NydiaMccartney answers:

If you want the wood grain to show, you have to use stain or some sort of clear finish. (Or if you really want to get fancy, you could use paint to recreate a wood-grain effect, which is called faux finishing, but this takes a lot of skill and I wouldn’t recommend it for this application anyway.) If that’s the case, you have to remove all the rest of the existing paint. Maybe it can wait until after the baby arrives, but I bet you’ll be plenty busy then with more important tasks! You shouldn’t have any problem finding a stain color to match the door, or at least come very close.

If you’re just looking to match the general color of the door, you can do that with paint. You don’t have to remove all the remaining paint. Simply give it a light sanding to roughen the surface, and take care to smooth the area where the existing paint meets the bare wood so that you don’t see a lip there after you paint. If you run your fingertips over the area and can’t feel the transition, you’ve sanded enough.

Now prime the entire bannister–the painted area and the bare wood. Finally, paint the bannister with one or probably two coats of paint in a color to match the door. When brushing on the paint, try for nice, smooth brushstrokes because sloppy brushing will really show in this case. Here are some tips for getting the best results when you paint:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/skill-builder/0,,1585941,00.html?xid=yahoo-answers&partner=yes

NydiaMccartney answers:

Your entry: “I know people who aren’t allowed to have sleepovers with the opposite sex”
My response: wrong.

Kids have sex. When they get the urge they’ll do it. Telling them not to won’t work. We’re doing abstinence-only sex education in schools so kids aren’t learning how to use contraception, and most of the kids realize that adults are hypocrites who had sex at their ages then try to argue they shouldn’t. So what we’re ending up with is horrible rates of Sexually Transmitted Diseases including HIV among teenagers and teen pregnancy.

5,000 years of history tells us that abstinence-only sex “education” is worthless and does not work, but that is ignored because unlike me, too many parents have their heads in the clouds or buried in the sand and think not talking about it means the issue will go away.

I nearly busted a gut when I heard that the two girls at a high school who won the award for best essay on telling other kids why not to have sex, were both pregnant!

I almost swallowed my tongue when I heard kids young as 11 are having sex.

Well, open minded parents who understand they’re titlting at windmills by trying to fight 5,000 years of history will realize that it’s far better if your 13, 14, or 15-year-old daughter has sex with her close boyfriend, you make sure they’re using contraception and you let them use her bedroom. The kids are having fun, they’re not getting exposed to STDs since they’re monogamous, you pound it into her head that she must not get pregnant and she won’t, and you can keep an eye on them.

When it’s a boy around that age his parents are usually less concerned if he has sex because he can’t get pregnant.

I discuss this a lot here with boys (and girls) at 12, 13 and 14 to tell them why I don’t think it’s a good idea for a girl under 15 to have sex, mainly because she’s vulnerable and if he’s not careful he could injure her.

I don’t hide my head in the sand and think kids aren’t having sex. They’re doing so and if it’s controlled, they don’t risk pregnancy or disease, and maybe they learn something about relationships with other people.

Okay, for the ones that their parents don’t allow it, there are several options. Maybe the girl’s parents won’t allow it but his will. Or her parents are cool with it when his are uptight. Sometimes the parents don’t like it but the kid knows enough to blackmail the parents that they can’t object if he or she brings someone home. (You don’t stop me from having sex with by boyfriend in my room and I don’t tell the cops about your pot plants.) Sneak into places, like abandoned houses. Find a friend who will let you use his or her place where their parents won’t be around. Sneak into the woods. Find a bathroom in an office building you can sneak into.

NydiaMccartney answers:

Make sure you have swept it really well, then go over the floor with a mop while spraying as you go with a spray bottle filled with 1 cup white vinegar and three cups water. This really cleans the floor while preventing over wetting that could warp it. Then you want to sand the floors just enough to give it a nice tooth to hold onto some verathane (any home improvement store). Make sure you do this leading your way out of the house to prevent making tracks. Come back in three house and lightly sand the top of that and put down another coat of the verathan and allow to cure overnight. This stuff is very stinky but lasts about 10 years in high traffic areas then you will have to reapply. Make sure you leave the windows open to air it out properly. If you are not a DIY person or have kids or are pregnant and no where else to go, it would be in your best interest to call a professional to come in and do the job. A nice coat will keep the floors looking great and make them a lot easier to clean in the long run.

