Steven

I recently inherited a 1997 Lincoln town car after my grandma passed away. I had been driving a Toyota Camry and I jumped at the opportunity to take the Lincoln because I always admired the Lincoln and I'm kind of a sucker for older cars. The only problem with the car is that it was sitting in a garage for approximately a year and a half and when we got it out of the garage it refused to start. We took it to our local garage and he replaced the battery and the fuel pump/tank. well now the car runs but there is no heat or air conditioning and I have a hunch that the suspension is not that great. Being that the car is 18 years old and only has 58,000 miles on it I don't think my grandma actually took it for much regular service beyond an oil change. So I wanted to know if you would suggest taking it to the local mechanic and having him fix what I believe is wrong with the car or take it to a Ford service center and having them run diagnostics on the car to determine exactly what's wrong even though it's going to cost a lot more. Personally I was leaning towards the dealership even though its way out of warranty because they could determine what's wrong and hopefully get the car running in tip top shape. like I said I inherited it from my grandma and I'd like it to run for quite some time considering it only has 58,000 miles on it and it's a beautiful car in beautiful condition.

My dog recently got an infection in her paw and she has to take antibiotics to help it heal, but she needs to eat before taking the medicine or she throws up. The problem is she rarely wants to eat in the morning and sometimes doesn't want to eat in the evening either. Besides the infection and medicine I know dogs are supposed to eat twice a day, but for the life of me I have not been able to get her into the routine of eating in the morning and early evening. I've tried setting the food down and waiting 30-45 minutes and picking it up, but with that she might go a day and a half without eating because of her refusal to eat. What is the best way to train your dog to eat twice a day?

I received a check with everything filled in, however the amount of the check was written on the line intended for someone to write the name of the person the check goes to and my name was written on the line where the amount of the check goes. So my question is will the check clear if I deposit in an ATM or will it kick back?

As an umpire up to the varsity high school level, I've taken my fair share of shots, but 99% of them have been stopped by my Wilson Gold chest protector and shin guards. This got me to thinking, catchers wear almost the same thing I do, but their CP's and SG's are much lighter than ours. Why is this so? If anything a catcher has a higher chance of getting hit, right? I've gone many game without getting nicked, whereas I've seen catchers get drilled two and three times a game. For any catchers out there, why don't you were heavier CP's and SG's? Does it have something to do with comfort? For me, a soft shell CP is much more comfortable than a hard shell one, but you wouldn't catch me with a soft shell on a varsity game.

I noticed while playing The Sims 3 on the XBOX 360 that when the sim is listening to the radio in game and you move the camera to the left or the right of the radio (with the digital stereo option from the audio options menu checked) the sound bar adjusts accordingly and favors the left or the right to make it sound the way we would hear in real life.

I switched the audio option to Dolby Digital and went back to the game and the same thing did not happen. What happened instead was both the left and right sides of the sound bar equally produced the sounds coming from the radio, something that does not happen in real life as we hear sounds coming from our left louder in our left ear. Obviously that's how we determine which direction a sound is coming from.

I would expect that Dolby Digital would produce a better sound experience than digital stereo simply because of the 2.1 vs 5.1, but that seems not to be the case.

Why, in this case, is the digital stereo better than Dolby Digital? Remember, the sound is coming from a 2.1 sound bar that has the ability to decode Dolby Digital and DTS (not Dolby True HD or DTS-MA).

Because of work and college I really haven't had a ton of time to play video games at all, but I will tonight and I was wondering if I could finish the entire campaign on hard difficulty in one night.

I saw that there are only 7 missions in the game compared to 18 in Call of Duty: Ghosts, which took forever on Veteran, partly because the story just kept going on...and on...and on.

Are those 7 missions pretty long or do you think I could just get it all done in 4-5 hours or less?

My phone is eligible for an AT&T Next upgrade and I was going to use it to upgrade to the iPhone 5s, but then I realized that the iPhone 6 will come out this year, but probably not until September or October. Should I upgrade now and then upgrade to the 6 at his time next year or wait it out and get a 6 then upgrade to a 7 after that?

I'm sure that this is an easy question, so please don't kill me because I'm kind of a novice when it comes to all of this audio equipment as I am better with visual than audio.

To begin, I have a Panasonic Viera Plasma TV and I am hooking a Direct TV box and a Playstation 4 up to it. I got a sound bar for Christmas that is 2.1 channels. Before the soundbar I would just hook both up with a HDMI cable to the back of the TV and that's it, simple.

I have been doing some research and the general consensus seems to be that I can hook both the TV box and PS4 up to the TV via HDMI cable and then run a Toslink cable from the TVs "digital audio out" port to the "digital audio in" port on the soundbar and be done with it, but the sound will no longer be 5.1 channels as TV converts the sound to 2 channel audio when the connection is made this way.

Conversely I could also run an HDMI cable from the box and PS4 to the "HDMI in" port on the soundbar and then run an extra HDMI cable from the "HDMI out" port on the soundbar to the back of the TV. This will preserve the 5.1 channels audio, but will require an extra HDMI cable which isn't really a problem, but the need to switch cables from box to PS4 and back when you want to use the other is also annoying.

