The Grass Doctor

What Kind and brand of weed and fertilizer do the Professional lawn care company's use it looks so nice.?

what kind of equipment do you recommend for lawn care need? I need to trim corner weed (weed eater?), AND tree branches that are hanging over. What is the best purchase for these needs All in one, or Gasoline 2 Cylinder each machine (not sure what to call the machine). What brand is good and durable ?

Organic lawn care help--fertilizer and weed control? ok...i've taken the first step to stop poisoning my lawn...go organic but i really have no clue about any good brands out there. i've looked around some websites but i could use some help with some good brand name organic lawn fertilizer and weed control...for the spring.

Know where I can find miniature(like model train size) pro lawn care equipment? I would like Stihl brand weedwackers, edgers, blowers, and chainsaws, EXmark brand walk-behind mowers. Looking for detailed equipment in a doll house size model. Please let me know!! Thanks!

I need advice on a lawn care program.? I live in KY and want to get my lawn in better shape. Right now I have some dandelion, clover, and crabgrass invading my Bluegrass. Can I use weed-n-feed products anytime of the year as often as I want? What other fertilizers/weed killers, etc should I use and when? What brands do you reccomend? I also have a dog so don't want anything that will be harmful to my pet.

is Toro a good brand for lawn equipment? how compared to others? I remember , back in the 90s and even 00s ...that Toro was THE #1 lawn mower used by professional lawn care people and landscapers..is this not true? why, when changed to Kubota and Stihl? also, i noticed that Toro switched to Exmark or partnered up with exmark and exmark then became the replacement of Toro...why they did this? HOW ARE TORO BLOWERS OR WEED EATERS? HOW COMPARED TO LAWN MOWERS? I THOUGHT TORO WAS THE MERCEEDES OR BMW OF LAWN EQUIPMENT AT ONE TIME..BUT HOW THEY HAVE BEEN OUT ADVERTISED ? AND WHAT ABOUT JOHN DEERE? I REMEMBER THEY USE TO BE VERY POPULAR BEFORE TORO,,BUT THEY FELL OFF HARD AFTER.WHY FOR THAT TOO? thanks for your answers!

starting up a lawn care business? me and my girlfriend want to start up a lawn care business we are only 18 and we thought it would be a good way to make money and i now a few things we need like a tractor lawnmorwe and a trimer but what els do we need and whats a good brand name like john deere husk or what kind tractor any info woulld be really good

lawn care business? i am starting a lawn care business with 2 friends, it wil be small scale but will beat competitors prices, i already have a mower i was just interested in what other power tools i need to have a succesful business, please name some brands what was the name of that 3 in one weed eater thing u had jeff?

lawn care- having trouble picking up leafs on riding lawn mower? My snapper lawn mower is having trouble picking up leafs. My blade is torn to all hell. and I have manged to destroy the bag system on the back of my rear engine mower (bag may be bent back a bit and center pipe doesn't fit as tightly as i believe it should, but not so crappy i believe is main culprit). I'm wondering if these are the most likely of culprits or if it is my style blade or something else, like the mowing decks distance from the ground, or the speed the mower moves, or blade moves? I'm trying to start my own mowing business , so any opinion or advice is appreciated. even if it doesn't have anything to do with picking up leafs. mention your favorite brand equipment please. Thank you ahead of time for your answer, it's much needed some leafs and grass make it to bag but most stay in the pipe leading up to it.

I'm looking for a decent and reliable lawn mower for my small lawn care business. priced around $150-$320.? I need a self propelled mower with a bag. Any suggestions on the best brands? Links would really help out.

Lawn Care Questions for renting a house?( 2 questions)? If in the lease of the house we are renting it does not state we have to do repairs just up keep do we have to redo the lawn because it is all weeds. The landlord gave us the house originally with all weeds for a lawn. It does state in the lease that we have to abide by HOA, but HOA only regulates how much we water, fertilize and whether the grass is cut. Now how would you go about killing the weeds and growing grass in florida the best and cheapest way. We put weed and feed down and grass seed but nothing is happening its been about 2 weeks. Is there specific brands we need, grass seed (we used Bermuda) any suggestions please help. With the suggestion please be sure they are safe for dogs and kids.

How do I keep a neighbours puppy off my lawn? Ok - I know this has been covered before - but here's the twist. I live in an "open plan" street. i.e.we have no front fencing - our gardens are meant to "blend" Anyway, next door is brand new and they have no lawn. I, on the other hand have a huge, beautifully kept lawn and it takes me hours to keep it that way. Next door has a Pit Bull puppy that craps on my lawn about 3 times A DAY. I cannot use sprays and potions that will kill my grass, also, I cannot use things that will be washed away as the reticulation is on daily. My neighbour couldn't care less where his dog is, he is nasty and abusive, however, he is still my neighbour, and, as a single mother with children, I don't want to make an enemy of him. Yes, you read right - this person has a Pit Bull - a dog listed on the DANGEROUS DOG law, yet it has no fences keeping it in, it roams the street all day and has no collar. If I call the Ranger, he will know it's me, as this is a new development and I am his only neighbour. Can some one please clarify what a BB gun is, please. many thanks!

How do I get a lush, green lawn? Hello. My front lawn is pretty weird. Half of it has grass growing, and the other half is yellow, dead and has a couple dandelions growing. How can I get the whole lawn green with thick beautiful grass? Do I need some type of fertilizer or seeds? I've never had to take care of any plant or lawn or anything before so I'm lost! Please help!! Please recommend any specific brand of fertilizer.

How to solve these probability problems? 1. A survey found that 53 percent of the Americans think U.S. military forces should be used to "protect the interest of U.S. corporations" In other countries. If an American is selected at random, find the probability that he or she will disagree or have no opinion on the issue. 2. A certain brand of grass seed has 86 probability of germination. If a lawn care specialist plants 9000 seeds, find the number that should germinate. kindly show solutions

Why do people from the Middle East not care about the appearance of their houses? I had neighbors once from the Middle East. they let their brand new house fall to pieces and their lawn was atrocious.I thought it was maybe just an isolated thing, and I did not want to have predjudice thoughts. But I have a business that serves a neighborhood with several Middle East people living there, and the same thing occurs. So I now ther is a connection.

statistics help i don't know where to start or what formula to use. i have to show the work? a certain brand of grass seed has a .86 probability of germation. if a lawn care specialist plants 9000 seeds, what is the number that should germinate

Has anyone used a product that protects your lawn from those awful yellow burn marks caused from dog urine? I have 3 dogs that are destroying my brand new lawn. We just spent thousands of dollars to fix up what used to be a dirt patch out back for our toddler to run around and play. I love the way it looks but it is getting trashed quickly. My dogs are either digging up the sod (rrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhh) or they are peeing all over it and causing these yellow burn marks everywhere. There is a huge area that is all rock where i try to encourage them to go but I'm no good at training and my husband scoffed at the idea of trying to train them to go in a designated spot. He does not care about what the lawn looks like. But I do - and I do not want to waste our hard earned money on another expensive "toy" for the dogs to destroy. I would like to have one nice thing that I can protect. Anyhow (I'll put my obvious frustration aside) to ask if anyone has ever overcome this issue with any success. I'm hoping that they is a product out there or a supplement that can neutralize the ph of their urine so it becomes a non-issue. I see some products out there but I am weary of purchasing them without getting some reviews on whether or not they work. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks ;) Hanna what kind of bones are they - have they worked for you?

Is fire ant bait better for a busy lawn (pets, kids, wildlife that doesn't bite us) than regular poison.? My dad had always used bait and it seemed to only kill the fire ants. Even native species of ants were living okay. I just got put in charge of taking care of the lawn now that we are out of an apartment. I want to know if there are benefits and what brand to use.

If you saw your neighbor walk their dog & they let it pee on your lawn would you ...? 1.Run out & say something...? 2.Email them...? 3.Make them replace your burnt lawn? 4.Who cares it's only brand new Sod? I just fell on my neighbors driveway and scraped my knee... will aflaack pay out?

I think I did something bad to my lawn...? Last night, I put down a Scott's brand Weed and Feed. I didn't even think about seeding my yard (the previous owner took no care of the yard and has lots of weeds and bare spots). It says on the bag not to seed for 1 month. Is there any more I can do in the meantime?

I want to make organic fertilizer? By taking a product with 6 common ingredients. I want to then add 3 new patent pending ingredients and sell it as a new product as a distributor to lawn care businesses. Can I legally mix these products together and make my own product and sell it under my own brand name.

which brands of grass seed and fertilizer do they commonly use in the UK? was just curious..as i do lawn care in the US..and was wondering what is used the most in the UK and for how long and why this brand? we use Scotts and Lesco and Vigoro. which is best you think and why? also, when, how put this down on lawns and do most aerate or core aerate beforehand? thanks for your answers! FORGOT TO ASK..ALSO,,,DO MOST PUT DOWN WHEAT STRAW OR HAY OVER THE SEED AFTER SPREAD IT OUT AND WHY? WHY SOME DONT DO THIS?

Is the current generation thinking they are living smart? In line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment." He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

is anyone out there old or getting old? 1. you find yourself beginning to like accordion music 2. lawn care has become a big highlight of your life 3. your underwear creeps up on you and you enjoy it 4. you tune into the easy listening station on purpose 5. you discover that your measurements are now small medium and large in that order 6. you keep repeating yourself 7. you start videotaping daytime game shows 8. at cafeterias you complain that the jello is to tough 9. your new easy chair has more options than your car 10. when you do the hokey pokey you put your left hip out and it stays there 11. 1 of the throw pillows on your bed is a hot water bottle 12. conversations with people of your own age often turn into dueling ailments 13. you keep repeating yourself 14. it takes a couple of tries to get over a speed bump 15. you’re on a TV game show and you decide to risk it all and go for the rocker 16. you begin every other sentence with "nowadays" 17. you run out of breath walking down a flight of stairs 18. you look both ways before crossing a room 19. you come to the conclusion that your worst enemy is gravity 20. it takes you all night to do what you used to do all night 21. you go to a garden party and you’re mainly interested in the garden 22. you find your mouth making promises your body cant keep 23. at parties you attend, ‘regularity’ is considered the topic of choice 24. you start beating everyone else at trivia games 25. you frequently find yourself telling people what a loaf of bread used to cost 26. your back goes out more than you do 27. you keep repeating yourself 28. your childhood toys are in a museum 29. the clothes you’ve put away until they come back in style….come back in style 30. all your favorite movies are now revised in color 31. the car that you bought brand new is now a very valuable antique 32. you keep repeating yourself 33. you find this list tasteless and insensitive

you know you're over the hill when...? you find yourself beginning to like accordion music lawn care has become a big highlight of your life your underwear creeps up on you...and you enjoy it you tune into the easy listening...on purpose you discover that your measurements are now small, medium, large...in that order you keep repeating yourself you start videotaping daytime game shows at cafeterias, you complain that the jello is too tough your new easy chair has more options than your car when you do the 'hokey pokey' you put your left hip out...and it stays out one of the throw pillows on your bed is a hot water bottle conversations with people your own age often turn into 'dueling ailments you keep repeating yourself it takes a couple of tries to get over a speed bump you’re on a TV game show and you decide to risk it all and go for the rocker you begin with every other sentence with, 'nowadays...' you run out of breath walking down a flight of stairs you look both ways before crossing the room you come to the conclusion that your worst enemy is gravity it takes you all night to do what you used to do all night you go to a garden party and your mainly interested in the garden you find your mouth making promises your body cant keep at parties you attend, ‘regularity’ is considered the topic of choice you start beating everyone else at trivia games you frequently find yourself telling people what a loaf of bread used to cost your back goes out more than you do you keep repeating yourself your childhood toys are now in a museum the clothes you’ve put away until they come back in style…come back in style all of your favorite movies are now revised in color the car that you bought brand new is now a very valuable antique you keep repeating yourself you find this list tasteless and insensitive

"You Know You're Over The Hill When... " Star if you like? 1. You find yourself beginning to like accordion music. 2. You're sitting on a park bench and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you cross your legs. 3. Lawn care has become a big highlight of your life. 4. You tune into the easy listening station...on purpose. 5. You discover that your measurements are now small, medium and large...In that order. 6. You light the candles on your birthday cake and a group of campers form a circle and start singing Cumbaya.. 7. You keep repeating yourself. 8. You start video taping daytime game shows. 9. At the airport, they ask to check your bags...and you're not carrying any luggage. 10. You wonder why you waited so long to take up macramé. 11. Your Insurance Company has started sending you their free calendar...a month at a time. 12. At cafeterias, you complain that the gelatin is too tough. 13. Your new easy chair has more options than your car. 14. When you do the "Hokey Pokey" you put your left hip out...and it stays out. 15. One of the throw pillows on your bed is a hot water bottle. 16. Conversations with people your own age often turn into "dueling ailments." 17. You keep repeating yourself. 18. It takes a couple of tries to get over a speed bump. 19. You discover the words, "whippersnapper," "scalawag" and "by-cracky" creeping into your vocabulary. 20. You're on a TV game show and you decide to risk it all and go for the rocker. 21. You begin every other sentence with, "Nowadays..." 22. You run out of breath walking DOWN a flight of stairs. 23. You look both ways before crossing a room. 24. Your social security number only has three digits. 25. You keep repeating yourself. 26. You come to the conclusion that your worst enemy is gravity. 27. You go to a Garden Party and you're mainly interested in the garden. 28. You find your mouth making promises your body can't keep. 29. The waiter asks how you'd like your steak...and you say "pureed." 30. At parties you attend, "regularity" is considered the topic of choice. 31. You start beating everyone else at trivia games. 32. You frequently find yourself telling people what a loaf of bread USED to cost. 33. Your back goes out more than you do. 34. You keep repeating yourself. 35. Cafeteria food starts tasting GOOD. 36. You refer to your $2500 stereo system as "The Hi-Fi." 37. You make it a point to attend all the RV shows that come to town. 38. You realize that a stamp today costs more than a picture show did when you were growing up. 39. Your childhood toys are now in a museum. 40. Many of your co-workers were born the same year that you got your last promotion. 41. The clothes you've put away until they come back in style...come back in style. 42. All of your favorite movies are now revised in color. 43. The car that you bought brand new becomes an antique. 44. You keep repeating yourself. 45. You find this list tasteless and insensitive.

How to solve these probability problems? what formula is needed? 1. A certain brand of grass seed has an 86 percent probability of germination. If a lawn care specialist plants 9000 seeds, find the number that should germinate. 2. In the game of craps using two dice, a person wins the first roll if a 7 or 11 is rolled. Find the probability of winning the first roll. 3. When 350 students were interviewed, 186 stated that they preferred the lecture presentation to a group discussion. Find the probability that if a student were randomly selected, he or she would prefer the lecture presentation. 4. A flashlight has 6 batteries, two of which are defective, If two of which are selected at random without replacement, find the probability that both are defective. 5. A Automobile saleswoman finds that the probability of making a sale of 0.23. IF she talks to four customers today, find the probability that she will sell four cars. Kindly show solutions

How can I save money in my Landscaping Buisiness? I do a local lawn care service. It's very small, roughly about 8 people, I only make about $100 - $200 a week varies depending on work type. Problem is I'm unable to save anything for myself, nomatter what, or how hard I try? I'm married to a disabled wife, two boy's not old enough to work, still in school. Anyway's...I no longer come home after busting my hump mowing about 5 lawns with a 21" push mower, and weed beater. My $120.00 I made is POOF!!Gone,...everybody want's want's WANT's, either we need Food, Gas, Kid's school event's, field trips, school pictures, I can never win, how the heck can these other guy's make a living, and drive Brand NEW Truck's, trailers, and thousand's of dollars worth of equiptment, and all this fancy crap? I have a half broken weed eater, and a beat up old smoking lawn mower, and a pair of hand hedge trimmers, and a rusted pair of pruners. and my credit really stink's, gee I wonder why? because I have to pay for everyone's way, Forget about me.?

my wife is stressed and it is affecting our brand new marrige, please help!?!? Me and my wife got married on March 3rd 2007 and were very happy together, now that there are bills involved and we are both working she is very stressed and it is affecting our relationship as friends, she seems very irritable with me sometimes and she blames it on stress. Our love life has also been affected by this stress, at first I thought she had cheated (i let my imagination go sometimes) but she very confidently assured me this was not the case and I trust her. She said it was due to her new job and the bills, she said she worries day to day about the bills we have to pay and is behind at work. I love her very much and i help around the house alot, we mutually clean and do laundry, i do the dishes cause she thinks it is nasty, I take care of the pets, I mow the Lawn, I take out the trash, I also vacuum and sweep all the time, this does not bother me though all i want is for her to smile and be affectionate towards me. I want my beautiful caring wife back, this is making me sad. thanks for all the answers so quickly! I will try to answer some of all your questions. ok, all the bills are on time, we have a good amount of disposible income, we are very young, we just bought a house, she is a foreign patent coordinator at a IP law firm, I am a Applications engineer for software company, the only debt i have that she doesnt is a car note, we are so close, we never do anything without each other, we do work long hours, we do have a lot of bills (most are small though), I love her more than anything in the world, I think she feels the same, and i always talk to her about thing that go through my head, I always ask what can i do to make you happy, i just took over the checkbook yesterday. She is the submissive on and i am th passive one, We had been having sex 3-4 times a week but that slowly dropped of, and in my defense that is not the only time i get physical with her, i am a very hugs and kisses type of guy. I love to hold her and kiss her but she feels distant

How can I make $35,000 before I get to College? I'm 16 years old, and I'm going to be going to College in about two and a half years. Before I leave, my goal is to be able to afford a brand new car. Most of my cars that I build on car websites cost around $25,000. I just recently built a 2009 Honda Civic Si Sedan for $28,039. It would be roughly $29,000 with tax. I also like Toyota Celica's. They normally cost around $27,000 with the options and features that I would want. Well, once again, how can I make at least $35,000 before College. I'd be happy with a minimum of $30,000. I don't have a job yet, but after shool's over, I may be getting one. How much do you think I'll get working part time? Roughly 20 hours per week. Is it at all possible for me to accomplish my goal? How can I get there quickly? Where could I get a job at 16 years old? (My parents won't let me start a lawn care business or anything like that, so I'll have to work under someone). I will appriciate any answers. However, I don't want any answers like: "Oh, you'll never get there... or it's impossible. " It may be impossible, but I at least want to give it a try. Just one more bit of information. I want to be able to pay it off as soon as I buy it. Thank you for your help! I live in Pennsylvania and I don't want any online survey stuff.

1990 chevy 2500 for $650? It is a rebuilt engine and transmission - practically brand new. 150,000 miles. Needs new ball joints, master cylinder for the breaks, new break pads and a back window for $110. The ignition switch needs to be completely replaced (as it starts without a key) The body is in terrible shape -doesn't look pretty but it will drive and serve its purpose. It has an 8ft bed. I would also have to buy the ball for the hitch but not install a new hitch. I can do all of the work myself. It would cost me right at 1000$USD to get completely fixed. I could trade the guy my car and he would give me the truck and pay me an extra $600. Opinions? Suggestions? Should I trade with him, should I just buy it outright and fix it up? I'm looking into getting into lawn care.

Question about an American situation? Went to college, worked my tail off to get good grades and a degree. Even worked my tail off during school to pay for it all. I went to college because everyone and my family told me that "all you need is a degree" or "get that degree and then you'll get a good job" or "want to get ahead, go back to school." So I graduate, and there are no jobs around. I didn't go to school to be the best server at McDonalds. Because the only jobs that are around, are the same ones that were around when I was out of high school. The ones that don't pay enough for me to support myself. That's why I went to school, to get a higher paying job. Now, I'm having to rely on friend and family for work, as whenever they have big jobs they call me in. Also, I do what I used to do in college. I provide property maintenance services for my neighbors, family, and friends. That alone there is a business in itself trust me, with all the lawn care, tree trimming, painting, like the list is never ending. I don't mind doing all that, and it feels good to help out people, but man, that is hard work. Although I can't complain, because I see the results from it all. I just feel like if I keep going that route, then I'll be dead by 45. Because at one point in my life, I thought the harder I worked, the more money I would get, and the faster I'd be able to get a house and go out on my own. Turns out, I worked harder and harder, maybe got a 10 cent raise, some places I got like 5 dollars raise. But I worked so hard, I ended up burning out, and even had an injury do to over working/over use. No one understood why I worked so hard and did so much so fast and so well. Because I'm TRYING! Other co-workers used to pull me aside and say, hey, you need to pace yourself or else you'll wind up in an early grave, or hey, you're doing great, but you don't want to burn out.... IT really used to piss me off when the guy next making more money than me would say, hey why do you work so hard, why not be lazy like me. The thing is though, once people saw how I worked, that's what they always expected. So If I did take it easy one day, I'd probably get yelled at. LIke one day, I was feeling exhausted and heat exahustion, I decided to sit down for a min, and my boss yelled at me for sitting on the job. REALLY! I began to realize that people began to and were taking advantage of me, and just USING ME. As I always thought the hard worker makes it in life. Then an older fellow explained to me how he worked like that, then got a bad back and couldn't work anymore, and they let him go like nothing, like they just used him like a rag and then threw it out when it was done and dirty. Anyways, my hard working ethic hasn't left me, and although i pace myself a little more now, I still work hard as ever. However, it just seems like it's so hard to get on my own feet and go get a place of my own. I mean I look at the expenses of some homeowners, and don't even realize how they do it even with their jobs. I mean food, bills, auto maintenance, house maintenance, unexpected expenses, vet bills, doctor bills, utilities, stuff! I walk around and see kids younger than me diving around in brand new mercedes benzes. I know kids who never really had to lift a finger, and have it made. But then again I know kids who work just as hard as me, but somehow they're making it and have a house, and didn't even go to college. and then i know kids in the same position as me. I can't complain really though, I'm just happy to have a roof over my head. (rent from parents) even my mom said when she was 18 she was kicked out of the house, but she said finding a job was easy, she said she could find a job anytime of the day. Now, here I am, back from college, renting from the parents, getting older every year. Anyone know how I can make 50,000 a year? 15 minutes ago - 4 days left to answer. Additional Details I did business, history, and international studies. I'm looking into all those jobs 9 minutes ago I went to college to become a better citizen, to get an education, and to acquire skills I need in the real world. Honestly, I can tell college has helped a lot, because I notice a difference just in the little every day decisions I make, they're more sound and educated. I'm not really complaining, and I know there's people who have it worse off, and I pray for them, I am just grateful to be alive really. But when all this stuff gets pushed in my face about the "AMERICAN WAY" or when my Mom talks about how she was out of the house at 18, then I begin to wonder.

My eyes burn every time I operate my Lawn Mower? I just changed an oil about a month ago. At the start up the smoke comes out looks bit gray, but just at the start up.... then as I continue operating with in about 30 minutes, my eye start burning. What is going wrong? It never used to be this way. I have L130 John Deere bought it brand new in 2001 and has been taking good care of it. I just changed drive belt today and greased and checked parts. Operating fine, but just my eye burs! (from smoke).

My friends are really starting to hurt my feelings...WHAT DO I DO? So, this past year my husband and I bought a brand new townhome. Its pretty nice, and I love it! Its not a mansion or anything..I think its about 1300 sq ft, but its perfect for us for now, and eventually when we have a baby it will be perfect also! Anyway, all of my friends rent...some have apartments, and some of them rent houses. The ones that rent houses are paying the same amount or more as we are paying...even though they have a house they are just renting. It just really hurts my feelings because my friends never said CONGRATS to me, and they usually just have negative comments to say. One of my husbands friends and his wife are having a baby, and today he told my husband that he wants to rent a home in the same area we live in, and he asked my husband why we bought a townhome? Also, we are military...so, its nice to have the lawn taken care of if my husband leaves! I would love to have bought a house, but this area is expensive...what can I do?

What is the best killer for dandelions? A am a new home owner and am new to all aspects of lawn care. I have dandelions everywhere! What is the best way to kill them? There are so many brands of chemicals, which have you used and were you happy with the result? Digging them up is not an option. There are to many. Bleach will kill the lawn, not just the weed. Round up also is meant to kill the grass. Please only answer if you actually know what you are talking about. The lawn was mowed every other weekend all last Spring and Summer... they are still there. Again... unless you know what you are talking about. KAVA, thank you so much. That was helpful. I will try a spray.

What are your thoughts on this? The Green Thing In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment." He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then? Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty pants young person.

Family is short on money but they spend it all on Cigarettes? Alright I just don't know what to do. I just turned 18 and it seems I am the only responsible person in my family. I am the Housekeeper. I Mow the lawn I take care of all the dogs and keep the house spotless. I do not spend money on anything extra at all just what food is brought to the house and I shower and use a little bit of electricity but I do not keep more than one thing on at a time that includes lights. To the point! My mother is addicted to cigarettes and my brother just went from Dipping tobacco back to cigarettes. They buy big brand cigarettes even not generic they buy marlboro. Which is like 6-7$ a pack? My mom smokes at the very least one pack a day sometimes she buys two. So lets say she buys 1 and a half a day. My brother is about the same if not worse. At the very minimum that is 420$ a MONTH! My brother is 25 he doesn't have a job and he doesn't even go to work to help my mom out anymore he is messing with some married woman he knew in highschool with a baby and it's starting to piss me off. I take care of his dog he doesn't. And my mothers dog. I have no choice really to even get a job I wish I could but there's too much responsibility here that needs taken care of. I can't even go out with my friends (except for weekends) So it's like a full time job for me. So they go and spend money on cigarettes like it's nothing even after I tell them how much they're sending a month. My brother just bought a bunch of shit to fix his car which he won't even use the damn thing to go get a job with he'll just be fucking around all the time. It's really getting frustrating. So it just got to the point where my mom had to get a 600$ Loan and she'll have to pay 100$ a month now which we can NOT afford. I ask her what was she thinking she replied what else are we suppose to do? I say quit spending 400+ dollars on cigarettes a month and we'd be TOTALLY fine. Yet she some how shrugs it off. WTF is wrong with my family? It feels like a damn prison in this house sometimes. Also, I see ridiculous charges all the time where my brother just decides to go to dunken donuts instead of cooking what we have here because he is that lazy. He has now made a habit of not returning redbox movies until like 5 days later and the charges are ridiculous! We're talking 3 movies at a time here. that's 15$! And yes I am a male housekeeper. Make fun of me all you want but this is the position I was put in. :(

Can you remember life before we had the green thing....? In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment." She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's Nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then? Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person @ Mulga...I remember those things very well too...particularly the day the thunderbox can was replaced when you hoped like heck that the guy didn't slip on the way to the cart , as happened occasionally ! lol I really must be a dinosuar ,,,,we have ALWAYS had chooks , fruit trees & a veggie garden ...old habits die hard I guess ! @ C M C ...Yeah , we have those bags here as well... GREEN bags ! lol @ Mintie..I claim no credit for this but thought it worth posting as a matter of interest...yes , I'm a dinosaur & still have chooks , a decent veggie garden ( credits to my wife ) & hang on dearly to many values long since abandoned by our so called liberated society .. How about you ?

