Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Whattodo

Gifts: Check. Food: Check. Now what?

TEA — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:38:24 -0800

This year, Christmas = me, Mr. TEA, and my mom (who is visiting for a few days) in our apartment. What should we do on Christmas day? My mom is coming to our place tomorrow and staying through Christmas. Mr. TEA and I have been looking forward to it, and we really like the small, stay-at-home Christmas routine we started with my mom last year. Last Christmas, the novelty of not traveling and visiting lots of relatives made the holiday charming. However, I want to be sure that I have a few ideas for what to do this year just in case the balance shifts from charming to dull.

So far, the plan is that we'll open presents and do a lot of cooking. I've planned an ambitious menu to keep us working on a common project, but that might crash and burn if my mom isn't into it (hard to tell ahead of time if she will be or not) or if she has a few too many glasses of wine. My mom may go to church, but my husband and I won't be going. I don't think that any of us are getting gifts that will occupy us for the day, and I didn't think ahead to get some Christmas-y Netflix. And we don't have a TV. And we don't live near anyone we can visit. Any ideas? Nifty traditions you don't mind sharing? Games? Hulu recommendations? Something? Anything?

How to spend a couple days in Dallas with my wife?

jluce50 — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:44:47 -0800

We decided to make the 3 hour drive to Dallas to spend a couple days for my wife's b-day. I've never been there so I could use some help finding a place to stay and some stuff to do. We'd like to find as nice a hotel as possible in the downtown area for around $100-150/night (if possible). Any suggestions? We'll probably do one dinner at an upscale-type place and the other at a nice-but-moderate-type place. Suggestions would be great for that as well.

I'm also looking for any and all suggestions on what to do during the day. We're on a bit of a budget, but it doesn't have to be free. I understand they have a cool aquarium there, so that's on my list. Any other cool places to sit and people watch while getting bite to eat would be appreciated.

If it helps, she's turning 30.

Thanks!

What do we do with a 140k inheritance?

veritas — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:39:03 -0800

We live in San Diego. We have 140k in cash after an inheritance, a mobile home we can't afford, crappy jobs, and have never had this much money ever. How do we best invest this money? My husband and I grew up in San Diego - it's expensive, the schools are terrible... but there's lots of parks, great beaches, and we have good friends here. We're 22+23 - he's in college double time for massage therapy and I'm working as an admin/personal assistant. Right now, we're the usual poor college students - I pull in about 20k a year after taxes.

The Good: We have no debt except for his school which is a $400 a month payment debited from our account. There's 8k left on his school. We're both healthy, have a huge mobile home that was also left to us, no kids. We used part of the money to get a reliable car, so that's not a problem.

The Bad: We live in one of the worst neighborhoods in town, paying $700-900 space rent + utilities on the mobile home. We both have to drive about an hour each way for work/school. We have no health insurance, and after bringing all our debts to the bare minimum, we're still in the hole 600 every month. We have someone moving into the extra bedroom soon, but that will only let us break even. We doubt we'll be able to sell the house, because there's a dozen others for sale that haven't sold, including one across from us for 29k, which is cheaper than some cars.

Our options, so far, seem to be buy a house in a crappy/still far away area (El Cajon, Lakeside, City Heights) which would use up all our saved up money, or rent a place (presumably prepaying the rent, because we just don't have credit histories), get a second car, and invest the rest in retirement/savings and making our lives better (buying clothes for once in our lives, a second car). I checked some of the other inheritance posts, but none quite dealt with this large a sum.

Move to Portland hold out?

veritas — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:03:36 -0800

Move to Portland in a year or stay in San Diego, presuming we can buy a house outright? My husband and I recieved a decent inheritance when his mother passed away. We used part of it to get the"yay stuff" out of our systems, pay for his school in full, and get a long term, reliable car. So, no debt at all.

We've thought very carefully about what to do with the remainder - 160k - and we'd like to buy a small house outright. We own a mobile home now, but it's in a bad part of San Diego and the rent is much more than we would pay with a house (900 a month plus property tax, despite owning it)

Explaination done - is Portland a worthwhile idea? We like the liberal leaning community and walkability. I'm an admin assistant, he's a masseuse. We wold move in a year.

