearable gas (like every two or three minutes that has such a horrid stench it makes all of us nauseous) and then flips out if we spray a room spray.  He will actually grab the can and scream that this is his house and we are all just disgusting to live with and just impossible to live with.  He just had a fight with my 12-year-old daughter tonight because he was passing tons and tons of gas and she sprayed a room spray.  He got up in her face screaming at the top of his lungs at 11:00 at night that this is his house.  He will pass gas all he wants and that he won't tolerate room spray being sprayed and then called her a god d___n bitch.  She was crying and begging me to divorce him.  She kept saying," You said it would be better for the family if you stayed married to him but it's not better.  It won't ever be better!"  Well, I could go on and on.  It has been 14 years of this but I think you get the picture.  I have no money.  I don't even own my own car.  I have a son who is going to need ongoing frequent medical care and I am afraid he will cancel the insurance if I do anything to get rid of him.  I have a great fear for our safety.  He has major problems with having to give up his money so to have to pay child support will send him over the edge.  He is a pathological liar so you can't believe anything he says even when he says he won't show up to court (which would be a dream come true).  He told me, "I would never allow anyone to judge me like that.  You can tell the judge to kiss my balls."  He seems to expect the absolute highest standards from the children and I but he doesn't have to live up to anything, virtually nothing.  Never has and never will but will shove it down my throat when he doesn't get what he wants from me.  Well, any advice.  I really am looking for legal advice for anyone else who has been through this.  I know I need to get rid of him...for the kids sake.  They need to see that life is not like this and not all men do this and that you don't tolerate abuse in any way, shape, or form.  My daughter, who just turned 13, says to me she hates men with a passion.  I told my niece that I felt like I was dying.  I never, never, never, never leave my house except to go to Dunkin Donuts up the street to get a coffee.  I haven't been out of my house for more than 3 hours in probably ten years.  And that is three hours probably once every two months.  I am lonely, isolated, and ragingly angry.  I want to go back to school but when I talk about that, he poo poos it saying I should go back in five or ten years or 15 years when my bills are paid and I can afford it.  HELLO?????  I am going to be 43 in October.  Maybe I should just wait to go back to school until I'm retired.  Well you get the picture.  If you've been through this and have any legal advice or any other advice, I would appreciate it.  By the way, when I bring up any of his abuse to him, he tells me "I don't remember any of that."  Funny, he always remembers every time I swear at him though.  Has never forgotten a single time.
Beware of overdraft protection on debit card though
My son moved into his own place, actually sharing a house with a friend. He got his first checking account and was actually doing well with it.  He actually didn't get any checks and just used his debit card. He and his roommate decided to get cable. Evidently my son signed up for it to be automatically deducted from his checking account, which he says he did not know. That was his responsibility and his mistake obviously. He should have known when they were going to ping his account. Unfortunately, he did not. They deducted for his cable bill, and then he thought he had more in his checking account and used his check card about 12 times in a 2 day time period.. like, for 1 soda for $1.49, or $5.00 of gas.  All of these charges were allowed and were put through but then were charged a $30 fee for each. Finally on the third day, the card was declined and that same day he received the notice of overdrafts in the mail.  Supposedly this is a service the bank offers, which I don't understand, in that they will process your debit like an overdraft and put it through, but then charge you. I totally understand how that is a good thing for checks, as you avoid getting the check charges and bounced checks through the merchants, but when you are using a debit card, shouldn't it just decline it if you don't have enough money in there? It would have tipped him off right away that there was a problem with his account, instead of racking up over $300 in overdraft fees. We've contacted the bank several times, but they will not budge saying that this is "service" they provide and it was explained in the paperwork he received when he opened his account.
Happy Birthday - beware of coming off Depo
I have been on Depo for 7 years (I'm 25). I had what I would consider mild acne while on the Depo. I recently stopped the Depo (about 4 months ago) and I have never had acne this bad!!! I'm praying that it calms down once my hormones get back to normal. It's definitely no fun! I have Proactiv and it definitely helps to get rid of the redness and calms things down a little - good makeup covers the rest. Good luck!
Was having a great time (Beware, long rambling:-)

