Laura C

I worked in a tax office this past season and really enjoyed it. I plan to take the RTRP exam to be better prepared next year. I am in school for accounting, and I plan to go on to take my masters and study to become a CPA. Ultimately, I want to spend a few years as an auditor and then get into forensic accounting. But I know that is all going to take a lot of time.

My question is: would there be any value to me studying for the SEE (special enrollment examination) to become an EA (enrolled agent) while I keep working toward meeting the CPA requirements, or should I skip it and just focus on the CPA, considering my career goals?

Normally, I type an address into Firefox's address bar and then hit enter, and it goes to that page. Recently, I type the URL and hit enter and it does not respond. Instead I have to click on the arrow to the right on the bar to get it to go. I don't recall changing any settings or running an update. Any idea what setting this might be so I can put it back? I run Firefox 10.0.

My son is 5. He has a friend, also 5, with an older brother, age 8. The five year olds play together just fine. It seems like the 8 year old only comes around to play with our Xbox360. He doesn't really interact with the other kids. The 5 year old is well behaved, while the 8 year old is a disciplinary nightmare. No never means no for him. It just means whine harder til you get what you want. He cries when he doesn't get his way, worse than the younger kids do. I've seen him when playing outside - he'll just threaten to go home if the younger kids don't give him his way. It's gotten to where I don't even want to answer my door so I don't have to deal with this kid and his total lack of respect. And yes, I've been strict with him. If I say no to him, I stick to it, because I've seen his whining in action. It doesn't keep him from still trying. I'm pretty sure I have to talk to his mother to get this sorted out. How can I be diplomatic about asking that the 8 year old go find some friends more his age, but that the 5 year old still get to come and play?

I recently moved to a townhouse from a flat. I need to protect my almost 2 year old from the stairs, while allowing my 5 year old free passage so he can get to the bathroom and such. Right now, we have the stationary type we have to either take down (a pain) or climb over (difficult and dangerous) to get through. I need a swing gate that the 5 year old can open and close reliably, that will withstand the efforts of the 2 year old. If you have a gate that is both durable and easy to use, please recommend it and give a link if possible. Thanks!

I have a copy of Erien Tales Book Two: Fae Born that was signed by the author, Terri Pray at Gen Con 2006. I found Book One available at eBay for about $7. I was wondering how much more I could ask for because mine is signed.

Mother lives in Mississippi, moved there before the baby was even born. Father lives in California, hasn't seen mother since she was a few weeks pregnant. Father also has mental illness, drug problems, lives in his parents' garage, is unemployed, and has another child for whom he gave his rights to his parents. Mom currently does not have a job but is living with her mother who does own the home and has a steady income. Mother put "unknown" on birth certificate because she wants nothing to do with father. What can happen here? She just wants to be left alone, basically, and wants to know what courses of action he could take against her because he is calling and threatening things.

My landlord and I live in houses on a shared acre yard, whose water goes through one pump from one well. The water supply is getting low, and we are having low pressure issues. The landlord has started to get a little rude about any water usage, despite that he just bought and filled a pool from our dying well that he has never swam in. Also, we have been asked not to use water AT ALL between 11pm and 4 am because that is when the system back flushes. From what I can see, this violates landlord responsibility to provide running water at all times. My landlord is disgruntled with me, and making remarks about asking us to move, because my mother (and her boyfriend) are visiting for the next two months to help me out because I am 36 weeks pregnant. They do housework and such, and will be available to watch my 3 year old when I go into labor. I have no other available relatives who live nearby. I had to fly them from Arizona. We also cannot afford to have my husband on unpaid leave for as long as I need him.

So... I have more people here than my landlord specified I was allowed, but they are temporary and I told him when they are leaving. However, the water situation is ridiculous. I am more concerned with not being told to move right now than making him fix this, but who is in the right? Or who would win in this dispute?

I can't click on the thumbs up or thumbs down buttons to rate responses. They are grayed out. Anyone know why this might happen?

I've worked in the restaurant industry for many years now, in Ohio, Kentucky, and now Mississippi. I've always worked for restaurants where I keep my tips at the end of each shift. I was talking to a friend who lives in California, who hasn't actually ever had a restaurant job. However, he says he has many friends that do, and he claims that they do not keep their tips each shift. Rather, all money is turned over to the restaurant, who pays their employees what they are owed (for hours plus tips) in a weekly or biweekly paycheck. I've never heard of tips being handled this way, but my friend claims this is California law. I am looking for answers from servers in California to help me understand this, or disprove it. Thank you for your time.