Anonymous wrote:I would counsel you to NOT have another child in the situation you are in. Really, listen to me now: another kid does NOT mean you will just double your expenses. The increased cost will be exponential.

Let's be realistic with our math. Children will be a mostly linear increase(Likely with a slight curve downward as more children are added, since not all expenses will increase linearly, such as food), not an exponential one. I'm not even going to address the rest of your post.

To the OP, you really seem to have most of the answers already. You had some financial issues with an old house that piled up some debts, and you are having to dig yourself out of it. Your current income is saddled with the debts you'd already accumulated, and there's probably not an easy way out. I'd sit down and try to work out the best, fastest way to start clearing some of your debts, particularly the credit card ones since they tend to have the highest interest rates. Money management is much more important in the long run than overall income. That's why millionaires can end up bankrupt while those with more moderate means can live well. And most practically of all, if you can't afford to live as you currently are, then what can you change about the way you currently live? Sometimes, you just have to step back, look at the big picture, and really examine what is and isn't working.

Anonymous wrote:Next I hope you make a list of all of "this crap" that the REST of the news stations spew about anyone remotely conservative. You know, the MSM spin. Because you want to look at things with an open mind, don't you? Isn't that in the liberal script? Make an effort to see both sides and you might not be quite so irritating.

Actually, it doesn't sound like you are reading the OP with an open mind. The problem is with people that use Fox News EXCLUSIVELY as their news source. I know lots of people that do the same, and it leads to all kinds of inaccurate information being proliferated. The same would be true if someone was using an extremely liberal-biased news source exclusively as well, but I don't think any of the major media outlets are as far to the left as Fox is to the right.(Every news story has some bias, but not to the same degree) Either way, I don't think anyone should use a single news source, particularly in this day and age when multiple sources are literally at your fingertips. I don't automatically trust any single news story to be correct, and usually verify controversial findings either from the source or from multiple reports. To depend on one source, particularly one as biased as Fox News, is basically putting yourself into a state of willful ignorance. Or to put it in the popular terminology, becoming one of the often criticized "sheep" that mindlessly follows their particular herd.

I started the C25K program back in late May, and I finished it without having to repeat any weeks. I was also intimidated by the 20 minute run on Week 5 Day 3, but I realized while doing it that, for me at least, the real stumbling block was mental. My body was physically able to handle it as long as I didn't convince myself otherwise. Basically, don't let it scare you, since it isn't as big a jump as it seems. I didn't look up other running tips when I started, so I wound up running up several hills in my normal route, as well as running all summer during the hot afternoons(Often 95+). By the time I realized it wasn't recommended, I was already used to it. I would definitely go to a good running store and get some shoes though. I used the C25K podcasts to time my initial run, and now I use EndoMondo on my phone to track my runs while listening to music. I haven't actually done a 5K yet, but that's mainly been a scheduling problem, not a physical run.

As for real motivation, my weight is now lower than it has been in over ten years and still dropping.(Over fifteen pounds lost, and more than that in fat) I've also been motivated to start some strength training on the days when I don't run(Still 3 times a week for that, even though I finished the program about two months ago), so I've actually added muscle at the same time I've been losing weight. I'm about to have to buy new pants because the waistline is too big on most of the ones I have.(I can only tighten my belt so much) I'm in better shape physically that I've been in about fifteen years or so, and I'm definitely enjoying that.

If you read the full article, it has a lot more information, particularly about the things which seem to not influence the wage increase in this area.(Not government spending, for example) However, I'm curious how the wage increase would track with the increase in positions which require a security clearance. Those have been rising rapidly since 2001, they are heavily concentrated in this area, and there is usually a higher wage associated with those as well. That could easily be a contributing factor to the disparity in the wage increase in this area compared to other metro areas.

My office is a few degrees too cold, and I have to constantly rub my hands together to stay warm. That, or argue in the Political forum.