What is a good lawnmower on Amazon.com? Hi. I need help buying a lawnmower. What brand it is most recommended. Should I choose a gasoline power one or electrical one. I ask since my father was the one that took care of the lawn. I know he used only a trimmer... but some research tells me that using only a trimmer is not a good idea on a kind of big lawn. Can you guys help me choose one on amazon since I currently don't have a license on this state. Any maintainace or tips to do the mowing job properly? Thanks.

Do you tip for a strip-mall haircut? I don't care much about the cut as long as it's short and managable, my cousin used to do it but doesn't have time any more. So I go to a SuperCuts, or Fantastic Sams, etc, I have no brand-loyalty, I go wherever is closer, least busy, or running a special, and I usually pay $14-16 once a month. Then I get the reciept and it has the restaurant-style "Tip" line at the bottom, I always get self consious about this. Are these girls living off of tips, or do they even expecting a tip for a 10 minute job? I don't tip the guy changing my oil, mowing my lawn, or fixing my furnace, and these are all more important services to me than a haircut. And I know the answer from you salon owners/employees, trust me, my wife tips more than my haircut costs, but she gets the perm, color, trim, etc. I'm talking about the strip mall, walk-ins welcome, "short on top, #4 on the sides" type of cut.

Shopping for new Earbuds Help? I bought these: http://www.target.com/Skullcandy-Inkd-Earbuds-Red/dp/B0014JG5SW/sr=1-13/qid=1222542161/ref=sr_1_13/601-5656355-5469722?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Askullcandy&page=1 and i LOOOVED them, until the wires inside got messed up and all i could hear was background music. I dont think it was lack of quality, just that i shouldnt mow the lawn and listen to them, the vibration probably messed it up. Anyways, I read some reviews, and other people said theirs didn't last long either. So my question is, which of the following should i get? I was wondering if the JVC are as comfortable as the skullcandy? I like how SC earbuds are squishy like jell-o, and mold to you ears. ive tried some headphones that are hard and look like JVC, but im not sure if they were the same brand. I don't care about the prices, theres not much of a difference, but based on comfort, which pair should I get?? JVC marshmallow: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9135484 Skullcandy: http://www.target.com/Skullcandy-Inkd-Earbuds-White/dp/B0014JI7OM/sr=1-20/qid=1222542348/ref=sr_1_20/601-5656355-5469722?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Askullcandy&page=1

SC-Did we have the green thing back then? Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn't have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right. We didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then? Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person. Remember: Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off!! So many good answers!! going to vote folks!!!

What's the point of doing anything in life? Here is my life tragedy.? I feel like I should just drop out of school. It's not like I really have to work really hard for anything anyways. I'm going to be inheriting a giant house, a few other houses, a farm, some other land, some condos, and other stuff that makes enough money to support itself and much extra. I'm an only child so it's all going to be going to me. And the way I look at it is, well like right now. All my family wants me to do is get through school for some reason, even though they can take care of me. I was given a brand new car, I don't have to pay rent where I'm at because it's covered, I don't have to get a job because everything I need I can get if I just ask nicely. So I don't really have to do anything now, and later, I mean I just don't really get what I should do. I don't really care about money, so it's not like I really want to "add on" to the "empire" my family has built up. I could live pretty comfortobly without ever having to lift a finger. Just so you know, I'm not some spoiled brat or anything. I actually did have a job once, and I did sometimes have to earn money that they gave me. Like I ONLY got like maybe $20 for vacuuming my ENTIRE room. I also had to mow the lawn sometimes when and we didn't have a riding lawn mower which really sucked. I would have enjoyed doing it if I didn't have to walk the thing. I only got like $30 for that. Which is nothing compared to one of my old friends, he got like $70 for doing something like that so I'm pretty poor when compared to him, AND he has a riding lawn mower so I looked like a poor person and it felt embarrassing. Like he got a cash allowance of like I forget but it was at least $100 a week, I was luck if I got that in a month, I maybe only got like $50 and had to actually work for any extra. So it's not like I don't know what work is. And he got to get an xbox360 AND a PS3 AND a Wii, for Christmas but I only got to choose a PS3 which really sucked because I'm Jewish so I expected at least a few more game counsels in the presents for the 8 gifts I got. But all that sacrifice made me realize that it's just stuff. So I became more un-materialistic and stuff and I learned how to become happy with what I had. It was after we watched some movie in class about these people in 3rd world nations who didn't have food and stuff. Well it made me think of how we had to sacrifice normal food for cheaper food like having to just be okay with going to the Olive Garden instead of Sarefnis *if I spelled it right* because Olive garden was cheaper. I felt like I was starving so I know how that kid with the big stomach in the video felt because I had to go through food shortages too, maybe not as bad but still pretty bad, I mean a few times instead of going to the chris and ruth's steak house place we had to settle for Outback steak house or something like it you know? Can YOU imagine that? Like really, put yourself in my shoes and imagine that for a second. So yeah, I know what it's like to almost starve. But I was able to adapt and survive through it all and I know Anyways, so point being, it's not like I'm just lazy, it's just I don't really see the point in doing anything when I don't really have to. In my hardship I've learned that money isn't the center of the universe and I don't see the need to keep making more? I've talked to my professional friend " he's really just a plain ol counselor" and he tries to tell me that i should do this and that and blah blah blah. Anyways, am I wrong to think this?

Help with Dad Christmas gift - VERY hard to buy for - PLEASE HELP!!!!!!? Good looking, 55 yr. old VP of construction firm. He has everything he needs or wants! He drinks beer (only) and smokes cigars but only a certain kind (gift baskets with various types are not an option - I've tried). He restored a car, but it's perfected and nothing I could know is needed. ('57 Bel Aire) He works with tools but owns every type - probably more than one, he's already told me that. He wears cologne, but can't smell! He's a freemason, but I've exhausted all gifts that relate He golfs, but has brand new clubs, bag, shoes, magazine subscr. He already stocks up on golf balls and tees. He has a brand new computer, and doesn't care for any other tech-related items. He buys new clothes all the time and hates my taste (he's a bit, um, unstylish) He's fun - but have jokingly bought him nerf guns, portable videogames and remote control cars in the past. No hunting or fishing or bowling. He loves food - but a "meat and potatoes" type of guy - one that already has Omaha steaks deliver all the time. No sweet tooth. Will not watch a movie twice, nor tv shows. He gets gift cards from clients all the time. No ties. Renovating the house - well, hired help is He gardens, but barely. Tomatoes and squash only, I think. Likes jewelry, but his taste is not affordable. Doesn't care for sports - goes to some NFL games, but not a true "fan" New wallet. His type of watches wouldn't suit my budget. He already has a stack of books he claims to be "getting a start on" Mom deals with decor. Nothing like that would be of interest. No work gear and he has a company car. GPS, cell phone and accessories are redundant. Travels so much for work, he doesn't care to go for pleasure. Travel items - luggage, travel pillows, etc. would never be used. He's practical. We have a huge inground pool. Mom buys the fun stuff, and other people come to clean. We have a game room - likes billards and darts - new balls, cues, chalk-holder even. Table was recently recovered and whole dartboard set-up is new. Has an outdoor firepit - had two, gave me one- He already have me his old patio furniture that was from this summer, he didn't like it. He has all the music he cares for, I've tried to buy him some and he either already had it or didn't care b /c he has satellite radio. Would not be caught dead at a concert. Does his own lawn, oddly enough. He has all the needs, like mower, leaf blower, weed eater, pesticides... ANY other ideas? In reality he's fun but honestly has all the necessities. Therefore, I need a unique gift that isn't generic - but must be practical too. He's not a fan of "gifting for the sake of gifting." Also, not religious. I think all of you have given me some great ideas! Not sure which I'll pick, but I'll def check out some of the websites you all recommended. He loves nice wallets, and his are always getting worn out. As for the classic car stuff, I just have no idea where to begin - he's not the type for "novelty" items like keychains and such, but maybe I could get out of him if he'd like a new gear stick or seat covers - his car is bad-a and I get it eventually! The utopia beer from Sam Adams is a great idea (I worked at a liquor store all through college and we had the really neat looking metal bottle) for the connoisseur, but my dad likes bud and bud only... Anyways, thanks for all the ideas - you have helped immensely! Still, any other novel ideas are still welcome !!!

Alternative fertilizer and methods for large lawns? Greetings all. This question is probably best answered by someone who farms, maintains golf courses/parks, or has acreage. I'm a city boy moved to TX trying to learn your secrets. My neighbors and I have about 2 acres of lawn. Buying fertilizer by the bag (i.e. 5,000 ft coverage for $20) just doesn't make sense...particularly if you're doing it 3-4 times a yr per local experts. I had my Dallas area soil tested by those brainy people at A&M (thank you). It turns out that my P & K are ideal -- which apparently is very common in this area due to the clay. They recommended 100% nitrogen. I guess too much P&K is bad and adding more is unecessary and unhealthy. Question: farmers must have to apply comparable fertilizer in bulk. And I know they do it for other things (herbicides, pest control). And I don't think they buy it by the bag at Lowes. Can I go somewhere and purchase a good comparable slow release fertilizer in bulk? Neil Sperry's brand (as an example) is a 24-0-0 w/ 60% slow release in granular form, but it's $34 bag times 20. http://www.neilsperry.com/pages/neil-sperrys-texas-best-fertilizers.html We've got an earthway broadcast spreader and can dial in exactly 1 or 2 lbs/1000 ft. And I live close to farm country here in the suburbs of Dallas. It sure would be nice to buy bulk of good quality fertilizer w/o the filler and costs. Anyone care to share their thoughts and recommendations? You'll help us out in convenience, cost, and curiosity. Richard

Papers from the press to trash can? I am a visitor living in a gated community in California. During my constitutional, I often find local papers lying uncared for on driveways and lawns, their pages weather-beaten. Sometimes I have the urge to pick these up and deposit them in the nearest trash can. Would this act be considered trespassing? Would I be branded a rag-picker? On the larger issue, knowing that some people don't care for free papers, why are these editions distributed thoughtlessly?

Can you answer this riddle? Can you answer this riddle? Here is a pretty neat little thing from Paul Harvey. See if you can guess the riddle at the end. Paul Harvey Writes: We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would. I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom. If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head. I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like. May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend. I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Hannukah/Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand. These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life. Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you. Send this to all of your friends. We secure our friends, not by accepting favors, but by doing them. Paul Harvey RIDDLE: When asked this riddle, 80% of kindergarten kids got the answer, compared to 17% of Stanford University seniors. What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it, The rich need it, And if you eat it, you'll die?

My landlord is a b*tch? When I moved into this house they had put in brand new carpet tile and paint. In order for me to get my deposit back she has this ridiculous clean up list. I have 4 children and there is going to be normal wear and tear on the house. She is demanding that I have the carpets and walls "professionally" cleaned this weekend. I'm not moving until the 30th and was planning on doing that right before I moved out so my kids don't mess it up again. She has a bad track record with previous tenants that just bailed on the lease because she is such a B. I have always paid on time or early and taken very good care of the house. i even brought the dead lawn back at my expense! So I guess my question is do I have to bend over and take it up the a** and do what she says or just wait until right before I move out to do my clean up? I want my $1200 deposit back, but have a feeling she isn't going to give it to us.

Please help my dog is going through a crisis and I don't know what to do!!? 2 hours after applying cheap ass flea and tick guard: My previous question was regarding my dog acting very very weird. He's been scratching the same spot over and over again. My dad bought some cheap "Sergeant's Silver Flea & Tick Squeeze-On For Dogs" I asked him to specifically buy Front Line Plus. Because it's a trusted brand of vets. But of course he buys some weird ass cheap brand. (Not sure if it's the flea and tick meds or the lawn) But now I don't know what to do. I went and talked to both my parents to help me out at take a look at him. They wont. And they both yelled at me saying I'm having an "panic attack" and to shut the hell up that I'm making a big deal out of nothing. My mom won't give me his vet's number. She slammed the door on my face. I'm the only one that cares for him in the family. LITERALLY. They don't believe me. I know my baby. I can tell something isn't right. 4 hours later: So I gave him 3 bathes with dawn soap like everyone told me to. Since then he's SCRATCHED HIMSELF SO MUCH HE'S BLEEDING. I took pictures and recorded him whining and running in circles, trying to burying himself under things and hide under the couch and bed, in stress. (Can I report my dad for not giving a shit if something serious happens?) He's completely neglecting him. I'm with him the most. THIS IS NOT NORMAL OF HIM. My parents REALLY don't give a shit. I'm not being a drama queen. They are both alcoholics. I'm 18. If they don't let me take him to the vet, which they told me they wont already. I will report them for neglect, well, can I do this? He is suffering. I put a big bandage on the spot that is bleeding the most. He just rips it off and scratches again. The others I keep rinsing off with water. He is whining and crying loudly. What do I do at this point? He won't settle? He keeps running around like crazy. Scratching. Making himself bleed more. Whining. If anyone knows of a dog hot line that answers calls, gives advice in emergency's, for FREE. (I can't afford 60 dollars per call) Please help me. Otherwise what should I do? It's freaking 2 in the morning. The vet he goes to isn't open. He's bleeding all over. God, I know I won't sleep tonight. But I don't care because I love him so much. Someone, what should I do? He's a small dog... And that makes it all the worse. Itdkid: FUCK YOU. You discust me.

PLEASE can someone work out this riddle? It is quite long but PLEASEEEE man! I ts really bugging me? Can you answer this riddle?Here is a pretty neat little article from Paul Harvey . See if you can guess the riddle at the end.Paul Harvey Writes: We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better.I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would. I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and may you learn honesty by being cheated.I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car..And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your olddog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. Andit's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,butwhen he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hopeyou let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her.I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom. If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one.I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtractin your head.I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy/girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivorysoap tastes like.May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove andstick your tongue on a frozen flagpole.I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend.I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle.May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays.I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Hanukkah/Christmastime when you give her a plaster mold of your hand.These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you. We secure our friends, not by acceptingfavours, but by doing them..Paul Harvey RIDDLE:When asked this riddle, 80% of kindergarten kids got the answer, compared to17% of Stanford University seniors. What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it, The rich need it, And if you eat it, you'll die? Please help me work it out! Thanks. I was thinking it could be friendship or something but then you couldn't exactly eat it so? Omg guyss! I so get it now XD Thankyouu :)

Here are some wishes for all of you? I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom. If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head..... I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like. May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend. I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Hannukah/Christmas/Eid/Divali etc time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand. These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life.... Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you.

Can anyone figure out this riddle? We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my grandchildren, I'd like better. I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would. I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car. And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen. It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep. I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in. I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her. I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely. On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom. If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books. When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head. I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boygirl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like. May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it.. And if a friend offers you dope or a joint, I hope you realize he is not your friend. I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays. I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbor's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Hannukah/Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand. These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. To me, it's the only way to appreciate life. Written with a pen. Sealed with a kiss. I'm here for you. And if I die before you do, I'll go to heaven and wait for you. Send this to all of your friends. We secure our friends, not by accepting favors, but by doing them. Paul Harvey RIDDLE: When asked this riddle, 80% of kindergarten kids got the answer, compared to 17% of Stanford University seniors. What is greater than God, More evil than the devil, The poor have it, The rich need it, And if you eat it, you'll die?

Would you read this? (Kids/Teens)? Heart Broken Preference I promised myself that I would never fall in love again. I loved him. He loved me. But, what happened to him… broke me. Now I’m just like a toy. A broken toy, a toy that no one cares about anymore. A toy with only 1 eye and 1 arm. I wish I wasn’t broken, I wish I was brand new, like the way I was when I met him. But that will never happen again. Now I’m Heartbroken. Chapter One It was in April. The middle of the month, the flowers just bloomed. It was like rainbows on the ground every were possible. The air was filled with the sweet smell of fresh cut grass. The sun didn’t come out yet. The sun was too shy, it was hiding behind the clouds because it was the 1st day of school after break. I was shy too. I just moved to this new town, Hampshire-brook. It was nice I guess, there were a lot of lakes and ponds and other nice things. But it would never be the same as my home town. In the car on my way too school I passed a lot of houses. They were all different… different colors, shapes and sizes. Many of them had children playing outside on the front lawn or the deck. The children made me want to be the same age as them. Where life wasn’t so complicated and you could do whatever you wanted to do. No one would yell at what you did. Everyone loved you even if you did something wrong. “Clair, are you exited for your first day of school” My mom asked me. My mom was… was… a little weird from time. She was a good mother but she could get a little preppy. I wasn’t t preppy. I guess maybe a little but not as much as the others I heard were going to this school. “Mom, you know I’m not. I haven’t been, ever. This school doesn’t look that great you know. The kids are too preppy for my likening.” “Honey... if you scared…” “Mom I’m not scared! Can we just get there on time. I don’t want to be late for my first day of school. That wouldn’t look good for me” I replied. I arrived with 6 minutes to spare before class would start. I knew I was going to be late. I didn’t even know my first class! When I walked into the office no one seemed to notice I was there, which was fine with me. (I don’t like to stand out) I walked up to the desk and behind it was a short man. He had black wavy hair and dark brown eyes. His eye brows were huge. They were all over the place like a catipeiler. The man’s mouth was quite small. His lips were skinny and a very light pink. He didn’t look up at me. “Um…Excuse me. Mr. I’m new here, my name is Clair Firefeild. Can I have my Schedule?” “Are you talking to me?” He said like I was interrupting something really important. “Uh, Yeah.” I told him “Kay, You want your thing. Kay. One sec.” “Okay. Thank you” There was something very odd about that man. He seemed like he didn’t even care about his job or this school. He went into a room in the corner of the room. While I waited I looked around the room. The room was blue and orange. I guess that was the school colors. I liked it. It was better than the colors at my other school, Brown and Yellow. “Clair Firefeild. Here you go. I hope you enjoy your first day. Your locker is right next to the boys bathroom. Locker 727. Good Luck.” “Thank you.” How wonderful. Right next to the boys bathroom. Oh joy. I can’t wait. Ugh this year was not going to be fun I could tell already. Oh and if you want me to email you the rest just email me. (cococatcm@yahoo.com) P.S IT gets better haha.... and you find out why she is heartbroken in Chapter 3

Wife with mental illness frequently leaves with the children? My wife has yet to receive firm diagnosis regarding her condition. She suffers from depression, anxiety, and possibly bi-polar or borderline personality disorders and is on medication. When we met the writing was on the wall. She was in a relationship a few years earlier and cut both arms deep from the bend of the elbow to the wrist leaving very visiable scars. She said her ex trapped her in the bedroom and was hitting her and would not let her out. She thought if he saw the sight of blood he would get scared and leave. I still don't believe this is the full story. Why would you cut both arms? I think she is covering up something. She frequenty lies or does not tell the full truth. When we met she dressed very provocatively, drank and went to bars, and had some questionable friends. I looked past all of this because she was a high school biology teacher, had a masters degree, was very intelligent and came from a good family. She was 37 and I was 39. She was married in her early 20's and has a 19 year old son. I too married early and have a 23 year old son. We both felt short changed as single parents and wanted to start another family and raise children together with a mother and father present full time. We started trying for a child and planned to get married in the near future. The next month she was late with her period and we thought she was pregnant. I was so happy. We still weren't living together full time, she had a house that her brother helped her buy years earlier that we put up for sale. She was planning to come over with a pregnancy test so we could get the results together. She showed up drunk and had her 15 year old son drive her car. I was crushed. If she was pregnant, she shouldn't be drinking. Her son left right away practically dumping her on the front lawn. I told her to get in my car and I would drive her home. Because of this she said I didn't love her and was going to walk home. She lived 20 miles away. She could barely walk she was so drunk. I stayed calm, finally got her in the car and I began to drive. I told her I didn't think this was going to work and she attempted to jump out of the moving car. I dropped her off and waited for a while outside her home in my car to make sure she was OK. I cried the whole time. Next morning at 6AM she was knocking on my front door. I wasn't going to answer but she would not stop. I let her in and she begged me for forgiveness. I did. Things progressed rapidly from there. She got pregnant the next month. Her house sold. I bought a beautiful brand new home. It was perfect. She wanted to give up career and be a stay at home mom. I realized the incredible financial pressure that would put on me, but I agreed. After our son was born post partum depression struck making life worse. The pressure was getting to me. I was growing frustrated with the financial burden, her mental illness, the unstable home life, and lack of sleep with a newborn. She attempted suicide on two occassions. I saved her both times. We both went to counseling together for a few weeks but could not afford to keep going. The economy turned, I received a pay cut at work and I could not sell our home because the prices dropped. I was just scrapping to get by. She got pregnant again. Our daughter was born at 25 weeks, 1lb, 8oz. She was in intensive care for 3 months. We spent a lot time at hospital, we took turns since we had our infant son at home. When I was visiting my daughter one night, she attempted to kill herself again with pills. At times she seems stable, other times not. Our children are doing well, now 2.5 and 1.5 respectively. But life has been a rollercoaster with her. My frustration leads to me lashing out verbally, have even resorted to name calling. This has not helped. She frequently leaves me, nearly on a monthly basis for a week or so to stay with her parents who live an hour and half away. Half the time when I come home from work I don't know if she is going to be there or not. The house is dark. My children are gone. My life is so unstable. She now blames me for everything and said she is done. I'm not perfect but have been totally comitted to being a good husband, father, and provider. I've given up all outside activities to be with my family. I come straight home from work everyday. It's all about family values for me. It seem when she is away she goes back to that provocative style of dress. I wonder what she is up to? It seems she is circling back to the way she was before we met. I just keep putting up with her behaviors and feel walked all over. I dont want to give up, but I don't know what to do. I miss my children. As far as I know she is still taking her meds. She does not talk openly with her Dr. Her family blames me. What to do?

need to find ways to make money to save up for a horse? i'm 18 years old. i have been around horses since i was 5. my aunt owned one then got another one i use to ride both of them. she got married moved and got 4 more horses sold her first one got divorced and sold all but one horse. i've been riding since i was 5. I took lessons from 6-8th grade 1st 3 times at one place i like but not as much as i love the new place, one of the nicest people i have ever met. my aunt also taught me a few things here and there and my art teacher too haha(she has horses too) i have a job but its not an every day job. its a two day job. so i only make 226.08 a month plus i have to take out 90$ for my cell bill leaving me with 136.08. i wanna work more but im pretty sure no one will hire me, i have 13 piercings and recently have black n purple hair O.o i dont know any place that would hire me besides spencers and MAYBE rue21 anyyyways can you help me find or give ideas on how to come up with extra money easy and fun way? horse related and non horse related it can be jobs or home made things. i have a list but some things might cost too much to actually make haha. i like making things though. AND YES I KNOW THIS REQUIRES ALLLLOTTT OF MONEY AND ITS NON STOP BUT I DONT CARE CUZ I KNOW ILL BE SPENDING MONEY ON SOMETHING THAT I'LL LOVE FOREVER AND DO EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING TO KEEP HIM/HER SAFE AND HEALTHY AND HAPPY. I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT I WILL HAVE A BEST FRIEND AND SOMEONE TO TALK TO WITH OUT GOING BEHIND MY BACK.. I LOVE HORSES AND I ALWAYS HAVE. I WANT ONE OF MY OWN, I HATE HAVING TO ASK SOMEONE TO RIDE THEIR HORSE. I CANT WAIT TIL I HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY MY NEW BEST FRIEND. anyways, horse related ways to make money; *rhythm beads *horse treats *horseshoe frames/bridle rack *work at a stable *make treats for riders/trainers help come up with more please! non horse related *make charm bracelets *make headdresses *walk peoples dogs *mow peoples lawn *make candles(might probably be expensive?) *make dream catchers lol i can't think of anything else, please help me find ways to save up oh and extra info: *i plan on spending $1,800 or less on the horse *i plan on buying a grooming tote, saddle pad, saddle stand and a sweat scrapper at the end of the month and the begining of may.($45.92) *i plan on spending $430 on tack (saddle, girth, irons, leathers/stirrups, bridle that comes with reins, & bit) i want to buy a used saddle this has the price with a brand new one *i plan on spending $130.00 on things like a halter, 2 buckets, sponges, a helmet, saddle cover, riding boots, & first aid kit. *i already have 2 lead ropes and a grooming kit *i plan on saving 3 months worth of board fee which ends up being $540 *i plan on spending $300 for a vet check when i buy *i plan on saving 3 months worth of farrier money i think its $60 here ill save 80$ in case *then when i have all the money i need so far ill go buy the horse and start a bank for emergency money in case the horse would need surgery * and i plan on spending$8.99 or more if needed for dewormer *and $60 worth of lessons if i need it i dont know if i should really put my money in a bank though, im kind of scared to O.o should i? SORRY for alll the info but please help me with ideas on earning/saving money thanks! oh and when my aunt was married and at her new place, i still rode her horses. and whenever i was at her house i was always out there with them and before she was married and moved. its hard to get me to leave, so imagine what it would be like if i had my own, id live at the barn lol....i graduate next year too by the way *highschool lol

