P2Pool Basic questions - I havent yet found answers, they're mostly simple.

[DRKMSTR]

Here are my questions:

- Are transaction fees applied to my earnings (As in fees I have to pay for receiving the alt-coins)?
- How do I subsidize my pool node? (How do I send coins to my node to benefit miners)
- Are there any quick tricks to reduce stale shares?
- How do I check the pool's ping with the console's ping command?

Thanks,
-DM