while I was scooping the back so thought I'd try to get a couple of pics for DH, who is gone for the next 10 days for work.  He's a labradoodle that we got last summer at 4 months old and before anyone jumps in here and says they're overpriced mutts (which they are ) we got him from a shelter in another city.  All of the dogs I have had have been from shelters and would never pay hundreds or thousands when there are so many dogs that need homes.  We saw a brown one last summer that DH fell in love with, so I did some searching and this shelter had several.  The others had been picked up as strays, a couple of older dogs and several puppies, which I guess all but a couple died from parvo.  Jake was turned in by a family who thought he was too energetic for their 2-year-old.  He had kennel cough, we discovered, when we got him home and was sick for a few weeks, but not too bad a case, had some snotty nose and coughing, was really worried about pneumonia, but the vet said to go ahead and give him the vaccine and sometimes that helps them get over it a little easier.  He's got a nice combination of lab and poodle coat, needs to be raked once a week or so, but he doesn't shed.  He's a little pill for sure but I think is going to be a great dog with a little more work.  He's still pretty ~boisterous~ you might say on walks.  I'm a Dog Whisperer fan, just love that show and Cesar Millan, so we ordered the collar that he uses on that show, and it really is making a huge difference.  Also, I was really impressed when we got it.  How many things do you find these days that are made in the US?  His packaging on the collar had ~~we proudly support our country, made in the USA~~!!  Even more of a fan now!


I have been checking out boxer rescues and if we can afford a home of our own, hopefully next year sometime, I'd like to get a pal for him.  I'm actually a big boxer fan from way back, have a pic mom took of me as a baby in diapers sitting in the middle of a litter of boxer puppies with them crawling all over me!  a wonder any of us grew up, huh , with all the things we came in contact with like that, she'd probalby get hauled away for child abuse these days.  Dad found the mamma boxer wandering the country roads one hot summer day when he was hail adjusting.  She was struggling, pregnant, really hot and thirsty, so he brought her home, no one ever claimed her, so Duchess became a part of our family.  I had a boxer some years ago that I adopted from a puppy mill raid, where I helped take care of some of the dogs that were rescued, 200 and some of all varieties and ages, mostly all sick, filthy, malnourished, etc. in the the middle of January, below zero, snow, and a lot of them kept outside with no shelter, was a horrible mess, but people in that town really stepped up to the plate, donated all kinds of food, leashes, collars, bedding, vets donated their services, and all but a few of the dogs (too sick and had to be put down) were adopted.  Duke was a very sick pup at first and didn't know if he'd make it, but he was a wonderful dog with my kids when they were young!


Anyway, just sitting here browsing the board and rambling on...By the way Hayseed, I visited your website the other day because I wanted to see your web cam (really cool!) and saw you had an RIP pic for Arf, sorry for your loss.  I remember you said awhile back you thought it wouldn't be long but must have missed when he passed and crossed the bridge.


spelling police beware the swift correction of the administrator! ha! nm
nm
the stove
It is electric, but the burners have a smooth top. Man it is easy to clean and has a light indicating when the burner is still warm so you can be careful.
doing without a stove

I've been w/o a stove for a while because one of my cats kept peeing on it - I 'm a sucker and I chose to keep the cat and get rid of the stove.  I don't bake or cook much (I live alone..... go figure, huh?) so I haven't missed it.  I have a little convection oven if I need something along those lines, but the microwave, and crockpot do just fine for me. 


See if you can find out who does the installations and repairs for places like Sears, etc.  A lot of times they will have guys who do repairs on the side and many times they have used items that they will sell pretty inexpensively.  My mom retired from Sears and one of her best contacts was one of the repairmen who was retired - he fixed several washers for us and I bought a used one from him that lasted for quite a number of years.


I'd definitely be getting rid of the stove that had the dead mice in it, though.  I don't think I could ever eat something else that came from it again.


fireplace/gas stove
I have a gas stove that heats 95% of my house.  It is small 1000 sq feet house.  I have a fan on it, thermostat on the wall and it works just like a furnace.  I live on the water, floating home, and so am sometimes colder than land homes but this works for me.  I do have electric baseboard in my bedrooms but keep those at 55 and only higher if we have a week of under 32 weather and might freeze.  My gas bill never runs over 100 in the winter and I do not like to be cold and keep it at 65 during the day.   Been doing this for over 10 years now.  Used to have wood stove but it was too dirty and too far to bring wood down so went to this.  Love it. 
Does she do this in the vicinity of the stove?

