FolkRockFan

I'm all for fostering shelter pets. It's a great way to help out the local shelter or rescue organization.I also HIGHLY recommend adopting adult cats and dogs. Most people who go to shelters want puppies and kittens, so the older pets don't have the best chances of being adopted. But I have to admit that I rarely follow my own advice. This home is always FULL of cats and dogs who never saw the shelter. People dump pets near our house. We're very isolated, so it's apparently "safe" to throw out cats and dogs like household trash around here *sigh*. We try to find homes but there have been plenty of times when we couldn't place them...so they ended up living with us permanently.That's why we currently have seven cats and...actually, I don't know exactly how many dogs are around here right now. Two of the rescues just had puppies - a couple of weeks apart. (There was no opportunity to have them spayed, but we're having that done after the puppies are weaned.) So we have thirteen puppies who are about four weeks old. Hopefully we can find homes for them all. Good homes, I mean. :lol:Heh. If anybody happens to live in East Texas and wants an adorable puppy - or several adorable puppies - we'll be able to help you out in a couple of months or so *grins*

This would be fine for people who are really into technology: the sort of person who loves having gadgets and computers and such all over the house.I, on the other hand, prefer the low-tech answer to most things. I turn on both faucets, adjust the temperature until my hand is satisfied that everything's good, THEN get in.

When the powers that be created YouTube, they HAD to have known that people would immediately begin uploading and sharing copyrighted content. If they didn't know this, then they were either very stupid...or they had a very bad legal team giving them horrible advice.YouTube should have had a plan in place a long time ago for dealing with the inevitable lawsuit. They should have seen this coming.

If you're using a proxy with your Web browser (Tor, for example), you'll sometimes end up at Google China's Web site instead of Google's U.S. site. But if you aren't doing the proxy thing, you should check for browser hijacks, spyware, et cetera.

On the subject of being a cat's caretaker: it is possible to teach/train most cats. Some people have taught their cats to use the toilet instead of a litter box. Just flush every now and then and it's all good. I also worked at a horse racetrack with a man who, like me, lived in one of the small rooms on the grounds. Seeing as he only had one small room and did not want to smell a litter box (even a very clean one), he taught both of his cats to scratch at the door. They went outside to do their business and, because cats bury their own mess, the man didn't have any cleanup duties.You can also train the cats to stay away from things that they're not supposed to investigate/trash/whatever. My cats only jump onto the kitchen counter when I tap it with my finger to let them know that they should get up there for a special treat. Otherwise, they just get on the trash can or one of the bar stools at the counter and eyeball me very closely to make sure that I see their desire to be fed :lol:Knowing all of that, though, will not turn a dog person into a cat person. We still prefer whatever pets we prefer and there's nothing wrong with that.This cat training business does, however, make it very difficult for me to understand why people dump the poor kitties at the nearest shelter (if they even give the cats that little amount of "courtesy") with the excuse of "I can't handle them." I can only pray that these people are sterile, because if they cannot manage a housecat then they should not be trusted with children.

I haven't used WinZip in a while now - years, actually. Why pay for software when I can get a legally free program like CAM UnZip that does the same thing?

As far as I'm concerned, it's wrong. My belief is based on my faith. I'm a Christian and a Southern Baptist, so I'm fairly conservative where religion is concerned. That's my personal belief, which does not supersede your (generalization) right to your own belief. Some of my friends are gay. I don't try to convert them and they don't try to dissuade me of my beliefs. *shrugs* They make their lifestyle choices and I make mine, as we're all free to do that. And they know better than to ask me to go to a gay pride rally, just like I know better than to invite them to my church

I bought a laptop because I was living on campus but came home a lot. I needed to work on papers and such even though I was at home with my family, so being able to easily bring my computer along really made my life easier.Now that I'm back home and commuting to school, I'm not taking the laptop along with me as much. I still like it, though, because it takes up less room on my desk. I'm not capable of upgrading the hardware myself (I can do that with a desktop, but not with a laptop), but that's a disadvantage that I was willing to take when I made my choice.Another advantage to the laptop is that I can still use a better monitor, keyboard and mouse than come with the computer :lol:The family computer is a desktop. That's great because there's a bigger desk in the living room, Mom and I can both upgrade the desktop if need be, et cetera. When I have to get myself a new computer, I might get a desktop. It depends on how portable I need the thing to be and how much money I have. Getting a desktop with the same specs as its laptop counterpart is still cheaper.

The pharmaceutical industry is corrupt - and getting away with it.They push tons of pills on doctors, who push them on patients. Got the flu? Take this heavy-duty antibiotic. Oh, wait. Antibiotics don't do anything for the flu. But let's not tell the patient that. And because the patient is used to this, s/he gets upset when a doctor who has a conscience says, "Nope - Penicillin isn't necessary."Pharmaceutical companies invest millions in developing a new drug. So the first one to come up with the drug gets the patent. For however many years, that pharmaceutical company rakes in all the profit because they have the only version of that new drug. But the patent expires at some point. Then other companies can make generic versions - the same drug, only cheaper - without having invested those millions in research and development. So the original pharmaceutical company makes TINY changes to their drug, which enables them to renew the patent.And of course, the patients eat the cost of that "new" drug, which isn't really all that different from the old version.