NydiaMccartney answers:

“Some women have very little help about the camp, being obliged to get the wood and water, make camp fires, unpack at night and pack up in the morning and . . .have the milking to do,if they are fortunate enough to have cows” wrote Helen Carpenter, who was grateful that her husband was among the minority who pitched in. Many women were pregnant, but they still yoked loaded wagons and coped with morning sickness during the jostling ride. They crossed raging rivers on rafts and helped drag their children up the sides of mountains. One pioneer recounted assisting at a birth in a thunderstorm when the pregnant woman was placed on two chairs in the leaky wagon with “the nurses wading around” to assist in the delivery.

The wagons stopped only at nightfall, and started rolling again at dawn, and women learned how to do their domestic chores on the move. Some could roll a piecrust on the wagon seat while driving a team of oxen. But there weren’t many chances to do laundry, and families went for a month or longer between clean clothes. Diapers were a particular problem, and many women wound up scraping and drying the used diapers and putting them back on the baby. One wrote that she washed the diapers out every night and made her husband hold them over the campfire as they dried.

As the trains moved into the plains, where there were few trees and no firewood, the only fuel for the campfire was buffalo chips – the dried dung left behind by the herds, which thye more playful pioneeers refered to as “meadow muffins”. Except for the smell, the chips made relatively good fires. But some wives never got used to the idea of cooking over dried manure and worried that the smoke would contaminate the food. Others had trouble learning how to make meals over an open fire. But most adapted. James Clyman wrote that he had watched a woman cooking next to a wagon on a rainy night in 1844: “After having kneaded her dough she watched and nursed the fire and held an umbrella over the fire and her skillet with the greatest composure for near 2 hours and baked bread enough to give us a very plentiful supper.”

The wagon trains left in the spring, so they could get across the Sierras before snow fell. The early partof the trip was often marked by drenching thunderstorms, with winds that thore through the canvas and rain that soaked the wagon interiors. In their diaries, women complained constantly that they had no time to dry out the bedding. Then the wet springs gave way to hot, dry summers. “Very dusty roads” reported Elizabeth Dixon Smith “You in the states know nothing about dust. It will fly so that you can hardly see the horns of your oxen. It often seems the cattle must die from want of breath, and then our wagon is a spectacle – beds, clothes, victuals and children all completely covered.” When autumn arrived, the trains were generally headed towards the mountains, where they were vulnerable to cold and snow. “I carry my babe and lead or rather carry another through snow and mud and water almost to my knees” said Smith. Two days later she wrote “I froze or chilled my feet so that I cannot wear a shoe, so I have to go around in the cold water barefooted.”

As the trail got tougher and the animals got weaker, many families lightened their load and got rid of everything other than the msot crucial possessions, leaving other pioneeers to pass by their abandoned furniture and precious keepsakes. To relive the animals, people got out of the wagons and walked. Todllers invariably wandered off and headed straight into a patch of cactus. “Days passed before all could be picked out of the skin” wrote one mother. Inevitably, women ended up carrying the smaller children. Juliette Brier walked 100 miles through the sand and rocks when her wagon train was lost in Death Valley. She carried one child on her back and another in her arms, while she led a third by the hand. Mrs Samuel Young, who had just given birth, climbed the cliffs of the Sierra Nevada with her newborn baby in her arms.

NydiaMccartney answers:

Holbox. This island is a dream come true. If you imagine a laid back island with gorgeous sunrises and sunsets this is your dream come true.

Http://www.holboxtravel.com/

From hotels as cheap as 25 dollars to all inclusive 5 star resorts. Cantinas to ocean view bars with 5 star service. Hotels are Caribbean bungalows made from native wood with wrap around balconies.

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Convenient fly in to Cancun a short hour and a half private transportation van directly to the ferry. !5 minute ferry ride to Paradise.
For personal first hand information contact me directly. We will probably be there during those dates as well. We visit the isla every two months.