How can I improve my essay? How can I improve this? Dwellings The home is the place where people live, store items, and find shelter. It is also where our domestic affections are centered, where the householder’s personality is reflected in a contained space. Home is where outside matters can leave us to focus on we care about most. Scott Fitzgerald's book, The Great Gatsby, contains a fictional story by about the decline of the American dream. The characters, Jay Gatsby, Nick Caraway, the Buchanan’s, and the Wilsons all keep homes that reflect their unique characters. Since many key events are chronicled in the homes of the persons, each dwelling is crucial to understanding the setting, story and disposition of the each person in the novel. The book is set in New York. The majority of the homes are placed on West Egg, "a slender riotous island which extends itself due east of New York". The origin of its name comes from the placement of two egg-shaped islands outside of New York that are parallel to each other on east and west ends. West egg is home to those who have recently come into great wealth, because of this they spend their money frivolously, engage in loose conduct, and have few worries in life. Gatsby and Nick live here. Yet, Nick is the only one who describes it as the “least fashionable of the two”, because of the garish taste of its residents. East egg is where Tom and Daisy Buchanan live. Nick Caraway describes the homes there as “… white palaces of fashionable East egg...” Nick Caraway, the narrator of the story, lives in West Egg, (at the very tip), in between two much more expensive homes. As a young man (he turns thirty during the course of the novel) from Minnesota, Nick travels to New York in 1922 to learn the bond business. On his right was Gatsby’s home, of which he had a partial view of his lawn. But Gatsby wasn’t the only one richer than him, he was surrounded by millionaires. His home was nothing in comparison to their large mansions. He had ‘a weather beaten bungalow’ that cost eighty dollars a month. Like Nick, the house is small, aging, overlooked, modest, and quiet. His neighbor Mr. Gatsby had weekly parties that lasted till the next morning. But Nick’s house was only visited a few times by Gatsby and had one occasion when he had his cousin and Gatsby over for tea. As his home had been overlooked so had he, but his quiet reflective attitude also made him the perfect candidate for a narrator. Everyone he meets seems to tell him information he did not ask for or did not even want to know. Whereas Nick is modest, his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, is the complete opposite. Mr. Gatsby owns a home that is “a colossal affair by any standard.” Nick describes it as being an imitation of Hotel de Ville in Normandy. Hotel de Ville is French for, “city hall”, so one could imagine how massive the building was. Gatsby’s house had a brand new tower on one side, under a thin bed of ivy, a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of greenery. The whole front of the house is positioned to catch the light. Yet it only took him three years to make the money to buy it. It was filled with, “period bed rooms swathed in silk and floral arrangements, dressing rooms, pool rooms and bathrooms with sunken baths.” Gatsby’s bedroom had a bath with a study area and cupboard in the wall. His own residence was actually quite modest, as the most expensive items were a grooming set on his dresser, which was plated in dull gold. Gatsby’s personal room reveals a lot about his character. His room is simple, yet he keeps a monstrous mansion filled with people. He throws parties, yet doesn’t mingle with the guests. He has a great deal of wealth yet very few know where it really comes from. This shows how he is putting on a sort of façade to impress someone though he only needs little. Nick noted that his “…personality is an unbroken series of gestures.” Nick soon finds out that Gatsby has acquired everything to impress Daisy who did not marry him previously because he was not rich. But rather than move on Jay has tried to recreate the past, which is not possible. In East egg, Daisy, along with her husband Tom, and their child, lives in a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay. Their lawn starts at the beach and ends at the front door. The greenery wrapped around the sides of the building. In front was a line of French windows, coated in a reflective gold. There is an assortment of expensive furniture within their home but not much else is explained about the Buchanan’s home in detail. Like their home they are consumed with wealth but have little regard for others. Both husband and wife have affairs. Daisy has a new relationship with Gatsby, and Tom has had many affairs and was recently with his mechanics wife. Between New York and West Egg lies a desolate land. Nick describes this location as, “a place where ash grows like wheat.” This point is the residence of George and Myrtle Wilson. They live in George’s shop, where he serves gas to Tom whenever they go out to the city. Their home is not even described in detail because of its insignificance. The whole area is described as being made of ash. The only distinctive object is a billboard for an oculist, which has a pair of eyes with large spectacles that seems to watch the valley, which may be a metaphor for God. Obviously this is the flux of poor people left from the figurative burning of money buy the rich. And this reflects its owner perfectly. George is a simple man, but he is overly submissive, and lacks the colorful character that the others possess. His wife, Myrtle, longs to escape this grey land and looks forward to each meeting with her affair, Tom. Throughout the book the great Gatsby homes play a crucial role in telling the story. The author mentions in fragments details about each dwelling which is placed each time at the proper moment of present action, for maximum effectiveness. The homes kept by the persons involved reinforce the established personalities of the characters. Gatsby is eventually assassinated in his marble pool, by Myrtles husband after Daisy runs over her in Gatsby’s car. The façade created Mr. Gatsby is shown to be superficial when no one comes his funeral, but his home revealed this previously by the number of people who are there as moochers, leeching off Gatsby’s wealth but not proving to be true friends. The Buchanan’s retreat back into their carefree lifestyle and Nick returns to the Midwest where he is more accustomed.

Is it possible to be addicted to a sport ? Is it bad. For 15 months, I practiced for my high school's cheerleading team. They are national champions so they're really good. I worked hard and was good. I learned the dance, I picked up stunts very quickly despite being brand new to them (never was an actual cheerleader, elementary school didn't have it.) And i had tumbling skills that a lot of other girls who had cheered the entire life did not. So I got really nervous during tryouts and bombed them. Of course I was heartbroken when I didn't make the team. I always loved practicing for it. But now its something more. Its doing the dance i learned at tryouts everyday multiple times a day. It's practicing tumbling for at least an hour everyday. I start to feel anxiety or unhappy when I don't do it. I do it at the gym, on my lawn, at parties, you name it. I have bug bites all over my legs from practicing late it night. I'll tell my mom I will do just ONE back handspring and come inside. Ten minutes later, I'm still there. I didn't get a shower for 50 minutes because I was Practing the dance and flying positions and couldn't stop. I stay up til 3 a. M daydreaming about being on the team. I didn't really notice all this until my bestfriend say she couldn't hang out with me because of cheer Practice with the squad and she felt really bad and I realized I didn't care because I wanted to practice instead. Am I addicted? Is that even possible? Is it a good thing or bad?

Horrors of sharing a driveway? I for 3-1/2 yrs of living here have tried all that I can. I share my driveway with 2 adults (parents) 3 children. All have no respect for anyone or their possessions. I have had the windshield of my brand new car smashed while they threw stones at one another; passenger side painted 2x for all of the scratches and gashes from them & their friends playing all from hardball, skateboarding, basketball, etc., trampling across my lawn and damaging my azelea bushes and tree. I've talked, begged, written & ignored as best I could. Never asked for a dime for damages nor was I offered any. Tons of debris & kids bikes all over my side out back in front of the gate to my yard. Just thrown. Parents could care less so what chance do these children have of being taught better? Is there NOTHING I can do? I've had a stroke and am on Social Security disability. I have always had respect for others and just want peace. Yet enough is enough! I need help.

good Commercial zero turn mower!? Well heres my short story....i mow quite a few lawns with 1 good zero turn mower!!!! my grandpa gave me 2 really good zero turn mowers that have just now both given up! they both ran great but now its time to get a new one. one was a Woods and the other was a grasshopper. so now i need a good dependable zero turn mower for under 2500. i don't care if it is used. What would you say would be the best brand for me to buy a used one? the two other mowers were 25 years old before they died... or maybe older.

I need help- racial issues- respect issues? My husband is white and served in the army, I am mixed, most people say I look mexican but I'm white and asian. We are both in our mid 20's. We live on a block that is all black, except for us and the lady across the street from us. My husband and I both work full time, and are literally the only people on the block that have jobs. Everyone else is on welfare. Apparently they all moved here (South Florida) from New Orleans after Katrina. Anyway, these people are constantly walking across our lawn to go to the neighbors house. I wouldn't care so much if it was just in the grass, but they walk on my patio, looking into my front window every time they pass. It's a violation of our privacy and I feel like I can't even watch TV in my PJ's. Today since 8AM this morning they have been standing outside yelling from their porches at each other (a daily occuring morning, evening and night), and "bumping" their rediculously loud music with bass so high all of my windows are shaking. They lean against our cars when they're parked in our driveway. They have dented and scratched my brand new car, I have found trash in my mail box on multiple occasions, I've put up signs that say "please do not walk on the grass" and they were stolen within hours of being put up. We both work full time and can barely make ends meet, so moving isn't really an option for us right now (not to mention our lease isn't up for quite a while). I've requested extra patrol from the police department on our block, but none of it seems to make a bit of difference. We can't install a fence because we rent, the landlord only owns our place, so there's nothing he can do about it. Does anyone have any suggestions to keep people off of my property and to give a little respect? Ps- I don't want to hear about slavery, none of these people on my block were ever slaves and is therefore irrelevent in my opinion. It's simply lack of respect for us, as we stay off of everyone else's property, and out of their business.

Swap council 2 bed ground floor 40m private garden Cardiff for yours in Kensington? I desperately need find a swap from Cardiff to London for my mother who has recently been in intensive care and will need my help once she is out of hospital. I am living in London and she will need me to move back in with her. She needs a ground floor 2 bedroom flat. Are you interested and have what I require? See my advert and email me for pictures and viewings! My property: is a large 2 bed with a 40m private garden. The kitchen and bathroom are brand new. All other rooms are recently decorated to a high standard. The garden is big with patio, lawns, vegetable patch, flower beds and shed and it is accessed directly from the kitchen. There are no communal areas in this flat (i.e. own entrance etc) at all and it is not in a tower block or large estate. Cardiff: is a vibrant city of 350,000 that is ONLY 2 HOURS FROM LONDON and 20 minutes from both BEACH and COUNTRY. It has character and charm with museums and galleries and the castle etc and beautiful parks with lakes and lawns. The city is also full of shops, restaurants and bars. Cinema, theatres, sports and gigs are all big reasons people love it here. Being relatively small, Cardiff is a very friendly place with plenty of opportunity for socialising. It is an excellent place to make friends and an excellent place for children to grow up in. My area: My street has a big green in the middle for playing/ laying. Within a 2 minute walk are shops (newsagents, convenience, post office, takeaways etc), a good primary school and excellent transport links. There is doctor's surgery only 5 minutes away and the leisure centre is 10 minutes walking. Within 5 minutes walking are 2 supermarkets and there is a huge tesco extra within a 10 minute drive. Nearby is a park with an outdoor pool for children, and woods for climbing trees as well as a river I used to fish in (10 minute walk). Reason for moving: my mother is ill and needs to be with me in London. There is no other reason she would leave this flat and she has been in it for 21 years so it is very well looked after. I have already tried homeswapper, all home swapping websites including paid one. i have called every london borough, ive done freecycle, ive posted 10 ads on gumtree a day for the last 2 months, ive replied to people on gumtree...ive tried leaving london schemes, ive tried empty homes agencies and i have tried shelter. i am almost positive i have actually done more than this but you get the picture...

i need help my child was abducted by CPS? One of my neighbors called cps. a social worker who clearly showed dislike, and sherrif deputy came. found a dirty house but nothing unsanitary just the regular. found a weed bong that up in closet that had not been used for months. arrested my wife and my self, and took my duaghter. she is two. felony child endangerment. we were released from jail 2 days later no charges filed. we missed intial hearing and than went to family court hearing. it said in hearing we were meth addicts, cared for child under ininfluence of drugs, found shot gun in childs reach ( they found a 22 rifle that was discarded in lawn the officer said it showed up as a destroyed weapon which is scary email me ekev16@yahoo.com for more info i need help. said we could not provide adaequate clothing for our child but she has tons of cloths some brand new. I used meth 5 months prev the last time after losing my job and im 5 months clean on prop 36. my wife does not use drugs. tried one time in the past and did not like. we have both passed drug tests. it does not make sense. please advise. one of the attorneys assigned to my wife happens to be the father of two guys i did not get along with and managed at the company i worked last. my public defender wont return calls. the social worker told us we need to let our house go into forclosure and take 6 month in house rehab. which is the same PD told my wife. Please help we just had first visitation with our daughter and she clearly has a adults stress in her face, and flinchs when we make qick movements. no one will listen i do not now what to to. we cry every day and do not understand why this has happend. it seems we are alone and no one can help us.

lookie here!?!? On Sears hair dryer: Do not use while sleeping. On a bag of Fritos: You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside. On a bar of Dial soap: Directions: Use like regular soap. On some Swanson frozen dinners: Serving suggestions: Defrost. Printed on the bottom of Tesco Tiramisu dessert: Do not turn upside down. On Marks and Spencer Bread Pudding: Product will be hot after heating. On packaging for a Rowenta iron: Do not iron clothes on body. On Boot's Children's Cough Medicine: Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication. On Nytol Sleep Aid: Warning: May cause drowsiness. On most brands of Christmas lights: For indoor or outdoor use only. On a Japanese food processor: Not to be used for the other use. On Sainsbury's peanuts: Warning: Contains nuts. On an American Airlines packet of nuts: Instructions: open packet, eat nuts. On a child's Superman costume: Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly. On a Swedish chain saw: Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals. On a toboggan: Beware: Sledge may develop high speed under certain snow conditions. On a knife sharpener: Caution: knives are sharp. On shin pads for cyclists: Shin guards cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover. On a take away coffee cup: Caution: Hot beverages are hot. Emergency safety procedures at a US summer camp: In case of flood, proceed uphill. In case of flash flood proceed uphill quickly. In a microwave oven manual: Do not use for drying pets. On the back of a pilot's seat in a Nato aircraft: Seat must be facing forward for take-off and landing. On the bottom of a cola bottle: Do not open here. On a Harry Potter wizards broom: This broom does not actually fly. On a box of aspirin: Do not take if allergic to aspirin. On a bottle of laundry detergent: Remove clothing before distributing in washing machine. On a muffin packet: Remove wrapper, open mouth, insert muffin, eat. In a kettle instruction manual: The appliance is switched on by setting the 'ON/OFF' button to the 'ON' position. On a ketchup bottle: Instructions: Put on food. On a bottle of rum: Open bottle before drinking. A car park sign: Entrance only. Do not enter. A sign in a street in Hong Kong: Beware of people. Rules on a tram in Prague: Beware! To touch these wires is instant death. Anyone found doing so will be persecuted. Sign on newly-renovated ramp entrance, USA: Take care: new non-slip surface. On a can of air freshener: For use by trained personnel only. On a bottle of baby lotion: Keep away from children. On a pair of socks bought in egypt: Do not wash. On a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle: Some assembly required. On a can of pepper spray used for self defense: May irritate eyes. On a Frisbee: Warning: may contain small parts. In a car handbook: In order to get out of car, open door, get out lock doors, and then close doors. On a packet of cashew nut pieces: Warning: This product may contain residue of nuts. Directions for mosquito repellant: Replacing battery: replace old battery with a new one. On a birthday card for a one year old: Not suitable for children aged under 36 months or less. In a hotel bedroom: Please do not turn on TV except when in use. In a lift in a Japanese hotel: Push this button in case anything happens. On a toilet cleaning brush: Do not use orally. On a can of Spray paint: Do not spray in your face. On a TV remote: Not Dishwasher safe. On a blowtorch: Not used for drying hair. On a washing machine inn a launderette: No small children. On a bottle of hair dye: Do not use as Ice Cream topping. On a push along lawn mower: Not to be used as a hedge trimmer. On a box of fireworks: Do not put in mouth. On the packaging for a wrist watch: Warning this is not underwear! Do not attempt to put in pants. In a dishwasher manual: Do not allow children to play in dishwasher. On a toaster: Do not use underwater. On a mattress: Do not attempt to swallow.

During this recession, what do you think of these ideas for saving and making money? 1. Set up an apple cider stand on a crisp fall day. 2. Start a gift-wrapping service at the holidays. 3. Sell items from the attic using an on-line auction service. 4. Wear your winter coat one more season 5. Set up an automatic paycheck withdrawal for $2 per week. 6. Hold a garage sale. 7. Barter with neighbors or friends for needed household services. 8. Babysit for neighbors. 9. Mow lawns. 10. Post a flyer at the grocery store offering to help people move. 11. Start a spring cleaning service. 12.Walk dogs. 13. Offer seamstress and tailoring services. 14. Sew instead of buying clothes or home accessories. 15. Provide a taxi service for elderly neighbors. 16. Bike to work. 17. Car pool. 18. Use public transportation. 19. Park in the less expensive lots and enjoy the exercise you get from walking! 20. Conserve electricity at home and estimate monthly savings. 21. Find a student (kindergarten through college) who needs a tutor. 22. Cut out candy and snacks; donate what you save on these purchases and dental bills! 23. Take outgrown kids' clothes to a consignment shop. 24. Take your duds from the '70s or '80s to a vintage shop-everything old is new again! 25. Camp instead of staying in hotels on vacation. 26. Give up cable television for a few months--or forever! 27. Pet sit for neighbors who are traveling. 28. Make Saturday "Homemade Pasta Night" instead of dining out. 29. Borrow the latest best-sellers from the library instead of buying them. 30. Give up soft drinks for a whole summer. 31. Take a Thermos of fresh-brewed coffee to work instead of stopping for gourmet brew. 32. For your birthday, ask friends and family to make a gift to Mennonite Board of Missions, Commission on Overseas Mission, Commision on Home Ministries or Ministries Commission, Mennonite Church Canada in your name. 33. Give up your gym membership for the summer and exercise in the fresh air and sunshine. 34. Use coupons when shopping, and donate the savings. 35. Shop at yard sales and thrift stores--you never know when you'll find a hidden treasure. 36. For large household purchases, look for bargains on-line. 37. Pay off credit card debt so no interest collects. 38. Don't let water run while brushing teeth and turn out lights when you leave a room. 39. Offer your services as an office temp or substitute teacher. 40. Design Web sites for local families and businesses. 41. Buy cost-cutter brands for staples and household supplies. 42. Email friends and family instead of calling. 43. Make your own gift cards for holidays and birthdays. 44. Wear more "hand-me-downs" instead of buying new clothes. 45. Buy clothes that mix-and-match for each season. 46. Start flowers from seeds instead of buying seedlings. 47. Put on a family or neighborhood talent show and charge admission. 48. Use vinegar and water for a general household cleaning solution and save on expensive products. 49. Collect cans. 50. Study your health insurance policy and discover ways to avoid health care costs. 51. Plant a larger garden and sell vegetables at a roadside stand. 52. Instead of taking friends or clients out to dinner, send a donation in their name. 53. Donate your holiday club account and give homemade gifts this year. 54. Instead of buying a new CD every week, trade with your friends. 55. Scale back your vacation this year, or choose a service project instead. 56. Wait another six months for any major household purchase. 57. Postpone an upgrade to a software application you use. 58. Make a choice: Chocolate or coffee. Movies or eating out. Experience the one you choose more fully and donate your savings. 59. Buy a live plant instead of fresh flowers to decorate your table. 60. Love your looks--give up hair color, permanents, and other things that detract from your natural beauty. 61. Learn calligraphy and make money addressing invitations and lettering announcements. 62. For special family nights, plan on a video and pizza at home instead of dinner and a movie out. 63. Take the kids to the grocery store with you instead of hiring a babysitter. 64. Restrict your use of the cellular phone to emergencies only. 65. Choose eyeglasses with a sun clip instead of buying prescription sunglasses. 66. Wait for summer clothes to go on sale. 67. Be creative with leftovers--use them for work lunches. 68. Find loose change and save it in a coffee can for a year. 69. Bathe the dog yourself and save the groomer's costs. 70. Do your own house painting this spring instead of hiring a professional. 71. Play tennis on the public courts and save fees. 72. Give up golf for a few weekends and hike in a state park instead. 73. Rake lawns in your neighborhood in the fall. 74. Donate your expense checks from work-related travel. 75. Hold a bake sale. 76. Have friends over for parlor games instead of going out to the theater or a concert. 77. Shovel snow for money. 78. Organize a neighborhood car wash. 79. Sell lem

Has our society become more nitpicky and superficial? To give you perspective, I am 43 and thus have been around for decades. I want to know if this is a change in our society or if I have just moved into different social environments and this explains the change I see. I grew up in a family that was sort of artsy and intellectual so all of our family and friends, naturally, tended in that direction. Here's my question: It used to be that cleaning your house was just to keep it decent. If the bathroom was not filthy, that was good enough, and no one cared about the latest fixtures and no one had ridiculous decorative soaps and towels no one could use. Clean the fixtures with some cleanser and if they work, that's all that matters, no gleaming tiles or faucets (who would waste time on something unnecessary?) and it didn't matter how old the faucets were as long as they didn't drip. Now, when I visit people, I find that 95% of the homes have everything cleaned and shined down to the last millimeter, with the latest in everything. And people are such snobs about wanting the best of everything, I guess to keep up with the neighbors or impress one another, or maybe people get enjoyment out of making their house resemble a magazine feature. Also, it used to be that a working car was good enough; now people feel ashamed if they don't have the latest and it better be a brand that impresses others. In other words, I see a lot of pretension about wealth and also in all social classes, there seems to be a preoccupation about cleanliness being all-important, to the point that no speck of dust is tolerated and the fixtures/tiles/furniture better be new; no old and comfy sofas allowed. Lawns used to be simply mowed and it was expected that some of it grew over the sidewalk edge; only mansions had gardeners that would trim and edge, but now, in suburbia, you'd better trim and edge and even fertilize or you'll get a note from the homeowner's association; anything less than perfection is unacceptable. Previously just making sure the grass didn't grow too high was all anyone expected. Just looking for the thoughts and observations of others on what seems like a major society shift. Or maybe not - have people always been preoccupied with perfection in their possessions and their housekeeping and I just didn't know any of them till recently?

Is anyone interested in100 Ways to Save or Make $100 Bucks?Then read on!? 1. Set up an apple cider stand on a crisp fall day. 2. Start a gift-wrapping service at the holidays. 3. Sell items from the attic using an on-line auction service. 4. Wear your winter coat one more season--you've always loved it, anyway! 5. Set up an automatic paycheck withdrawal for $2 per week. 6. Hold a garage sale. 7. Barter with neighbors or friends for needed household services. 8. Babysit for neighbors. 9. Mow lawns. 10. Post a flyer at the grocery store offering to help people move. 11. Start a spring cleaning service. 12.Walk dogs. 13. Offer seamstress and tailoring services. 14. Sew instead of buying clothes or home accessories. 15. Provide a taxi service for elderly neighbors. 16. Bike to work. 17. Car pool. 18. Use public transportation. 19. Park in the less expensive lots and enjoy the exercise you get from walking! 20. Conserve electricity at home and estimate monthly savings. 21. Find a student (kindergarten through college) who needs a tutor. 22. Cut out candy and snacks; donate what you save on these purchases and dental bills! 23. Take outgrown kids' clothes to a consignment shop. 24. Take your duds from the '70s or '80s to a vintage shop-everything old is new again! 25. Camp instead of staying in hotels on vacation. 26. Give up cable television for a few months--or forever! 27. Pet sit for neighbors who are traveling. 28. Make Saturday "Homemade Pasta Night" instead of dining out. 29. Borrow the latest best-sellers from the library instead of buying them. 30. Give up soft drinks for a whole summer. 31. Take a Thermos of fresh-brewed coffee to work instead of stopping for gourmet brew. 32. For your birthday, ask friends and family to make a gift to Mennonite Board of Missions, Commission on Overseas Mission, Commision on Home Ministries or Ministries Commission, Mennonite Church Canada in your name. 33. Give up your gym membership for the summer and exercise in the fresh air and sunshine. 34. Use coupons when shopping, and donate the savings. 35. Shop at yard sales and thrift stores--you never know when you'll find a hidden treasure. 36. For large household purchases, look for bargains on-line. 37. Pay off credit card debt so no interest collects. 38. Don't let water run while brushing teeth and turn out lights when you leave a room. 39. Offer your services as an office temp or substitute teacher. 40. Design Web sites for local families and businesses. 41. Buy cost-cutter brands for staples and household supplies. 42. Email friends and family instead of calling. 43. Make your own gift cards for holidays and birthdays. 44. Wear more "hand-me-downs" instead of buying new clothes. 45. Buy clothes that mix-and-match for each season. 46. Start flowers from seeds instead of buying seedlings. 47. Put on a family or neighborhood talent show and charge admission. 48. Use vinegar and water for a general household cleaning solution and save on expensive products. 49. Collect cans. 50. Study your health insurance policy and discover ways to avoid health care costs. 51. Plant a larger garden and sell vegetables at a roadside stand. 52. Instead of taking friends or clients out to dinner, send a donation in their name. 53. Donate your holiday club account and give homemade gifts this year. 54. Instead of buying a new CD every week, trade with your friends. 55. Scale back your vacation this year, or choose a service project instead. 56. Wait another six months for any major household purchase. 57. Postpone an upgrade to a software application you use. 58. Make a choice: Chocolate or coffee. Movies or eating out. Experience the one you choose more fully and donate your savings. 59. Buy a live plant instead of fresh flowers to decorate your table. 60. Love your looks--give up hair color, permanents, and other things that detract from your natural beauty. 61. Learn calligraphy and make money addressing invitations and lettering announcements. 62. For special family nights, plan on a video and pizza at home instead of dinner and a movie out. 63. Take the kids to the grocery store with you instead of hiring a babysitter. 64. Restrict your use of the cellular phone to emergencies only. 65. Choose eyeglasses with a sun clip instead of buying prescription sunglasses. 66. Wait for summer clothes to go on sale. 67. Be creative with leftovers--use them for work lunches. 68. Find loose change and save it in a coffee can for a year. 69. Bathe the dog yourself and save the groomer's costs. 70. Do your own house painting this spring instead of hiring a professional. 71. Play tennis on the public courts and save fees. 72. Give up golf for a few weekends and hike in a state park instead. 73. Rake lawns in your neighborhood in the fall. 74. Donate your expense checks from work-related travel. 75. Hold a bake sale. 76. Have friends over for parlor games instead of going out to the theater or a concert. 77. Shovel snow for money. 78. Organize a neighborhood car wash. 79. Sell lemonade on a hot summer day. 80. Take used sporting equipment to resale shops. 81. Buy a frozen pizza and cook it instead of ordering one from a pizza place. 82. Assign a dollar amount to each book or page a family member reads, then donate family earnings. 83. When you order fast food, don't supersize it! Ask for water instead of a soft drink. 84. Get rid of your lawn service and donate savings. 85. Start a babysitting coop with people from your church or neighborhood, and donate the money you save on sitters. 86. Dust off that bread machine and treat yourself to homebaked bread for pennies. 87. Offer a matching gift to family members who contribute to Mennonite Board of Missions, Commission on Overseas Missions, Commission on Home Ministries or Ministries Commission, Mennonite Church Canada. 88. Check to see if your public health department offers low-cost vaccines. 89. Plan several vegetarian meals each week. 90. Sell your famous preserves or fruitcake to friends looking for holiday gifts. 91. Buy next year's holiday supplies at day-after sales. 92. Learn how to change the oil in your car. 93. Skip purchasing season football tickets and have friends over to watch the game on TV. 94. Get rid of phone service add-ons--call waiting can wait! 95. Set the thermostat at 65 and snuggle under a blanket. 96. Only go to matinee showings of movies. 97. Choose the cheap seats for concerts and sporting events. 98. Start a resume or word-processing service. 99. Find a housemate. 100. Organize a cycling or running event with people donating a specific amount per mile covered.