When I got my laptop a couple of years ago (brand new) it came with a free trial of Norton Internet Security. I used the thing for about, uh, ten days. Then I found AVG AntiVirus (free edition) and started using Windows Firewall (works just fine for what I do).Oddly enough: once I uninstalled Norton and rebooted my brand-new system, it ran faster. Noticeably so.So yeah...even when Norton's not actively doing anything, it seems to be a real resource hog on some systems (like mine). Your results may vary...but I for one can't stand the stupid software.

There are some bad charities, sure. A few are straight-up scams, yes.But for the most part, with proper oversight and boards of directors and volunteers who actually want to make a difference, charities can be awesome things. Curing any disease/illness - AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, cancer, whatever - takes time. Researchers have to have buttloads of money to put into researching each possible cure. The scientists and doctors have to have the right equipment. Have you priced some of that equipment lately? Very, very expensive.The charities devoted to finding cures also have to fund other things. The people who give their full-time working lives to charities have to make a living. The charities have to promote themselves and put together fund raisers to bring in more money: that takes money. But for the most part, charities are basically organized and efficient groups that make the goal easier to achieve. If you have an organized effort to find a cure for cancer, you're a lot more likely to succeed - and sooner - than if every individual tried to do it on his or her own.

Do you make small talk with her - like, before the teacher starts the class, or when class is over? If not, it's a great place to start. There are lots of great topics: music, the homework assignment, computers, movies, whatever. If you're already talking with her like that, the subject of movies (or whatever you're interested in doing with her over the weekend - going to a concert, for example) will come up at some point. That's the perfect time to ask if she's interested

As long as human beings exist, there will be all sorts of violence. Robbers will prey on weak-looking victims. There will be war. Somebody out there will be working on the net great weapon (for personal/civilian or military use).If you destroy every weapon on earth - every gun, knife, crossbow, bomb, nuke, et cetera - then people will go after each other with sharpened sticks, or rocks or even their bare hands. You can't destroy ALL of the tools that we need in our modern society, either. Violent criminals will turn to tire irons, or maybe baseball bats...whatever they can find, really.That is, of course, assuming that you REALLY managed to destroy ALL of the "real weapons." It's not like simply making them illegal will discourage criminals from acquiring and using them. The big problem with taking away weapons is that it leaves law-abiding citizens with fewer means of self-defense. Take away guns and we'll have to defend ourselves with knives. Take away knives and we'll have to defend ourselves with billy clubs. Take away billy clubs and...you get the idea. Meanwhile, the criminals still have guns, knives, billy clubs, et cetera.

I think that constructive criticism of somebody's art is the best way to go. Saying "It stinks" doesn't really explain anything, nor does it help the artist figure out what to do differently next time. But at the same time: it's almost better to go with the "It stinks!" than it is to shower insincere praise on every single thing that somebody creates. Acting as if a mediocre piece of art is actually the best thing ever created only gives the creator a swollen ego. And he or she won't try very hard to make the next piece better, because he or she thinks that everything is already super-fantastic.

The most likely answer to the problems you mentioned is a lack of both funding and volunteers. Many animal shelters have a few paid personnel, yeah (at our local shelter, these paid staff are the board of directors), but a lot of the people are volunteers. And funding...well, that's a problem with animal shelters all over the country.I would talk to the people who run the shelter, though. You might be able to help them out, even in a small way. You don't have to quit your day job, sell off all of your possessions and spend forty hours a week at the shelter to make a difference. :POh, and as for buying purebred animals: anybody who is interested in a specific breed of cat or dog can ask around in their local area. You're likely to find a rescue organization devoted to a specific breed. I love Siamese cats, for example. I don't have to pay a breeder to find a purebred. I can go to the Siamese rescue organization and adopt one who really needs a good home. The same is true of all sorts of dogs: German Shepherds and greyhounds come to mind.You'll probably pay an adoption fee, but it's often equal to, or sometime less than, you'd pay a breeder.

I never said that you (generalization) would DIE if you suddenly quit smoking. My comparison was meant to illustrate the fact that addiction makes the body NEED whatever it is that it is addicted to. (It's not QUITE the same as needing water - we're all born with a need to drink, after all, whereas we are not born with an innate need to smoke - but a tobacco addict has a similar dependency on both tobacco and water.) As a smoker, my body and my brain have been wired, over the course of the last 11-12 years that I've smoked, to need tobacco. I'm not going to die if I stop smoking, but my body will definitely revolt. Besides which: my comment was somewhat absurd because it was a response to an obtuse observation.