The root of my question is this: is there any difference between 5.1 and 2 channel audio when you are using a 2.1 channel soundbar? Maybe it's me because I'm not an audiophile by any means, but it just sounds like the HDMI connection sounds louder, but the Toslink connection sounds lower but crisper.

What I've done for the time being is use the Toslink connection for my Direct TV box because the Dolby Digital isn't used on all of the channels to begin with and it just seems clearer when I use the Toslink. Then with my PS4 I use the HDMI connection to get he full use of Dolby digital with games like Assassins Creed where I can here the subwoofer kick in and really make some of there louder scenes dramatic and loud like they should be.

Bottom line: am I just being silly here or is there really something to the 5.1 channels sounding better out of a 2.1 soundbar than 2 channel audio?

I know about the penalty time scaling slider and how if you move it all the way to the right (maxed out) it will make a 2 minute penalty 2 real minutes regardless of whether or not you have period time set to 5 minutes or 20 minutes. My question is why do 4 on 4 penalties seem to go so fast and not stick with the time scaling? For example, the whistle blows for offside and you take a shot at the net, so one of the players on the other team comes up to you and wants to fight, but you turn down the invitation and you both end up getting 2 minutes for roughing. Now with the 4 on 4 ready, the puck drops and the penalty time races off the clock instead of taking 2 real minutes as it should. I don't know if I am the only one experiencing this, but to me a 4 on 4 situation could be critical in the game, but it seems that EA has taken it out of the game completely with the penalty lasting only about 30 seconds, not even enough time to start a good cycle. If anyone has any thoughts or solutions to this problem, please feel free to respond.

I know, you're all going to say I can go right onto nhl.com and buy a jersey. The only problem with that is, they only have the NJ Devils away jersey in the authentic category. I know it costs almost $350, and you probably think I'm crazy, but I have saved up for this for a while and I am really looking to get an authentic jersey. I went to a Devils game last year and they had a few of the authentic jerseys in the store in the arena, but so far I haven't been able to find a Devils home (all red) jersey that is the authentic RBK EDGE jersey. All I have seen is the replica or premier jerseys, which are nice, but the authentics are on a whole different level. The sad part is they have the home and away jerseys in the authentic style for most other teams, but not the Devils (jokes welcome now), so if you could tell me where I could find the authentic jerseys, be it online or at the Devils store (please don't say fake jerseys because I have a few that I got at flea markets), that would be helpful. Thanks a bunch!!

I bought a fake Nike Elite jersey and I am going to wear it to the game this coming Sunday. Is there anything that the security or the vendors can do if they see me wearing the fake jersey. What I mean is can they take the jersey or something similar? Thanks!

I'm not sure this is going to make sense, but almost all my life I've been talking through my nose. I know that sounds weird, but let me explain. I feel like my voice and the sound that it produces originates from my nose and sinus cavities.

Someone once taught me to force myself to use my chest and lungs to amplify my voice and it sounded so much better, not necessarily deeper, but fuller.

Is there a way to do that all the time because I seem to have to force myself to do it or I revert to the old way? Is it a matter of repeating the process when ever I talk until it becomes second nature?

Thanks!

The hockey style mask I was using finally broke (not broke as in got destroyed, but I wouldn't trust it on the field again). I was thinking about getting a regular mask because it gets quite hot here and the HSM didn't keep me as cool as it was advertised to. I've come to three choices:

First: The Wilson Dyna Lite mask with doeskin padding.

Cost: $78.99 plus tax and shipping.

Weight: 1lb 12oz

More info: http://www.ump-attire.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Sc...

Second: The Wilson MLB Titanium Mask with natural tan padding.

Cost: $189.99 plus tax and shipping.

Weight: 1lb 3oz

More info: In the pictures this one looks to cover more of the face, but look for yourself, http://www.ump-attire.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Sc...

Third: The +POS ZRO-G-T with tan pads.

Cost: $59.95 plus tax and shipping.

Weight: 1lb

More info: I don't know if I should trust +POS because I have never tried any of their products where as I have tried many of Wilson's. any way, here is the link to see more: http://www.pluspos.com/Web/productdetail.aspx?Prod...

In conclusion, I know that most of you would say, go with the lightest one or go with the cheapest one, but because it is going to protect my head, I want to go with the BEST one. If you guys could give me some advice and tell me which mask you think is the best, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you believe that there is another mask I should look at, feel free to post a link to it and I will be more than happy to take a look. Thanks in advance guys!

I was playing season mode as the Devils and Marty Brodeur got injured and I out for 3 months. The problem was it was a few weeks till the playoffs so he would likely miss the rest of the season. I had to get another goalie that could be a starter for the playoffs because I didn't trust Hedberg and I didn't trust anyone in the minors. I ended up signing, and don't hate me for this, Rick DiPietro from the free agent list as he was released by NY halfway through the season.

For his first game, I noticed that he was wearing a blue and orange mask, still from the Islanders. Is there anyway to change his mask to a Devils mask or at least an all white or all red mask. It's not a big deal because it is nearly cosmetic, but I'd just like to know.

