@jbluther:

@geiko: I've had good luck with starting off when the cats are sleepy. Then I get down on the floor, on my knees, with the cats between my legs, knees about where the cat's shoulders are. I cross my ankles (to keep the cat from slipping out behind me) and bend down so that I can use my arms to keep the cat from…

@mjpd1: I had the same problem a couple of years ago. I found the service manual for the washer on-line, figure out how to get it apart and diagnosed the problem. I tried epoxying the switch housing back together, but no luck. Ended up buying the part on ebay (much cheaper than anywhere else I could find it) and…

I had knee surgery on the 6th of January so my fitness goals include doing everything my PT, orthopedist and trainers at the gym tell me (in that order when things conflict). Right now, we're working on getting rid of the swelling, increasing quad strength and the starts of some stability retraining.

Yeah, this food isn't good for you. But, as long as you're eating mostly healthy, why is it so bad to have one of these "horrible" sandwiches, salads, shakes every now and then? One of these things every couple of weeks or every month of so can certainly be fit into a healthy lifestyle (mostly healthy diet, regular…

You don't have to buy the cotton gloves for when you moisturize at night...just use the little miracle "stretchy" gloves (probably on clearance at Target about now. Most people probably have at least one pair lying about unused somewhere). Or, better yet, just use socks. Looks a little silly, saves a little money.

@Sean Robertson: Unfortunately that doesn't always work. I live in Texas and have horribly dry hands every winter. I won't tell you what the temperature is outside right now though...you might cry.

My vacation accrues and rolls over. That's allowed me to take more vacation time then I've earned last year and this. Last year it was about 24 hours over, this year it will be about 18. Last year the overage was due to going to Space Camp. This year it was due to going to Iowa to help clean up after the flooding.…

No pictures currently.

@xjamms: I got a jar of hot cocoa mix like this from one of my high school kids (I'm a volunteer youth leader) one year. They also threw in a few milk and white chocolate chips. that was a really nice touch. Don't forget instructions as to how much mix to how much water.

I've found that for large/heavy packages, FedEx Ground is the way to go for both cost and speed of shipping. Plus, free tracking and the convenience of shipping from a Kinkos that's open 24/7 are great bonuses.

This sounds like it would be a good recipe for when you're going to be stuck at work on a weekend/off day/holiday/test site working nights six days a week for three weeks in a row/in a hotel in a strange city on your birthday/etc. Not exactly the real thing, but close enough and sometimes that's all that matters.…

Let's see.

@StewartGesh:

My employer gives us paid time off to vote, if your normal work hours on election day overlap with polling hours such that you have less than two hours on both end of polling hours. That pretty rare especially since most people are able to flex their time in various ways. My dad, who works in the auto industry, gets…

This is an interesting tool, but is way off for me. I spend below 5% of my monthly income on transportation and only around 5% on food and consumables. I have no debt. Housing and household are similar, but still higher than what I spend. However, my everything else is above 11% as that's the category that includes…

For easy meals on the road, I like beans and rice. Black beans from a can (well rinsed, it's a little tricky, but an impromptu collander can be created from plastic cups and a pocket knife). Brown "ready rice", the kind that comes in the plastic package and just needs to be microwaved. Salsa of choice. Add some fruit…

I do a 9x80 (9 hours M-Th, 8 hours first Friday, off second Friday). I've been doing this for about six years now and I really enjoy it. The longer days do take a bit to get used to and it does give me less free time during the week. But, having that extra day off every other week is great. I can get most of my…

For fire ant bites, I've found that neosporin (or the generic equivalent) with pain killer is very effective at stopping the itch. Doesn't do anything for inflammation though.

Also, I do fly internationally, but it's more like every three years or so...somewhere between yearly and never. But there's no option for that.