I agree in principle, but are they going by what the borrower is actually paying for food, shelter and clothing or what the average person in that area/average for the country pays? Often it's the second, so many people's actual discretionary income ends up waaaayyy lower than what the formulas think it ought to be.…

The health department can't include the name of the person who exposed you in those kind of reports. Of course some people can figure out who it was anyway, but the hospital/health department is not allowed to tell you that X person has Y disease. Only that someone with Y disease named you as a sexual partner and you…

The health department would have asked her for a list of recent partners who could have been exposed, and if she gave them this ex's name, he would have been told about a possible exposure. But he would NOT have been given any information about the source of the exposure- ie, that this specific woman was diagnosed…

My parents had my brother repeat kindergarten. He's on the autism spectrum and would have been the youngest in in class otherwise, and they felt he needed some more time to acclimate to the environment and gain social skills. They didn't plan it in advance, but a teacher recommended it near the end of his first…

Definitely double-jointedness, not photoshop. My elbows do the same thing, and yeah, it freaks people out when I forget and bend them the wrong way. Most of the time I remember not to do it, but it's more likely to happen if I'm leaning on my hand the way she is here.

Maybe the teens assumed it was just a really old cemetery? You hear about people stumbling across medieval plague pits and such occasionally. Still, you think they'd report it to someone.

Yup. I wasted so much time searching for dress-code-appropriate shorts during my freshmen year before discovering some in the "mom jean" section. Then I had a growth spurt and even those shorts no longer met the dress code. They fit perfectly well, but the extra height meant they failed the "fingertip" test.

Either person can ask to meet. If you're doing email-style messages, I would wait until you've gotten at least two substantive replies before asking to meet up. More is fine, especially if you're not sure how interested the person is. In my experience, the average was 3-6 rounds of messages before meeting up. But I…

I find it really useful. Pinterest has basically become my recipe search engine. I use in place of bookmarks for lots of things, like gift ideas, home repair tutorials, sewing projects. It's just easier to locate the right link from a bunch of pictures rather than URLs.

It's an old Disney Short.

For me it's the skull. I don't 'get' animal skulls as decoration- they really, really creep me out. I'm not normally squeamish, and I spent a lot of time wandering in the woods as a kid where I came across plenty of deer bones, but skulls have always bothered me.

Same here, but if I was the unlucky cop sent to deal with the snake, I'd definitely take a photo. Because no one would believe how big the thing was without proof.

I can't give you advice on any of the rest of it, but it is absolutely OK to ask a close friend or two to keep an eye on a specific relative. That's a very common situation, and most people know what it's like to have that one relative/friend/coworker who needs a minder around alcohol. Remember, it will be easier for…

Duplexes are great for people with aging parents. Buy the house together to save money, both sides get privacy, the older generation has as much independence as they can handle, and the younger generation often gets free childcare. And unlike a 'mother-in-law' suite, the other half can be sold or easily rented out…

Yeah, I know someone with serious gluten issues, but she's outnumbered by the people who tried gluten-free because they thought it was healthier or would help them lose weight.

I was taught to use the sales tax when I was a kid. Back then my state had a 5% tax, and we would triple that for a 15% tip. I usually tip 20% now, but back then everyone I knew did 15% as the standard.

I have returned items under similar circumstances and never been laughed at- it's a very reasonable request. And a lot of stores are more generous about returns for stuff purchased around the holidays, since so many people get them as gifts without receipts.

That's probably not legal... If you google "tenant's rights [your state/province]" or "inspection code [your state]" you might be able to find the temperature requirements. I know in Massachusetts it can't be below 64F at night, and I have threatened to report more than one landlord for turning off the heat too…

First of all, you sound like you have a good head on your shoulders, you're thinking about the right things, and so you will probably make the right decision for yourself.

Pub trivia seems to increasingly popular as my social circle loses our tolerance for late nights, loud music, and getting totally hammered. The other big activity is craft beer, consumed at bars quiet enough for people to have conversations in which they pretend to understand craft beer. Or on brewery tours.