Do you folks like my short story? Please reply quickly, if it's good then I will show it to a friend.? It was by chance that I happened to pass by Baker Street. I had absolutely no intention to visit my ex-room mate Hemlock. It was a cold Sunday morning, and a bitter wind blew all day, making my thoughts equally bitter. Hemlock Jones had borrowed twenty shillings from me. Feeling an overpowering desire to get my money back, I stopped. I tried looking through the window for signs of life, but all was dark and I could not see any sign of Jones pacing in his study. I rang the bell and was shown up by Mrs. Hudson. Hemlock was plucking his violin in a manner which suggested that he shared my mood. His face was pale and his cheeks were deep, almost hollow pits of darkness. He ushered me to an armchair beside him and suddenly threw his violin aside. “It’s a most terrible to happen during your visit, Watson. Do you remember the Persian slipper?” “Yes. It had your favorite Shag tobacco and you had brought it from a street hawker for ten pounds.” “Well, you will be grieved to know that it has been stolen." “Stolen?” “Yes, dash it, Stolen! Now enough of this trifle! I think that I can safely deduce that you had been over a patient’s house.” “How the deuce did you deduce that?” “You have blood marks dotted over your vest which shows that you had visited a patient to conduct an operation. Besides, you are carrying your tool box, which you usually carry while visiting a patient.” “It’s all so simple when you explain it!” I exclaimed, although I had carried the tool box to threaten him with my knife if he refused to pay. “Besides that, I think this would interest you.” Jones said with a shy smile. It was a sheet of the worst quality foolscap which could be ever found, torn in places and yellow with age. On it was written- “Mr. Jones, tonight at exactly seven o clock, a man wearing a trench coat shall visit you. He might wear a mask, so please don’t think him to be a robber lunatic and listen to him. It is of the utmost importance. Please postpone any other cases that you have. You will be paid well. ” “Well, Watson, I think our visitor is an eccentric one who cares for his friends. That’s why he’s telling us to bear with this man. He will send a messenger, who, undoubtedly, is the writer of this message himself. He has ink splattered on his forefinger which shows carelessness. Well, I think I hear the man on the stairs.” I heard the thumping of footsteps on wood. A minute later a man emerged from the door. He was about seven feet tall, with the chest and limbs of a man who ate a good deal. He was a neat man who wore a black trench coat, black trousers and a pair of branded shoes. His face was hidden behind a black mask. He was smoking a pipe. “Today is an unusually cold day! The weather might give you an idea of my problem.” He paused to brush snowflakes off his coat. “Someone was murdered.” replied the pessimist. “Correct! And do you know who was murdered?” I thought, how on earth would I know? I for one didn’t kill the man. “My father was murdered by my wife!” “What! Murder, Mystery and hysteria all in one! Pray let me have the details now!” snapped Hemlock. “Well, the facts are these. My father was taking an evening stroll in the lawn. I was gazing at the sky. Suddenly I heard a most blood-curdling scream. On reaching the place from where the noise occurred, I found my wife and the dead body of my father. Irish was holding a bloody knife in her hand and was staring at me with her eyes dark as beads. How she could have committed such a crime had occurred I don’t know. There was no enmity between my wife and my father. He never objected to my choice of a wife or anything of that sort. I can-n-t do anything! Please tell me what to do!” he began to whimper. “Calm down, man,” Jones said. “You are in a terrible dilemma! Watson! Come here! Pour brandy down his throat” I hurriedly did as I was told to do. On removing his mask, I saw a terribly agitated face, with lines and other pale features. We waited for a few minutes while I kept pushing brandy down his throat. A while later Hemlock had revived the patient and asked him to leave as he was feeling very excited at the thought of solving a new case. (NEXT MORNING) “Get up, Watson! Get up!” On opening my eyes, I saw the loathsome face of Hemlock Jones, almost insane with excitement. His breath smelled of tobacco. Just the thing you wanted on a Sunday morning. “There is no need to dress up now Watson! We must immediately go to our noble friend’s hotel now. I have hailed a cab, so for god’s sake get up!” “I just had an urgent phone call from Robert de Sable, our client.” Jones said as we sat in the cab. “He says that he is going somewhere.” “Where’s he going?” “How in the name of Shag tobacco would I know?” He said “Well, I thought he would have told you over the phone.” “My dear Watson, Even a complete dimwit like you can figure that out, can you not? Now we must prepare to get down, for Bingham is near.” The cab screeched

I want to make organic fertilizer? By taking a product with 6 known ingredients. I want to then add 3 new ingredients and sell it as a new product as a distributor to lawn care businesses. Can I legally mix these products together and make my own product and sell it under my own brand name.

I want to make organic fertilizer? by taking a product with 6 known ingredients. I want to then add 3 new ingredients and sell it as a new product as a distributor to lawn care businesses. Can I legally mix these products together and make my own product and sell it under my own brand name.

Is anyone interested in100 Ways to Save or Make $100 Bucks?Then read on!? 1. Set up an apple cider stand on a crisp fall day. 2. Start a gift-wrapping service at the holidays. 3. Sell items from the attic using an on-line auction service. 4. Wear your winter coat one more season--you've always loved it, anyway! 5. Set up an automatic paycheck withdrawal for $2 per week. 6. Hold a garage sale. 7. Barter with neighbors or friends for needed household services. 8. Babysit for neighbors. 9. Mow lawns. 10. Post a flyer at the grocery store offering to help people move. 11. Start a spring cleaning service. 12.Walk dogs. 13. Offer seamstress and tailoring services. 14. Sew instead of buying clothes or home accessories. 15. Provide a taxi service for elderly neighbors. 16. Bike to work. 17. Car pool. 18. Use public transportation. 19. Park in the less expensive lots and enjoy the exercise you get from walking! 20. Conserve electricity at home and estimate monthly savings. 21. Find a student (kindergarten through college) who needs a tutor. 22. Cut out candy and snacks; donate what you save on these purchases and dental bills! 23. Take outgrown kids' clothes to a consignment shop. 24. Take your duds from the '70s or '80s to a vintage shop-everything old is new again! 25. Camp instead of staying in hotels on vacation. 26. Give up cable television for a few months--or forever! 27. Pet sit for neighbors who are traveling. 28. Make Saturday "Homemade Pasta Night" instead of dining out. 29. Borrow the latest best-sellers from the library instead of buying them. 30. Give up soft drinks for a whole summer. 31. Take a Thermos of fresh-brewed coffee to work instead of stopping for gourmet brew. 32. For your birthday, ask friends and family to make a gift to Mennonite Board of Missions, Commission on Overseas Mission, Commision on Home Ministries or Ministries Commission, Mennonite Church Canada in your name. 33. Give up your gym membership for the summer and exercise in the fresh air and sunshine. 34. Use coupons when shopping, and donate the savings. 35. Shop at yard sales and thrift stores--you never know when you'll find a hidden treasure. 36. For large household purchases, look for bargains on-line. 37. Pay off credit card debt so no interest collects. 38. Don't let water run while brushing teeth and turn out lights when you leave a room. 39. Offer your services as an office temp or substitute teacher. 40. Design Web sites for local families and businesses. 41. Buy cost-cutter brands for staples and household supplies. 42. Email friends and family instead of calling. 43. Make your own gift cards for holidays and birthdays. 44. Wear more "hand-me-downs" instead of buying new clothes. 45. Buy clothes that mix-and-match for each season. 46. Start flowers from seeds instead of buying seedlings. 47. Put on a family or neighborhood talent show and charge admission. 48. Use vinegar and water for a general household cleaning solution and save on expensive products. 49. Collect cans. 50. Study your health insurance policy and discover ways to avoid health care costs. 51. Plant a larger garden and sell vegetables at a roadside stand. 52. Instead of taking friends or clients out to dinner, send a donation in their name. 53. Donate your holiday club account and give homemade gifts this year. 54. Instead of buying a new CD every week, trade with your friends. 55. Scale back your vacation this year, or choose a service project instead. 56. Wait another six months for any major household purchase. 57. Postpone an upgrade to a software application you use. 58. Make a choice: Chocolate or coffee. Movies or eating out. Experience the one you choose more fully and donate your savings. 59. Buy a live plant instead of fresh flowers to decorate your table. 60. Love your looks--give up hair color, permanents, and other things that detract from your natural beauty. 61. Learn calligraphy and make money addressing invitations and lettering announcements. 62. For special family nights, plan on a video and pizza at home instead of dinner and a movie out. 63. Take the kids to the grocery store with you instead of hiring a babysitter. 64. Restrict your use of the cellular phone to emergencies only. 65. Choose eyeglasses with a sun clip instead of buying prescription sunglasses. 66. Wait for summer clothes to go on sale. 67. Be creative with leftovers--use them for work lunches. 68. Find loose change and save it in a coffee can for a year. 69. Bathe the dog yourself and save the groomer's costs. 70. Do your own house painting this spring instead of hiring a professional. 71. Play tennis on the public courts and save fees. 72. Give up golf for a few weekends and hike in a state park instead. 73. Rake lawns in your neighborhood in the fall. 74. Donate your expense checks from work-related travel. 75. Hold a bake sale. 76. Have friends over for parlor games instead of going out to the theater or a concert. 77. Shovel snow for money. 78. Organize a neighborhood car wash. 79. Sell lemonade on a hot summer day. 80. Take used sporting equipment to resale shops. 81. Buy a frozen pizza and cook it instead of ordering one from a pizza place. 82. Assign a dollar amount to each book or page a family member reads, then donate family earnings. 83. When you order fast food, don't supersize it! Ask for water instead of a soft drink. 84. Get rid of your lawn service and donate savings. 85. Start a babysitting coop with people from your church or neighborhood, and donate the money you save on sitters. 86. Dust off that bread machine and treat yourself to homebaked bread for pennies. 87. Offer a matching gift to family members who contribute to Mennonite Board of Missions, Commission on Overseas Missions, Commission on Home Ministries or Ministries Commission, Mennonite Church Canada. 88. Check to see if your public health department offers low-cost vaccines. 89. Plan several vegetarian meals each week. 90. Sell your famous preserves or fruitcake to friends looking for holiday gifts. 91. Buy next year's holiday supplies at day-after sales. 92. Learn how to change the oil in your car. 93. Skip purchasing season football tickets and have friends over to watch the game on TV. 94. Get rid of phone service add-ons--call waiting can wait! 95. Set the thermostat at 65 and snuggle under a blanket. 96. Only go to matinee showings of movies. 97. Choose the cheap seats for concerts and sporting events. 98. Start a resume or word-processing service. 99. Find a housemate. 100. Organize a cycling or running event with people donating a specific amount per mile covered.

What you think of this Prince article? John Nelson turns sixty-nine today, and all the semiretired piano man wants for his birthday is to shoot some pool with his firstborn son. "He's real handy with a cue," says Prince, laughing, as he threads his old white T-bird through his old black neighborhood toward his old man's house. "He's so cool. The old man knows what time it is." Hard time is how life has traditionally been clocked in North Minneapolis; this is the place 'Time' forgot twelve years ago when the magazine's cover trumpeted "The Good Life in Minnesota," alongside a picture of Governor Wendell Anderson holding up a walleye. Though tame and middle-class by Watts and Roxbury standards, the North Side offers some of the few mean streets in town. The old sights bring out more Babbitt than Badass is Prince as he leads a leisurely tour down the main streets of his inner-city Gopher Prairie. He cruises slowly, respectfully: stopping completely at red lights, flicking on his turn signal even when no one's at an intersection. Gone is the wary Kung Fu Grasshopper voice with which Prince whispers when meeting strangers or accepting Academy Awards. Cruising peacefully with the window down, he's proof in a paisley jump suit that you can always go home again, especially if you never really left town. Tooling through the neighborhood, Prince speaks matter-of-factly of why he toyed with early interviewers about his father and mother, their divorce and his adolescent wanderings between the homes of his parents, friends and relatives. "I used to tease a lot of journalists early on," he says, "because I wanted them to concentrate on the music and not so much on me coming from a broken home. I really didn't think that was important. What was important was what came out of my system that particular day. I don't live in the past. I don't play my old records for that reason. I make a statement, then move on to the next." The early facts, for the neo-Freudians: John Nelson, leader of the Prince Rogers jazz trio, knew Mattie Shaw from North Side community dances. A singer sixteen years John's junior, Mattie bore traces of Billie Holiday in her pipes and more than a trace of Indian and Caucasian in her blood. She joined the Prince Rogers trio, sang for a few years around town, married John Nelson and dropped out of the group. She nicknamed her husband after the band; the son who came in 1958 got the nickname on his birth certificate. At home and on the street, the kid was "Skipper." Mattie and John broke up ten years later, and Prince began his domestic shuttle. "That's where my mom lives," he says nonchalantly, nodding toward a neatly trimmed house and lawn. "My parents live very close by each other, but they don't talk. My mom's the wild side of me; she's like that all the time. My dad's real serene; it takes the music to get him going. My father and me, we're one and the same." A wry laugh. "He's a little sick, just like I am." "That was the church I went to growing up," says Prince. "I wonder who's getting married." A fat little kid waves, and Prince waves back. "Just all kinds of things here," he goes on, turning right. "There was a school right there, John Hay. That's where I went to elementary school," he says, pointing out a field of black tar sprouting a handful of bent metal basketball rims. "And that's where my cousin lives. I used to play there every day when I was twelve, on these streets, football up and down this block. That's his father out there on the lawn." These lawns are where Prince the adolescent would also amuse his friends with expert Prince is fiddling with the tape deck inside the T-Bird. On low volume comes his unreleased "Old Friends 4 Sale," an arrow-to-the-heart rock ballad about trust and loss. Unlike "Positively 4th Street" -- which Bob Dylan reputedly named after a nearby Minneapolis block -- the lyrics are sad, not bitter. "I don't know too much about Dylan," says Prince, "but I respect him a lot. 'All Along the Watchtower' is my favorite of his. I heard it first from Jimi Hendrix." He turns onto Plymouth, the North Side's main strip. When Martin Luther King got shot, it was Plymouth Avenue that burned. "We used to go to that McDonald's there," he says. "I didn't have any money, so I'd just stand outside there and smell stuff. Poverty makes people angry, brings out their worst side. I was very bitter when I was young. I was insecure and I'd attack anybody. I couldn't keep a girlfriend for two weeks. We'd argue about anything." Across the street from McDonald's, Prince spies a smaller landmark. He points to a vacant corner phone booth and remembers a teenage fight with a strict and unforgiving father. "That's where I called my dad and begged him to take me back after he kicked me out," he begins softly. "He said no, so I called my sister and asked her to ask him. So she did, and afterward told me that all I had to do was call him back, tell him I was sorry, and he's take me back. So I did, and he still said no. I sat crying at that phone booth for two hours. That's the last time I cried.In the years between that phone-booth breakdown and today's pool game came forgiveness. Says Prince, "Once I made it, got my first record contract, got my name on a piece of paper and a little money in my pocket, I was able to forgive. Once I was eating every day, I became a much nicer person." But it took many more years for the son to understand what a jazzman father needed to survive. Prince figured it out when he moved into his purple house. "I can be upstairs at the piano, and Rande [his cook] can come in," he says. "Her footsteps will be in a different time, and it's real weird when you hear something that's a totally different rhythm than what you're playing. A lot of times that's mistaken for conceit or not having a heart. But it's not. And my dad's the same way, and that's why it was hard for him to live with anybody. I didn't realize that until recently. When he was working or thinking, he had a private pulse going constantly inside him. I don't know, your bloodstream beats differently." Prince pulls the T-Bird into an alley behind a street of neat frame houses, stops behind a wooden one-car garage and rolls down the window. Relaxing against a tree is a man who looks like Cab Calloway. Dressed in a crisp white suit, collar and tie, a trim and smiling John Nelson adjusts his best cuff links and waves. "Happy birthday," says the son. "Thanks," says the father, laughing. Nelson says he's not even allowing himself a piece of cake on his birthday. "No, not this year," he says with a shake of the head. Pointing at his son, Nelson continues, "I'm trying to take off ten pounds I put on while visiting him in Los Angeles. He eats like I want to eat, but exercises, which I certainly don't." Father then asks son if maybe he should drive himself to the pool game so he won't have to be hauled all the way back afterward. Prince says okay, and Nelson, chuckling, says to the stranger, "Hey, let me show you what I got for my birthday two years ago." He goes over to the garage and gives a tug on the door handle. is a An "That. "We used parts of my past and present to make the story pop more, but it was a story. My dad wouldn't have nothing to do with guns. He never swore, still doesn't, and never drinks." Prince looks in his rearview mirror at the car tailing him. "He don't look sixty-nine, do he? He's so cool. He's got girlfriends, lots of 'em." Prince drives alongside two black kids walking their bikes. "Hey, Prince," says one casually. "Hey," says the driver with a nod, "how you doing?" Passing by old neighbors watering their lawns and shooting hoops, the North Side's favorite son talks about his hometown. "I wouldn't move, just cuz I like it here so much. I can go out and not get jumped on. It feels good not to be hassled when I dance, which I do a lot. It's not a think of everybody saying, 'Whoa, who's out with who here?' while photographers flash their bulbs in your face." Nearing the turnoff that leads from Minneapolis to suburban Eden Prairie, Prince flips in another tape and peeks in the rearview mirror. John Nelson is still right behind. "It's real hard for my father to show emotion," says Prince, heading onto the highway. "He never says, 'I love you,' and when we hug or something, we bang our heads together like in some Charlie Chaplin movie. But a while ago, he was telling me how I always had to be careful. My father told me, 'If anything happens to you, I'm gone.' All I thought at first was that it was a real nice thing to say. But then I thought about it for a while and realized something. That was my father's way of saying 'I love you.'" A few minutes later, Prince and his father pull in front of the Warehouse, a concrete barn in an Eden Prairie industrial park. Inside, the Family, a rock-funk band that Prince has been working with, is pounding out new songs and dance routines. The group is as tight as ace drummer Jellybean Johnson's pants. At the end of one hot number, Family members fall on their backs, twitching like fried eggs. Prince and his father enter to hellos from the still-gyrating band. Prince goes over to a pool table by the soundboard, racks the balls and shimmies to the beat of the Family's next song. Taking everything in, John Nelson gives a professional nod to the band, his son's rack job and his own just-chalked cue. He hitches his shoulders, takes aim and breaks like Minnesota Fats. A few minutes later, the band is still playing and the father is still shooting. Prince, son to this father and father to this band, is smiling. THE NIGHT BEFORE, in the Warehouse, Prince is about to break his three-year public silence. Wearing a jump suit, powder-blue boots and a little crucifix on a chain, he dances with the Family for a little while, plays guitar for a minute, sings lead for a second, then noodles four-handed keyboard with Susannah Melvoin, Wendy's identical-twin sister. Seeing me at the door, Prince comes over. "Hi," he whispers, offering a hand, "want something to eat or drink?" On the table in front of the band are piles of fruit and a couple bags of Doritos. Six different kinds of tea sit on a shelf by the wall. No drugs, no booze, no coffee. Prince plays another lick or two and watches for a few more minutes, then waves goodbye to the band and heads for his car outside the concrete barn. "I'm not used to this," mumbles Prince, staring straight ahead through the windshield of his parked car. "I really thought I'd never do interviews again." we drive for twenty minutes, talking about Minnesota's skies, air and cops. Gradually, his voice comes up, bringing with it inflections, hand gestures and laughs. faced icons of Yahweh or Lucifer. "We're here," Monroe to talk to. Indeed, if a real-estate agent led a tour through Prince's house, one would guess that the resident was, at most, a hip suburban surgeon who likes deep-pile carpeting. "Hi," says Rande, from the kitchen, "you got a couple of messages." Prince thanks her and offers up some homemade chocolate-chip cookies. He takes a drink from a water cooler emblazoned with a Minnesota North Stars sticker and continues the."This place," he says, "is not a prison. And the only things it's a shrine to are Jesus, love and peace." Off the kitchen is a living room that holds nothing your aunt wouldn't have in her house. On the mantel are framed pictures of family and friends, including one of John Nelson playing a guitar. There's a color TV and VCR, a long coffee table supporting a dish of jellybeans, and a small silver unicorn by the mantel. Atop the large mahogany piano sits an oversize white Bible. The only unusual thing in either of the two guest bedrooms is a two-foot statue of a smiling yellow gnome covered by a swarm of butterflies. One of the monarchs is flying out of a heart-shaped hole in the gnome's chest. "A friend gave that to me, and I put it in the living room," says Prince. "But some people said it scared them, so I took it out and put it in here." Downstairs from the living room is a narrow little workroom with recording equipment and a table holding several notebooks. "Here's where I recorded all of 1999," says Prince, "all right in this room." On a low table in the corner are three Grammys. "Wendy," says Prince, "has got the Academy Award." The work space leads into the master bedroom. It's nice. And...normal. No torture devices or questionable appliances, not even a cigarette butt, beer tab or tea bag in sight. A four-poster bed above plush white carpeting, some framed pictures, one of Marilyn Monroe. A small lounging area off the bedroom provides a stereo, a lake-shore view and a comfortable place to stretch out on the floor and talk. And talk he did -- his first interview in three years. A few hours later, Prince is kneeling in front of the VCR, showing his "Raspberry Beret" video. He explains why he started the clip with a prolonged clearing of the throat. "I just did it to be sick, to do something no one else would do." He pauses and contemplates. "I turned on MTV to see the premiere of 'Raspberry Beret' and Mark Goodman was talking to the guy who discovered the backward message on 'Darling Nikki.' They were trying to figure out what the cough meant too, and it was sort of funny." He pauses again. "But I'm not getting down on him for trying. I like that. I've always had little hidden messages, and I always will." He then plugs in a videocassette of "4 the Tears in Your Eyes," which he's just sent to the Live Aid folks for the big show. "I hope they like it," he said, shrugging his shoulders. change clothes." He comes back a couple minutes later wearing another paisley jump suit, "the only kind of clothes I own." And the boots? "People say I'm wearing heels because I'm short," he says, laughing. "I wear heels because the women like 'em." A FEW MINUTES LATER, driving toward the First Avenue club, Prince is talking about the fate of the most famous landmark in Minneapolis. "Before Purple Rain," he says, "all the kids who came to First Avenue knew us, and it was just like a big, fun fashion show. The kids would dress for themselves and just try to took really cool. Once you got your thing right, you'd stop looking at someone else. You'd be yourself, and you'd feel comfortable." As we pull up in front of First Avenue, a Saturday-night crowd is milling around outside, combing their hair, smoking cigarettes, holding hands. They stare with more interest than awe as Prince gets out of the car. "You want to go to the [VIP] booth?" asks the bouncer. "Naah," says Prince. "I feel like dancing." A few feet off the packed dance floor stands the Family, taking a night off from rehearsing. Prince joins the band and laughs, kisses, soul shakes. Prince and three of Family members wade through a floor of Teddy-and-Eleanor-Mondale-brand funkettes and start moving. Many of the kids Prince passes either don't see him or pretend they don't care. Most of the rest turn their heads slightly to see the man go by, then simply continue their own motions. An hour later, he's on the road again, roaring out of downtown. Just as he's asked if there's anything in the world that he wants but doesn't have, two blondes driving daddy's Porsche speed past. "I don't," Prince says with a giggle, "have them." He catches up to the girls, rolls down the window and throws a ping-pong ball that was on the floor at them. They turn their heads to see what kind of geek is heaving ping-pong balls at them on the highway at two in the morning. When they see who it is, mouths drop, hands wave, the horn blares. Prince rolls up his window, smiles silently and speeds by.