NydiaMccartney answers:

Exposure to mold can cause cold-like symptoms, respiratory problems, nasal and sinus congestion, watery eyes, sore throat, coughing and skin irritations, and can trigger asthma attacks. Because some mold spores are very small and can easily be breathed deeply into the lungs, it is not safe to live in houses with high mold levels. Exposure to high mold spore levels can cause development of an allergy to mold. People can react to mold whether it is living or dead.

Everyone should minimize their exposure to mold. Children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with existing respiratory sensitivities are at higher risk for adverse health effects from mold. Some people are affected when exposed to very little mold, while others may show no adverse health symptoms when exposed to mold.

If you can smell a musty odor or see mold, you have a mold problem. Reliable sampling for mold can be expensive since it requires special equipment and training. Testing is not generally recommended as a first step.

Mold Removal

Since people react to mold whether it is living or dead, the mold must be removed.

Take steps to protect your health during mold removal. Use a mask or respirator that will filter out mold spores. Usually it will be designated as an N95, 3M #1860 or TC-21C particulate respirator. Wear eye protection, rubber gloves and clothing that can be immediately laundered.

Dampen moldy materials before removal to minimize the number of airborne mold spores.

Mold can be removed from hard surfaces such as hard plastic, glass, metal and counter tops by scrubbing with a non-ammonia soap or detergent. (Do not mix ammonia and bleach; the fumes are toxic.)

It is impossible to completely remove mold from porous surfaces such as paper, Sheetrock (drywall) and carpet padding, so these materials should be removed and discarded.

Scrubbing may not completely remove mold growth on structural wood, such as wall studs, so it may need to be removed by sanding. Wear personal protective gear and isolate the work area from the rest of the home.

After the mold is removed, disinfect the area using a bleach and water solution or another disinfectant. The amount of bleach recommended per gallon of water varies considerably. A clean surface requires less bleach than a dirty surface. A solution of ¼ cup bleach to 1 gallon of water should be adequate for clean surfaces. The surface must remain wet for about 15 minutes to allow the solution to disinfect. Concentrations as high as 1½ cups of bleach per gallon of water are recommended for surfaces that could not be thoroughly cleaned. Provide adequate ventilation during disinfecting and wear rubber gloves.

Finally, rinse the entire area with clean water, and then rapidly dry the surfaces. Use fans and dehumidifiers or natural ventilation that exchanges inside air with outside air.

NydiaMccartney answers:

Exposure to mold can cause cold-like symptoms, respiratory problems, nasal and sinus congestion, watery eyes, sore throat, coughing and skin irritations, and can trigger asthma attacks. Because some mold spores are very small and can easily be breathed deeply into the lungs, it is not safe to live in houses with high mold levels. Exposure to high mold spore levels can cause development of an allergy to mold. People can react to mold whether it is living or dead.

Everyone should minimize their exposure to mold. Children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with existing respiratory sensitivities are at higher risk for adverse health effects from mold. Some people are affected when exposed to very little mold, while others may show no adverse health symptoms when exposed to mold.

If you can smell a musty odor or see mold, you have a mold problem. Reliable sampling for mold can be expensive since it requires special equipment and training. Testing is not generally recommended as a first step.

Where to Look for Mold

Mold grows on organic materials, such as paper, dirt, wood and soap scum. Mold grows on moist materials, so mold growth is likely in areas wet by water leaks, flooding, humidity levels above about 70 percent and condensation. Any flooded area that was not completely dried within about one day is likely to have mold growth. Walls need to be opened and rapidly dried to prevent mold growth. Any area that is stained from water should be examined for mold growth. Peeling paint may be an indication of wet walls.

Moisture seeping through concrete walls and floors will cause moist conditions likely to cause mold growth on or in walls, carpeting and materials stored in the basement. Mold often grows under cabinets, behind base-boards, inside walls, in carpet padding and under vinyl wall coverings.

An unvented clothes dryer creates a very humid, warm environment conducive to mold growth. Closets may have mold growth if clothing is damp or if there is a cool outside wall in the closet. Also, there is a chance mold might be growing behind furniture, particularly against an outside wall.

