Just tell him. If he gets mad at you, drop him as fast as you can.

Yes, you love him. Yes, you want to be with him. I get that. I've been there. I can tell you, though, that if he really loves you he won't get mad. He'll respect your decision and wait until you're comfortable.

The best thing you can do to anger your enemies is...

Nothing at all.

When you don't react to them, they wonder why. It takes the wind right out of them.

If they see you enjoying your life just fine, that's what gets them angry. They're trying to make you miserable, and failing at it. If you're conniving and trying to make them miserable, that shows that what they're doing works, and you need to retaliate.

It all depends on who your loans are from.

Where I live, there are standardized government loans. If you leave school without graduating, you have to pay back everything immediately, and you get charged credit card rates on it, whereas you get a grace period if you graduate and you don't pay interest during your schooling.

If you got them from a bank, it all depends on the individual lender. My friend has bank loans, and he's paying just the interest during his schooling, then when he leaves school he has to start making full payments.

If you leave before the second semester, you should be able to pay the loans back, since you haven't used that chunk yet.

I find the best thing to do is to just go in for an overhaul every once in a while. I save my pennies, and every 3-4 months I'll treat myself to a pedicure. It's only about $25, and it means my feet never get really gross. It gives you a fresh base to start from, so that you can maintain it better with an exfoliating scrub and moisturizer. Also, it makes me feel prettier, and you get a nice foot rub out of the bargain.

Just make sure you go to a clean technician who doesn't reuse tools!

Let's put it this way... it's not the sort of thing that you bring out on the third date.

When you're deep into a relationship, your girlfriend will be a lot more open-minded when it comes to fulfilling fetish-related fantasies. She may be confused or weirded out at first, but something harmless like this might be okay.

However, you may run into girls who don't want any part. That's when you just back off politely and keep it in your mind :)

What colour of pink is it?

If it's a bright pink, then it will look a little bit unprofessional.

However, inconspicuously manicured nails look lovely and professional. I like to keep mine the same pink as the lower part of the nail. Just make sure that it's a very natural colour, that it's not the slightest bit chipped, and that your nails aren't too long.

There is always a possibility. My mother was using both when I was conceived. If you take antibiotics, if you don't absorb the pill properly, if your body just doesn't feel like it, the pill can malfunction. As for condoms, they're finicky. There can be a tiny hole, semen can squeeze out around the edges, or goodness knows what can happen without knowing. It's like layering Swiss cheese: sometimes the holes can overlap.

I would recommend doing both; take another test, and maybe even another one. If you're still getting positives, head to the doctor for a blood test.

Good luck!

It's like kissing, except you've got someone else's genitals in your mouth.

Yeah, it's cheating. There's a reason why they call it oral sex.

Why is your boyfriend angry? Well, when you're dating someone, you kind of expect them to not be putting their mouths on other people. By doing things with other people, you're putting him at risk for sexually transmitted infections, and I can imagine that it's also just kind of gross kissing your girlfriend knowing that she has recently had someone else's junk in her mouth.

Personally, when it comes to my relationship, I think that kissing is out of line, too. If you wouldn't do it to your grandmother, you shouldn't be doing it to people other than your boyfriend unless you have a specifically agreed upon open relationship.

I would suggest having a conversation with your boyfriend asking him exactly what his boundaries for you are. That way you know what you can and can't do while remaining in the relationship. If it's too restrictive for you, then you shouldn't be dating him right now.

Sorry it took me so long to answer this question! I set it aside to think about it, and forgot I hadn't answered it yet.

Granola bars are your best friend. I love Fibre One bars, but that's just me. They're my favourite thing to eat when I have to skip a meal or when I get hungry in between meals. I usually keep one in my purse just in case.

For meals to bring to work, you have a few options, depending on what you have access to. If you have access to a fridge, kettle or a microwave, you're all set. Here are some of my favourite work meals:

- Campbell's Cup-A-Soup. Creamy chicken in particular is really filling and tasty, and you can make it in a snap. You can even drink it on the go if you can't sit down to enjoy it!
- Microwave meals like Weight Watchers SmartOnes or the like are nice because it feels like real food. It's best if you can keep it in the freezer, though.
- Salads! You can get great tupperware that holds a salad and dressing, or you can even get one of those salad spray bottles to keep at work. Just don't make the mistake I always make and pack the salad with the dressing, because it always ends up limp and soggy.
- Wraps are always nice. I like to put lots in it so that I feel like I'm eating a real meal. Things like alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, tomato, avocado, etc.

