Anonymous wrote:I hear you on the advisor point. DH doesn't believe in paying someone for what we've been doing well for years. Funny b/c we pay for plumbers and lawn care and house cleaners and painters etc etc. but he doesn't think we should pay someone to tell us what to do with our money. We've done well so far but it's not been complicated to this point. thanks.

Handling money is easy. Taxes and estates are not nearly as simple, particularly when you start planning for what you will leave for others. My DW was a CPA for years, then went to law school and currently works as a tax attorney. We are in the process of re-doing our will, and you know what her first step was? Contacting an attorney that deals with estate planning. An expert may not tell you anything you couldn't figure out yourself, but to us, it adds peace of mind that we aren't missing something important. Remind him that the decisions now may have no impact on your retirement, but it could ultimately reduce the amount you leave in your estate, resulting in less for children and grandchildren.

After reading the above, I realized that it sounded somewhat alarmist. The overall impact may be minimal, but it is important to consider all the implications for estate planning. The laws vary by state, and they are complex enough that an expert opinion is never a bad thing to have.

Anonymous wrote:It's not legal to fire someone because of gender, but it will be hard to prove this is gender-based.

A single incident would be very hard to prove, but if there is a clear pattern, it becomes much easier. OP, I would have your husband document the number of people hired, fired, contracted, etc. by gender, both before and after the change in management. One or two instances can be brushed off as a coincidence, but if it is happening more often, the bias should be clear in the numbers.

My suggestion is that you get professional advice Seriously though, it sounds like a good idea based on what you said, and there are no current downsides. I would talk to a professional more familiar with your situation though, just to be sure.

Macs do indeed get viruses. They aren't any less vulnerable than other OS options. Their increasing popularity has made them more of a target in recent years, which is why you didn't hear as much about them. Regardless, no anti-virus solution will be 100% effective, as long as a user is involved with the system. My best advice, after cleaning the computer, lock down all permissions so that no one has the ability to allow anything to be installed.

Anonymous wrote:May I ask why you capitalized everything except for "a" and "but"?

It doesn't show up that way for me. I seem to recall that being some issue with how a particular browser renders it or something like that.(Are you using Firefox? I think I saw it with that, but can't remember which version) Either way, it is probably just a display issue on your end. I always just ignored it.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who reads DCUM for any length of time sees the fallout of contraceptive sex: disagreements about having another baby. Resentment because one partner wanted a baby more than the other. No sex drive. Feeling used when TTC.

Wow, these things never happen in families that don't use birth control? I had no idea that not using birth control immediately teleported you into a 50s sitcom, since that's the only place where this is true.

Anonymous wrote:So it is not about control, but about freedom. Freedom is not about doing whatever you want, but about choosing to do what is right.

I think you need to re-examine the meaning of the word "freedom". Freedom is not "choosing to do what is right." A more correct definition is that freedom is the ability to choose to do what you believe is right, although the true definition is much more involved than that. "Right" is a highly subjective term, and while there may be some areas with general agreement, there are always going to be grey areas with disagreements.

About the only thing I would suggest is to take a look at the non-profits, although that's still related to government work. I'm not sure why you make it sound as though "creative" is mutually exclusive with the areas you listed though. What exactly is the problem with the jobs, to the extent that a couple of interviews and job postings could lead to this viewpoint? Considering how broad a spectrum those areas cover, there's not enough of a common thread between them for this to make sense.

As the PP noted, it only makes sense if it will save you money. You'll pay a large amount in taxes, based on your current tax rates, if you do the conversion now. If you are only a few years from retirement, then it likely won't make sense. After retirement, you'll likely be paying a much lower tax rate, so the tax gains after retirement would not be enough to recover the conversion cost. If you still have a long time to retirement, then a lack of funds for the upfront cost is generally the only reason not to do it. We converted our accounts a few years back, when you could split the costs over a two year period, but unfortunately, that option isn't available now.

Asking the landlord is your best bet. I've seen some rental contracts that spelled it out, including an allowance for fish tanks below a certain size/capacity, while others just have the more general language. I'd personally want it in writing to avoid issues later.

My wife is due on December 10th. I'm not worried about the world ending, since I will be too busy to notice if it does

I think it is more important to spend time preparing kids to live in a world with people like the OP. Racial, cultural, and ethnic differences are far too fluid to "prepare" for in any meaningful sense. Ignorance, however, hasn't changed for quite some time now.

While you could move the files onto an external hard drive, you are right that it would still be a single point of failure and not really provide a backup even though it would free up space. My recommendation would depend on how often you access the videos. If you generally just record, store, and rarely actually look at them, then your best bet would probably be utilizing one of the cloud storage providers. Google offers something like 100GB for $5 per month, and there are others out there as well.(I've never compared prices, so no specific recommendation) You would have to manually upload the files there, and then download them when you wanted to view them. If you prefer to have a local copy available for faster viewing, editing, etc., then I would probably go with a hybrid approach. Buy a good external drive to store the videos, freeing up space on your laptop, but also get an online backup service to keep a safe copy outside your home.(I've used Mozy, which automatically backs up my important documents, photos, and other files) The benefit of some of the cloud backup services is that they could also be used to backup pictures, documents, and any other electronic files you don't want to lose.

As for the software issue someone else asked about, I have no idea what format the Flip camera uses, so I can't offer any advice there.

Personally, I would find a lawyer that will draw one up for a flat fee. You can find templates on websites, but states usually have fairly specific requirements(Witnesses, signatures, etc) that a will must meet to be valid. A lawyer can also advise you of any problems that you may not have considered when drawing up the will, particularly when children are involved.

The legal holiday is only on a Monday or Friday if the holiday falls on a weekend. Since it is on a Wednesday this year, you get to pick which weekend you want to call the "4th of July weekend", but you don't get a three-day weekend out of it. It works the same way for all holidays that fall of specific dates.(Christmas, New Years, etc)

I have two herding dogs, and I have no issues with leaving them outside during the day. Obviously, the weather is a factor, and we leave them inside when the temperature goes above a certain range.(I don't think we've had an instance in our current house where it was low enough to be an issue yet) Other weather conditions(Rain, storms, etc) will also keep them inside. We have two, so they don't get too lonely and can distract each other. They aren't nuisance barkers, based on neighbors as well as our own observations when they were outside for long periods when we are home.(By choice. One of them loves just laying outside and sleeping, and will do so even given the option to come inside.) Our home backs up to an elementary school, which had crowds of young children playing not far from the fence for long periods of time, so they've gotten pretty desensitized to any noise outside the fence. As to the fence, the yard is entirely enclosed in a six foot privacy fence, with bolted gates, so there's not much chance of anything else coming inside.(Well, the rabbits and squirrels still get in, but I think the dogs can handle them) No, it wouldn't stop a determined human, but neither would my windows or doors either. Not something I'm going to let that risk rule everything I do.

Inside or outside really has little bearing on how well the dog is treated overall. A dog that remains inside can be abused and neglected while a dog that spends days outside can be extremely well cared for. This argument is no different from the daycare vs SAHM arguments. We all love the dogs, we just disagree on how they should be raised and cared for. That doesn't make any of us "right" or "wrong". You should decide what's best for you and your pets, but you shouldn't extend that decision to all other pet owners.