Mold will not normally be found in furnace or air-conditioning ducts unless they were flooded because the heated or air-conditioned air is very dry.

Moisture coming through a basement floor or wall may deposit a light-colored salt and other minerals that are sometimes thought to be mold. The deposits should quickly dissolve and disappear when wet with water if they are a salt.

Mold Removal

Since people react to mold whether it is living or dead, the mold must be removed.

Take steps to protect your health during mold removal. Use a mask or respirator that will filter out mold spores. Usually it will be designated as an N95, 3M #1860 or TC-21C particulate respirator. Wear eye protection, rubber gloves and clothing that can be immediately laundered.

Dampen moldy materials before removal to minimize the number of airborne mold spores.

Mold can be removed from hard surfaces such as hard plastic, glass, metal and counter tops by scrubbing with a non-ammonia soap or detergent. (Do not mix ammonia and bleach; the fumes are toxic.)

It is impossible to completely remove mold from porous surfaces such as paper, Sheetrock (drywall) and carpet padding, so these materials should be removed and discarded.

Scrubbing may not completely remove mold growth on structural wood, such as wall studs, so it may need to be removed by sanding. Wear personal protective gear and isolate the work area from the rest of the home.

After the mold is removed, disinfect the area using a bleach and water solution or another disinfectant. The amount of bleach recommended per gallon of water varies considerably. A clean surface requires less bleach than a dirty surface. A solution of ¼ cup bleach to 1 gallon of water should be adequate for clean surfaces. The surface must remain wet for about 15 minutes to allow the solution to disinfect. Concentrations as high as 1½ cups of bleach per gallon of water are recommended for surfaces that could not be thoroughly cleaned. Provide adequate ventilation during disinfecting and wear rubber gloves.

Finally, rinse the entire area with clean water, and then rapidly dry the surfaces. Use fans and dehumidifiers or natural ventilation that exchanges inside air with outside air.

Preventing Mold Growth

The moisture problem must be fixed to prevent future mold growth. Since there are some mold spores everywhere and since mold grows on any wet organic surface, the only way to prevent mold growth is to keep things dry.

Air Cleaners

Air cleaners will not solve a mold problem. A high-efficiency air filter that removes mold spores may reduce the number of spores in the air, but mold spores rapidly settle onto surfaces, such as the floor, where air filters cannot remove them. Filters may reduce the number of mold spores in the air but are not substitutes for removing

NydiaMccartney answers:

Being an ex-hamster owner, I am delighted to share with you the tips and techniques of raising one!

~At the shop~
-Choose a good, reliable pet shop that is convienient. I prefer to go to the same shop all the time.
-When you go to the shop, look at the hamsters. Some (unreputable) shops put male and female hamsters together and so you could possibly end up bringing a pregnant hamster home!
-If possible, buy two hamsters of the same gender. One of the shop assistants will help you pick out the hamsters.
-Hold them. Are they gentle? Do they bite? Choose ones that are not so rough.
-I personally recommend Russian Campbell Dwarf Hamsters. They are the ones that are grey with a stripe of white down the middle. They live long and (since they are dwarves) do not grow much and therefore will not outgrow their cages.
-Buy the following essentials:
>hamster food (it comes in rather heavy bags and contain dried nuts, corn and other stuff)
>pack(s) of wood shavings—for the floor of the cage so they won’t be so uncomfortable.
>grass (called ‘hay’ in some places)
>bathing sand
>a cage that is wide enough to house a hamster. Nowadays shops offer ‘packages’. You pay a sum and you get a colourful cage with matching tunnels, water bottles, wheels, houses, food bowls, etc. This is the most convienient option but you may have to buy each seperately if this isn’t the case.
>teether cubes (little hard grey cubes that will prevent their teeth from growing too long)

~At home~
-don’t stick your hands in and try to catch it. Hamsters are already scared of the moving process. DO NOT invite friends to ‘look’ at the hamster…it will freak out.
-during it’s first few weeks, let it play by itself/with its mates and let them get used to the atmosphere of your house.

~Feeding them~
-This was my personally feeding schedule for my hamster:
I fed her twice a day. I put a spoonful of hamster food (from the shop) and another handful of (must not be wet!) vegetables such as cucumber and carrots. Bread is not a good idea since it dries out. And I replaced her water everyday.