I don't recall any restrictions about walking among the graves from when I visited, beyond the admonition to be respectful. I've seen plenty of people visiting specific graves there. As for being tacky, I followed the link posted, and I didn't find it tacky at all. The person that took the picture was an 18 year old kid visiting the grave site of a fallen soldier from the same high school, and they obviously admired the loyalty and dedication of the man in the picture and wanted to share that. I'm sure this isn't the first picture that's been taken of the man in the chair, and I think the tone and intent behind taking the picture is what matters.

The differences between any two MD and VA neighborhoods are about the same as the differences between two MD neighborhoods, two VA neighborhoods, etc. None of them really have anything to do with which state you are in, and have everything to do with the particular neighborhoods themselves. People living in one don't often travel casually to the other for the simple reason that there's not much need to. Both areas have a lot to offer in terms of restaurants, events, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Obama ate a dog.

I hear Romney has a great plan to solve the homeless problem while also cutting costs to the food stamp program: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e9aa/.

I was always into computers, even before age 12, and now I write software. Worked out great for me. For others, it changes a great deal.

jsteele wrote:If you have a Galaxy S2 or S3, be careful which websites you visit. An exploit was just discovered that can cause your device to do a hard reset if you visit a specially formatted webpage:

http://9to5google.com/2012/09/25/major-samsung-galaxy-exploit-hard-resets-a-device-by-just-visiting-a-website/

Just to clarify, it looks like an S3 running the current OTA updates is not affected, as this has been patched. Also, it only affects the stock browser, not any third-party browsers. There are still more details coming out though.

I'm assuming this just an extension on your current service, right?(Perhaps an extension of new customer deals) If so, there's really not any type of commitment on either side. They certainly are required to honor the price quoted up until now, at least. However, now that the mistake has been discovered, and you've been notified of the correction, I don't think they are legally obligated to give you the quoted price from this point forward. They may decide to honor it, and I think they should since it was their mistake, but cable companies have a bad customer service reputation for a reason. That being said, they also can't penalize you if you decided to cancel your service at this point and go with another provider.(You would pay the quoted rate up until that point) Even if you had a contract for a specified term, it would be nullified by the price change.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, my your cell phone decision based on music software.

If you use a cell phone and expect it to work without "tinkering around with it," get an iPhone. If you are a Linux nerd with no life, rarely gets laid and likes to tinker with stuff to get it to work, get an Android. Problem solved! Next question.

Considering how there are many things you can't do with an iPhone without going through iTunes, I would think that the music software would be a consideration. And none of the recent phones, iPhone or Android, require any more tinkering than the others. The difference is that Android gives you the ability to tinker a lot more by default if you want to, while it is generally discouraged on iPhone. Probably 99%+ of Android users never bother doing any more customizing than your typical iPhone user would do to their phone. When it comes to simple things, such as setting up mail, calendars, music, etc., there really aren't any major differences between them.(Some are better in some instances than others, but no significant standout, at least)

The only real answer is that anyone that tells you definitively that one is better than the other is wrong.

You should also take your particular situation into account. My wife and I both work in completely different fields, so the odds of losing both incomes at the same time are extremely slim. Our goal is to have enough in savings to cover 4-6 months of expenses in that event. We also try to keep our expenses low enough so that the loss of one income, at least temporarily, wouldn't require us to dip into those savings. To the PP, it doesn't need to be a fully liquid account either, since you aren't going to need all six months at once. Ideally, you'll never touch the money, so you may as well have it somewhere that will generate some returns.

My wife has had several iPhones, and I've had several Android phones. We're both happy with what we have. Coming from a Blackberry, either will be a major improvement for you. I suggest going into a store and playing with some of them yourself. Ultimately, the deciding factors are going to come down to a matter of personal preference more than any other factor.

Anonymous wrote:I would like to use the couch to 5K, but it isnt supported for my Gen 2 Ipod touch.

I didn't use an app at all when I did the program. I bought a tiny mp3 player and used the podcasts downloaded from here, http://www.c25k.com/podcasts.htm, to time my runs. After I finished the program, then I started using an app to track my time and distance, but that was for my own interests, not out of necessity.