For groceries, I stick to one simple rule. I shop the outside of the store. Fruits and veggies, meats, dairy. I do the occasional dive into the centre for pasta and canned or dried veggies, but it's actually a lot cheaper than you think to shop fresh and healthy. Those meal-in-a-box things are more expensive than you might think!

The key is to cook in batches and get yourself some good containers in single serving sizes. For instance, I love lentils (nutritious and inexpensive!), but they're a pain in the butt to cook. I don't have an hour to cook every day, so I will make a whole bunch all at once. Same goes for spaghetti sauce (always made fresh... never buy the canned stuff because it's full of salt and sugar!).

I'm not quite sure what foods you like, but here's a sample of what I keep on hand:

PRODUCE:
- Fruit x 7-9. I just look and see what looks good.
- Cucumbers x 2 (make a great snack, very low cal)
- Broccoli x 3 (an incredible low-cal snack when you eat it with dip. You can also add it to beef broth for a great soup)
- Tomatoes x 2 (for salad)
- Romaine lettuce x 3-4 (I clean and shred it 2 at a time and keep the extra in a Ziploc)
- Zucchini x 2 (really good in pasta)
- Alfalfa sprouts (tasty in wraps/sandwiches)
- Green peppers x 1 (for pasta/snacks)
- Mushrooms (for pasta)

CANNED/DRIED
- Dried lentils (so incredibly cheap, and really nutritious)
- Chickpeas (can be roasted with spices for a snack or cooked for meals as a meat alternative)
- Canned, crushed tomatoes x 2 (for pasta sauce)
- Package of whole wheat pasta
- Oatmeal (the cheapest, tastiest breakfast ever!)

MEAT
- 1 pkg ground beef
- If some fish looks really delicious, I'll treat myself. You can tell it's fresh if you poke it and it springs back.
- Fast fry steaks can be cooked all at once, sliced into strips and put on salads or in wraps.
- I find that chicken is overpriced and not all that tasty. I prefer lean pork.

DAIRY
- 1 container cottage cheese (for snacks or you can put it on pasta with tomato sauce for a lasagna experience)
- Cheese, if you need/want it. It's pretty expensive, though. Stock up when it goes on sale!
- I don't really drink milk, but you may need it.
- Yogourt is a tasty dessert, breakfast or snack.

I always keep Italian herbs, pepper and some packages of curry kicking around for flavour. You should also have some extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.

There's no law in the books that says that in-laws have to get along or like each other.

My parents hate one set of my fiance's parents. My fiance's mother doesn't like me. Do I let it get to me? Not really.

Your family isn't marrying his family, thank goodness. You're marrying him. You can always keep the family gatherings separate in order to keep drama off the table. In 4 years of being together, my parents still haven't met my fiance's father's family, and they've only met his mother's family once.

If anything, it's fantastic that your family doesn't do Christmas, because it means less arguing over who gets whom, and when. We always have 3 Christmases to go to!

The only real barrier is the wedding, and that's usually not a problem. Parents are most often mature enough to recognize that it's your day, not theirs, and that they can't go causing trouble.

Ibuprofen is actually very safe to take; every bit as safe as acetaminophen, in fact!

You won't see toxic effects (except in extremely rare cases) below 100 mg/kg. That means that if you weigh about 120 lbs, you'd need to take 5400 mg to start getting into a danger zone. The maximum daily dose is 1200 mg, so you'd have to quadruple it in order to overdose.

To try and help with cramps without taking painkillers there are a few tricks.

Drink lots and lots of water, then drink some more. Cut out all caffeine. No coffee, no soda. It makes cramps much worse. Ditto chocolate. Much as you might want it, it makes you feel a lot worse. Stick to a high fibre, low sugar diet with lots of fruits and veggies.

When the going gets tough, I get a hot water bottle. They work wonders on stomach and back cramps.

