KelRen

I've moved around a lot but I'm from the south. Moved up north and after 10 years of northern winters I'm ready to move someplace warmer but "young people" friendly. Doesn't necessarily have to be a big city, but not in the middle of nowhere. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

P.S. - "DINK" stands for "dual income no kids" in case you didn't know.

I have watched a friend and coworker of mine slowly descend into a very negative and unhappy person. I want to be a good friend to her, but her outlook is effecting her work and I'm kind of stuck in an awkward situation.

She's been getting worse and worse, to the point where everyday she just wants to tell me how much she hates her job (and I am technically her supervisor). I don't want to fire her...she is scheduling a major surgery so she really needs the insurance and being her close friend I care about those things.

I don't know how long I can bite my tongue anymore. Advice is much appreciated.

On a side note: I have suggested antidepressants and anit-anxiety meds several times and she always says that she can't take any medication because she always has bad side effects.

I like my job and my boss, however I have always had to bite my tongue when it comes to accepting orders from clients who are in the red. Sometimes up to $10,000 worth.

I have tactfully voiced my opinion on the matter, but he chooses to ignore my advice.

Our business is growing and doing well (which I am eternally grateful for) but I think it's bad business to continue to do work for people who don't or won't pay us.

Any suggestions?

Here's the scenario: My boyfriend works with four other guys and they are all friends. I like all of them except one, but all the guys and their girlfriends or wives like to hang out as a group and I can't stand this one guy and his girlfriend and come to find out they don't really care much for me either (which is fine, I don't care). I just don't want to hang out with them.

I mentioned this to one of the couples, but they STILL invite them out whenever we make plans to do something.

What can I do? I think everyone is just doing this so nobody feels left out, but if certain people don't mix, they just don't mix!

It's always awkward and everyone has to walk on eggshells (they are very sheltered and racist and I am constantly biting my tongue).

Any suggestions?

I have been working with a lady for about two years now. Just recently she has been acting like I did something to her...she's avoiding eye contact and doesn't even want to be in the same room with me.

I approached her today and asked sincerely if I had done something to make her angry. She sluffed me off and said that no, I hadn't done anything, but I could tell she was still really ticked off.

So now what? I've tried to resolve this and if the person won't talk to you like a freakin' adult what do you do?

I have four massive lilac "trees" in front of my house and last spring they were too bloom-heavy and when it rained they drooped and some of the branches even broke off.

I want to prevent that this year, but I'm getting some conflicting information about WHEN and HOW I should go about pruning them.

Any expertise would be super!

I have worked for a small company for about 4 years now. It started with just my boss and myself, and has now grown to about ten employees. I used to take care of ALL the customer service, but now that we have expanded I oversee more than being on the front lines (more like a customer service manager). Now, keep in mind that this is not a corporation so there really aren't any "titles" per se.

Since we expanded we have set in a lot of ground rules for time lines and things for the customers to acknowledge and follow to ensure things go smoothly (like filling out an order form, giving us concrete deadlines, etc.).

The problem is that rather than letting us take the reins and enforce the rules my boss has set in place to help everyone (all of these are things that any other company would require from their customer) she wants to cave to every single complaint or unreasonable request by problematic customers which creates a backlash towards our customer service people who are dealing with people who now don't want to follow any of the rules set in place! I am the one who has to keep the other employees happy, as well as the customers and I'm finding it more and more difficult every day.

How do I boost moral when I feel like my boss is being unreasonably accomodating?

I know this is a long one, but any advice is helpful.

My (now) husband and I went to a really beautiful hotel to get married. Everything went pretty smoothly, except the concierge was incompetent and rude! In case anyone doesn't know what a "concierge" is, it's the person in charge of making sure things go well in all aspects of the guests' stay at the hotel.

Anyway, what should I do? Should I write a letter to the hotel? Their website does not list any one person in particular as the "owner", so I don't want the letter to go to him.

Thanks for any good suggestions.

My wedding dress is a halter with an empire waist and it's backless so I can't even wear a strapless bra, but I need something to hold the girls in place. Now, I'm already a C to D cup (depending on the brand) so I don't need ENHANCING, just need something to keep them in place.

I've searched David's Bridal, Pennies, and Googled a few different things and haven't been able to find what I'm looking for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I rescued a stray kitty about a month ago. He's very affectionate and loves to jump up in my lap and be petted, but I am afraid he gets bored during the day when I'm at work. He knows when I'm going to leave and yowels for a good 10 minutes. He used to live outside, but he is FeLV positive so I can't let him out now and he can't hunt or roam anymore.

I bought him some toys (all different kinds) and he is not interested in them at all. I even try to play with him, but he just dives his face into my hand to instigate petting (which is fine), I just worry about the boredom.

Any suggestions?