Chapter 1, What do you think? Chapter 1: I heard Sarah yelling "Hey N'Cole"! I didn't really like Sarah but she was a good friend and who doesn't need a good friend. Summer had just ended and it was time to listen to Sarah ramble on and on about her summer full of romance and passion. This rambling usually only lasted a week or so. That is until someone new showed up. See Sarah is that girl who isn't gorgeous but isn't ugly either. She is very desirable due to her amazing personality. I mean when it comes down to it Sarah isn't so bad and I do like her it's just sometimes I find myself jealous of her and I hate it and end up hating her for it. "N'Cole, N'Cole" "I have the most amazing story to tell you" "Oh here we go again with the stories, Sarah it's always the same story with a different guy, why don't we just save sometime and tell me his name I remember the story"! Oh boy do I remember those stories. Her family goes away for the summer every your and every year it's somewhere new. How do they afford that you ask? Well its simple her dad Frank owns his own business buying people's ideas. My favorite idea he bought was the digital picture frame. Apparently some young teen needed a quick buck and got paid $150 dollars for the rights. It's a shame for the kid since the digital frames run no less than $150 brand new. Luckily for me I got one for free. As for my favorite story Sarah has told me. It all happened the summer they went to Hawaii and she fell in love or so she calls it love. Not with the cute beach guy but the towel boy at her hotel. If I remember correctly she met John or maybe it was Jay, (No it was John) from returning her pool towel. John had some questionable story about getting hit by a car and was thus stuck being a towel boy. Well Sarah being Sarah thought he was cute and agreed to see him while she was there. They met up on the beach way late at night, held hands, and walked all through out the beach. She said "It had been the most romantic thing ever!" Although personally I find water to always make a romantic setting. I don't find a late night Ronde-Vu with the towel boy to be romantic. They didn't work out, her summer flings never did. That was always her choice and a wise choice at that. The thing about this story that made it my favorite was that on her last night at the hotel Mr.Towelboy thought he was going to get lucky. Even though I find Sarah over uses the word love she at least has some morals I can agree with. The "No Sex" policy is one of my favorites. Well not only did he make the mistake of trying to get lucky he tried to do it in a hammock. Apparently getting shoved out of a hammock may lead to a broken arm and in the case of John a broken ego as well. That annoying, leave your ears ringing, bell for class rang. "That's the bell I don't want to be late on the first day see you at lunch N'Cole" Our first year of school here at Broken Ridge High School as freshmen we had all but one class together. Being good friends + having the same class=cheating and too much of each other. So from sophomore year on we chose not to take a class together if possible, not having the same class really made us value out time together more, as for the cheating well sometimes you just have to. I shut my very ugly purple locker, looked down the hall, and began my walk to 1st hour. First period wasn't so bad I really did like the idea of psychology. The things you can discover and recover my only thing is that if your mind doesn't remember it, it must not be that important or maybe you forgot it for a reason. Well my five other classes were boring as usual except my final class English. I just love English it has always been on top of my favorite's list, but this year my teacher made it out like it is going to be my best year of English ever. I am not a big fan of writing and it looks like we are going to be doing a lot of it this year. Mrs. Cromwell my English teacher gave us a list of supplies and five 100 page notebooks was first on that list followed by 1 binder, dividers, pens, pencils and 10 packs of filler paper. With all those supplies I can only see large amounts of essays and papers in my future. All throughout the day I would turn left or turn right and I was always catching someone in a stare and before I could even say “Hi” or even acknowledge them they would turn away. Sarah offered to give me a ride home from school and I gladly accepted seeing how my truck was in the shop and would be there for a while since the accident. Although I don't care too much as to what people think about me, riding a bus full of smelly freshmen guys as a senior just isn't too highly looked upon. One thing you notice when driving through Broken Ridge is that the houses are all very small one to three bedroom one floor homes. The house's may all be small but not one looks the same and you never know what will be in someone's front yard. I vividly remember last year the Brooklyn boys got a hold of Mr. Larks chicken and had tied him up by the foot to a steak in the ground. That chicken squawked uncontrollably and if I remember right they were using it as bait to catch a dinosaur like off of Jurassic Park since they couldn't find a goat. Finally we pulled into my driveway. Sarah love's coming over and I think it's because my house is the one exception to the one story small home usual out here. Now don't get me wrong I love my home but it's not exactly the first thing you think of when you hear five bedroom three bathroom home. The old wooden house could use some paint and our lawn could use some tending but I just keep procrastinating. One thing I do truly love is the big oak tree out front I used to climb to get to my secret spy station. There are still probably melted peach rings on the high branches from me trying to catch them in my mouth but unfortunately they always seemed to go up too high. I was about to shut the door to Sarah's very cute Toyota corolla (?) when she stopped me saying. "Hey do you want to pick up our school stuff tonight"? "Sure thing Sarah" "Alright I'll be back here in a couple of hours when I finish dinner". I shut the door and walked all the way up my driveway listening to the gravel crunch under my feet to the front door. Opening the door to my house and looking in all you can see is out living room to the left with our medium sized T.V. and the mix matched couches. If you look right you can see out kitchen. It isn't in the best shape but it isn't so bad. Since my mom left when I was nine I've had to step up my cooking skills. My dear old dad couldn't melt butter if his life depended on it. I grabbed an apple from the fridge, pretzels from the pantry, and headed up the stairs past the guest room with a bathroom for the guests we never had. I climbed the wretched stairs everyday but occasionally I saved sometime and would just fall down them. My dad was never much of a decorator that was usually my mother's job and when she left she took everything from their room. Leaving my dad with a queen bed, brown bedding, his mom's antique armoire, and a "15 Inch" Television he always leaves on when he sleeps. I tend to be a late night; don't need much sleep kind of girl so I usually turn it off for him. At the end of the hall there are two doors one to your left and one to the right. To the left will lead to what was going to be my brothers or sisters rooms if they ever had anymore children. Fortunately for me that didn't end up happening. Since my mother left my dad gave me free will with the house. I decide to use that freewill to turn these two medium sized rooms into one very large library office combo. Of course I had to take down a wall and let me tell you it’s not as easy as it sounds. You have to do more than take a sledge hammer to a wall. Even though it was harder than I had planned it was worth it. This room is my favorite room and my second favorite place to be. Part of the reason it’s my favorite is for the mere fact that I have spent so many endless hours dedicated to this room. I took down my old spy station and used the planks to build the bookshelves that go from floor to ceiling. Since there wasn't enough wood from my station my dad volunteered to bring me some wood home from work at the wood, rock, and tree store. This if I say so is the best one in State. He also helped me put them together and align them seeing as my eye sight isn't so great. My mother and I were never close and when she left she said "Good-Bye and left." Before she could leave I'd asked her to let me have her books seeing as our love and passion for books was the only thing we had in common. She delightfully left them in my possession saying "Books are people, the lives they lived, and their most interworkings so take care of them as if they were your family and friends. Know that when you look at someone they are just a story waiting to be written.” Those were her last words to me so I guess it comes as no surprise that she left to California to become an author. It's her books that started filling the wraparound bookshelves but it is my books that will complete them. In one corner is a desk with a computer and printer centered on it, a filing cabinet is to the left filled with my elementary paintings, old pictures, and my high school papers. In the center of the room there are two very ugly couches that I reupholstered, a lounge chair I bought from the Broken Ridge community garage sale for $10 dollars. Smack dab in the middle of the seating is a fake fire place I built. It's some big rocks around a cut up tree branch with orange, yellow, and red construction paper cut out to look like flames. I guess you could say I am a pretty resourceful, independent, creative girl with a whole lot of free time. Going through the right door would enter into my room. What a glorious room it is. My room is all about me. The things I love like my pet fish. All ten of my exotic fish make up the 40 gallon tank lining up against one wall. On the other wall is my closet filled with old trophies, random boxes full of meaningless stuff I can't seem to get rid of, and my very small collection of clothes. In the center of the room lays my prized possession the master of all queen waterbeds. Hopping on my bed I rolled over and fell asleep.

Is my story good? I want to be a writer but I'm scared my stories are dumb, also, they are kinda short to be a novel, and i have a website for people that have stories or poems and want people to read them, u can email them and I'll post them : freewebs.com/stories2share thanks! Survive This is my newest short story, I hope you enjoy it! Also, I like writing action-y weird stories, but don't think I'm some disturbed-weird person because I like watching action, thriller and scary movies and they give me new ideas for stories. lol Part 1 The music was blaring. Everybody swayed to the beat of the music and some people danced. Blue disposable cups swarmed over every surface possible in the main rooms people were in: the living and family room, the basement, and the loft. Amanda ran upstairs to find her friend in the master suite bathroom, the birthday boy, Eric, talking to some girl. It was his sixteenth birthday party, his birthday really was a few weeks ago, but they had to have the party this late. She swung open the door when she heard his voice; Eric holding some large bottle, drinking it, but she couldn't tell what it was until he moved his arm and it said " Tequila" and some fancy name underneath. "Eric." She said through her teeth, "what is that you are drinking?" "Something," he replied. "Eric, why are you drinking? Beer is ONE thing, but tequila is another! You know you have to drive me home tonight! Put it down!" She glared at him, then slammed the door. Amanda tromped down the stairs, avoiding the dancing people and ran out the door. She got outside and sat on the bench, she dialed Sam's number and waited for her to answer. "Hi Sam!" She shouted over the loud music in the background. Sam was in the house at the party too, but Amanda didn't feel like searching for her since she was really stressed out. She said hi too, when Amanda and heard her swallowing something and wondered if she was drinking too. Ignoring it she said "I found Eric drinking something. Alcohol. So what do you think of that?" "It's really not that big of a deal, everybody drinks Amanda. Lots of kids snuck them from Eric's parent's bar." Sam said. "I don't care! I know I might be sounding corny to you Sam but we are underaged and we have to drive home! And if we get caught, half of us don't even have our licenses, only our permits..." after she said that, Amanda closed her phone. She marched right over to the front door and made the biggest entrance she could make. Amanda searched the whole house and found thirteen people drinking, and snatched their bottles and dumped the drinks down the drain. After that, she filled them all at different levels as before with water, luckily they were all dark bottles so you couldn't really tell about colors. Oh, the suprise the kids will get when they try drinking it again, but then again, what about Eric's parents? Oh well, the kids had to drive back, and I don't want anybody to get hurt... She met with all of her friends in the backyard around 10:30. She saw Eric come through the backdoor with a bottle again, and was drinking it. He was so drunk, he couldn't even tell he was drinking water! "Why did you take our drinks Amanda? " Eric said, "You know, like everybody is so mad at you." Then they started talking about how they were going to hunt her down and beat her up...? "I can't believe you." She mumbled under her breath. They couldn't hear her, but even if they could like, they would even remember it. Then, everyone started talking to each other with their hand in front of their face like they didn't want Amanda to hear, and then snatched her cup of punch and hid behind the bushes. "You guys are acting so childish!" she yelled. Then they came back. "We SWEAR we didn't do anything to your cup." Eric said. She asked "Then why did they take it in the first place!" But like she really believed that they didn't do anything to it. They kept getting closer to her and said "Drink it! Drink it!". If she told them she knew they did something to it, then they would be mad at her, and then they'd say she didn't trust them. Only one cup of stuff she told herself, one BIG cup of stuff. She couldn't decide, what would my parents think? But that was later and this is now, my friends in my face. She felt every second tick by. Amanda picked up the cup from Sam's hand, and drank it. She knew her parents would be really mad at her. After that, she really couldn't decide whether or not she was their friends anymore for what they did to her. Part 2 Next, she went to the park with her friends. Marc, Eric and Hannah rode in Marc's car, and Sam and Amanda walked. she insisted they didn't put one foot in the car after drinking, but thankfully they made it in one piece. Marc and Hannah sat on the end of the double-seated slide. The rest of them sat on the ground . "So what do you think our parents will do when they see us like this?" Amanda asked. "You mean if they see us," Eric said. Amanda sort of did a glare at him, and shouted "It's your faults! You drank, and snuck liquor in my punch!!!" even though she knew she still chose to drink it knowing they did something to it. Luckily, when Eric passed out then, he was sitting down already. You pig, she thought. Everybody knew Eric drank the most out of all of them. When they were talking again, Hannah passed out in the middle of a sentence. Sam and Marc started arguing until Sam punched Marc in the face and he was knocked out. "Just you and me now Amanda" Sam said, "Amanda, what do we do now? I mean look at all of us..." There was a long pause. "Well, I give up." Amanda said to Sam, and layed on the soft grass, then looked over at her, but she was already curled up too on the ground, sound asleep. When Amanda woke up, she tried to stretch and squirm and she opened and closed her eyes in the pillow to get them used to being awake. She yawned, and sat up. It was dim. She reached for her cell phone to check the time when she saw she wasn't at the park, or even at home. Amanda saw bars, she was in a jail cell. She saw a skeleton under her bed and gasped, ran to the corner of the room and gagged. She looked down at herself and saw she was in a grimy t-shit and shorts that were black and white striped. Some uniforms they have here, Amanda thought. It was a tiny cell. She ran to the divider and tried to dig a little bit of plaster stuff out to make a hole to see through. She looked and saw Hannah on the other side. She looked up and saw there was just enough space to the ceiling so she could climb over, so she did. Amanda ran to the side of the bed where Hannah was, and she noticed that Hannah was still sleeping. She shook her to jar her out of sleep, but she didn't budge. Then she smacked her across the face. "Gosh!" she yelled, and opened her eyes to see who it was and her eyes widened, she realized too that she wasn't at home. "Shut up," Amanda snapped quietly and put her hand over Hannah's mouth. "We're in jail...I think. Look over there, see those bars? We are in cells, but it might not really be a jail, because I found and old body under my bed, they can't really do that, can they?" She whispered, and took her hand off of her mouth so she could reply. Just incase it was a real jail, Amanda treated it like a real jail. She climbed over the divider, back to her cell and sat on the bed. "Hello! I would like to make my phone call now!" Then upstairs she heard heavy foot steps, boots, and they trailed heavily and slowly down the stairs until a man appeared at the bottom, in front of Amanda's cell. "You won't be makin' any phone calls here," The man said. he was dressed in a police uniform, should she believe him? Was he really a police officer? He denied her a phone call, so it mustn't be. "Where am I? Is this a real jail? When can we go home-" "Shut up!" He snapped. "Let me out!!!" Amanda yelled back. The man turned around and then paused when he heard Amanda start to sob, then when he heard what it was, he continued up the stairs. Amanda got off the floor, brushed herself off, and whispered "Don't worry." to Hannah's cell. Through the hole in the wall, she saw Hannah crying. I have to think, how am I going to get out of here? She sat on the bed softly because she remembered it creaking last time she sat down. My retainer! She said in her head. Amanda knew her retainer cost over a hundred bucks, but she had to get out, her mom would understand. She took it out of her mouth and twisted the wires into a stick shape as straight and not kinked as possible. She walked in front of the door and knelt to eye height with the lock and attempted to pick the lock. She remembered doing less complicated locks a few years ago, like her sister's room... and her sister's diary, when...CLICK. She cheered in her head and smiled. She opened the door as small as possible just enough to squeeze through, to reduce creaking noises. She walked quickly to Hannah's cell and studied the outside lock. It was really easy, there was just a lever to pull at the very top, but out of reach because a board blocked the openings of the bars to the person on the inside the cell, then Amanda walked into Hannah's cell. "Hannah, I got out, and I got you out now, just get up, we're free!" She walked toward Hannah and shook her, but when she did, Hannah's head was separated from her neck and it smacked onto the ground. She stepped back and screamed with hot air coming from her mouth instead of noise. Part 3 Then, Amanda got up, closed the cell, and went to find her other friends. The next cell was Marc's, get out!"She said in a strong voice before she ran to free the others. At the end of the room, they saw a pile of their clothes, and they grabbed them and quickly put them on. There was also a window that was big enough to crawl out of. Everyone waited for each other to get out, until-BANG! It sounded close. Amanda turned around and saw two men, one of them was the one she saw already, they were both dressed in police uniforms, and they both had guns. "Frank, should I tranq' 'em?" the new guy said. "Yep! Get them John!" Then he tried firing, but he missed the first one, but the next four shots, he got them. The lights shined bright, and Amanda woke up. A short nervous moan brought her back to it. Her head was pounding, and she thought she must have bumped it really hard when she hit the ground. Oh no! She realized, I was tranquilized where am I now? Then, she tried lifting herself, but she couldn't lift past her waist. She looked down and saw that her wrists, ankles, and waist was tied down to a table. She opened her mouth to scream, but it was muffled, there was a cloth tied around her mouth as a gag. Amanda looked around and she saw Marc, Sam, and Eric all tied up too. They were all awake too. Amanda didn't understand it. How could someone be so cruel? What did they want from us? What did we do to deserve this? Amanda looked over at Sam and saw that her leg was bleeding, she was the one moaning, and she still moaned while she squirmed. Amanda kept chewing at her gag to get it off, and did. Amanda kept squeezing her wrists back sideways through the cuffs and they were burning, and red, until she finally got one off, reached over, and untied the other cuffs. Amanda jumped off of the table and freed Eric, Amanda was limping over to Sam's table when she realized that she was limping, she looked down at her ankle and it was bleeding, her ankle was out of place, and she could see it poking through the skin, she noticed Sam, Eric, Marc all had injuries too. She painfully popped it backThey all trudged together through the nearest door. SNAP. They all heard a cord snap followed by tick, tick, tick. Out in the hall area, there was a TV, a cartoon appeared on the screen. It was a creepy looking kangaroo with a smirk on its face and it said "Hello. Welcome to the house. Try to get out by 6 AM and you won't be locked in forever. But there are some traps throughout it, so you better watch ooouuu-out. They noticed a little note card on the side of the TV. Eric picked it up and read it aloud: Beware of the maze, which is really the house. Go quickly and quietly like a little mouse. If you don't hurry and strive for freedom with each other, then don't even think about seeing your father or mother. The TV shut off and they assumed the cord set the timer. The clock on the side of the TV flicked to 12:06, there was six hours left. They went around the corner. "Should we split up, or stay together?" Eric asked. Everyone shrugged at the same time. Eventually, they decided that they should split: Eric and Marc, and Amanda and Sam. Then every body would use their cell phones and call each other when they found the exit and give directions to help the others find the way out. There was a split in the hallway. Sam stood at one end, and Mark stood at the other, while Eric and Amanda stood in between. Amanda looked into his eyes and said "Eric... be safe. Use your heads so you don't get killed. Goodbye." Then they split up and went down their paths. "So it's just you and me now Amanda. If they die, then we would loose three of our friends! I can't take that!" Sam said. And Amanda noticed that her voice broke. "How can this happen to us? What did we do to deserve this? It's not fair!" Amanda said, and then softly, with her head down "It's not fair." Back and forth, around corners, dead ends, it seemed like there was no escape. Sam happened to look over and saw Eric looking down, but Marc wasn't with him. "Where's Marc?!" Sam yelled. "I don't know! I was walking, and happened to look around and Marc wasn't there anymore. I started looking for him, but all I saw was a trail of blood, but it stopped at a dead end, but he wasn't there! There was so much, like he couldn't possibly be alive anymore! What did they do with him?!" "Oh my gosh! See I knew something would happen! I told you!" Sam screamed. "It isn't my fault Marc wandered off!" Eric yelled back. Amanda caught a shiny glimpse of something in the corner of her eye as she turned away. It was Marc's cell phone! She ran over to it and said "Look!'' to everyone. She picked it up and flipped it open, and she saw that it was dead. She got her cell phone out to see the time: 2:27, when she saw she had a voicemail. Amanda called her voicemail, "You have one-new-voice-message. First message, sent at 2:16 AM. From "Marc". "Amanda! Heeelp! I'm being-" End of message." Everyone was frozen. It was so loud that everyone else heard. Amanda closed her phone with her face blank and frozen and slipped it back into her pocket. "They must have put it here on purpose." Eric said. Part 4 Amanda almost threw up. She couldn't take that already two of her friends were gone. Then she looked over at Sam and Eric. Not them too. Or what if I'm next. Amanda thought. "Guys, guys! Pull yourselves together! I'm really sorry to tell you that they are gone! They aren't coming back! It's two thirty So be quiet, suck it up and save yourselves while we still have the chance!" Eric yelled, but after he said it, you could tell on his face that he felt sorry for yelling at them. But still even after he said that, Amanda still had a secret crush on him. "We should stick together this time, three heads are better than one!" Amanda said. "How about we stand on each other to see where the exit is!" Sam said. "How about-the walls go up to the ceiling!" Amanda said, "Sorry... I'm just really tired." "It's okay Amanda, I am too. I understand." Sam said. They turned around the corner and there was a door. "We made it out!" Sam and Amanda jumped, and Eric looked overly happy. Eric opened it and the smile dropped. Amanda and Sam came to his sides to see what it was, because they didn't see sky at the top of the doorway. There was a table with Marc on it, he was dead and his skin was black, he was burned. There was another door behind Marc's table, that had a tiny window, and a sign underneath that said "Caution! Extreme temperatures over 600 Degrees!". "Let's go." Amanda said, pulling herself together. They stepped out of the room and shut the door. CLICK. The voice of the kangaroo came on the intercom, "You know what happens when you don't make it out in time? Carbon Monoxide. Oh and... you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why, 'cause a trap is coming up right ahead, watch out." They ran as fast as they could around corners and down more hallways. Then there was and end, but with two doors. They both said "EXIT" on the top of them. "... I'll go in guys." Sam finally said. She stood in front of the left door, her palm hovering over the nob, she was hesitant, even though she always was the daredevil, even over "Big and Bad" and "Manly" Eric and Marc. She stepped inside, turned around, and looked scared, then, the door swung closed. They heard the noise of a machine starting up. Eric started kicking the door, and Amanda kept pounding on it with her fists. They could hear Sam's screams on the other side and a burst of steam rushed out of the crack at the bottom of the door. Her screams ended, and all the noise that was left was sizzling noises, the sound of when you put fries in a frier. "Three." Amanda said, choking back her tears, it was barely audible. "Next it's, it's you, or me..." "Don't you say that Amanda! Don't you ever say that! We are gonna make it home! You hear me?!" Eric shouted. Amanda crashed to the floor. "Just leave me here, go on." She said. "No... now get up." Eric said in a stern, low voice. He waited for her, but when she didn't budge, he sat down next to her. "Don't give up, obviously the exit is the other door. We made it Amanda! Cheer up! I know... we can't just forget about the others... but we just gotta get home. Please, just come on." His eyes welled up to the maximum, and a tear slid down from one eye. Amanda hugged him. "I 'm so glad you guys have been my best friends. If the others were here, I would say the same thing. Thanks." She said, cheering up. They both stood up, and walked out the door. Part 5 They stepped onto the dewy grass behind the house. The sun was just peeping rays of light out, and they watched it come up. BAM. The door made a loud clicking noise, it locked, and you could hear sprays from the inside, outside. They ran as fast as they could, and kept looking behind them to make sure nobody was there. It seemed to them, that they ran for miles, and actually, they probably did. Finally, after hours, they saw the figure of a house or a building. They came uo closer to it, expecting someone would be there. At the front door, they knocked, but nobody answered. They started pounding on the door, but still no one answered. "Should we go in?" Eric asked Amanda, and she shrugged. "Well, this would be breaking an entry. But the guys might have seen us leave on the cameras. We need someplace to hide!" She replied. Eric lifted his foot to kick the door open, and Amanda was over by the window, but it was already opened. There was thick dust caked on everything. "How did someone abandon this house? Like they just went out, but never came back? Everything a normal household needs is here, but its just old." Eric said. They kept wandering around, examining the things that were there. "I found food! Canned food!" Eric said. "But one problem, there's only four cans." "And I found a duster, and a rag!" Amanda exclaimed, and tossed Eric the rag, and they dusted away. It was a tiny house, just one bedroom, with one bathroom, and a living area/kitchen. They were so dirty when they were finished cleaning the house. Amanda took a shower, but she had to let it run for twenty minutes because the water was so old that was stored in the pipes. After that, Eric took a shower. Around seven, they were so bored, there was nothing to do. And they could call, other wise they would have when they arrived, but they couldn't get any reception on their cell phones because they were in the middle on nowhere. They just sat on the couch and talked. "I wonder what our parents are thinking right now. I don't think mine are worrying." Eric said. "Don't say that Eric! They care about you, they were probably upset that you didn't have the house cleaned and ready for them like you were supposed to, but then again, we were kidnapped, so we really couldn't." "Amanda, I'm really sorry I got us all into this mess. If I hadn't started drinking, and helped them put liquor in your punch, this... wouldn't have happened." Eric said. "Yeah, but it was still my fault for drinking it. I still knew you guys did something to it. It's just, I thought that you guys would be mad at me if I said 'no'. There was a long pause. "But I wonder what my parents are thinking too.... My little sister Kelly." "Aww," Eric said, and he wasn't being sarcastic. "Let's get some sleep. We need to get up early in the morning, set your phone alarm for six." Eric said. Amanda nodded and they went to the bedroom. There was a stench and they followed it to the closet in the bedroom, but didn't dare open it. "I'll sleep on the floor." Eric said. "No, I will." Amanda replied. Eric stared at her, and she said "Fine." "Tomorrow we'll try figure things out." Eric said. "Eric, I feel bad about making you sleep on the floor." Amanda said. She pulled her hood up so she wouldn't have to touch the dirty bedding. "Don't. Because tomorrow night, you will." Eric said. They started laughing. "Night." "Good night." Amanda said, as she turned out the light. "Honey." She whispered. "-What did you say?" Eric asked, puzzled. "- Nothing. I said goodnight. Now... goodnight. " And they drifted off to sleep. Amanda screamed, and fell out of the bed and landed on Eric's feet, then she crawled over and turned on the light. Eric moaned. "What is it Amanda? It's like," Eric looked at the clock on the wall, " three in the morning, turn out the light." He said, while he shielded his eyes. " I felt something, touch my face, was it you?" She asked. "No. You were probably just, (yawn), dreaming it." Eric replied "No Eric, I've been drifting in and out of sleep, and that time, I swear I was awake. Something touched my face! " Amanda said, trying not to shout very loud. CLICK. The front door closed. It was very quiet, but in that moment of silence, it was very loud. They bolted over to the window and saw tall grass moving in a trail backward. They left. Eric believed her then. They went out together to the main room and Amanda locked the door. Amanda walked back to the bedroom thinking Eric was behind her, but she turned around and he wasn't. "I'm gonna stay out here, keep an eye out." Eric said. Amanda nodded. Eric sat down on the couch and then stretched his legs out across it. She went to the bedroom and waited twenty minutes, acting like she was sleeping. Amanda didn't want to be alone after this just happened so she went in the living room and lay on the floor. They both went to sleep for the night. Amanda woke up, but Eric was already outside. It was cold early in the morning. "Morning Eric. Why didn't you wake me up?" She asked, but he didn't say anything. He was sitting in a lawn chair, and his back was to her. "Eric?" She asked, and walked around to his other side and he buried his head in his arms and lap. He was crying. She patted his back. "What's wrong?" she asked. He sniffled and wiped his face with his arm and stood up. "I was waiting for you, we can go get some food now. But we have to go fast." He said. She nodded and they left. They found a little garden, some tomatoes and potatoes, and there was an apple tree. They picked some and ran back to the house. They ate and were bored the rest of the day again. That night Amanda slept on the floor and Eric slept on the bed. "Eric!"Amanda yelled. "Some thing touched my face again!" "Again?" He asked. They heard the click again, but this time it was the bedroom door. Eric bolted to the window. "Amanda, get weapons! I didn't see anyone leave! He's outside!" Eric whispered. Amanda ran to the closet. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the stench that was about to come. She opened the door and stepped inside. There was junk scattered on the floor. But in the middle of the closet, there was a bookcase that had nicknacks and pictures. There was on big one. It was a silver picture frame with a picture of a woman. She was elderly, about 65 to 70. On the frame, it said "Mom". She looked so familiar. Amanda realized that it was the sons' mother when she looked at the bottom shelf and there was a double picture frame that had the "police officer" sons. This was their house! Behind the bookcase was a sliding door, she opened it and there was a dozen dead bodies, she saw Marc, Sam, and Hannah's headless body in the closet. Amanda wretched and fell back. Someone caught her. She looked up and it was Eric. He said "What?" She couldn't even get any words out and just pointed, and when he saw it he almost dropped her, so he pushed her back up. They ran out of the room and down the hallway until someone stepped out from around the corner. It was Frank. "Not so fast" he said. Part 6 "Where do you think you're going? Frank said. "Home!" Eric shouted, and kicked Frank in the face. He fell on his back and Amanda jumped on top of him. She punched his face again and again. Then she did one big blow to his stomach repeatedly and Eric kicked his sides and thighs. On one big final punch to his nose and it gushed out blood. She stood up and Eric raised his foot over Franks face. "Should I give him the "death sentence" Amanda?" Eric said. Amanda grabbed him and pulled him to the side. "No."Amanda said, "I know something better, make him suffer like they did until we get the cops!" Then they grabbed him and threw him in the closet. Eric boarded it shut and they ran off. They ran and ran. This time when they ran, they ran to the side, not the direction that they came from. Finally, they came to a dirt road. But there were no cars in sight. They still continued down the street. A car came by. They started jumping around and jumped in the middle of the street. Eric and Amanda looked really dirty, especially their clothes. The little rusty green car stopped at the side of the road, their helplessness appearance must have made them stop to pick up complete strangers. "Thank you so much!" Amanda said. "Do you have a cell phone we can use? Ours died." "No, I'm sorry. But I do have two chargers. (chuckle) I left my cell phone at home. What's your brand?" The man said. "I have a...C6J890" Amanda said. "Okay, I have a C6, see if this one fits." The man handed her the charger and she put it in. "It fits!" The man plugged it in and she turned on her cell phone. She started to dial 9-1-1, but stopped. While the phone rang she asked "What city are we in?... Well, we had some car trouble. We aren't crazy or anything." "Baton Rouge." He said, and looked at her suspiciously. Amanda hung up the phone. What if he thinks something wrong and doesn't believe we were kidnapped? He would kick us out and my phone wouldn't be charged enough. So I'll wait twenty minutes. They just drove down the dirt road, there was nothing on it, it seemed like it went on forever. Finally, she looked at the clock and thirty minutes had passed. "What street are we on?" Eric asked. "Mully road. It connects with Danburt Street, way at the end." "Hello? I need some help! We are on Mully Road by Danburt in Baton Rouge. Send cars, we had been kidnapped, but right now we got a ride! We would like to go home!" Amanda said. "Will do, help is on the way." The operator said. "We'll take it from here." Eric said. And they stepped out of the car at Danburt and Mully. They sat on the side of the road and finally the police cars came. Eric and Amanda got inside the police car and drove to the police airport to be escorted home. On the plane they sat in their seats and ate two meals each. Finally, when they were done they talked. "I can't believe we are finally going home Amanda!" Eric said. "I know!" Amanda replied. "I...I love you." Eric said. "You do?!?" She asked. He nodded. "I love you too." And they went home. Epilogue The parents of the group of friends were all devastated when they found out about what had happened to all of them. Their case made world news. Eric and Amanda stayed together and ended up getting accepted into the same colleges. Amanda majored in art and Eric majored in journalism. All through college they stayed together. Eventually the couple broke up, thinking it was the best thing to do. When Eric and Amanda were both 26, they got back together for three years and got married. Two years later, their case became a movie and became the most popular movie in ten years. Eric and Amanda made money for agreeing to the story and moved into a large house and had three dogs and two cats. Eventually, they had three kids: two girls and a boy and named them Hannah, Sam and Marc. i know they are both bad, im young, i dont support drinking , i was just trying to put it into the view of a lot teenagers where a lot of them drink beer first , im not trying to put in the head of ppl that drinking is ok for young ppl