Well...the month's not over yet, so I can only go with what I've read SO FAR this month :PErica Kennedy's "Bling." This wasn't bad. I didn't think that she had to go with so much back story...and the asides to explain things...but it worked all right for her first novel. Not bad overall. Chuck Palahniuk's "Choke." I figured that this would be a lot like "Fight Club," seeing as the latter novel was the one that made this guy famous. But, it's not like it at all. It's a pretty good read if you like Chuck P's fast-paced and really weird writing style.I re-read Stephen King's "The Bachman Books." The old edition with "Rage." You know - before he became concerned about the whole school shootings thing and had that novella replaced with "Thinner." Yuck. Oh, and I also read "Cell" (another King novel). It's not as good as some of his older books. I liked it, but not enough to re-read at some point in the future.Right now I'm waiting for Anthony Swofford's "Jarhead" to show up. I saw the film and really want to read the book because I'm betting that the guy's novel explains things more thoroughly. As in, why in the world the unit did half of the things that they did...what was on the guy's mind...that sort of thing. The stuff that the movies can't often show us.

Uhh...smoking is an addiction. A smoker's body craves a cigarette the same way that it craves water. So...just don't drink water for the next, oh, week. Just don't do it anymore. I'm 100 percent serious.

I occasionally take an Internet class, but most of my college education has been on campus.There's nothing wrong with learning online. It's a great way for a lot of people to get a degree: people whose schedules might not be consistent enough throughout the semester. As for making friends: if that's the MAIN reason that somebody is going to college, then I feel sorry for whomever is paying that kid's tuition bill. Oh, sure, making buddies at college is great, but that shouldn't be the big reason to go to school.

Home security - against home intruders - is mostly a matter of making your home the worst possible target. Generally speaking, home invaders will go for the easiest target. If your neighbor has left his garage door open and your house appears to be well fortified (read: difficult to enter, or currently occupied), then the burglar is probably going to waltz into your neighbor's house via the garage.You should not, however, count on your neighbor to have the most vulnerable house on the block. You have to evaluate your own house and improve the weakest points. Make sure that you have sturdy door locks, for example. Make a habit of keeping everything locked up, even when you're at home. It seems easier to leave the front door unlocked when you're there, but some burglars walk around trying front and back doors. You really don't want to walk out of your bathroom to see a bad guy carting off your TV.

Well, first of all, you need to be honest, if only with yourself. You've been with this girl for eight years: it's not like you've taken her on two or three dates and then found a more interesting girl to take to the movies.You should seriously consider being honest with both of these women too. If you were in one of their places, wouldn't you want to know - even if knowing sucked? I would. As for which girl to choose: well, that's on you. You're really the only one who can tell who's right for you.Then again: they might solve your problem for you. They could decide that you're not right for them. But that's not a good excuse to continue lying. You'll only end up feeling worse and doing more damage if you continue doing this.P.S. Your post would be easier to read and understand if you wrote more than one long, run-on sentence.

I'm a certified cat person. I agree with the idea that we are naturally inclined to pets who are like us. I'm aloof, distant and fiercely independent: so are my cats. The kitties here at my house are the best companions I could ever want. They're not so aloof that they can't bother to let me pet them, but they're not so co-dependent that they have to look to me for approval every time they take a leak.Cats are far more entertaining than dogs. I love watching the cats wrestle with each other. I enjoy watching them sprawl on the floor, right in the middle of the sunbeam, and hours later wake up and give me the evil "Why did you move the sun?" glare.And I definitely love breaking out the laser pointer and watching them chase the red dot.

I think that, because we're all born equal regardless of gender, race, etc., the best thing to do is to be equal every day of our lives.Do we really need a sham holiday to feel equal? I hope not, considering that we women types don't have nearly as much to gripe about as our mothers, and their mothers, did. I mean, really. We Western women get to do pretty much whatever we want. We can be stay-at-home mothers, brain surgeons, librarians, plumbers...whatever, really. We could even have a woman in the White House at some point in the near future. (Whether that last one is good or bad depends on the candidate, not on the gender, by the way.)I for one celebrate womanhood every day. Even the really cruddy days of the month. I don't need some made-up holiday to tell me that it rocks to be a girl. If anything, "women's holidays" should remind those of us in the Western world that we got the long end of the stick. Considering that there are still honor killings in some parts of the world (as in: a female is raped and her male family members kill her because she's impure and an insult to her family), I would say that we have it pretty good.

Like I said in the other, related thread: I'm not much of a gardener. I actually almost killed an aloe vera plant a couple of years ago *hangs head in shame* Oh, well.But...as far as food goes: nothing beats fresh, home-grown vegetables. I live at home with my parents and sibs, most of whom enjoy gardening, so we all get a bunch of fresh stuff at least part of the year. Mom's got the onions and garlic started (works out well this time of year, at least down here in Texas). She's got most of the seeds that she wants for this season. I don't remember exactly what all she picked up - even though I was standing right there with her - but if all goes well we'll have sweet peas, watermelons, tomatoes, some squash, maybe a little broccoli, etc.My family plants flowers around the garden. It looks pretty and some of the flowers (like the magnolias) are great insect repellents. They're about eight billion times better than pesticides Mom picked up a ton and a half of flower seeds this year...everything from morning glories to mixed wildflowers to...yeah. Tons of 'em.

I call Shenanigans on this one. If the guy's attraction to this girl is based almost solely on how she looks, then they aren't compatible - and they would have figured that out a lot sooner. It doesn't take too many instances of seeing the girlfriend without makeup (for example), and not liking that sight, to realize that there's nothing but raw physical attraction (read: pheromones) between 'em.