About Sphinx

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• Comment on sublevelthree's answer…

  2 0 Sugar+genitals is the best way to cause a yeast infection. Please don't use candy! Sphinx commented 1 day ago

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  I hate to be a complainer...no, I love it...no...jk...anyway, what is with the points still being cut from about a month ago? :( Bummer.

  1 0 I don't have an answer, but what a great new profile picture, Kristin! Sphinx answered in Whatever 6 days ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

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  How can I get a guy to have sex with me without looking trashy?

  4 0 Since your class is ending so soon and then you're leaving the country, you don't have to be concerned about the situation becoming uncomfortable if he's not interested. I'd just ask him if he wants to go do something with you (preferably dinner, a show, or drinks in the evening), and double check that you're comfortable with each other before making any big physical overtures. As far as how to do that, if you've never interchanged words with him it will be slightly harder, but I'd go with something like this: "So, I'm leaving for wherever in a few weeks, but I'd love to hang out with you outside of class. Do you want to come to x with me?" If the date goes well, you'll have established that you're leaving soon and you can send big signals during it- if he's as interested as you are and he's comfortable with getting physical right away, chances are it will happen. If not, at least you'll know that you took the chance, and you might actually stay in touch with him as a friend. Being comfortable with expressing your interest will seriously improve your dating prospects, by the way. If you feel good about going after the people you're interested in, you'll have a much higher chance of actually getting to be with those people than if you just wait for them to come to you. Besides, I think guys tend to really appreciate feeling like they're actually desired/pursued rather than feeling like their overtures are just being accepted. And if you're ever interested in a friend, this ability to be open about your interest will help the situation enormously. Sphinx answered in Sex 23 days ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

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  My boss is a weenie but that's beside the point.

  2 0 You are absolutely in the right here, Mizmojo- the business, not the customer, made the error. The sales receipt that the customer was given (showing the amount she paid for the item in question), basically constitutes a contract between the her and the store. The store does not have the right to add charges to the customer's credit card. In fact, it seems pretty dodgy that the business has access to the customer's credit card number after the transaction anyway, unless she has some kind of an account with them, in which case I'd expect that her contact information be available. There are certain downsides to owning a business, one of which is that when one of your employees makes a mistake you generally have to eat the cost. One example of this is banks. My brother-in-law works as a teller and several months ago a regular customer came in to make a deposit to his business account. The customer had miscalculated his deposit by $1000. My brother-in-law did not catch this error when checking the deposit, and by the time the bank caught the mistake, the customer was gone with a deposit slip showing that he'd made a deposit of $1000 more than he really had. The bank had to eat the loss and supply the extra $1000 to the customer's account. I would stand up to my boss and just respectfully point out that this is inappropriate and that you are not willing to do it. If you can find the customer's information, contact her, and explain the situation, she may be willing to remedy the situation willingly, but that is the only acceptable way to recoup the loss. Sphinx answered in Legal about 1 month ago Answer, comment & read 6 more answers »

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  Improving writing skills outside the classroom?

  1 0 This is probably obvious, but I think the most effective activity people can engage in to improve their own composition skills is reading. When you read well-written work, your understanding of language, style and tone, technical details (such as grammatical rules), and vocabulary will build. This widened understanding will inevitably inform your own writing. I'm not sure whether you're looking for tools to improve the technical quality of your writing or its content (are you a budding author?), but reading quality work will likely help in both areas. If you enjoy genre fiction and are interested in using it in this strategy, I'd suggest going with older novels- on the balance, they tend to be crafted more finely than much of what is being published now- I think this is probably a result of the increase in how many books are published and the general decrease in the public's mastery of Standard Written English. It is also the case that books which are still readily available many years after their creation tend to be those which are good enough to have appealed to readers generation after generation. In case you're not much of a reader, here are some authors I recommend: In fantasy, think Tolkien, Le Guin, or Richard Adams rather than Brooks, in mystery, choose Poe or Doyle rather than Koontz or Brown, in science fiction, pick Orwell rather than Crichton, for romance, look to Austen or Bronte rather than Steele. Of course, none of this is to say that there are not contemporary authors who create excellently crafted genre novels (Le Guin and P.D. James, for example). I doubt this is a particular issue for you (judging from what I've seen of your writing abilities on Q'land), but the other extremely important foundation for composition skills is a strong understanding of English grammar, which is something many of us were not taught as children. Some of the other answers have suggested various sources for grammar instruction. Your writing will become more fluid and expressive as you increase your understanding of sentence structure and the ways it can be manipulated. This may sound silly, but I also want to suggest using prompts or giving yourself specific limitations when you do practice your writing. Oftentimes giving yourself restrictions to work within will force you to be more creative and exploratory in your work than you otherwise would. This can develop new skills, expose specific weaknesses, and force on-the-spot learning. There's a lot more incentive to seek out new knowledge or skills when we present ourselves with a problem to be solved rather than rely on a vague desire to expand our knowledge. I hope some of that was helpful- I tend to ramble a bit in my own writing, as I'm sure you can see. Sphinx answered in Other Books & Writing about 1 month ago Answer, comment & read 5 more answers »

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  Am I correct in understanding that Metro will be on a Sunday schedule on Christmas day?

  0 0 Yes- Sundays and holidays run on the same schedule, so it should all be the same. Also, if you use the "trip planner" option, you don't have to monkey around with trying the read schedules yourself (if you're not familiar with them). I hope your travel goes well! Sphinx answered in Public Transportation about 1 month ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

• Comment on agness's answer…

  0 0 Yeah, none of the kits I've seen actually intentionally include nuts, but they're all made in facilities that process nuts. My niece was just diagnosed, but her potential reactions could apparently be pretty damn severe, so I think I'm going to go the whole graham-cracker route this year and maybe next time I'll order early from A&J or Sensitive Sweets. Sphinx commented about 1 month ago

• Comment on BasementDweller3's answer…

  0 0 Thanks for the answer, BasementDweller! I'm still holding out hope that I'll find a safe kit (because I hear from people who've done it that making the kind of gingerbread used for houses is a difficult and crazy-making process that doesn't always work), but if that doesn't work out, you've given me some solid ideas about how to MacGyver another solution. Sphinx commented about 1 month ago

• Comment on David Wright's answer…

  0 0 That is downright distasteful. I know that companies compete pretty much however they like, but encouraging readers to participate in the dismantling of local booksellers is both disingenuous (as most readers benefit from being able to walk into a local bookstore and talk to/connect with an actual book-reading human and don't actually want our locals to disappear) and inherently a promotion of censorship- something any bookseller with integrity would abhor. Again- thanks for the helpful and informative links! Sphinx commented about 1 month ago

• Follow Following 1 Anybody know of a source for tree-nut free gingerbread house kits? Sphinx asked in Gift Advice about 1 month ago by BasementDweller3 & 1 other answer by agness…

• See all of my 35 Questions , 250 Answers and 203 Comments