POLL Are you very bored? Well here is some things to do! :Are You Bored? Try These Things: Act like a spy / secret agent for the day Act like you just met your friend for the first time Act profound Ad lib Add some strawberries to your ice cream Adopt strange mannerisms Alphabetize the food in your fridge Announce your candidacy for President. Annoy total strangers Apply for a unicorn hunting license Appreciate everything Archive the Internet to 3.5" floppy disks (low density of course) Arrest yourself Ask a question nobody can answer Ask embarrassing questions Ask for seconds Ask people how to pronounce their name Ask people if they want to see your “belly button treasure” Ask people if they’ve seen your head Ask stupid questions. Ask the person in front of you to marry you. Ask why At the bottom of escalators yell “MY SHOELACE!” Attract lightning Award yourself a Nobel Peace Prize Baby oil the floor Backstroke your way to class Bake the world’s biggest doughnut hole Balance a pencil on your nose Balance a pillow on your head Balance your checkbook Bark at people in the grocery store Bark at your dog Bark at your parents Be a leaf and leave Be a loan shark Be a lone shark Be a monk...for a day Be a no-name Be a non-being Be a REALLY cautious driver Be a side affect. Be a smart blonde Be a spy Be a square root. Be a superstar Be amazing Be blue Be blunt Be Buddha Be cherubic. Be cold Be cute Be envious Be halfway Be hot Be immobile Be in the wrong place at the right time. Be jealous Be lazy Be legendary Be lord of the flies Be negative Be nervous Be neutral Be one of those people that yell “SHH!” (Even though they ADD to the noise) Be positive Be really annoying to everybody Be sharp Be smart Be somebody else Be someone special Be stupid for a day Be thankful for clocks Be unique, just like everyone else Beam yourself up Become a band nerd Become a go-to kinda man Become a hermit on your front lawn (works best if you live on a main road!) Become a paparazzi for your friends, follow them around with a camera Become a party animal Become a tic-tac addict Become an expert on something nobody cares about Befriend flies Behold the truth Bite every other nail Bite your pinkie Blast hip-hop music through town Blink a lot Blow bubbles Blow bubbles with bubble gum Blow on a beer bottle Blow on a blade of grass Blow spit bubbles Blow up a balloon until it pops Boil ice cream Boldly go where no man has gone before Bother a sibling, profusely Bounce a potato Braid your dog's hair Break into a friend's house and clean it Break some rules Bring a Furby to school Bring dog treats to the park and meet 25 new dogs Bronze your sister Brush your teeth Buff your cat Build a house out of toothpicks Build a house with ice cubes Build a model of the Eiffel Tower out of Belgian waffles Build a pyramid Build a tree house in the middle of a field Burp the Happy Birthday song Bury your father’s car Buy something from an infomercial Call a wrong number and talk to whoever answers. Call an insurance company and try to insure your stuffed animal. Call toll free numbers and make friends with the operators Call yourself an Indian giver Calmly have a nervous breakdown Can you out-shame these people? Carpet your ceiling Carry a briefcase with you and offer people phony legal advice Carry a tune...drop it, see if it breaks Carve your boyfriend\girlfriend\crushes’ initials in a marshmallow Catch a cold Catch a falling star Challenge the neighbor kid to duel Change your hand writing style Change your mind Change your name...daily Chase your friend or family member around the sofa Check out the weather forecast for other parts of the world. Check under chairs for chewing gum Check your email from a DOS command prompt Chew ice Chew on a lollipop stick Chew on pen caps Chew on your arm until someone notices. Chew your lip Churn some butter. Claim you are late for a date with the white rabbit Clean and polish your belly button Clean your room (*gasp*) Climb the walls Clone yourself Collect hotel keys Complain about your nose hurting Conceive a brand new language. Confess to a crime that you didn't commit. Confess to a crime...that didn't happen Construct a shrine for the queen of the spud peoples Construct tiny makeshift parachutes for hamsters Convert various currencies to other various currencies here Count all the stars in the sky Count to a 100,000 Count your teeth with your tongue Crack your knuckles Crank up some music Crawl around the room humming the music from Mission Impossible. Create random equations Cross your toes Crumble Crumple Crush pop cans with croquet mallets Cut out photos and paste them on Popsicle sticks and have a puppet show Cut your fingernails/toenails Dance around your living room naked Dance 'til you drop Dare to be stupid Day dream Debate politics with a pet Declar

What do yuo propose me to do when I feel bored? Act like a spy / secret agent for the day Act like you just met your friend for the first time Act profound Ad lib Add some strawberries to your ice cream Adopt strange mannerisms Alphabetize the food in your fridge Announce your candidacy for President. Annoy total strangers Apply for a unicorn hunting license Appreciate everything Archive the Internet to 3.5" floppy disks (low density of course) Arrest yourself Ask a question nobody can answer Ask embarrassing questions Ask for seconds Ask people how to pronounce their name Ask people if they want to see your “belly button treasure” Ask people if they’ve seen your head Ask stupid questions. Ask the person in front of you to marry you. Ask why At the bottom of escalators yell “MY SHOELACE!” Attract lightning Award yourself a Nobel Peace Prize Baby oil the floor Backstroke your way to class Bake the world’s biggest doughnut hole Balance a pencil on your nose Balance a pillow on your head Balance your checkbook Bark at people in the grocery store Bark at your dog Bark at your parents Be a leaf and leave Be a loan shark Be a lone shark Be a monk...for a day Be a no-name Be a non-being Be a REALLY cautious driver Be a side affect. Be a smart blonde Be a spy Be a square root. Be a superstar Be amazing Be blue Be blunt Be Buddha Be cherubic. Be cold Be cute Be envious Be halfway Be hot Be immobile Be in the wrong place at the right time. Be jealous Be lazy Be legendary Be lord of the flies Be negative Be nervous Be neutral Be one of those people that yell “SHH!” (Even though they ADD to the noise) Be positive Be really annoying to everybody Be sharp Be smart Be somebody else Be someone special Be stupid for a day Be thankful for clocks Be unique, just like everyone else Beam yourself up Become a band nerd Become a go-to kinda man Become a hermit on your front lawn (works best if you live on a main road!) Become a paparazzi for your friends, follow them around with a camera Become a party animal Become a tic-tac addict Become an expert on something nobody cares about Befriend flies Behold the truth Bite every other nail Bite your pinkie Blast hip-hop music through town Blink a lot Blow bubbles Blow bubbles with bubble gum Blow on a beer bottle Blow on a blade of grass Blow spit bubbles Blow up a balloon until it pops Boil ice cream Boldly go where no man has gone before Bother a sibling, profusely Bounce a potato Braid your dog's hair Break into a friend's house and clean it Break some rules Bring a Furby to school Bring dog treats to the park and meet 25 new dogs Bronze your sister Brush your teeth Buff your cat Build a house out of toothpicks Build a house with ice cubes Build a model of the Eiffel Tower out of Belgian waffles Build a pyramid Build a tree house in the middle of a field Burp the Happy Birthday song Bury your father’s car Buy something from an infomercial Call a wrong number and talk to whoever answers. Call an insurance company and try to insure your stuffed animal. Call toll free numbers and make friends with the operators Call yourself an Indian giver Calmly have a nervous breakdown Can you out-shame these people? Carpet your ceiling Carry a briefcase with you and offer people phony legal advice Carry a tune...drop it, see if it breaks Carve your boyfriend\girlfriend\crushes’ initials in a marshmallow Catch a cold Catch a falling star Challenge the neighbor kid to duel Change your hand writing style Change your mind Change your name...daily Chase your friend or family member around the sofa Check out the weather forecast for other parts of the world. Check under chairs for chewing gum Check your email from a DOS command prompt Chew ice Chew on a lollipop stick Chew on pen caps Chew on your arm until someone notices. Chew your lip Churn some butter. Claim you are late for a date with the white rabbit Clean and polish your belly button Clean your room (*gasp*) Climb the walls Clone yourself Collect hotel keys Complain about your nose hurting Conceive a brand new language. Confess to a crime that you didn't commit. Confess to a crime...that didn't happen Construct a shrine for the queen of the spud peoples Construct tiny makeshift parachutes for hamsters Convert various currencies to other various currencies here Count all the stars in the sky Count to a 100,000 Count your teeth with your tongue Crack your knuckles Crank up some music Crawl around the room humming the music from Mission Impossible. Create random equations Cross your toes Crumble Crumple Crush pop cans with croquet mallets Cut out photos and paste them on Popsicle sticks and have a puppet show Cut your fingernails/toenails Dance around your living room naked Dance 'til you drop Dare to be stupid Day dream Debate politics with a pet Declare April 6th “slap butt day” at your school and actively celebrate it Declare war Defend your neighborhood from flesh eating robots Defy gravity Develop a complex Develop a tick Dial-a-prayer and argue Discover some cool uses for crates Discover the answer to the ultimate question....then the question itself.... Do a cartwheel Do a good job Do aerobics...in your head Do crossword puzzles Do everything with your other hand today Do some paperwork Do the hokey-pokey at 3 am Do the magician “saw a box trick” with your sister/brother Donate your brother’s/sister's body to science Dont ever use punctuation its rather annoying isnt it Doodle or cartoon Dot people’s i’s for them Draw Venn diagrams...screw them up Dress in something silly and laugh at yourself Dress like a pirate Dress like your favorite Heavy Metal group...surprise your grandmother. Dress up in a cow suit… go to the supermarket Drink as much prune juice as you can Drink soda till you get wired Drink straight shots...of water Drop pebbles down the chimney Drop something to see if it breaks. Duct tape a spoon to the wall and wait for it to fall Eat broccoli and pretend to be a dinosaur eating trees Embarrass yourself Even the score Every time you say the word definitely, spell it out Every time you write something today, use roman numerals for the numbers. Exist...existentially of course. Exorcise a ghost Experiment with makeup Eye witness stuff Factor your social security number Faint Fake an accent Fall asleep Fidget Figure out how to get yourself on TV Find a bug and chase it Find an address to your favorite famous person and write them a letter. See if they write you back. Find other people who have your name Find out your future with a Ouija board Find pepper and dust and break the world record of sneezes Find some crutches and pretend to have a broken leg Find the heat capacity of your science professor Find the longest URL you possibly can Find the meaning of life Find the nearest nowhere and go there Find typos on websites and email the webmasters to let them know. Find your half-life Flash your mailman Flip upside-down and check out the Anti-Gravity Room Flirt with people Fluff your pillows Fold everything you can Follow random people Forget to groom Form a political party Form a union Format all those AOL disks you got in the mail... Gargle Gesture Get a song stuck in your head Get angry with yourself Get bubblegum stuck in your hair and try to get it out Get caught red-handed Get on the radio Get run over by a train of thought Get your dog braces Get yourself as nauseated as possible, like by spinning around and looking straight up. Give names to your body parts Give your cat a mohawk Give to charity Give yourself a new identity Glue pages of your roommates textbooks together. Go Amish Go back to square one Go dumpster diving Go dumpster diving and see what you can find Go for a bike ride Go for a run Go for a walk Go insane Go into a bar and ask for a Molotov Cocktail Go on random driver’s ed trips Go shop for a really good book Go skinny-dipping Go squirrel watching Go swimming Go through the dictionary looking up really long words like discombobulated. Go to a funeral and tell jokes Go to a Swing dance and do the hokey-pokey Go to McDonald's and pretend you can't speak English Go to your local museum, and try to get kicked out Goose people Grease every door hinge in the house, then yell at people for slamming doors Grind your teeth Groan, act confused when people ask if you are ok Hail a cab and walk Hang out in the bathroom wearing a suit and sell people things Have a burping contest Have a carpet picnic Have a staring contest with yourself in the mirror. Have a water drinking contest Have an egg toss Have people follow you with red carpet everywhere Help an old lady cross the street Hide Hire people to wait on you Hit some hay Hit the deck Hold amateur wrestling matches at your local gym Hold an ice cube as long as possible Hold your breath Hold your hand Hop on one foot all day Hop up and down Host your own radio show from your laundry room Hot wax the bottom of your brothers/sisters dress shoes Hug a stranger then apologize saying you thought they were your grandma. Hunt and peck when you type in public places Ignore anyone who talks to you Inflate a beachball and throw it around the room. Insist everyone calls you “Your highness” Interview a member of the opposite sex Invent something Join a fan club Join the debate team and agree with everyone Juggle everything you can find Jump up and down Just hop up Kidnap Cabbage Patch Kids Kidnap Cabbage Patch Kids Kidnap Cabbage Patch Kids. Kiss and make up with yourself Kiss

Chapter 1? What do you think? Chapter 1: I heard Sarah yelling "Hey N'Cole"! I didn't really like Sarah but she was a good friend and who doesn't need a good friend. Summer had just ended and it was time to listen to Sarah ramble on and on about her summer full of romance and passion. This rambling usually only lasted a week or so. That is until someone new showed up. See Sarah is that girl who isn't gorgeous but isn't ugly either. She is very desirable due to her amazing personality. I mean when it comes down to it Sarah isn't so bad and I do like her it's just sometimes I find myself jealous of her and I hate it and end up hating her for it. "N'Cole, N'Cole" "I have the most amazing story to tell you" "Oh here we go again with the stories, Sarah it's always the same story with a different guy, why don't we just save sometime and tell me his name I remember the story"! Oh boy do I remember those stories. Her family goes away for the summer every your and every year it's somewhere new. How do they afford that you ask? Well its simple her dad Frank owns his own business buying people's ideas. My favorite idea he bought was the digital picture frame. Apparently some young teen needed a quick buck and got paid $150 dollars for the rights. It's a shame for the kid since the digital frames run no less than $150 brand new. Luckily for me I got one for free. As for my favorite story Sarah has told me. It all happened the summer they went to Hawaii and she fell in love or so she calls it love. Not with the cute beach guy but the towel boy at her hotel. If I remember correctly she met John or maybe it was Jay, (No it was John) from returning her pool towel. John had some questionable story about getting hit by a car and was thus stuck being a towel boy. Well Sarah being Sarah thought he was cute and agreed to see him while she was there. They met up on the beach way late at night, held hands, and walked all through out the beach. She said "It had been the most romantic thing ever!" Although personally I find water to always make a romantic setting. I don't find a late night Ronde-Vu with the towel boy to be romantic. They didn't work out, her summer flings never did. That was always her choice and a wise choice at that. The thing about this story that made it my favorite was that on her last night at the hotel Mr.Towelboy thought he was going to get lucky. Even though I find Sarah over uses the word love she at least has some morals I can agree with. The "No Sex" policy is one of my favorites. Well not only did he make the mistake of trying to get lucky he tried to do it in a hammock. Apparently getting shoved out of a hammock may lead to a broken arm and in the case of John a broken ego as well. That annoying, leave your ears ringing, bell for class rang. "That's the bell I don't want to be late on the first day see you at lunch N'Cole" Our first year of school here at Broken Ridge High School as freshmen we had all but one class together. Being good friends + having the same class=cheating and too much of each other. So from sophomore year on we chose not to take a class together if possible, not having the same class really made us value out time together more, as for the cheating well sometimes you just have to. I shut my very ugly purple locker, looked down the hall, and began my walk to 1st hour. First period wasn't so bad I really did like the idea of psychology. The things you can discover and recover my only thing is that if your mind doesn't remember it, it must not be that important or maybe you forgot it for a reason. Well my five other classes were boring as usual except my final class English. I just love English it has always been on top of my favorite's list, but this year my teacher made it out like it is going to be my best year of English ever. I am not a big fan of writing and it looks like we are going to be doing a lot of it this year. Mrs. Cromwell my English teacher gave us a list of supplies and five 100 page notebooks was first on that list followed by 1 binder, dividers, pens, pencils and 10 packs of filler paper. With all those supplies I can only see large amounts of essays and papers in my future. All throughout the day I would turn left or turn right and I was always catching someone in a stare and before I could even say “Hi” or even acknowledge them they would turn away. Sarah offered to give me a ride home from school and I gladly accepted seeing how my truck was in the shop and would be there for a while since the accident. Although I don't care too much as to what people think about me, riding a bus full of smelly freshmen guys as a senior just isn't too highly looked upon. One thing you notice when driving through Broken Ridge is that the houses are all very small one to three bedroom one floor homes. The house's may all be small but not one looks the same and you never know what will be in someone's front yard. I vividly remember last year the Brooklyn boys got a hold of Mr. Larks chicken and had tied him up by the foot to a steak in the ground. That chicken squawked uncontrollably and if I remember right they were using it as bait to catch a dinosaur like off of Jurassic Park since they couldn't find a goat. Finally we pulled into my driveway. Sarah love's coming over and I think it's because my house is the one exception to the one story small home usual out here. Now don't get me wrong I love my home but it's not exactly the first thing you think of when you hear five bedroom three bathroom home. The old wooden house could use some paint and our lawn could use some tending but I just keep procrastinating. One thing I do truly love is the big oak tree out front I used to climb to get to my secret spy station. There are still probably melted peach rings on the high branches from me trying to catch them in my mouth but unfortunately they always seemed to go up too high. I was about to shut the door to Sarah's very cute Toyota corolla (?) when she stopped me saying. "Hey do you want to pick up our school stuff tonight"? "Sure thing Sarah" "Alright I'll be back here in a couple of hours when I finish dinner". I shut the door and walked all the way up my driveway listening to the gravel crunch under my feet to the front door. Opening the door to my house and looking in all you can see is out living room to the left with our medium sized T.V. and the mix matched couches. If you look right you can see out kitchen. It isn't in the best shape but it isn't so bad. Since my mom left when I was nine I've had to step up my cooking skills. My dear old dad couldn't melt butter if his life depended on it. I grabbed an apple from the fridge, pretzels from the pantry, and headed up the stairs past the guest room with a bathroom for the guests we never had. I climbed the wretched stairs everyday but occasionally I saved sometime and would just fall down them. My dad was never much of a decorator that was usually my mother's job and when she left she took everything from their room. Leaving my dad with a queen bed, brown bedding, his mom's antique armoire, and a "15 Inch" Television he always leaves on when he sleeps. I tend to be a late night; don't need much sleep kind of girl so I usually turn it off for him. At the end of the hall there are two doors one to your left and one to the right. To the left will lead to what was going to be my brothers or sisters rooms if they ever had anymore children. Fortunately for me that didn't end up happening. Since my mother left my dad gave me free will with the house. I decide to use that freewill to turn these two medium sized rooms into one very large library office combo. Of course I had to take down a wall and let me tell you it’s not as easy as it sounds. You have to do more than take a sledge hammer to a wall. Even though it was harder than I had planned it was worth it. This room is my favorite room and my second favorite place to be. Part of the reason it’s my favorite is for the mere fact that I have spent so many endless hours dedicated to this room. I took down my old spy station and used the planks to build the bookshelves that go from floor to ceiling. Since there wasn't enough wood from my station my dad volunteered to bring me some wood home from work at the wood, rock, and tree store. This if I say so is the best one in State. He also helped me put them together and align them seeing as my eye sight isn't so great. My mother and I were never close and when she left she said "Good-Bye and left." Before she could leave I'd asked her to let me have her books seeing as our love and passion for books was the only thing we had in common. She delightfully left them in my possession saying "Books are people, the lives they lived, and their most interworkings so take care of them as if they were your family and friends. Know that when you look at someone they are just a story waiting to be written.” Those were her last words to me so I guess it comes as no surprise that she left to California to become an author. It's her books that started filling the wraparound bookshelves but it is my books that will complete them. In one corner is a desk with a computer and printer centered on it, a filing cabinet is to the left filled with my elementary paintings, old pictures, and my high school papers. In the center of the room there are two very ugly couches that I reupholstered, a lounge chair I bought from the Broken Ridge community garage sale for $10 dollars. Smack dab in the middle of the seating is a fake fire place I built. It's some big rocks around a cut up tree branch with orange, yellow, and red construction paper cut out to look like flames. I guess you could say I am a pretty resourceful, independent, creative girl with a whole lot of free time. Going through the right door would enter into my room. What a glorious room it is. My room is all about me. The things I love like my pet fish. All ten of my exotic fish make up the 40 gallon tank lining up against one wall. On the other wall is my closet filled with old trophies, random boxes full of meaningless stuff I can't seem to get rid of, and my very small collection of clothes. In the center of the room lays my prized possession the master of all queen waterbeds. Hopping on my bed I rolled over and fell asleep.

POLL: are you very bored? Well here is some things to do! :Are You Bored? Try These Things: Act like a spy / secret agent for the day Act like you just met your friend for the first time Act profound Ad lib Add some strawberries to your ice cream Adopt strange mannerisms Alphabetize the food in your fridge Announce your candidacy for President. Annoy total strangers Apply for a unicorn hunting license Appreciate everything Archive the Internet to 3.5" floppy disks (low density of course) Arrest yourself Ask a question nobody can answer Ask embarrassing questions Ask for seconds Ask people how to pronounce their name Ask people if they want to see your “belly button treasure” Ask people if they’ve seen your head Ask stupid questions. Ask the person in front of you to marry you. Ask why At the bottom of escalators yell “MY SHOELACE!” Attract lightning Award yourself a Nobel Peace Prize Baby oil the floor Backstroke your way to class Bake the world’s biggest doughnut hole Balance a pencil on your nose Balance a pillow on your head Balance your checkbook Bark at people in the grocery store Bark at your dog Bark at your parents Be a leaf and leave Be a loan shark Be a lone shark Be a monk...for a day Be a no-name Be a non-being Be a REALLY cautious driver Be a side affect. Be a smart blonde Be a spy Be a square root. Be a superstar Be amazing Be blue Be blunt Be Buddha Be cherubic. Be cold Be cute Be envious Be halfway Be hot Be immobile Be in the wrong place at the right time. Be jealous Be lazy Be legendary Be lord of the flies Be negative Be nervous Be neutral Be one of those people that yell “SHH!” (Even though they ADD to the noise) Be positive Be really annoying to everybody Be sharp Be smart Be somebody else Be someone special Be stupid for a day Be thankful for clocks Be unique, just like everyone else Beam yourself up Become a band nerd Become a go-to kinda man Become a hermit on your front lawn (works best if you live on a main road!) Become a paparazzi for your friends, follow them around with a camera Become a party animal Become a tic-tac addict Become an expert on something nobody cares about Befriend flies Behold the truth Bite every other nail Bite your pinkie Blast hip-hop music through town Blink a lot Blow bubbles Blow bubbles with bubble gum Blow on a beer bottle Blow on a blade of grass Blow spit bubbles Blow up a balloon until it pops Boil ice cream Boldly go where no man has gone before Bother a sibling, profusely Bounce a potato Braid your dog's hair Break into a friend's house and clean it Break some rules Bring a Furby to school Bring dog treats to the park and meet 25 new dogs Bronze your sister Brush your teeth Buff your cat Build a house out of toothpicks Build a house with ice cubes Build a model of the Eiffel Tower out of Belgian waffles Build a pyramid Build a tree house in the middle of a field Burp the Happy Birthday song Bury your father’s car Buy something from an infomercial Call a wrong number and talk to whoever answers. Call an insurance company and try to insure your stuffed animal. Call toll free numbers and make friends with the operators Call yourself an Indian giver Calmly have a nervous breakdown Can you out-shame these people? Carpet your ceiling Carry a briefcase with you and offer people phony legal advice Carry a tune...drop it, see if it breaks Carve your boyfriend\girlfriend\crushes’ initials in a marshmallow Catch a cold Catch a falling star Challenge the neighbor kid to duel Change your hand writing style Change your mind Change your name...daily Chase your friend or family member around the sofa Check out the weather forecast for other parts of the world. Check under chairs for chewing gum Check your email from a DOS command prompt Chew ice Chew on a lollipop stick Chew on pen caps Chew on your arm until someone notices. Chew your lip Churn some butter. Claim you are late for a date with the white rabbit Clean and polish your belly button Clean your room (*gasp*) Climb the walls Clone yourself Collect hotel keys Complain about your nose hurting Conceive a brand new language. Confess to a crime that you didn't commit. Confess to a crime...that didn't happen Construct a shrine for the queen of the spud peoples Construct tiny makeshift parachutes for hamsters Convert various currencies to other various currencies here Count all the stars in the sky Count to a 100,000 Count your teeth with your tongue Crack your knuckles Crank up some music Crawl around the room humming the music from Mission Impossible. Create random equations Cross your toes Crumble Crumple Crush pop cans with croquet mallets Cut out photos and paste them on Popsicle sticks and have a puppet show Cut your fingernails/toenails Dance around your living room naked Dance 'til you drop Dare to be stupid Day dream Debate politics with a pet

please help CPS abducted our duaghter? One of my neighbors called cps. a social worker who clearly showed dislike, and sherrif deputy came. found a dirty house but nothing unsanitary just the regular. found a weed bong that up in closet that had not been used for months. arrested my wife and my self, and took my duaghter. she is two. felony child endangerment. we were released from jail 2 days later no charges filed. we missed intial hearing and than went to family court hearing. it said in hearing we were meth addicts, cared for child under ininfluence of drugs, found shot gun in childs reach ( they found a 22 rifle that was discarded in lawn the officer said it showed up as a destroyed weapon which is scary email me ekev16@yahoo.com for more info i need help. said we could not provide adaequate clothing for our child but she has tons of cloths some brand new. I used meth 5 months prev the last time after losing my job and im 5 months clean on prop 36. my wife does not use drugs. tried one time in the past and did not like. we have both passed drug tests. it does not make sense. please advise. one of the attorneys assigned to my wife happens to be the father of two guys i did not get along with and managed at the company i worked last. my public defender wont return calls. the social worker told us we need to let our house go into forclosure and take 6 month in house rehab. which is the same PD told my wife. Please help we just had first visitation with our daughter and she clearly has a adults stress in her face, and flinchs when we make qick movements. no one will listen i do not now what to to. we cry every day and do not understand why this has happend. it seems we are alone and no one can help us.

