Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with broken

Foot healed. Heel hurts. Help heel heal?

Shepherd — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:17:47 -0800

I broke a metatarsal in my foot last September, and (without a follow-up X-ray, which I really should do at some point), it seems better. My heel, however, hurts like the dickens. What's up, foot? The break was near the top of the little-toe metatarsal on my left foot, and seemed very reluctant to heal -- I spent a few months on crutches with little result, more time with a cane with little result, and finally when I got referred to an orthopedic specialist he said "drop the cane and the crutches and the post-op shoe and just act normally, I want to encourage your foot to heal on its own."

That was at the end of last November. I haven't felt much pain in the broken part of the foot since then. I went for a test run of 3 km this morning, and the front-of-foot feels more or less fine.

But when I spend any amount of time walking, and especially after my run today, putting pressure on my heel is painful. Not screaming agony, but wince-with-every step, limp-slowly painful. It lessens if I walk consistently for a few minutes, and becomes more acute if I rest for a while and then get up (getting coffee at work, for instance).

I figure that this is due to the muscles in my heel atrophying or something. I know that I've lost all the running/walking callous on my left foot -- all the dead skin just sloughed off after a few months of non-use when I was on crutches -- and my foot is now remarkably smooth and soft compared to my right foot. But I'd like some reassurance (or dire warnings, if appropriate) about why my heel hurts so darn much when it seems like the rest of the foot is healing up more or less fine.

Broken CFL exposure

johnstrick — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 08:59:07 -0800

Toddler knocked over a lamp with one of those god forsaken CFLs in it. He picked up a piece and handed it to me. I didnt hear the lamp fall even though I was about 10 feet from him. I had heard about mecury vapor in them but there is no warning on box when I installed it so I really didnt think it was as toxic as I've since read. I went to get the shop vac and my wife vacuumed. While she was vacuuming I looked it up and yelled at her to stop the vacuum and evacuate to upstairs to take showers. The bulb broke in the living room and my whole main floor is open concept. We were in the general area for about 5-15 minutes before we left and then I opened the door beside where the bulb broke to the outside and shut off the furnace.

We called poison control (twice) both people on poison control were only concerned that we dispose of the bulb properly and said 5 mg of mercury is not enough to harm a human. I've since read that that is not true. If eaten 5 mg is not enough to harm a human. .25 mg seems to be enough when inhailed to poison an adult. There is actually between 1 and 20 mg in one of these stupid things.

We went to walk in clinic and doc said he's fine. Though he didnt look like he knew much. Went to my doctor who said its just a little poof don't worry about it. But I've read the Maine Cfl study and it doesn't seem like its a little poof. I've emailed a few doctors and have heard everything from get blood/urine tests and watch for neurological symptoms to it was like eating a nibble of tuna. What gives here.

I've also read the SCHER report and they say health effects not expected for adults or fetuses but they can't make a call on children. I emailed EPA they told me to contact doctor or poison control.

I know there are real people out there in the real world that may be able to shed some light on this for me. Right now I'm terrified, and have thrown out lamp, toys, clothing(I hope all of it not sure).

Any opinions I'd really appreciate. Have I gone overboard here or is this is bad as my reading the Internet has led me to believe.

How concerned should I be about glass dust?

el chupa nibre — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 18:26:16 -0800

Last week I broke the sunroof to my car and significant amount of glass fell into the car. I've cleaned the big pieces out and vacuumed. I've also replaced the window. However, I'm worried about glass dust. I know that inhalation of glass dust is a respiratory hazard and can lean to serious illness over time. I also know that this is usually a result of occupational exposure. But I'm wondering if I'm at risk from any fine glass that might still be in my car. I've only driven it a few times since the window was broken. Is this something I should be worried about?

What are my options for replacing my broken phone?

snow_mac — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:58:20 -0800

I'm on Verizon, I have no warranty, started a contract in July w/ a Samsung Galaxy Nexus 4G Android Phone. I was a n00b and walked into my car really hard the other night and it was in my pocket. The screen now will barely turn on, the touch screen is cracked. The touchscreen is unusable. I cannot dial or even use the phone. A google nexus will be $299. What are my options? The phone itself, I kind of hate, the OS is nice but charging has always been an issue and it dies pretty quickly. I need ideas on either should I replace it? (With what and how much?) I don't want to renew as Verizon has had terrible quaility and I want to dump them in 18 months and go back to Virgin Mobile (I even have a phone for it). Should I foot the $350 ETF and switch back to Virgin? Cost to fix it? Other options?