If they're that bad, though, you should be seeing a doctor. There are medical conditions that can cause severe cramping, and they can be treated. Your cramps shouldn't keep you from living life!

First things first; if he's a family doctor, he shouldn't be treating you for depression. He's not qualified, and he's overstepping his bounds. Would you go to this guy for an angioplasty, for a skin biopsy or to fix a broken spine? No! There's a reason why specialists exist. Family doctors help you to deal with minor medical problems or ongoing maintenance (like if you have asthma/diabetes). He can't forbid you from seeing a specialist.

Secondly, if you've seen these opinions posted on websites, you're not just morbidly making them up to satisfy some dark need to be miserable and paranoid. Other people are having bad experiences with your doctor. If anything, you should feel reassured in knowing that you're not just seeing things that aren't there.

What I would do is to check around and see if any other family doctors are accepting patients right now. It's a big enough town that there are bound to be some doctors accepting. Once you've got a clinic that is, then you can contact his office and have them send over your records to the new doctor.

You can also submit a complaint to the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons on this website:

http://www.cpso.on.ca/policies/complaints/default.aspx?id=1772

If you don't trust the doctor, you're not going to trust the care you receive, and you're less likely to improve. There's nothing selfish about getting better care for yourself. If the doctor can't handle that, then your family should consider switching as well.

You mention financial aid in the title of your question... do you have student loans?

Very often, if you drop out of school or fail out before graduation, you'll have to pay back the loans in full immediately, or you have to start making payments.

You don't have to pay to leave the university, though.

My advice is to stick it out for a bit. If you don't like the classes, consider switching programs. If you don't like the people, I'm sure there are plenty of other decent folks kicking around! It is strange and unfamiliar, but once you're in with the right crowd you'll have a great time.

Gotta love that HST...

HST is tricky, and kind of a pain in the butt to figure out.

Your cookies shouldn't be subject to a 13% tax when you buy them at Timmy's. The provincial portion of the tax is taken care of by the government at the point of sale, so although you will pay tax, it's only 5%.

At Metro, the only explanation I can think of is that they may be calculating based on groceries rather than 'prepared foods' because you're buying it from a grocery store. So instead of counting your cookie as fast food, it's viewed as groceries. Since it's a non-essential item (compared to vegetables, milk, etc) it's subject to taxation.

The whole fast food thing is a huge mess. I don't get why you can buy a coffee or a juice tax-free, but not a pop! Ridiculous.

In any case, here's the information sheet for the fast food stuff so you can check to see what qualifies and what doesn't.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gi/gi-064/gi-064-e.pdf

I'm going to share a little secret with you.

There is absolutely no good way, no painless way to commit suicide.

I should know; I have tried and tried and tried again. Thing is, the physical pain isn't so bad. I would have endured any amount of physical pain to get out of my life. It was the emotional pain that came along with my last (thankfully) failed attempt that convinced me that there's no painless way to end your own life.

It hurts everyone who has ever known you. It hurts your parents, even if you don't have a good relationship with them. It hurts your siblings, even if you're always arguing with them. It hurts your friends, even if they weren't as supportive as they could have been. It hurts your acquaintances, to know that someone was moving through their lives who needed help, and if they'd only noticed sooner, they could have saved you.

I was lucky. I didn't succeed, and because of that I got yet another chance at life. Remember that things can only go up once you've reached rock bottom.

You need to go to your doctor, to the emergency room at the hospital, or to call a suicide hotline. You need to get in contact with a psychiatrist who can help you get through this dark time in your life. Medications aren't the only answer. You need someone to help you sort through your problems, to help you figure out what made your life worth giving up in the first place. You can learn how to curb those feelings, how to stop in your tracks and say "No, I won't go there again."

There's hope for everyone. If nothing else, there is always hope.

When your car goes underwater, the pressure outside the car is much higher than that inside the car. Pressure tends to try and equalize itself in situations like this, so the water is pushing on the windows of your car. When you use a small object like a pen or a screwdriver, or a special tool like this, you apply a little bit of stress to a localized point on the window. That weakens the glass and allows it to shatter under the pressure.

Welcome to the wonderful world of OCD!

Seriously, we're not doctors, but as someone who deals with OCD in its many manifestations, I can tell you that you sound exactly like me.

