Patricia, you say your boyfriend gave you the car? I'm assuming that was before you broke up. Is that correct? You don't think he could have done something like switch the wires on the cruise control where it is always on, do you? Don't mean to scare you but so many people are nutz today anything is possible. Anyway. what you are talking about here is an emergency situation that has to be check out by a mechanic. What I can tell you to do is to see if the cruise control is inadvertently on, as was the case of my mother's car. If that isn't the case you must bring your car in to the shop. And don't be pessimistic. It could be something simple and an easy fix. But you won't know unless you go. Besides, no mechanic is going to start any work unless you approve it. If you can't afford it maybe consider selling the car to someone who can fix it and buying something else. But whatever you do, the last thing you should be doing is driving a car you can't control with you and your children in it. BTW- do you have an honest mechanic you can take it to?

shut downs happen for various reasons but one is when it gets over heated, it is often a sign that something is going bad, could be a fan has stopped running or the power supply is going, or the inside of the pc is full of dust bunnies clogging everything up. When was the last time you took the side panel off and cleaned out the dust? That is a must do chore, get some canned air and carefully blow out the dust, make sure you have the power off of course and ground yourself by holding on to the metal frame of your pc case or get a little cheap antistatic bracelet at any electronics store for a couple bucks. Malware can make it do that too, I do not know what you mean when you say you ran every kind of cleaner imaginable, do you mean antispyware programs? or do you mean registry cleaners, if it was registry cleaners that could be a problem. Listing what you did recently might help. I suggest getting superantispyware free and updating it, running it and let it clean what it finds. SUPERAntiSpyware

you said you got a virus and know that is the problem, well that is not up to Dell support to fix, under any circumstance. Their support is for their product (they do provide online guides and manuals for each pc have you looked for yours), they are not there for assistance in removing infection. If you had a part that failed on the computer then they should help with that but something that is being caused by a virus that you got by doing something is not Dell's fault. Now I am NOT a Dell fan, I personally would not buy one. But any PC manufacturer certainly has the right to say no to that type of situation. If they have helped before they went way beyond the scope of their support requirements. I do own ACER and HP and would not consider calling either of them for help if I had an infection. This is why you should go to the free forum I listed and ask for help to clean your machine. Run a malwarebytes free scan How to download and install Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware application for Windows computers which may fix this problem. Go to an online AV and do a free scan there also ESET Online Scanner What antivirus is on your pc? is it fully updated and does it run weekly scans? what other antimalware scans do you run? Have you run the secunia tool to make sure everything is fully updated on the pc to help prevent any infections through out dated programs like adobe, java and flash? Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI) Let us know what you need assistance with and we can try to help you get it done.

Really great inputs from all of you. Thank you for taking your time reading and responding! There are some great ideas here, but unfortunately, we will not be able to make all the changes due to various reasons. For example, we will not change the framing of the windows because that will require extra permit (I think); We will not re-do the walls and the ceiling in the wood room so we preserve its historical look (and to keep the budget down); etc. But @kaismom, you gave me some idea for re-doing the kitchen. (Love it in SketchUp since it doesn't cost anything to tear stuff down!) I moved the fridge to behind the division wall and made it tall cabinets all across. I realize that this will make the galley kitchen look even narrower, but it got the fridge out of the way, and since this is a single cook kitchen, being a little narrow is not too big a problem (I have about 39" of clearance between the counter top edge to the other cabinet wall.) I also moved the dishwasher to the left size because now I could put a 33" drawer base by its side. Now, I have two 2-basket trash pullout (for trash and recyclables). Not sure if that's an overkill. The only non-drawer cabinet is there because the code require access to the propane shutoff which is hidden behind that cabinet. (We will not use propane but the pipe is already there.) However, I still face the choices what to do with the opening at the kitchen: leave it completely open, have a one tier open counter, or have a small breakfast bar. I personally like the look of the one tier counter, but I have no good aesthetic sense; hence I appreciate your input. Currently, I'm putting this IKEA VÄRDE drawer unit for the two non-open options. Either way (one level or bar), I have a 40" opening from the short wall to the other side of the opening. I wonder if that's too narrow for the kitchen installation. But with the hallway at 39" wide, and the opening at 40", I can't foresee any problem with getting the appliances and cabinets in. Hope someone can point it out if it will be a problem. Without further ado, let me take you on a tour in our newly remodeled house. Again, click on an image for its full size. Overview. North is up. Living room, seen from the wood room. Looking into living room standing at the front door. Same exact angle, but this time, we put in a bar (open counter or tiered) at the kitchen. You probably have to bring up the full size to see the difference. View from the couch. This picture explains why we choose dark cabinets in the wood room -- so that they do blend in. Now, what if we have a bar (open counter or tiered) at the kitchen? A look at the living room from the desk area. Okay, this series is important. which option would you vote for? Open? One level counter? Tiered breakfast bar? Here is a look into the galley kitchen. Three options again. The wood room.