Or does she avoid it?


Either way, it couldn't hurt to check for gas leaks.


What exactly is he doing in the wilderness and does he have a stove?
I backpack a lot, and know how to feed myself in the wilderness. What is DH doing? Is he hunting or camping? Based at a cabin, or staying "on the ground" in a tent? Does he have a portable stove for heat? Is weight of the food an issue as it is in backpacking? Is attracting critters an issue? Food smells can be problematic depending on what activity he's doing.

I don't know the details of this outing, so I may be way off base here. I ask forgiveness in advance, if necessary. But, if your DH is experienced in this sort of thing, he really should know how to do this for himself. If he doesn't have experience, I hope he's not going out there alone.
Always better on the wood stove...
My grandfather had a room in the back of the house that was heated by wood stove (they got central heat when I was a kid, but he closed off the vents and heated that room with a wood stove because he liked it better). Sometimes my grandmother would cook in there just because it tasted better.
wood stove
That really was the good ole' days......
Wood stove
My ex-inlaws still use one.
clean your stove
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH3tbQOJXd0&feature=related
boy! would I love to have that stove!
If it has been painted all black now and you just want to highlight the raised portion, perhaps just sand papering the raised portion would make it stand out some, or if you can find a stove paint in "silver" color, and just brush it lightly over the raised part, it would make it look nice. Just a thought. good luck! On a side note, upon viewing your post, at the bottom of the page was a link to another site for Soapstone Wood Stoves, called WoodHeatStoves. com. They pictured a teal colored stove with silver accents. Looked really nice, imo.
No natural gas stove -- for heating only
It is a natural gas free standing stove with logs, etc.  Not a cooking stove.   Thanks for your concern.
My last MIL cooked everything on wood stove
and things were delicious. She never had electric nor gas and probably would have never wanted one. How she did it, I will never know. She cooked everything from collard greens to breads such as biscuits and cornbread. Yum, yum.
I use chuck. I also cook it on top of stove
very slow with golden mushroom soap, a can of beer, potatos, carrots, and onions. Get it boiling and let it simmer for 3 hours or so.
How do you get stuff off glass stove tops? SM

I have tried the white creamy stuff from Sears, where I purchased stove. That doesn't get everything off.  One site suggested a straight razor, but since I type for a living, I am reluctant to use one (except when shaving legs!). 


Any tips? Please? Thank you.


Go to hgtv.com and see if they talk about this at all. If behind the sink & stove,
s
We put in a wood stove - I haven't used natural gas
xx
Mice carry vermin, get rid of the stove sm
I don't know where you live, but call Goodwill or some derivative of that type, Craig's list as mentioned or a free newspaper which advertises cheap and don't risk getting sick. Make sure you disinfect all that area and plug it all up and reseal probably with a piece of plywood or something before you replace the stove. Perhaps you can arrange for your town to pick the old stove up. I wouldn't use it. Sorry for your troubles at Christmas, it must be hard. Perhaps you can get some frozen meals to microwave or canned food from the local church food bank. I was told by a friend who works at a food bank that the government provides them with a check for a certain amount and they have to spend that whole amount on food, not a penny less, and they sometimes have too much food. Also, see if there is a church near you who provides meals. Some around here provide lunch and dinner and don't ask questions. Research, research, don't be proud, everyone is hurting. Good luck to you! Hope you do okay, everyone gets mice, no one is immune, just disinfect, make sure they don't get back in and replace the stove.
I have a glasstop stove. I burned up a brand new oven glove on it becauuse sm
I have no concept of "surface is HOT." It stunk up the place and ruined a new set of oven gloves, but it was okay. I am very careful of it now, because a HOT SURFACE light means it is HOT.

duh...but it was a brain fart.
Someone should set THEM on fire -sm
That is totally infuriating. Too bad the 3 months *confinement* doesn't include being confined to a burn ward with 3rd-degree-burns over 75% of THEIR bodies. At the very le3ast, they should be made to sit through watching someone in the tubs at a burn ward getting their skin pulled off piece by piece. Might be a real eye-opener. Also, I think their parents should be liable for the kitten's vet bills.