Poll: Did you like The Oddysey or The Iliad better? I liked the Iliad better. This was my favorite part: Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Jove fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another. And which of the gods was it that set them on to quarrel? It was the son of Jove and Leto; for he was angry with the king and sent a pestilence upon the host to plague the people, because the son of Atreus had dishonoured Chryses his priest. Now Chryses had come to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and had brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the sceptre of Apollo wreathed with a suppliant's wreath and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus, who were their chiefs. "Sons of Atreus," he cried, "and all other Achaeans, may the gods who dwell in Olympus grant you to sack the city of Priam, and to reach your homes in safety; but free my daughter, and accept a ransom for her, in reverence to Apollo, son of Jove." On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away. "Old man," said he, "let me not find you tarrying about our ships, nor yet coming hereafter. Your sceptre of the god and your wreath shall profit you nothing. I will not free her. She shall grow old in my house at Argos far from her own home, busying herself with her loom and visiting my couch; so go, and do not provoke me or it shall be the worse for you." The old man feared him and obeyed. Not a word he spoke, but went by the shore of the sounding sea and prayed apart to King Apollo whom lovely Leto had borne. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the silver bow, that protectest Chryse and holy Cilla and rulest Tenedos with thy might, hear me oh thou of Sminthe. If I have ever decked your temple with garlands, or burned your thigh-bones in fat of bulls or goats, grant my prayer, and let your arrows avenge these my tears upon the Danaans." Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. He came down furious from the summits of Olympus, with his bow and his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back with the rage that trembled within him. He sat himself down away from the ships with a face as dark as night, and his silver bow rang death as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. First he smote their mules and their hounds, but presently he aimed his shafts at the people themselves, and all day long the pyres of the dead were burning. For nine whole days he shot his arrows among the people, but upon the tenth day Achilles called them in assembly- moved thereto by Juno, who saw the Achaeans in their death-throes and had compassion upon them. Then, when they were got together, he rose and spoke among them. "Son of Atreus," said he, "I deem that we should now turn roving home if we would escape destruction, for we are being cut down by war and pestilence at once. Let us ask some priest or prophet, or some reader of dreams (for dreams, too, are of Jove) who can tell us why Phoebus Apollo is so angry, and say whether it is for some vow that we have broken, or hecatomb that we have not offered, and whether he will accept the savour of lambs and goats without blemish, so as to take away the plague from us." With these words he sat down, and Calchas son of Thestor, wisest of augurs, who knew things past present and to come, rose to speak. He it was who had guided the Achaeans with their fleet to Ilius, through the prophesyings with which Phoebus Apollo had inspired him. With all sincerity and goodwill he addressed them thus:- "Achilles, loved of heaven, you bid me tell you about the anger of King Apollo, I will therefore do so; but consider first and swear that you will stand by me heartily in word and deed, for I know that I shall offend one who rules the Argives with might, to whom all the Achaeans are in subjection. A plain man cannot stand against the anger of a king, who if he swallow his displeasure now, will yet nurse revenge till he has wreaked it. Consider, therefore, whether or no you will protect me." And Achilles answered, "Fear not, but speak as it is borne in upon you from heaven, for by Apollo, Calchas, to whom you pray, and whose oracles you reveal to us, not a Danaan at our ships shall lay his hand upon you, while I yet live to look upon the face of the earth- no, not though you name Agamemnon himself, who is by far the foremost of the Achaeans." Thereon the seer spoke boldly. "The god," he said, "is angry neither about vow nor hecatomb, but for his priest's sake, whom Agamemnon has dishonoured, in that he would not free his daughter nor take a ransom for her; therefore has he sent these evils upon us, and will yet send others. He will not deliver the Danaans from this pestilence till Agamemnon has restored the girl without fee or ransom to her father, and has sent a holy hecatomb to Chryse. Thus we may perhaps appease him." With these words he sat down, and Agamemnon rose in anger. His heart was black with rage, and his eyes flashed fire as he scowled on Calchas and said, "Seer of evil, you never yet prophesied smooth things concerning me, but have ever loved to foretell that which was evil. You have brought me neither comfort nor performance; and now you come seeing among Danaans, and saying that Apollo has plagued us because I would not take a ransom for this girl, the daughter of Chryses. I have set my heart on keeping her in my own house, for I love her better even than my own wife Clytemnestra, whose peer she is alike in form and feature, in understanding and accomplishments. Still I will give her up if I must, for I would have the people live, not die; but you must find me a prize instead, or I alone among the Argives shall be without one. This is not well; for you behold, all of you, that my prize is to go elsewhither." And Achilles answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, covetous beyond all mankind, how shall the Achaeans find you another prize? We have no common store from which to take one. Those we took from the cities have been awarded; we cannot disallow the awards that have been made already. Give this girl, therefore, to the god, and if ever Jove grants us to sack the city of Troy we will requite you three and fourfold." Then Agamemnon said, "Achilles, valiant though you be, you shall not thus outwit me. You shall not overreach and you shall not persuade me. Are you to keep your own prize, while I sit tamely under my loss and give up the girl at your bidding? Let the Achaeans find me a prize in fair exchange to my liking, or I will come and take your own, or that of Ajax or of Ulysses; and he to whomsoever I may come shall rue my coming. But of this we will take thought hereafter; for the present, let us draw a ship into the sea, and find a crew for her expressly; let us put a hecatomb on board, and let us send Chryseis also; further, let some chief man among us be in command, either Ajax, or Idomeneus, or yourself, son of Peleus, mighty warrior that you are, that we may offer sacrifice and appease the the anger of the god." Achilles scowled at him and answered, "You are steeped in insolence and lust of gain. With what heart can any of the Achaeans do your bidding, either on foray or in open fighting? I came not warring here for any ill the Trojans had done me. I have no quarrel with them. They have not raided my cattle nor my horses, nor cut down my harvests on the rich plains of Phthia; for between me and them there is a great space, both mountain and sounding sea. We have followed you, Sir Insolence! for your pleasure, not ours- to gain satisfaction from the Trojans for your shameless self and for Menelaus. You forget this, and threaten to rob me of the prize for which I have toiled, and which the sons of the Achaeans have given me. Never when the Achaeans sack any rich city of the Trojans do I receive so good a prize as you do, though it is my hands that do the better part of the fighting. When the sharing comes, your share is far the largest, and I, forsooth, must go back to my ships, take what I can get and be thankful, when my labour of fighting is done. Now, therefore, I shall go back to Phthia; it will be much better for me to return home with my ships, for I will not stay here dishonoured to gather gold and substance for you." And Agamemnon answered, "Fly if you will, I shall make you no prayers to stay you. I have others here who will do me honour, and above all Jove, the lord of counsel. There is no king here so hateful to me as you are, for you are ever quarrelsome and ill affected. What though you be brave? Was it not heaven that made you so? Go home, then, with your ships and comrades to lord it over the Myrmidons. I care neither for you nor for your anger; and thus will I do: since Phoebus Apollo is taking Chryseis from me, I shall send her with my ship and my followers, but I shall come to your tent and take your own prize Briseis, that you may learn how much stronger I am than you are, and that another may fear to set himself up as equal or comparable with me." The son of Peleus was furious, and his heart within his shaggy breast was divided whether to draw his sword, push the others aside, and kill the son of Atreus, or to restrain himself and check his anger. While he was thus in two minds, and was drawing his mighty sword from its scabbard, Minerva came down from heaven (for Juno had sent her in the love she bore to them both), and seized the son of Peleus by his yellow hair, visible to him alone, for of the others no man could see her. Achilles turned in amaze, and by the fire that flashed from her eyes at once knew that she was Minerva. "Why are you here," said he, "daughter of aegis-bearing Jove? To see the pride of Agamemnon, son of Atreus? Let me tell you- and it shall surely be- he shall pay for this insolence with his life." And Minerva said, "I come from heaven, if you will hear me, to bid you stay your anger. Juno has sent me, who cares for both of you alike. Cease, then, this brawling, and do not draw your sword; rail at him if you will, and your railing will not be vain, for I tell you- and it shall surely be- that you shall hereafter receive gifts three times as splendid by reason of this present insult. Hold, therefore, and obey." "Goddess," answered Achilles, "however angry a man may be, he must do as you two command him. This will be best, for the gods ever hear the prayers of him who has obeyed them." He stayed his hand on the silver hilt of his sword, and thrust it back into the scabbard as Minerva bade him. Then she went back to Olympus among the other gods, and to the house of aegis-bearing Jove. But the son of Peleus again began railing at the son of Atreus, for he was still in a rage. "Wine-bibber," he cried, "with the face of a dog and the heart of a hind, you never dare to go out with the host in fight, nor yet with our chosen men in ambuscade. You shun this as you do death itself. You had rather go round and rob his prizes from any man who contradicts you. You devour your people, for you are king over a feeble folk; otherwise, son of Atreus, henceforward you would insult no man. Therefore I say, and swear it with a great oath- nay, by this my sceptre which shalt sprout neither leaf nor shoot, nor bud anew from the day on which it left its parent stem upon the mountains- for the axe stripped it of leaf and bark, and now the sons of the Achaeans bear it as judges and guardians of the decrees of heaven- so surely and solemnly do I swear that hereafter they shall look fondly for Achilles and shall not find him. In the day of your distress, when your men fall dying by the murderous hand of Hector, you shall not know how to help them, and shall rend your heart with rage for the hour when you offered insult to the bravest of the Achaeans." With this the son of Peleus dashed his gold-bestudded sceptre on the ground and took his seat, while the son of Atreus was beginning fiercely from his place upon the other side. Then uprose smooth-tongued Nestor, the facile speaker of the Pylians, and the words fell from his lips sweeter than honey. Two generations of men born and bred in Pylos had passed away under his rule, and he was now reigning over the third. With all sincerity and goodwill, therefore, he addressed them thus:- "Of a truth," he said, "a great sorrow has befallen the Achaean land. Surely Priam with his sons would rejoice, and the Trojans be glad at heart if they could hear this quarrel between you two, who are so excellent in fight and counsel. I am older than either of you; therefore be guided by me. Moreover I have been the familiar friend of men even greater than you are, and they did not disregard my counsels. Never again can I behold such men as Pirithous and Dryas shepherd of his people, or as Caeneus, Exadius, godlike Polyphemus, and Theseus son of Aegeus, peer of the immortals. These were the mightiest men ever born upon this earth: mightiest were they, and when they fought the fiercest tribes of mountain savages they utterly overthrew them. I came from distant Pylos, and went about among them, for they would have me come, and I fought as it was in me to do. Not a man now living could withstand them, but they heard my words, and were persuaded by them. So be it also with yourselves, for this is the more excellent way. Therefore, Agamemnon, though you be strong, take not this girl away, for the sons of the Achaeans have already given her to Achilles; and you, Achilles, strive not further with the king, for no man who by the grace of Jove wields a sceptre has like honour with Agamemnon. You are strong, and have a goddess for your mother; but Agamemnon is stronger than you, for he has more people under him. Son of Atreus, check your anger, I implore you; end this quarrel with Achilles, who in the day of battle is a tower of strength to the Achaeans." And Agamemnon answered, "Sir, all that you have said is true, but this fellow must needs become our lord and master: he must be lord of all, king of all, and captain of all, and this shall hardly be. Granted that the gods have made him a great warrior, have they also given him the right to speak with railing?" Achilles interrupted him. "I should be a mean coward," he cried, "were I to give in to you in all things. Order other people about, not me, for I shall obey no longer. Furthermore I say- and lay my saying to your heart- I shall fight neither you nor any man about this girl, for those that take were those also that gave. But of all else that is at my ship you shall carry away nothing by force. Try, that others may see; if you do, my spear shall be reddened with your blood." When they had quarrelled thus angrily, they rose, and broke up the assembly at the ships of the Achaeans. The son of Peleus went back to his tents and ships with the son of Menoetius and his company, while Agamemnon drew a vessel into the water and chose a crew of twenty oarsmen. He escorted Chryseis on board and sent moreover a hecatomb for the god. And Ulysses went as captain. These, then, went on board and sailed their ways over the sea. But the son of Atreus bade the people purify themselves; so they purified themselves and cast their filth into the sea. Then they offered hecatombs of bulls and goats without blemish on the sea-shore, and the smoke with the savour of their sacrifice rose curling up towards heaven. Thus did they busy themselves throughout the host. But Agamemnon did not forget the threat that he had made Achilles, and called his trusty messengers and squires Talthybius and Eurybates. "Go," said he, "to the tent of Achilles, son of Peleus; take Briseis by the hand and bring her hither; if he will not give her I shall come with others and take her- which will press him harder." He charged them straightly further and dismissed them, whereon they went their way sorrowfully by the seaside, till they came to the tents and ships of the Myrmidons. They found Achilles sitting by his tent and his ships, and ill-pleased he was when he beheld them. They stood fearfully and reverently before him, and never a word did they speak, but he knew them and said, "Welcome, heralds, messengers of gods and men; draw near; my quarrel is not with you but with Agamemnon who has sent you for the girl Briseis. Therefore, Patroclus, bring her and give her to them, but let them be witnesses by the blessed gods, by mortal men, and by the fierceness of Agamemnon's anger, that if ever again there be need of me to save the people from ruin, they shall seek and they shall not find. Agamemnon is mad with rage and knows not how to look before and after that the Achaeans may fight by their ships in safety." Patroclus did as his dear comrade had bidden him. He brought Briseis from the tent and gave her over to the heralds, who took her with them to the ships of the Achaeans- and the woman was loth to go. Then Achilles went all alone by the side of the hoar sea, weeping and looking out upon the boundless waste of waters. He raised his hands in prayer to his immortal mother, "Mother," he cried, "you bore me doomed to live but for a little season; surely Jove, who thunders from Olympus, might have made that little glorious. It is not so. Agamemnon, son of Atreus, has done me dishonour, and has robbed me of my prize by force." As he spoke he wept aloud, and his mother heard him where she was sitting in the depths of the sea hard by the old man her father. Forthwith she rose as it were a grey mist out of the waves, sat down before him as he stood weeping, caressed him with her hand, and said, "My son, why are you weeping? What is it that grieves you? Keep it not from me, but tell me, that we may know it together." Achilles drew a deep sigh and said, "You know it; why tell you what you know well already? We went to Thebe the strong city of Eetion, sacked it, and brought hither the spoil. The sons of the Achaeans shared it duly among themselves, and chose lovely Chryseis as the meed of Agamemnon; but Chryses, priest of Apollo, came to the ships of the Achaeans to free his daughter, and brought with him a great ransom: moreover he bore in his hand the sceptre of Apollo, wreathed with a suppliant's wreath, and he besought the Achaeans, but most of all the two sons of Atreus who were their chiefs. "On this the rest of the Achaeans with one voice were for respecting the priest and taking the ransom that he offered; but not so Agamemnon, who spoke fiercely to him and sent him roughly away. So he went back in anger, and Apollo, who loved him dearly, heard his prayer. Then the god sent a deadly dart upon the Argives, and the people died thick on one another, for the arrows went everywhither among the wide host of the Achaeans. At last a seer in the fulness of his knowledge declared to us the oracles of Apollo, and I was myself first to say that we should appease him. Whereon the son of Atreus rose in anger, and threatened that which he has since done. The Achaeans are now taking the girl in a ship to Chryse, and sending gifts of sacrifice to the god; but the heralds have just taken from my tent the daughter of Briseus, whom the Achaeans had awarded to myself. "Help your brave son, therefore, if you are able. Go to Olympus, and if you have ever done him service in word or deed, implore the aid of Jove. Ofttimes in my father's house have I heard you glory in that you alone of the immortals saved the son of Saturn from ruin, when the others, with Juno, Neptune, and Pallas Minerva would have put him in bonds. It was you, goddess, who delivered him by calling to Olympus the hundred-handed monster whom gods call Briareus, but men Aegaeon, for he is stronger even than his father; when therefore he took his seat all-glorious beside the son of Saturn, the other gods were afraid, and did not bind him. Go, then, to him, remind him of all this, clasp his knees, and bid him give succour to the Trojans. Let the Achaeans be hemmed in at the sterns of their ships, and perish on the sea-shore, that they may reap what joy they may of their king, and that Agamemnon may rue his blindness in offering insult to the foremost of the Achaeans." Thetis wept and answered, "My son, woe is me that I should have borne or suckled you. Would indeed that you had lived your span free from all sorrow at your ships, for it is all too brief; alas, that you should be at once short of life and long of sorrow above your peers: woe, therefore, was the hour in which I bore you; nevertheless I will go to the snowy heights of Olympus, and tell this tale to Jove, if he will hear our prayer: meanwhile stay where you are with your ships, nurse your anger against the Achaeans, and hold aloof from fight. For Jove went yesterday to Oceanus, to a feast among the Ethiopians, and the other gods went with him. He will return to Olympus twelve days hence; I will then go to his mansion paved with bronze and will beseech him; nor do I doubt that I shall be able to persuade him." On this she left him, still furious at the loss of her that had been taken from him. Meanwhile Ulysses reached Chryse with the hecatomb. When they had come inside the harbour they furled the sails and laid them in the ship's hold; they slackened the forestays, lowered the mast into its place, and rowed the ship to the place where they would have her lie; there they cast out their mooring-stones and made fast the hawsers. They then got out upon the sea-shore and landed the hecatomb for Apollo; Chryseis also left the ship, and Ulysses led her to the altar to deliver her into the hands of her father. "Chryses," said he, "King Agamemnon has sent me to bring you back your child, and to offer sacrifice to Apollo on behalf of the Danaans, that we may propitiate the god, who has now brought sorrow upon the Argives." So saying he gave the girl over to her father, who received her gladly, and they ranged the holy hecatomb all orderly round the altar of the god. They washed their hands and took up the barley-meal to sprinkle over the victims, while Chryses lifted up his hands and prayed aloud on their behalf. "Hear me," he cried, "O god of the silver bow, that protectest Chryse and holy Cilla, and rulest Tenedos with thy might. Even as thou didst hear me aforetime when I prayed, and didst press hardly upon the Achaeans, so hear me yet again, and stay this fearful pestilence from the Danaans." Thus did he pray, and Apollo heard his prayer. When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal, they drew back the heads of the victims and killed and flayed them. They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, set some pieces of raw meat on the top of them, and then Chryses laid them on the wood fire and poured wine over them, while the young men stood near him with five-pronged spits in their hands. When the thigh-bones were burned and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon the spits, roasted them till they were done, and drew them off: then, when they had finished their work and the feast was ready, they ate it, and every man had his full share, so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, pages filled the mixing-bowl with wine and water and handed it round, after giving every man his drink-offering. Thus all day long the young men worshipped the god with song, hymning him and chaunting the joyous paean, and the god took pleasure in their voices; but when the sun went down, and it came on dark, they laid themselves down to sleep by the stern cables of the ship, and when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared they again set sail for the host of the Achaeans. Apollo sent them a fair wind, so they raised their mast and hoisted their white sails aloft. As the sail bellied with the wind the ship flew through the deep blue water, and the foam hissed against her bows as she sped onward. When they reached the wide-stretching host of the Achaeans, they drew the vessel ashore, high and dry upon the sands, set her strong props beneath her, and went their ways to their own tents and ships. But Achilles abode at his ships and nursed his anger. He went not to the honourable assembly, and sallied not forth to fight, but gnawed at his own heart, pining for battle and the war-cry. Now after twelve days the immortal gods came back in a body to Olympus, and Jove led the way. Thetis was not unmindful of the charge her son had laid upon her, so she rose from under the sea and went through great heaven with early morning to Olympus, where she found the mighty son of Saturn sitting all alone upon its topmost ridges. She sat herself down before him, and with her left hand seized his knees, while with her right she caught him under the chin, and besought him, saying- "Father Jove, if I ever did you service in word or deed among the immortals, hear my prayer, and do honour to my son, whose life is to be cut short so early. King Agamemnon has dishonoured him by taking his prize and keeping her. Honour him then yourself, Olympian lord of counsel, and grant victory to the Trojans, till the Achaeans give my son his due and load him with riches in requital." Jove sat for a while silent, and without a word, but Thetis still kept firm hold of his knees, and besought him a second time. "Incline your head," said she, "and promise me surely, or else deny me- for you have nothing to fear- that I may learn how greatly you disdain me." At this Jove was much troubled and answered, "I shall have trouble if you set me quarrelling with Juno, for she will provoke me with her taunting speeches; even now she is always railing at me before the other gods and accusing me of giving aid to the Trojans. Go back now, lest she should find out. I will consider the matter, and will bring it about as wish. See, I incline my head that you believe me. This is the most solemn that I can give to any god. I never recall my word, or deceive, or fail to do what I say, when I have nodded my head." As he spoke the son of Saturn bowed his dark brows, and the ambrosial locks swayed on his immortal head, till vast Olympus reeled. When the pair had thus laid their plans, they parted- Jove to his house, while the goddess quitted the splendour of Olympus, and plunged into the depths of the sea. The gods rose from their seats, before the coming of their sire. Not one of them dared to remain sitting, but all stood up as he came among them. There, then, he took his seat. But Juno, when she saw him, knew that he and the old merman's daughter, silver-footed Thetis, had been hatching mischief, so she at once began to upbraid him. "Trickster," she cried, "which of the gods have you been taking into your counsels now? You are always settling matters in secret behind my back, and have never yet told me, if you could help it, one word of your intentions." "Juno," replied the sire of gods and men, "you must not expect to be informed of all my counsels. You are my wife, but you would find it hard to understand them. When it is proper for you to hear, there is no one, god or man, who will be told sooner, but when I mean to keep a matter to myself, you must not pry nor ask questions." "Dread son of Saturn," answered Juno, "what are you talking about? I? Pry and ask questions? Never. I let you have your own way in everything. Still, I have a strong misgiving that the old merman's daughter Thetis has been talking you over, for she was with you and had hold of your knees this self-same morning. I believe, therefore, that you have been promising her to give glory to Achilles, and to kill much people at the ships of the Achaeans." "Wife," said Jove, "I can do nothing but you suspect me and find it out. You will take nothing by it, for I shall only dislike you the more, and it will go harder with you. Granted that it is as you say; I mean to have it so; sit down and hold your tongue as I bid you for if I once begin to lay my hands about you, though all heaven were on your side it would profit you nothing." On this Juno was frightened, so she curbed her stubborn will and sat down in silence. But the heavenly beings were disquieted throughout the house of Jove, till the cunning workman Vulcan began to try and pacify his mother Juno. "It will be intolerable," said he, "if you two fall to wrangling and setting heaven in an uproar about a pack of mortals. If such ill counsels are to prevail, we shall have no pleasure at our banquet. Let me then advise my mother- and she must herself know that it will be better- to make friends with my dear father Jove, lest he again scold her and disturb our feast. If the Olympian Thunderer wants to hurl us all from our seats, he can do so, for he is far the strongest, so give him fair words, and he will then soon be in a good humour with us." As he spoke, he took a double cup of nectar, and placed it in his mother's hand. "Cheer up, my dear mother," said he, "and make the best of it. I love you dearly, and should be very sorry to see you get a thrashing; however grieved I might be, I could not help for there is no standing against Jove. Once before when I was trying to help you, he caught me by the foot and flung me from the heavenly threshold. All day long from morn till eve, was I falling, till at sunset I came to ground in the island of Lemnos, and there I lay, with very little life left in me, till the Sintians came and tended me." Juno smiled at this, and as she smiled she took the cup from her son's hands. Then Vulcan drew sweet nectar from the mixing-bowl, and served it round among the gods, going from left to right; and the blessed gods laughed out a loud applause as they saw him ing bustling about the heavenly mansion. Thus through the livelong day to the going down of the sun they feasted, and every one had his full share, so that all were satisfied. Apollo struck his lyre, and the Muses lifted up their sweet voices, calling and answering one another. But when the sun's glorious light had faded, they went home to bed, each in his own abode, which lame Vulcan with his consummate skill had fashioned for them. So Jove, the Olympian Lord of Thunder, hied him to the bed in which he always slept; and when he had got on to it he went to sleep, with Juno of the golden throne by his side. Now the other gods and the armed warriors on the plain slept soundly, but Jove was wakeful, for he was thinking how to do honour to Achilles, and destroyed much people at the ships of the Achaeans. In the end he deemed it would be best to send a lying dream to King Agamemnon; so he called one to him and said to it, "Lying Dream, go to the ships of the Achaeans, into the tent of Agamemnon, and say to him word to word as I now bid you. Tell him to get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for he shall take Troy. There are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Juno has brought them to her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans." The dream went when it had heard its message, and soon reached the ships of the Achaeans. It sought Agamemnon son of Atreus and found him in his tent, wrapped in a profound slumber. It hovered over his head in the likeness of Nestor, son of Neleus, whom Agamemnon honoured above all his councillors, and said:- "You are sleeping, son of Atreus; one who has the welfare of his host and so much other care upon his shoulders should dock his sleep. Hear me at once, for I come as a messenger from Jove, who, though he be not near, yet takes thought for you and pities you. He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for you shall take Troy. There are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Juno has brought them over to