Look for a source where a small animal, rodent or such could have crawled in an died.

We've always found shell no-pest strips to be extremely helpful!

More commercial availabilities, and the possibility that they are videotape delaying the show, so that they need two tapes and have time to rewind it. Or is it live? Perhaps there's an option to break away or to split the show for more commercials?

They may be thrice damned, but those child proof drawer/door locks also kept our cupboards closed from prying cats as well! I swear by them, and yes, they do wear out.

I thought you might use a bunge cord to secure the knife block against the back of your counter, but you probably want a more secure idea.

Actually, you can manufacture your own...sort of.
You need any combination of welders' glass (that normally would slide into the traditional welder's helmet) that totals at least 14.

That is, you could combine two 7's, an 8 & 6, three 5s, etc.

As long as the value of the glass totals at least 14, you should be safe to view the eclipse through the glass.

Now, and even safer way to view the eclipse, is either through television (the weather channel or other science-oriented channel that will handle it) or make yourself a pin-hole camera.

You can do this by either poking a small round hole in one end of a shoe box and looking at the pin-hole of light that falls on the far wall of the box..... or, punch a small round hole in a paper plate, and use that one to shade another white paper plate, and look at the image that falls on the white plate.

That way you are not actually looking at the sun, but at the focused image of the sun which is projected onto a viewing screen/plate/wall reflector.

You know, the official navel observatory prints up and calculates the exact time for this regardless of weather, local conditions, based upon the horizon at any particular latitude and longitude. Wouldn't that work for you?

My worst experience as a live DJ as a favor to a friend for her birthday party, was having people come up and ask for song after song from Stevie Wonder's new double lp, "Songs in the Key of Life", and then having others come up and insist that I stop playing Steve Wonder. You couldn't win no matter what you did!

I don't know exactly what you're planning, but I want to be at that party! Video recording for those of us who cannot attend, PLEASE!

Trust your gut. I have always found that no matter how I try to talk myself out of something, or ignor my gut, it always comes back to haunt me. Your gut is sounding off because it heard something in the situation. That's good enought to run.
Good luck. Speak to a counselor or to the police if you have to.
You might start with your cell phone company to block this person's texts.

If by slug you mean a punch-out from an electrical box, there is no value to it at all. Either someone left it as a mistake, or as an insult.

If by slug you mean a quarter with only one-side minted, and the other blank, save it and take it to a coin shop. Those things are so rare, you have a very valuable item to the right person. On the other hand, most machines will treat them only as 25 cents...and most people will only find it only a curiousity.

Is that what you mean?

I'm curious. How did you find Questionland, if you're not in the Seattle area? I'm always interested in how people find us.