If you just liked things to be clean, I'd say you're just a neat freak. There's a huge difference between your typical neat freak, who will often be called OCD by their peers, and someone who actually suffers from it. The person who suffers from OCD will often let their life go to pot, all to maintain a certain way of living.

OCD is an anxiety disorder. When things aren't the way you need them to be (room is a mess, etc.) then you feel a great deal of discomfort. For instance, I have stayed up until 5 in the morning rewriting pages of homework because they didn't look right and the thought of just saying "Good enough" made me cry.

The great thing is, it can be treated with a combination of medication and behavioural therapy. The medication helps to alleviate the anxiety. The behavioural therapy helps you to realize why you do it, how to break the patterns and how to get over your hangups. You should have a talk with your family doctor and let them know that you think you're experiencing symptoms of OCD. They should be able to refer you to the appropriate mental health professionals.

I dyed my hair black a few years back. I've got blue eyes and pale skin.

Firstly, once you go black, it's almost impossible to go back. It's so hard to get back to your natural hair colour, and bleaching damages it so badly. In fact, I've just cut out the last of the damage 2 years later.

Also keep in mind that black does fade, but not in a good way. It starts off nice and glossy, but eventually gets that sort of matte raggedy look to it.

I also failed to consider the fact that in the winter my skin would be even more pale. I ended up looking like a ghost or a goth. Not good for me.

Normally when I dye my hair, I tend to go for reds or dark brown. I've stopped, though, because I just can't be bothered with it anymore!

If I might suggest adding some lowlights, that would probably look really nice. Strawberry blonde is always a really cute colour, too!

As far as I can tell, there aren't any charities that sell them.

However, you can get them personalized and order online! Here's a website that looks fairly reputable and has a minimum order of one:

http://www.reminderband.com/wristbands.php

I can't really finish the problems for you because that's academic dishonesty, but here's how to do each one:

1) The general form of the equation of a line is:

y = mx + b,

where m is the slope (rise/run) and b is the point at which x = 0.

This means that a line that is parallel to y = -5x + 3 will have a slope of m = -5.

You can use the point the line passes through and the slope to find the y-intercept.

y = mx + b
3 = -5(-6) + b
b = 3 - 30
b = -27

Then you put it all together in y = mx + b form.

2) To find a solution to a set of equations, there are a few ways to go. This is one way:

We need to isolate y for both equations.

-5x + y = -5 can be rearranged to show y = 5x -5

and -4x + 2y = 2 can be rearranged as 2y = 4x + 2, then divided by a common factor of 2 to show y = 2x + 1.

Now we have two equations with y on one side. Since y = y, that means that the other halves of the equations have to be equal.

This means that

5x - 5 = 2x + 1
5x - 2x = 1 + 5
3x = 6
x = 2

Now you sub x = 2 into one of your equations for y. This gives you the solution, which you will need to put in (x,y) form. You can do the other one the same way.

3) I'm assuming that the squares have a side length of x + 5 and x?

You know that the area of a square can be represented with length x length. The area of the unshaded area will equal the area of the large square minus the area of the small square.

A(Large)
= (x + 5)(x + 5)
= x^2 + 10x + 25

A(Small)
= (x)(x)
= x^2

Now subtract A(Small) from A(Large).

My Personal Forum

My name is Amanda and I'm 26 years old. I'm currently studying electrical engineering. Armed with a fairly odd sense of humour and a sunny outlook on life, I'll take on just about anything. I'm also cussedly stubborn, which has its ups and downs. Things get tough sometimes, and I've never been one to run from it.

In my last 8 years with Advicenators, I've gone from honours student to failing out of university (and getting back on top again!), from single to married, from tenant to homeowner.

Until lately, I have been struggling with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and OCD, which had basically ruined my life and taken just about everything from me. I'm thankful every day for every experience I've had because of this ordeal, because it's helped to make me who I am today. Things like that really make you appreciate what you do have. Now that I'm back in work and school and starting to become myself again, I couldn't be happier. I credit Advicenators with saving my life back when I was a teenager, which is a big part of why I'm still here.

I won't necessarily give you the answers you want to hear, but I'll always be honest and do my best to help.

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