I know, this is the millionth question i have asked regarding umpires or umpiring, but hey it would be my dream job, so I want to know as much as possible.

Anyway, I wear a hockey style mask and I was looking for a throat guard. I happened to come a cross an NHL-level goalie throat guard made out of some kind of hard plastic material. For those who don't know, the goalie throat guard hang from the goalie mask and protects pucks from hitting the neck. It is advertised to withstand pucks to 105 mph or something (I can't remember). Anyway, I used the string that came with it and tied it to my HSM and it looked a little weird, but it took a foul ball and was totally fine.

So, my question is this, does this look okay for an umpire to wear or should I use no throat guard or, and this I really don't like, should I use the goatee throat guard on a HSM?

When we first learned to umpire at the little league level (8u to 13u), they never told us how to deal with a manager that comes out to argue a call. The reason they gave was that "the kids are too young and you won't see any managers come out to argue." We don't just umpire rec little league games, we umpire all star games with teams paying almost $900 and coming from all over the state and even out of state. In those games we are expected to be perfect and if we miss a call the manager will almost always come out to "talk" about it.

So, my question is this, how do you deal with a manager that comes out to argue a call?

Of course, it's easy to deal with the nice guys that come out and just say "Blue, what did you see on that play?" All they want is to know what you saw and then maybe they give you a little "Oh come on." or "Really? Okay..."

I'm talking about dealing with the guys that want to really argue the play. Running out of the dugout and coming up to you saying, "Are you kidding me, blue? There's no way he got under the tag!" Most of us, including myself, just say something like "Yes, he did coach, he got under the tag." aside from that, we were never told anything. I try to just keep calm and calmly explain what I saw and why I made the call I did. How would you deal with this?

Finally, there are the managers who just come out to tell you how bad of a job you're doing. Basically goes something like this: *makes call* (from dugout) "What!?" *runs out of dugout to me* "Are you f****** kidding me? What are you blind? You gotta watch that play, blue! You've had your head up you a** all day!" They are the easiest managers to deal with because you listen for about a half a second, then you show them the door.

It's easy to deal with the nice guys and the real idiots, but the ones that are in between are tougher. They aren't there for a calm explanation, but they aren't going nuclear on you, so it's kind of tough to throw them out. How do you deal with a heated manager that hasn't really done anything that is ejection worthy, but is pretty steamed at the call that you made? Again, all I do is stay calm and try to explain what I saw. Is that even right? Should I let them just yell and look like a fool?

Thanks in advanced for the answers!

I have two scenarios for you.

First, if a first basemen is pulled of the bag and he attempts a swipe tag on the runner, but the first base umpire can't see the play (looking right at the play, the umpire could be screened by the first basemen), shouldn't he ask the home plate umpire for help, if he is watching the play? I have seen the umpire make a call and get it wrong, but refuse to ask for any help.

Second, also at first base, if the umpire can't see if the first basemen pulled his foot off the bag, shouldn't he ask the plate umpire for help? This is less common than the first play because the umpire usually has a good angle on the play, so he can see if the foot comes off the bag, but I have seen plays where the foot clearly comes off the bag, but the runner was called out.

I'm not saying that an umpire that sees that a call was clearly wrong should overturn the call because that would be undermining the other umpire, but shouldn't an umpire ask his fellow umpires if they saw something different when there was a possibility that the call was wrong? I am also not saying that they should conference on every judgment call that is made, but if the call can be reversed and the umpire in question has even the slightest doubt, shouldn't he ask? How can it hurt? Isn't the bottom line to get the call right?

For me, if I have a terrible angle on the play or if I was screened by a palayer, I will usually ask my partner if he had a better view. I also ask my partner when I am in the C position if the first baseman kept his foot on the bag or if he made the swipe tag because from my angle it is almost impossible to tell.

Sometimes, I will have a good angle and make a call, but the coach doesn't see the same thing. The coach then yells from the dugout "Can I appeal that blue?" as opposed to coming out chalmly and saying "Can you appeal that please?"

I am more likely to appeal a play if the manager is respectful in asking me to do so. Would you appeal a play to your partner if the manager yelled for you to do it instead of asking calmly? Would you ever appeal a play that you know you got wrong if the manager came out kicking and screaming?

For me the most important thing is to get the call right, but if you are going to make me look like an idiot, you're going to have to live with the call.

Also if I blow a call and the manager doesnt argue, but my partner says I blew the call, I will go up to the manager after the game and tell him, if he's respectful of course.

The away team scores x-number of runs in the top of the 7th inning to go ahead by at least 10 runs. In the bottom half of the inning, the home team does not score. Since the 7th inning is the last inning, the game is over anyway, but would the home team have lost as a regular loss or would it have been via the mercy rule because they were down by more than 10 runs after 4 innings had been completed? How would this go down in the official standings?

For me I'm a fan of baseball, football, hockey and basketball. I live in New Jersey and my favorite teams are the Boston Red Sox, New York Jets, New Jersey Devils and New York Knicks. As you can see, most of the teams that I follow are in my general area, but for some reason I've always been a Sox fan.

How about you? Where are your favorite teams and how close are you to where they play?