Problem: Article: Stomach pain and nausea will be the two easiest conditions for you to imitate and the hardest to confirm. Food poisoning often causes cramping and shooting stomach pain, so you might want to use these terms to describe your symptoms. Food poisoning often leads to dehydration and light-headedness. To convey these symptoms, you could say things like, "My mouth is really dry," and "Every time I stand up, I get dizzy." Food poisoning is often a highly unpleasant illness, so it's OK if you dramatically clutch at, hold, or hug your stomach and say you're in pain. Nausea can be indicated with a simple comment, like, "I've felt like I was going to throw up all morning." Avoid eating if you claim nausea, as most people can't eat on an upset stomach. Be careful not to overact too much, especially if you're younger and trying to convince your parents. Acting like you're in too much pain might end up with you getting taken to the doctor's office. If you have to convince parents you are ill and have enough time, you can make some fake vomit to convince them of your nausea. When you're sick, the last thing you want to do is make small talk over the phone. Keep your call short and to the point. Briefly tell the person to whom you are reporting sick what you ate, how you feel, and that you will not be able to come in to work or school today. You may want to change your voice a little bit during the call. Aim for a tone that is weak, strained, and/or sounds like you are in mild discomfort. Food poisoning often lingers, so it's best if you return to work looking like you're still feeling its effects. Try to avoid physical exertion and small talk. If someone asks you to do something physical, say that you're still feeling a little rough after getting over food poisoning and you cannot help.
Summary: Focus on symptoms difficult to verify. Be dramatic. Keep your sick call short. Return to work under the weather.

Problem: Article: You need to know how big your crate is going to be in order to make the cuts perfectly. You can make any size crate you want, so long as you ensure that the two ends are the same size, and your slats between the ends are the same length. For this lesson, the crate will have the following dimensions (using 1/2" thick planks -- yours may vary slightly). Height: 9-1/2" Length: 16" Width: 12" They should be roughly 1/2" to 3/4" thick, depending on your preferences. You'll want solid, untreated softwood, though the exact kind doesn't matter much -- you could easily use scraps or wood from old pallets. Pine and cedar are generally your best budget buys. As for the lengths and widths, you should procure: Six feet of 4-3/4"-wide planks for the ends. Twenty feet of 2-1/4"-wide planks for the slats on the side and bottom. You can adjust this width depending on how big you want the spaces on the side of the crate to be. You can have lots of thinner slats or fewer wider ones. Unless your hardware store will automatically cut your wood for you, it's time to get the saw going. The best way to get perfect, even cuts is to make a rough cut in each piece first, leaving it 1/8" longer than it should be. Then bunch 4 of these rough cuts pieces of wood together, holding the stack together with tape. You can then cut all the pieces at the same time to get identical lengths. The Ends (4-3/4"-width): You want each board to be 12-1/2" long. There should be 4. The Slats (2-1/4"-width):' You want each slat to be 18" long. There should be 13. Make sure that all the planks are smooth on all sides. Remember, these specifications are for a 16x12x9.5" crate. After sanding, double-check all of your cuts to make sure you have the right amount of wood. Four 12-1/2" x 4-3/4" planks for the ends. Two of the pieces will be joined together to form each end. Thirteen or more 18" x 2-1/4" planks for the slats on the side and bottom. For a quicker, easier crate, simply cut a piece of plywood or other wider wood right into the size of your ends (here, 12-1/2" x 9-1/2"). It will look less professional, but it will work fine as a crate. You can also use uneven slats of wood if you're using wood scraps or junk pieces -- they just need to be an even length. However, for a professional crate you should cut even slats.
Summary: Sketch out your desired dimensions of the crate in advance. Buy your wooden planks. Cut your wood to the dimensions of your box, plus 1". Sand the wood down on all sides. Alternatively, use a single piece of wood for the two ends.

Problem: Article: This will begin the setup process. If you're prompted to press a different key, press that key instead of F8. Doing so bypasses the repair process. This line of text will say something like "Partition 2 (Windows)". Press the key until this line of text is selected. This will delete the partition where your operating system and all of its files are stored. You may see slightly different key prompts at the bottom of the screen. If so, use those instead. There should be a blank space where the partition used to be; make sure it's selected. This will create a new, empty partition in the space where the old one was. Doing so will select the partition as the location to install Windows XP. Select the Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick) option using the arrow keys, then press Enter. This can take several hours. Once this process is complete, you'll follow the on-screen instructions to reinstall Windows XP; however, your files, programs, and any other user-installed items will be gone. You will need your product key to finish installing Windows XP.
Summary:
Press Enter at the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F8 to accept the Windows agreement. Press Esc when prompted. Select the "Windows" partition. Press D, then press L. Re-select the partition's space if necessary. Press C, then press Enter. Select the new partition and press Enter. Choose NTFS as the partition's format. Wait for your hard drive to finish formatting.