A few months ago there was a horrible video on YouTube where some jerk in the Philippines (who must've been missing more than a few chromosomes, just like those girls!)lit a caged rat on fire in the same manner. Then, as if that weren't bad enough, he took another caged rat and poured boiling water on it. When that didn't quite kill it, he set it on fire. I went after that guy with a vengeance... got his video pulled from YouTube, (and hopefully him banned from it permanently). Also got on some of the internet forums in the Philippines and tried to track him down so that cruelty charges could be filed against him, pointing out that people who torture & kill animals often go on to start doing it to humans...

Cotati isn't far from where I live, and there is also a man in that area that *adopts* kittens from the free ads and on Craigslist, and tortures & kills them. People have been trying to get that guy put away, but it's been an uphill battle.
But to fire someone for
wishing someone Merry Christmas?  That's what I'm talking about.  God forbid anyone says the word, "Christ." I wonder how long it will take before "In God We Trust" is removed from our money. 
lead in toys/Made in China...beware of Happy Meal toys
I watched a special on CNN yesterday about lead content in toys. I did not realize by your child simply touching a toy and putting his fingers in his mouth he could be ingesting lead. The special included a segment on a nice family that lived in a brand new home with a 2 year old and 6 month old. They both tested positive for lead. A 2 year old!!!! Worried, I went to my boy's toybox this morning and it is AMAZING how many painted toys are from China. Most notably this includes happy meal toys. I haven't gotten through one toy box and already have a trash bag full of toys. Please, please go through your children's toys. Lead ingestion can lead to brain damage. Be paranoid. Throw away all of the made in China stuff. Christmas is just weeks away--they will be getting new stuff (hopefully stuff that is paint-free!).

Your best bet is to buy made in the USA toys but even safer toys are unpainted blocks, Legos and books. A good, safe place to look for toys is www.mindware.com.

pass this on!
Maybe if you start a fire in your
fireplace, your swamp cooler will be more effective!

Either that or get a dehumidifier.

I hate humidity also, and here I am in NC. Would you believe that when people are sick they sometimes run HUMIDIFIERS HERE?? Makes no sense to me when they could just step outside most of the time, and we have enough fungus amongus, LOL.
Big fire pit with table
and snowshoes.
Where there is smoke, there is fire...

Someone said consider the source.  So let's consider the source...


You don't know her and she doesn't know you.  Why would she seek you out to lie to you?


Apparently your husband does know her and was going to warn you beforehand that she might try to stir up trouble.  Why would she pick your marriage to stir up trouble in?  What bone of contention does she have with your husband?  What is his relationship with her? 


And if there is nothing to what she says as your husband suggests and that she is just trying to "stir up trouble" then why did he feel he needed to warn you? 


Sounds to me like he's covering his bases.  Personally, I think you husband has a lot of explaining to do and this advice of "keep quiet and take notes" is bunk.  Don't be the victim.  Listen to what your gut is telling you.  Something smells in your situation and I bet it's coming from hubbie.


Trust me when I say, men can look their wives in the eye and lie without batting an eye and when caught in a lie, they will practically hurt themselves trying to rationalize and justify.  Whatever is going on with your husband, you cannot deny that there are rumors out there that your husband feels he needs to squelch.  That's troublesome by itself.  Why would someone make up rumors about him?


Don't excuse him, don't treat him with kid gloves.  Confront him and find the truth.  You'll know it when you hear it.


He can light my fire! ;)
The Australian guy that sang the Doors song 'Light My Fire' is GOOD-LOOKING. Doesn't hurt that he sounds good also ;)
Fire Mtn. Gems
Fire mountain gems has a great selection and you can order a free HUGE catalog. They have wonderful prices and fast shipment. Local stores are all most always cheaper than Jo-Ann's and Michaels by the way.
I don’t fire off the questions because
most physicians now just try to race through because having to make that quota. But back to him asking you to have a sleep study, first of all you can refuse to have any test done you don’t want to have done. I refuse to weigh in my doctor's office. That is not really information basically needed (unless having anesthesia or dye injected for MRI say). Has any family member stated to you about excessive snoring, that being a reason you would need to have the study done. I did have a young niece to die from sleep apnea so in that case with loud, excessive snoring that you have heard about, then I would ask for it myself. I just turned down a nerve conduction study the other day. The neurologist said he oculd not treat; therefore why have it just then.
I'd fire that doctor in a nannosecond...sm
there's no reason at all for a doctor to act like that, much less your husband!