her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans at the hands of Jove. Remember this, and when you wake see that it does not escape you." The dream then left him, and he thought of things that were, surely not to be accomplished. He thought that on that same day he was to take the city of Priam, but he little knew what was in the mind of Jove, who had many another hard-fought fight in store alike for Danaans and Trojans. Then presently he woke, with the divine message still ringing in his ears; so he sat upright, and put on his soft shirt so fair and new, and over this his heavy cloak. He bound his sandals on to his comely feet, and slung his silver-studded sword about his shoulders; then he took the imperishable staff of his father, and sallied forth to the ships of the Achaeans. The goddess Dawn now wended her way to vast Olympus that she might herald day to Jove and to the other immortals, and Agamemnon sent the criers round to call the people in assembly; so they called them and the people gathered thereon. But first he summoned a meeting of the elders at the ship of Nestor king of Pylos, and when they were assembled he laid a cunning counsel before them. "My friends," said he, "I have had a dream from heaven in the dead of night, and its face and figure resembled none but Nestor's. It hovered over my head and said, 'You are sleeping, son of Atreus; one who has the welfare of his host and so much other care upon his shoulders should dock his sleep. Hear me at once, for I am a messenger from Jove, who, though he be not near, yet takes thought for you and pities you. He bids you get the Achaeans instantly under arms, for you shall take Troy. There are no longer divided counsels among the gods; Juno has brought them over to her own mind, and woe betides the Trojans at the hands of Jove. Remember this.' The dream then vanished and I awoke. Let us now, therefore, arm the sons of the Achaeans. But it will be well that I should first sound them, and to this end I will tell them to fly with their ships; but do you others go about among the host and prevent their doing so." He then sat down, and Nestor the prince of Pylos with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus: "My friends," said he, "princes and councillors of the Argives, if any other man of the Achaeans had told us of this dream we should have declared it false, and would have had nothing to do with it. But he who has seen it is the foremost man among us; we must therefore set about getting the people under arms." With this he led the way from the assembly, and the other sceptred kings rose with him in obedience to the word of Agamemnon; but the people pressed forward to hear. They swarmed like bees that sally from some hollow cave and flit in countless throng among the spring flowers, bunched in knots and clusters; even so did the mighty multitude pour from ships and tents to the assembly, and range themselves upon the wide-watered shore, while among them ran Wildfire Rumour, messenger of Jove, urging them ever to the fore. Thus they gathered in a pell-mell of mad confusion, and the earth groaned under the tramp of men as the people sought their places. Nine heralds went crying about among them to stay their tumult and bid them listen to the kings, till at last they were got into their several places and ceased their clamour. Then King Agamemnon rose, holding his sceptre. This was the work of Vulcan, who gave it to Jove the son of Saturn. Jove gave it to Mercury, slayer of Argus, guide and guardian. King Mercury gave it to Pelops, the mighty charioteer, and Pelops to Atreus, shepherd of his people. Atreus, when he died, left it to Thyestes, rich in flocks, and Thyestes in his turn left it to be borne by Agamemnon, that he might be lord of all Argos and of the isles. Leaning, then, on his sceptre, he addressed the Argives. "My friends," he said, "heroes, servants of Mars, the hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me. Cruel Jove gave me his solemn promise that I should sack the city of Priam before returning, but he has played me false, and is now bidding me go ingloriously back to Argos with the loss of much people. Such is the will of Jove, who has laid many a proud city in the dust, as he will yet lay others, for his power is above all. It will be a sorry tale hereafter that an Achaean host, at once so great and valiant, battled in vain against men fewer in number than themselves; but as yet the end is not in sight. Think that the Achaeans and Trojans have sworn to a solemn covenant, and that they have each been numbered- the Trojans by the roll of their householders, and we by companies of ten; think further that each of our companies desired to have a Trojan householder to pour out their wine; we are so greatly more in number that full many a company would have to go without its cup-bearer. But they have in the town allies from other places, and it is these that hinder me from being able to sack the rich city of Ilius. Nine of Jove years are gone; the timbers of our ships have rotted; their tackling is sound no longer. Our wives and little ones at home look anxiously for our coming, but the work that we came hither to do has not been done. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say: let us sail back to our own land, for we shall not take Troy." With these words he moved the hearts of the multitude, so many of them as knew not the cunning counsel of Agamemnon. They surged to and fro like the waves of the Icarian Sea, when the east and south winds break from heaven's clouds to lash them; or as when the west wind sweeps over a field of corn and the ears bow beneath the blast, even so were they swayed as they flew with loud cries towards the ships, and the dust from under their feet rose heavenward. They cheered each other on to draw the ships into the sea; they cleared the channels in front of them; they began taking away the stays from underneath them, and the welkin rang with their glad cries, so eager were they to return. Then surely the Argives would have returned after a fashion that was not fated. But Juno said to Minerva, "Alas, daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, unweariable, shall the Argives fly home to their own land over the broad sea, and leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the Achaeans have died at Troy, far from their homes? Go about at once among the host, and speak fairly to them, man by man, that they draw not their ships into the sea." Minerva was not slack to do her bidding. Down she darted from the topmost summits of Olympus, and in a moment she was at the ships of the Achaeans. There she found Ulysses, peer of Jove in counsel, standing alone. He had not as yet laid a hand upon his ship, for he was grieved and sorry; so she went close up to him and said, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, are you going to fling yourselves into your ships and be off home to your own land in this way? Will you leave Priam and the Trojans the glory of still keeping Helen, for whose sake so many of the Achaeans have died at Troy, far from their homes? Go about at once among the host, and speak fairly to them, man by man, that they draw not their ships into the sea." Ulysses knew the voice as that of the goddess: he flung his cloak from him and set off to run. His servant Eurybates, a man of Ithaca, who waited on him, took charge of the cloak, whereon Ulysses went straight up to Agamemnon and received from him his ancestral, imperishable staff. With this he went about among the ships of the Achaeans. Whenever he met a king or chieftain, he stood by him and spoke him fairly. "Sir," said he, "this flight is cowardly and unworthy. Stand to your post, and bid your people also keep their places. You do not yet know the full mind of Agamemnon; he was sounding us, and ere long will visit the Achaeans with his displeasure. We were not all of us at the council to hear what he then said; see to it lest he be angry and do us a mischief; for the pride of kings is great, and the hand of Jove is with them." But when he came across any common man who was making a noise, he struck him with his staff and rebuked him, saying, "Sirrah, hold your peace, and listen to better men than yourself. You are a coward and no soldier; you are nobody either in fight or council; we cannot all be kings; it is not well that there should be many masters; one man must be supreme- one king to whom the son of scheming Saturn has given the sceptre of sovereignty over you all." Thus masterfully did he go about among the host, and the people hurried back to the council from their tents and ships with a sound as the thunder of surf when it comes crashing down upon the shore, and all the sea is in an uproar. The rest now took their seats and kept to their own several places, but Thersites still went on wagging his unbridled tongue- a man of many words, and those unseemly; a monger of sedition, a railer against all who were in authority, who cared not what he said, so that he might set the Achaeans in a laugh. He was the ugliest man of all those that came before Troy- bandy-legged, lame of one foot, with his two shoulders rounded and hunched over his chest. His head ran up to a point, but there was little hair on the top of it. Achilles and Ulysses hated him worst of all, for it was with them that he was most wont to wrangle; now, however, with a shrill squeaky voice he began heaping his abuse on Agamemnon. The Achaeans were angry and disgusted, yet none the less he kept on brawling and bawling at the son of Atreus. "Agamemnon," he cried, "what ails you now, and what more do you want? Your tents are filled with bronze and with fair women, for whenever we take a town we give you the pick of them. Would you have yet more gold, which some Trojan is to give you as a ransom for his son, when I or another Achaean has taken him prisoner? or is it some young girl to hide and lie with? It is not well that you, the ruler of the Achaeans, should bring them into such misery. Weakling cowards, women rather than men, let us sail home, and leave this fellow here at Troy to stew in his own meeds of honour, and discover whether we were of any service to him or no. Achilles is a much better man than he is, and see how he has treated him- robbing him of his prize and keeping it himself. Achilles takes it meekly and shows no fight; if he did, son of Atreus, you would never again insult him." Thus railed Thersites, but Ulysses at once went up to him and rebuked him sternly. "Check your glib tongue, Thersites," said be, "and babble not a word further. Chide not with princes when you have none to back you. There is no viler creature come before Troy with the sons of Atreus. Drop this chatter about kings, and neither revile them nor keep harping about going home. We do not yet know how things are going to be, nor whether the Achaeans are to return with good success or evil. How dare you gibe at Agamemnon because the Danaans have awarded him so many prizes? I tell you, therefore- and it shall surely be- that if I again catch you talking such nonsense, I will either forfeit my own head and be no more called father of Telemachus, or I will take you, strip you stark naked, and whip you out of the assembly till you go blubbering back to the ships." On this he beat him with his staff about the back and shoulders till he dropped and fell a-weeping. The golden sceptre raised a bloody weal on his back, so he sat down frightened and in pain, looking foolish as he wiped the tears from his eyes. The people were sorry for him, yet they laughed heartily, and one would turn to his neighbour saying, "Ulysses has done many a good thing ere now in fight and council, but he never did the Argives a better turn than when he stopped this fellow's mouth from prating further. He will give the kings no more of his insolence." Thus said the people. Then Ulysses rose, sceptre in hand, and Minerva in the likeness of a herald bade the people be still, that those who were far off might hear him and consider his council. He therefore with all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus:- "King Agamemnon, the Achaeans are for making you a by-word among all mankind. They forget the promise they made you when they set out from Argos, that you should not return till you had sacked the town of Troy, and, like children or widowed women, they murmur and would set off homeward. True it is that they have had toil enough to be disheartened. A man chafes at having to stay away from his wife even for a single month, when he is on shipboard, at the mercy of wind and sea, but it is now nine long years that we have been kept here; I cannot, therefore, blame the Achaeans if they turn restive; still we shall be shamed if we go home empty after so long a stay- therefore, my friends, be patient yet a little longer that we may learn whether the prophesyings of Calchas were false or true. "All who have not since perished must remember as though it were yesterday or the day before, how the ships of the Achaeans were detained in Aulis when we were on our way hither to make war on Priam and the Trojans. We were ranged round about a fountain offering hecatombs to the gods upon their holy altars, and there was a fine plane-tree from beneath which there welled a stream of pure water. Then we saw a prodigy; for Jove sent a fearful serpent out of the ground, with blood-red stains upon its back, and it darted from under the altar on to the plane-tree. Now there was a brood of young sparrows, quite small, upon the topmost bough, peeping out from under the leaves, eight in all, and their mother that hatched them made nine. The serpent ate the poor cheeping things, while the old bird flew about lamenting her little ones; but the serpent threw his coils about her and caught her by the wing as she was screaming. Then, when he had eaten both the sparrow and her young, the god who had sent him made him become a sign; for the son of scheming Saturn turned him into stone, and we stood there wondering at that which had come to pass. Seeing, then, that such a fearful portent had broken in upon our hecatombs, Calchas forthwith declared to us the oracles of heaven. 'Why, Achaeans,' said he, 'are you thus speechless? Jove has sent us this sign, long in coming, and long ere it be fulfilled, though its fame shall last for ever. As the serpent ate the eight fledglings and the sparrow that hatched them, which makes nine, so shall we fight nine years at Troy, but in the tenth shall take the town.' This was what he said, and now it is all coming true. Stay here, therefore, all of you, till we take the city of Priam." On this the Argives raised a shout, till the ships rang again with the uproar. Nestor, knight of Gerene, then addressed them. "Shame on you," he cried, "to stay talking here like children, when you should fight like men. Where are our covenants now, and where the oaths that we have taken? Shall our counsels be flung into the fire, with our drink-offerings and the right hands of fellowship wherein we have put our trust? We waste our time in words, and for all our talking here shall be no further forward. Stand, therefore, son of Atreus, by your own steadfast purpose; lead the Argives on to battle, and leave this handful of men to rot, who scheme, and scheme in vain, to get back to Argos ere they have learned whether Jove be true or a liar. For the mighty son of Saturn surely promised that we should succeed, when we Argives set sail to bring death and destruction upon the Trojans. He showed us favourable signs by flashing his lightning on our right hands; therefore let none make haste to go till he has first lain with the wife of some Trojan, and avenged the toil and sorrow that he has suffered for the sake of Helen. Nevertheless, if any man is in such haste to be at home again, let him lay his hand to his ship that he may meet his doom in the sight of all. But, O king, consider and give ear to my counsel, for the word that I say may not be neglected lightly. Divide your men, Agamemnon, into their several tribes and clans, that clans and tribes may stand by and help one another. If you do this, and if the Achaeans obey you, you will find out who, both chiefs and peoples, are brave, and who are cowards; for they will vie against the other. Thus you shall also learn whether it is through the counsel of heaven or the cowardice of man that you shall fail to take the town." And Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, you have again outdone the sons of the Achaeans in counsel. Would, by Father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that I had among them ten more such councillors, for the city of King Priam would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we should sack it. But the son of Saturn afflicts me with bootless wranglings and strife. Achilles and I are quarrelling about this girl, in which matter I was the first to offend; if we can be of one mind again, the Trojans will not stave off destruction for a day. Now, therefore, get your morning meal, that our hosts join in fight. Whet well your spears; see well to the ordering of your shields; give good feeds to your horses, and look your chariots carefully over, that we may do battle the livelong day; for we shall have no rest, not for a moment, till night falls to part us. The bands that bear your shields shall be wet with the sweat upon your shoulders, your hands shall weary upon your spears, your horses shall steam in front of your chariots, and if I see any man shirking the fight, or trying to keep out of it at the ships, there shall be no help for him, but he shall be a prey to dogs and vultures." Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans roared applause. As when the waves run high before the blast of the south wind and break on some lofty headland, dashing against it and buffeting it without ceasing, as the storms from every quarter drive them, even so did the Achaeans rise and hurry in all directions to their ships. There they lighted their fires at their tents and got dinner, offering sacrifice every man to one or other of the gods, and praying each one of them that he might live to come out of the fight. Agamemnon, king of men, sacrificed a fat five-year-old bull to the mighty son of Saturn, and invited the princes and elders of his host. First he asked Nestor and King Idomeneus, then the two Ajaxes and the son of Tydeus, and sixthly Ulysses, peer of gods in counsel; but Menelaus came of his own accord, for he knew how busy his brother then was. They stood round the bull with the barley-meal in their hands, and Agamemnon prayed, saying, "Jove, most glorious, supreme, that dwellest in heaven, and ridest upon the storm-cloud, grant that the sun may not go down, nor the night fall, till the palace of Priam is laid low, and its gates are consumed with fire. Grant that my sword may pierce the shirt of Hector about his heart, and that full many of his comrades may bite the dust as they fall dying round him." Thus he prayed, but the son of Saturn would not fulfil his prayer. He accepted the sacrifice, yet none the less increased their toil continually. When they had done praying and sprinkling the barley-meal upon the victim, they drew back its head, killed it, and then flayed it. They cut out the thigh-bones, wrapped them round in two layers of fat, and set pieces of raw meat on the top of them. These they burned upon the split logs of firewood, but they spitted the inward meats, and held them in the flames to cook. When the thigh-bones were burned, and they had tasted the inward meats, they cut the rest up small, put the pieces upon spits, roasted them till they were done, and drew them off; then, when they had finished their work and the feast was ready, they ate it, and every man had his full share, so that all were satisfied. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Nestor, knight of Gerene, began to speak. "King Agamemnon," said he, "let us not stay talking here, nor be slack in the work that heaven has put into our hands. Let the heralds summon the people to gather at their several ships; we will then go about among the host, that we may begin fighting at once." Thus did he speak, and Agamemnon heeded his words. He at once sent the criers round to call the people in assembly. So they called them, and the people gathered thereon. The chiefs about the son of Atreus chose their men and marshalled them, while Minerva went among them holding her priceless aegis that knows neither age nor death. From it there waved a hundred tassels of pure gold, all deftly woven, and each one of them worth a hundred oxen. With this she darted furiously everywhere among the hosts of the Achaeans, urging them forward, and putting courage into the heart of each, so that he might fight and do battle without ceasing. Thus war became sweeter in their eyes even than returning home in their ships. As when some great forest fire is raging upon a mountain top and its light is seen afar, even so as they marched the gleam of their armour flashed up into the firmament of heaven. They were like great flocks of geese, or cranes, or swans on the plain about the waters of Cayster, that wing their way hither and thither, glorying in the pride of flight, and crying as they settle till the fen is alive with their screaming. Even thus did their tribes pour from ships and tents on to the plain of the Scamander, and the ground rang as brass under the feet of men and horses. They stood as thick upon the flower-bespangled field as leaves that bloom in summer. As countless swarms of flies buzz around a herdsman's homestead in the time of spring when the pails are drenched with milk, even so did the Achaeans swarm on to the plain to charge the Trojans and destroy them. The chiefs disposed their men this way and that before the fight began, drafting them out as easily as goatherds draft their flocks when they have got mixed while feeding; and among them went King Agamemnon, with a head and face like Jove the lord of thunder, a waist like Mars, and a chest like that of Neptune. As some great bull that lords it over the herds upon the plain, even so did Jove make the son of Atreus stand peerless among the multitude of heroes. And now, O Muses, dwellers in the mansions of Olympus, tell me- for you are goddesses and are in all places so that you see all things, while we know nothing but by report- who were the chiefs and princes of the Danaans? As for the common soldiers, they were so that I could not name every single one of them though I had ten tongues, and though my voice failed not and my heart were of bronze within me, unless you, O Olympian Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, were to recount them to me. Nevertheless, I will tell the captains of the ships and all the fleet together. Peneleos, Leitus, Arcesilaus, Prothoenor, and Clonius were captains of the Boeotians. These were they that dwelt in Hyria and rocky Aulis, and who held Schoenus, Scolus, and the highlands of Eteonus, with Thespeia, Graia, and the fair city of Mycalessus. They also held Harma, Eilesium, and Erythrae; and they had Eleon, Hyle, and Peteon; Ocalea and the strong fortress of Medeon; Copae, Eutresis, and Thisbe the haunt of doves; Coronea, and the pastures of Haliartus; Plataea and Glisas; the fortress of Thebes the less; holy Onchestus with its famous grove of Neptune; Arne rich in vineyards; Midea, sacred Nisa, and Anthedon upon the sea. From these there came fifty ships, and in each there were a hundred and twenty young men of the Boeotians. Ascalaphus and Ialmenus, sons of Mars, led the people that dwelt in Aspledon and Orchomenus the realm of Minyas. Astyoche a noble maiden bore them in the house of Actor son of Azeus; for she had gone with Mars secretly into an upper chamber, and he had lain with her. With these there came thirty ships. The Phoceans were led by Schedius and Epistrophus, sons of mighty Iphitus the son of Naubolus. These were they that held Cyparissus, rocky Pytho, holy Crisa, Daulis, and Panopeus; they also that dwelt in Anemorea and Hyampolis, and about the waters of the river Cephissus, and Lilaea by the springs of the Cephissus; with their chieftains came forty ships, and they marshalled the forces of the Phoceans, which were stationed next to the Boeotians, on their left. Ajax, the fleet son of Oileus, commanded the Locrians. He was not so great, nor nearly so great, as Ajax the son of Telamon. He was a little man, and his breastplate was made of linen, but in use of the spear he excelled all the Hellenes and the Achaeans. These dwelt in Cynus, Opous, Calliarus, Bessa, Scarphe, fair Augeae, Tarphe, and Thronium about the river Boagrius. With him there came forty ships of the Locrians who dwell beyond Euboea. The fierce Abantes held Euboea with its cities, Chalcis, Eretria, Histiaea rich in vines, Cerinthus upon the sea, and the rock-perched town of Dium; with them were also the men of Carystus and Styra; Elephenor of the race of Mars was in command of these; he was son of Chalcodon, and chief over all the Abantes. With him they came, fleet of foot and wearing their hair long behind, brave warriors, who would ever strive to tear open the corslets of their foes with their long ashen spears. Of these there came fifty ships. And they that held the strong city of Athens, the people of great Erechtheus, who was born of the soil itself, but Jove's daughter, Minerva, fostered him, and established him at Athens in her own rich sanctuary. There, year by year, the Athenian youths worship him with sacrifices of bulls and rams. These were commanded by Menestheus, son of Peteos. No man living could equal him in the marshalling of chariots and foot soldiers. Nestor could alone rival him, for he was older. With him there came fifty ships. Ajax brought twelve ships from Salamis, and stationed them alongside those of the Athenians. The men of Argos, again, and those who held the walls of Tiryns, with Hermione, and Asine upon the gulf; Troezene, Eionae, and the vineyard lands of Epidaurus; the Achaean youths, moreover, who came from Aegina and Mases; these were led by Diomed of the loud battle-cry, and Sthenelus son of famed Capaneus. With them in command was Euryalus, son of king Mecisteus, son of Talaus; but Diomed was chief over them all. With these there came eighty ships. Those who held the strong city of Mycenae, rich Corinth and Cleonae; Orneae, Araethyrea, and Licyon, where Adrastus reigned of old; Hyperesia, high Gonoessa, and Pellene; Aegium and all the coast-land round about Helice; these sent a hundred ships under the command of King Agamemnon, son of Atreus. His force was far both finest and most numerous, and in their midst was the king himself, all glorious in his armour of gleaming bronze- foremost among the heroes, for he was the greatest king, and had most men under him. And those that dwelt in Lacedaemon, lying low among the hills, Pharis, Sparta, with Messe the haunt of doves; Bryseae, Augeae, Amyclae, and Helos upon the sea; Laas, moreover, and Oetylus; these were led by Menelaus of the loud battle-cry, brother to Agamemnon, and of them there were sixty ships, drawn up apart from the others. Among them went Menelaus himself, strong in zeal, urging his men to fight; for he longed to avenge the toil and sorrow that he had suffered for the sake of Helen. The men of Pylos and Arene, and Thryum where is the ford of the river Alpheus; strong Aipy, Cyparisseis, and Amphigenea; Pteleum, Helos, and Dorium, where the Muses met Thamyris, and stilled his minstrelsy for ever. He was returning from Oechalia, where Eurytus lived and reigned, and boasted that he would surpass even the Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, if they should sing against him; whereon they were angry, and maimed him. They robbed him of his divine power of song, and thenceforth he could strike the lyre no more. These were commanded by Nestor, knight of Gerene, and with him there came ninety ships. And those that held Arcadia, under the high mountain of Cyllene, near the tomb of Aepytus, where the people fight hand to hand; the men of Pheneus also, and Orchomenus rich in flocks; of Rhipae, Stratie, and bleak Enispe; of Tegea and fair Mantinea; of Stymphelus and Parrhasia; of these King Agapenor son of Ancaeus was commander, and they had sixty ships. Many Arcadians, good soldiers, came in each one of them, but Agamemnon found them the ships in which to cross the sea, for they were not a people that occupied their business upon the waters. The men, moreover, of Buprasium and of Elis, so much of it as is enclosed between Hyrmine, Myrsinus upon the sea-shore, the rock Olene and Alesium. These had four leaders, and each of them had ten ships, with many Epeans on board. Their captains were Amphimachus and Thalpius- the one, son of Cteatus, and the other, of Eurytus- both of the race of Actor. The two others were Diores, son of Amarynces, and Polyxenus, son of King Agasthenes, son of Augeas. And those of Dulichium with the sacred Echinean islands, who dwelt beyond the sea off Elis; these were led by Meges, peer of Mars, and the son of valiant Phyleus, dear to Jove, who quarrelled with his father, and went to settle in Dulichium. With him there came forty ships. Ulysses led the brave Cephallenians, who held Ithaca, Neritum with its forests, Crocylea, rugged Aegilips, Samos and Zacynthus, with the mainland also that was over against the islands. These were led by Ulysses, peer of Jove in counsel, and with him there came twelve ships. Thoas, son of Andraemon, commanded the Aetolians, who dwelt in Pleuron, Olenus, Pylene, Chalcis by the sea, and rocky Calydon, for the great king Oeneus had now no sons living, and was himself dead, as was also golden-haired Meleager, who had been set over the Aetolians to be their king. And with Thoas there came forty ships. The famous spearsman Idomeneus led the Cretans, who held Cnossus, and the well-walled city of Gortys; Lyctus also, Miletus and Lycastus that lies upon the chalk; the populous towns of Phaestus and Rhytium, with the other peoples that dwelt in the hundred cities of Crete. All these were led by Idomeneus, and by Meriones, peer of murderous Mars. And with these there came eighty ships. Tlepolemus, son of Hercules, a man both brave and large of stature, brought nine ships of lordly warriors from Rhodes. These dwelt in Rhodes which is divided among the three cities of Lindus, Ielysus, and Cameirus, that lies upon the chalk. These were commanded by Tlepolemus, son of Hercules by Astyochea, whom he had carried off from Ephyra, on the river Selleis, after sacking many cities of valiant warriors. When Tlepolemus grew up, he killed his father's uncle Licymnius, who had been a famous warrior in his time, but was then grown old. On this he built himself a fleet, gathered a great following, and fled beyond the sea, for he was menaced by the other sons and grandsons of Hercules. After a voyage. during which he suffered great hardship, he came to Rhodes, where the people divided into three communities, according to their tribes, and were dearly loved by Jove, the lord, of gods and men; wherefore the son of Saturn showered down great riches upon them. And Nireus brought three ships from Syme- Nireus, who was the handsomest man that came up under Ilius of all the Danaans after the son of Peleus- but he was a man of no substance, and had but a small following. And those that held Nisyrus, Crapathus, and Casus, with Cos, the city of Eurypylus,