What can I do with this veranda / extra space?

chrisinseoul — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:19:21 -0800

What can I do with this veranda / extra space? I suspect veranda is the right word, although it may well be called something different. Whatever it's called, it's a space in my new apartment. It's one meter wide, about five meters wide, and has a large sliding glass door that separates it from the rest of the apartment. The view out is non-existent (frosted glass windows and bars - get past those and there's another building a few meters away). The sun comes through the window, which provides some nice natural light - definitely something I like.

The space currently holds the washer on one end, and must stay put (no dryer - in South Korea electric dryers are very rare; one hangs their clothes to dry on a dryer rack). The washer drains into a hole in the middle of the space. On the other hand is a hot-water-heater control box. It's mounted to the wall, so it's not going anywhere. It's on the far side from the door, meaning anything stored there (my first thought was a bike) would have to go through the apartment to leave it. It's too narrow for a dryer rack. It's currently holding a couple pieces of luggage and is otherwise empty.

OK, so back to the original question: what to do with this space? Thought A is to hang a curtain on the sliding glass that separates the veranda and apartment, using it for storage but hiding the clutter from guests. Thought B is... there is no thought B. Any creative ideas / uses / whatever, fellow MeFis?

Texas To-Dos?

pjern — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:03:58 -0800

I'm stuck in Texas! Well, not stuck exactly, but I have some free time. I'm currently in Denton, TX and looking for cheap/free activities to get me though the rest of the weekend, within reasonable driving distance. Bonus for photogenic/neat/historical places. (Reasonable can be arbitrarily defined as, let's say, 50 miles.)

I definitely wouldn't rule out meeting other Mefites for coffee, as human companionship/conversation would be a plus. My cell phone # is in my profile, and I welcome calls.

What am I missing in SFO?

virga — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:57:22 -0800

San Francisco What To Do Filter: I'll be out in the city for spring break this year, and i'm looking for new things to do. I've been a few times before, so what have i missed? It's been a few years since this question has been asked, so i ask it again; perhaps new things have come up. I've been to san fran about half a dozen times before and i feel like i've done all of the big stuff. I've walked down market street, i've wandered around the castro and the haight. I've ridden a bike through golden gate park, marched up twin peaks etc etc.

What are some more..."off the beaten path" things i can get into? I'm looking for those everpresent {art, tech, food(ie), wannabe hipster, alt} culture / underground places that makes sfo so vibrant (or annoying, depending on who you ask). I won't have transportation beyond muni/bart/rentabike, should that be a factor.

thaaaanks!

When everyone else is willing to pay more than you to fly out

tksh — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:31:36 -0800

Say you had to take the two weeks around Christmas and New Years off, what would you do? Not that I'm complaining about getting a vacation but I normally work through the season and take my break off peak period to avoid all the fun and the dramatic price increases.

However I've to take two weeks off this year around Christmas and I'm not sure what to do. I live in Toronto and traveling away from the bloody cold would be best but it seems just flying off this continent during Christmas will break $2000.

So what would you (and your friends) do with two weeks of free time during Christmas?

Moved to DFW... now what?

SNWidget — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:54:29 -0800

DFW-Filter: So my girlfriend and I moved to the DFW area, Lewisville in particular. I've started up school, she's started up work. Now what? We're 24-year-old foodies who went to college in New England and lived in Washington, DC for a while. I'm from Texas (but not this area), and she's from California. What do we do in this town?

General: We're looking for a compendium of all things going on the DFW area - music, food, festivities, everything that would be interesting to a couple of 24-year-olds who have no clue what's going on. In DC, I'd read blogs like DCist, but I can't seem to find an equivalent for the Dallas area.

Secondary: She and I are just looking for random things to do on weekends. Parks, museums, whatever the DFW area has to offer. We're also looking for recommendations on great food (classy or casual), historical sites, fun outdoors stuff (love canoeing), and even bars that aren't filled to the brim with cowboys.

We don't like: What we're not into are dance clubs or bars that require you to look like you're a rock star to get in. Casual bars are awesome.

In summary: Early 20s couple new to DFW, looking for things to do. Anything. Advice/links/anecdotes/invitations to your own party are completely welcomed. Willing to travel anywhere in the area for something interesting. Would also like to meet other people our ages, but not a requirement.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

So it's my birthday, now what?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:43:46 -0800

It's been a bad summer, what to do for birthday? Birthday is next week. Depressed due to the constant stream of problems life seems to be handing out (work, relationships, kids becoming obnixous teenagers). Would like to do something generally fun and/or life affirming for birthday but can't think of anything.

