Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with AskingForAFriend

Is there any recourse if you are fired for conduct due to disability?

Danila — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:41:47 -0800

Fired for misconduct (threats of violence) related to disability. Is there any recourse? My brother was fired about an hour ago. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has been with the company for six years. Last week, he came into work while manic and told his supervisor that he "felt like hitting someone". He did not make a specific threat against anyone but was describing how he felt. His supervisor recommended that he go home. He then checked into a hospital and was released yesterday, doing much better. He has never had a manic incident at work before. He has been very good at his job and won numerous awards. His medications have been changed to better control the mania.

An hour ago he went to work and was fired for "threats of violence".

He has kept the company in the loop about his disorder, providing medical documentation when needed and always being honest with his supervisor because they encouraged this. That is the only reason he told them how he was feeling, and now he has been fired for it. It is a very large company and he is a full-time employee. He is also in the union.

Does he have any recourse at all? We assume he needs to speak with an employment lawyer, but is there any hope? He will be meeting with the head union rep on Monday, is there anything he can do before then? He sees his doctor tomorrow, is there anything he needs from the doctor? Please help if you can. Thank you.

How to bring the intimacy back?

Danila — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:24:18 -0800

asking for a friend: How can I get my husband to start touching me again? A couple has been married for 27 years. He is 51 and she is 47. They haven't had sex in at least six or seven years. The wife has tried to approach her husband for intimacy but he shows no interest. All he'll do is hold hands and rarely give her a peck on the lips.

She has bipolar disorder, and throughout the 90s she was in and out of mental hospitals, and when she was home she was often "out of it". For the last few years she has been on medication that has improved her situation dramatically. She is an active, involved woman again. But one of the reasons her husband gives for the lack of sex is that for so many years, there was nothing from her end. He was more caretaker than lover.

He is NOT having an affair. In my opinion, he does suffer from low-grade depression and stress. It's been a stressful situation for so long, and it's hard to break old habits. Every day he works long hours at a stressful job, comes home and watches tv for a bit, eats dinner and falls asleep.

Another reason he has given is that it was physically painful for her to have sex before. She has a terrible history of violent sexual abuse perpetrated by both family and acquaintances. She has post traumatic stress because of this.

More than missing the sex, she misses intimacy. Cuddling, hugging, passionate kisses, that sort of thing. They've gone on "date nights" but she says they're like an "old married couple". Any advice on how to bring the intimacy back?

Funny movies dealing with investments...

Sreiny — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:32:09 -0800

Asking for a friend: Looking for a movie or tv show that deals with investing in a comedic way. The whole show or movie doesn't have to deal with investing, but maybe a part in particular. Are there any that you can think of that go about this in an interesting/funny/ironic way? Thanks.

Poems for Independence Day

amarynth — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 08:20:58 -0800

Asking for a friend: I'm looking for poems appropriate for the 4th of July, preferably non-militiristic and not cheesy, that are maybe kind of thought-provoking in a nice, non-threatening sort of way. The ones that have been considered and deemed not exactly what I'm looking for are "Ode for the Fourth of July"
by James M. Whitfield, "OCCASIONED BY GENERAL WASHINGTON'S ARRIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA, ON HIS WAY TO HIS RESIDENCE IN VIRGINIA" by Philip Freneau, and "Ragged Old Flag" by Johnny Cash. Also Whitman's "By Blue Ontario's Shore" which may be overused.

How do I get drugs cheaper?

bigmusic — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 09:01:41 -0800

I need to find a cheaper way to get proscriptions for Lexapro and Ambien filled. Basically there are 3 options A) Drive to Mexico and hope I can get them across the border there B) Try to get it from one of those online Canadian Pharmacies C) Get Another Job and buy them here in the US. I'm asking this for a friend.

The problem with

A) is that I don't know if a pharmacy down there could fill it and if I could bring it back -- if customs took it I'd be out both the prescription, the money and the trip. Ideally I would like to talk to a pharmacy in Nuevo Lardeo before I drove down there and see if their prices are even worth it.

B) Customs and shipping time... I would need it in 48 hrs -- How do you find a reputable online pharamcy in the first place? They all seem to be from the same company.

C) ... Like I have time for this right now.

My university insurance (I'm a student) doesn't cover drug costs, so I have to pay them entirely out of pocket.
Any suggestions?

Looking for the eensiest, beansiest audio note-taker ever...

fuzzbean — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 07:13:22 -0800

Looking for a *tiny* audio recorder to take notes throughout the day, then upload to a computer (Linux) to prioritize, annotate, and transcribe as appropriate. What's the best, cheapest, smallest option? Anyone have any experience with using the MobiBlue cube as a voice recorder? The specific requirements:

Small, light, cheap. Doesn't have to have lots of memory or super long run time (as long as it can be on standby for 24+ hours w/out problem).
Decent quality voice recording with built-in mic. Doesn't have to be stellar, but has to be good enough not to interfere with clear transcription.
Easy UI for recording: press a button to start recording a new file, press a button to pause/unpause, press a button stop. Pause is an optional feature I can live without if the rest is good. BUT, what's important here is that it can be ready to record at a single button press all day without burning up the batteries, and when you're done recording one note, you're still in recording mode -- i.e., it's no good if you have to navigate to the recording menu from scratch each time.
Standard USB drive interface with standard file formats (wav, mp3, or ogg); specifically: will work with Linux.
Ideally, it would include rechargeable batteries and a charger. USB charging is fine. (If it requires one to buy rechargeables and a charger, should still be competitive on cost after all that.)
mp3/ogg playback is a nice bonus but of secondary concern.

The MobiBlu cube looks close to perfect, except I have heard the microphone quality is really bad, and I am unsure of the UI (i.e., because it is primarily a player with a voice record feature on the side, I don't know if it can *practically* be used as a throughout-the-day voice recorder). The various products designed specifically to be voice recorders are large, heavy, and expensive, and often use proprietary audio
file formats and PC-specific interface software.

So, Metafiltarians, what's my best bet?