~Bathing them~
Twice a week I’d take my hamster out into a old fish tank (fish tanks are great for baths since there are no wires and they cannot climb out) and the bottom was covered in bath sand (available from shops). There your hamster will twist and turn and clean itself. Meanwhile, while giving her half an hour or so, I empty the wood shavings in her cage, clean it with disinfectant, dry it, put a new layer of wood shavings, clean and disinfect the ‘toys’, replace the teether cube (if neccessary) and put a fresh handful of grass (from the shop). Then I let my hamster back in!

~Caring for them~
Hamsters love to explore and you should let them out into an area free of eletrical outlets and other dangers. Make sure the area is fenced/blocked/protected from the rest of your house. I like to put layers of newspaper on my apartment hallway and let her run! Then after her ‘free time’ when she’s in her cage, I just throw away the (maybe soiled) newspapers.

Let it come onto your hand and stroke it everyday to remind it that it’s loved! Make sure you’re not watching TV while doing this and watch out for its bones!

~What I think~
Hee hee this is the longest Yahoo! Answer I’ve typed in my life and I hope you have great fun raising it! Hamsters are a great source of joy and it’s an absolute pleasure looking after them!

Hope this helps! If there are any other problems please email me! =)
[email protected]

NydiaMccartney answers:

EDIT: Oh, alright – much better! Well, I’ll give you some care basics.

Adults average up to about 20 inches in length are require a 40-50 gallon aquarium or larger at that size (especially males). Juveniles and subadults can be kept in 20 gallon enclosures. Although sand is always recommended for this lizard in captivity, it is (especially for juveniles) a gamble to use it. Hatchlings are most susceptable to impaction than the adults as they are curious (some will lick the sand) and clumsy when feeding (getting mouthfuls while chasing prey). Gravel and aquarium rock (which are more difficult to clean and disinfect), outdoor carpeting (trim loose threads), butcher paper, unprinted newsprint, paper towels and terry towels all making suitable substrates instead. Do not use corn or walnut cob, alfalfa pellets, kitty litter, or wood shavings. Include branches for climbing and basking, and rocky, ceramic, or wooden caves/hideboxes (one on the hot side and one on the cool side).

The temperature gradient during the day should range from 76 F on the cool side to 86 F on the warm side, with a basking area ranging from 90-100 F. Night time temperatures can drop no lower than the low to mid 70s (21 C) on the cool side. This heat gradient can be obtained with a combination of using an under tank heat pad and a heat lamp. Be sure to purchase a heat pad that has a dial which allows you to control the temperature so the surface doesn’t become too hot, and be sure it’s one made for the outside of the aquarium. Both a UVB (“full spectrum” – Vita-Lite or Vita-Lite Plus, Zoo Med’s ReptiSun) light and a heat lamp are required for this lizard and should be left on for 12 hours a day. If your house gets too cool in the evening, you can also get a red heat light so that your lizard doesn’t get chilled at night.

Always provide fresh water for your dragon. It should be in a bowl or dish shallow enough for your lizard to see easily into and drink out of.

The bearded dragons are omnivores. Babies’ diets are 80% insects and 20% vegetables. Adults’ diets almost completely consist of vegetables.

Since these lizards consume a wide variety of invertebrates and small vertebrates in the wild, a variety of protein sources must be offered in captivity. Prey items such as appropriately sized cultured crickets, cockroaches, mealworms, king worms, and wax worms can be fed, along with pink mice as treats.

Feed your invertebrate prey before feeding your dragon. Prey bought from pet stores are generally in dire need of a good meal, having subsisted on cardboard or bran for several days at least. Sprinkle or dust prey with a calcium supplement just before feeding them to your lizard 3-5 times a week (more for baby and pregnant dragons), and use a multivitamin supplement 2-3 times a week (more for babies and pregnant females).

Plant matter includes a variety of shredded or torn vegetables and fruits such as green beans, orange-fleshed squash, carrots, escarole, parsley, mustard, dandelion and collard greens, raspberries, mango, and cantaloupe.

Good luck!