I'm not looking for specific things, i.e. go to Museum X on Y street, or something location specific to my city (which I wish to keep private for various reasons), but something general, yet not the same old thing, i.e. set that old couch on fire,

My stats: don't have any nearby friends. Male, almost 40. Wife and kids will probably be with me. Like reading, movies, traveling a bit (but don't want to do those things on my birthday).

Thanks.

What to do at night in a small hotel room in a small country town?

b33j — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:13:46 -0800

My husband and I are going on a road trip this weekend and have plenty of places and things to do during daylight hours. It's just the two of us (yay, no kids!) and we'll no doubt chat all day during the drives, hikes, sightseeing. We need something to do between checking in and going to sleep. I'd like an activity that's cheap, and involves the both of us. Nights are in prebooked hotels in very small country towns (that is, we don't have the option to keep driving until we need to sleep). We don't drink. One laptop between the two of us, with no guarantee of internet access. Apart from the obvious bedroom romps, what the hell else do we do during the night time? Normally at home, we (introverts) work (online), study(online), interact with the kids, he plays WOW (not installed on my laptop). Not big TV watchers.

We're Australian, married 17 years, 40+, travelling through Central NSW.

So many parts, too few ideas. DeadLaptop Filter

cdmwebs — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:40:21 -0800

What do do with all these laptop parts? Knight Rider, perhaps? So, my laptop (Toshiba M45-S359) bit the dust two weeks ago. It seems to be the motherboard, per my *ahem* extensive testing. So, I found one on Ebay which I thought might have a good motherboard, but nope, now I have two broken Toshiba M45-S359s.

What should I do with them? Any ideas for a replacement motherboard that isn't $389 if I don't have to meet the requirements to keep it in the factory case?

I want to build a mobile PC to put in my car and I figured I could use most of the leftovers from these two to build something. OS would be Linux (Debian or Ubuntu) and applications could include, but not be limited to: gpsd, kismet, gpsdrive, some kind of mp3 player, etc.

Parts:
- Intel Pentium 4 @ 2GHz
- 1.5 GB RAM
- 100GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
- Intel 2200BG Wireless Card
- 15.4" LCD Monitor

This is actually a pretty cool town, I think...

kidsleepy — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 09:11:31 -0800

I'm a recent grad who has been living in Greensboro, NC, for three months. I haven't gotten to know the town as much as I'd like. Where should I go and what should I do? I'm 22, female, and trying to avoid the post-grad-omg-time-to-be-a-grown-up blues. I moved from Columbia, SC, a town I love. I'd like to find activities to meet other people my age, and also recommendations on restaurants, bars, gyms, shopping, events, activities- the works! Make me love Greensboro!

NYCFilter: Friday before 9:30

bkudria — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 21:51:55 -0800

What should a 3 or 4 of college students do around 18th and 7th street in NYC before 9:50 PM, Friday? So, a small group of us are going to see Nighmare Before Christmas (in 3D!) in NYC Friday, but we'd like to do something else before then. The theater (I'm told) is somewhere around 18th and 7th, but we can walk. The movie starts at 9:50, so we want something before that. So, what is there to do?

Oh, and cheaper is better.

What to do in Santa Clara when you're not coding

ChrisR — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 21:43:36 -0800

I'm going to be doing some traveling in the near future to a part of the world with which I'm not familiar. I'm going to be in Santa Clara, CA for Eclipsecon, and I want ideas on what to do in the evenings assuming that I don't have a car and will be there from March 20 to March 23rd, leaving on the 24th.

What should I do in St. Louis?

jmevius — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 08:05:14 -0800

I was born in St. Louis, but I don't remember a thing about it (my parents moved when I was very young). Now, I'm going back. First things first, what should I do while I'm there? I'll be travelling into town and spending next Tuesday and Wednesday night there. So, I need two nights worth of things to do.

Typically, I like to find a place to get a good steak or some good sushi. Any recommendations for either?

What about something past the dinner hour? Anything I should see? I was planning on taking some pictures of the Arch, but past that, I'm lost. I'd take recommendations for pretty much anything.