Most of us survived chicken pox just fine as kids. Having the vaccine doesn't guarantee you won't get it - it just reduces the chance of getting it (i.e. some people who get the flu shot get the flu anyway).

Keep the lotions and potions on your child and you'll get through this.
You are playing with fire and someone is going to get burned. sm
Infedility by any means is not moral and it is not right. Your husband has every right to be upset, as would I if my husband were doing the same. I'm not condemning you, I'm saying what I would tell anyone. In fact, my best friend brought a guy to the movies with us the other night and she is MARRIED. Needless to say, I was very upset and called her after the movie and told her I didn't think that was very cool.

I bet you 99% of the responders to this post will agree that what you are doing is not right.

It's just exciting and fun right now and not at all worth it in the end. If your husband finds out he may never respect or trust you ever again.

Also, what helps me if I ever, ever get an inkling to stray (which has happened once in our 10-year marriage), is to think about ALL my husband has been through with me and put up and has done for me (which is A LOT), and eventually the "other guy" just doesn't seem that appealing anymore. It actually made me cry when I began thinking of all my husband has done for me and my child (I was married once before we met).

Anyways, you have to stop it. Leading a double life weighs very heavy on your conscience. It's no fun. Not good for your health.

Oh, one more thing! Why is he single, if he is? He's probably a jerk. He ditched you once, right? If he's willing to hang on to you even though he knows you are married? He's not worth it, girl.
I grew up with fire ants and believe me sm
You KNOW when you've been bitten. They aren't called fire ants for nothing. We do think it might be insect(s) from the tree we bought (see post "something occurred to us").
Wow, sounds like you want to jump right into the fire.
I wouldn't do it.  Way too expensive.  Y'all are probably young.  I would sleep on it for several, several nights.
Wow! You're sure a ball of fire! nm
nm
Sounds like the MIL is the one fueling the fire!!
I have the world's greatest MIL! I could marry 50 more men and not have a MIL like her!! She is my BFF! She thinks and acts as if I'm her own daugher (she only had 2 sons). But I will tell you this, more than likely the MIL is the source of the problem and stabbing you in the back worse than you think. Sounds like she may be where all the animosity is coming from. Sorry to say, but she probably thinks you aren't "good enough" for her son. (you know how Mama's boys are) I would definately DEMAND that my hubbie take up for me or I would send him home packing to his Mama!
birthday/fire hall
What fire department in the US allows smoking indoors?  I really don't need to know.  I'm sorry you had to endure that.  Cat
Hi Cat! I was told it was at a fire hall, but actually was SM
more like a legion, etc. Hope you know what I mean. .  much smaller than the fire hall which was down the street. I got lost three times, was not familiar with the town, even though it is not far from where I live, etc. Wow. . what a day. Thanks for caring. It is now 12:50 a.m. and my eyes are actually still burning!!
fire at school, i was not contacted

Here's what happened:  I dropped my third-grader off at 8:20 this morning.  A group of us moms who drop off their kids meet at a little coffee shop just down the street.  I leave the coffee shop at 9:30 a.m., return home, check my voice mail (none), and then leave to run an errand (taking my elderly neighbor to the garage to pick up her repaired car).  It's now just after 10 a.m.  On the car radio, (from an out-of-town radio station, not local) I hear that my child's school has been evacuated due to a fire and school has been dismissed.


I immediately pull the car to the side of the road and call one of the mom's I had just had coffee with, asking her if she had been called by the school.  She had not.  So, I turn the car around and start racing back to school.  My brother then calls me (his daughter is in the same grade, same school, as my boy), stating that he has picked up our children and is taking them to grandma's house.  He said he had only heard it from his girlfriend who heard it on the radio and called him.


Last year, we had to fill out this form stating who was okay to pick up our kids from school in case of emergency.  My brother was on that list from last year, but this year we were not supplied with one of those forms to fill out.  What if things had changed?  What I had decided he was no longer to be on that list?


Anyhow, I get home, check my voice mail again, still none.  On the noon news, the story is there, stating the children have been evacuated and bussed home.  How many kids got sent to a home with parents away at work?  How many kids waited to get picked up by non-contacted parents?  Isn't there supposed to be an emergency system which can contact 900 parents in a timely fashion?  I am really miffed.  Everything is alright, but this was a fiasco.


In case of a fire and no keys
I would go through the window but not in a situation like this, different case altogether.