Broken washing machine

ellieBOA — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:00:43 -0800

Brand new Whirlpool AWE 7728 washing machine won't complete the first (empty) cycle, help! So, the manual advised running an empty wash on 60 synthetic, accidentally ran 30 cotton and it is now stuck on the lavage (wash) part of the cycle. It gets to that point and then the start button flashes and it just stops. Pressing the start button just restarts the lavage cycle.

It's a French machine, came with a very short guide that just says to hit the start button again which I've tried. Also tried changing the dial to the correct 60 synthetic wash but that didn't make any difference.

Uploaded a picture to twitter as my phone and imgur aren't playing nice, direct link below, or twitter via my profile in case that doesn't work.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BEyEhR-CAAAIZle.jpg

My niece just broke her two front newly-descended adult teeth.

anthropoid — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:15:54 -0800

Today my eight-year-old niece broke her two front teeth, both diagonally so that she has a triangle-shaped hole between her teeth. They are adult teeth. They are on their way to the dentist, but I just wanted to get some information from experiences you all may have had. What are her options? What is the process like? It kills me that these are her adult teeth - is she going to have life-long issues? Is it worth getting a second opinion considering the impact this will have? Or, are the options fairly straight-forward?

Thanks for the help.

I broke my friend's lamp...

ptsampras14 — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:52:48 -0800

I broke my friend's lamp and I am trying to find the closest possible replacement. It's like a desk lamp but takes a candela E12 bulb. There is no identifying information on it except a sticker which contains:

02/2M
E188266
PORTABLE LAMP
ISSUE NO. BH-93 156.

How can I find this lamp online, or one very similar to it? Here's a link for photos of the lamp and sticker: photos

Glass in gun cases?

john123357 — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 00:01:01 -0800

I have noticed that in most portable gun cases which are hard plastic on the outside with a foam core inside there seems to be pieces of shiny glass embedded in the foam. I have only noticed this in gun case foam not other types of foam for example, the foam inside couch cushions or bedding. Why would they put glass inside gun case foam?

Curse of the Jade Bangle

bluefly — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 07:42:17 -0800

I've broken my favorite piece of a jewelry -- a solid jade bangle. It dropped on the bathroom floor and broke into 2 pieces (pics 1 2). When I put the two pieces together it doesn't look too bad (i.e. I think it was a "clean break" with no additional tiny pieces missing), so I'd like to fix it. Can I do this myself and will it look not horrible? What type of stuff could I use to glue the pieces together? If the answers to the previous questions are no and none, do you know of someone (jeweler/stone person) who could fix it in the DC/MD area? I know that after fixing it (whether myself or professional), I will have to be extra careful as the joint will be a weak point. Believe me, I've learned my lesson with being careful with nice, sentimental jewelry.

how to clean glass and powder from the carpet in my apartment?

Oli D. — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:57:09 -0800

Fluorescent bulbs explosion -- how to clean glass and powder from the carpet? Broken glass is everywhere. And carpets are everywhere. Someone was changing fluorescent bulbs in the kitchen, dropped them on the floor, then dropped some more bulbs. All these 4 long bulbs exploded, and now glass and powder is everywhere, even went somehow to the bedrooms through the closed doors.
Except for the kitchen and bathroom, the apartment is "wall to wall carpet", and all this carpet is full of tiny pieces of glass + powder.
The person who did all this, swept and vacuumed the floors. I keep finding glass pieces in the carpet here and there every day, more than a month later. I want to ask landlord to wash the carpets, vacuum with shampoo.
Or, should it be done somehow else?
Maintenance people came before, but did nothing so far. I am waiting for them to come again, hope they will come today.
I am in Texas, small college town. This is an apartment complex.

Why does my dental crown keep breaking?

Tenacious.Me.Tokyo — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 01:38:48 -0800

My dental crown has cracked and broken three times in as many years. Thoughts on how to proceed? I had a root canal done on my upper second molar just over three years ago. During that time, the porcelain crown that I received has cracked and broken three times (the third time being today).
My dentist has replaced the crown for free each time, and made me a mouth guard to wear as he reasons that cause for the excessive wear is grinding my teeth during sleep (which my wife can attest to). It doesn't seem to have helped.
Any advice on where to go from here when I meet my dentist next week? A change of crown material, perhaps? Proven methods of dealing with teeth grinding at night?

Canon PowerShot G9 started taking glitchy photos. What is wrong with it?

racecar — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 18:03:36 -0800

What is wrong with my Canon PowerShot G9? It started taking these messed up pictures. Here is an example: http://imgur.com/rbyAj When I shake the camera I can hear something loose in there. Is it fixable at all, or do I need a new camera? If it is fixable, can I do it myself?

Is it worth it to fix our TV?

ocherdraco — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:43:21 -0800

Our TV is broken. Should we try to fix it, or would it make more sense to just buy a new TV? How much would a repair for our kind of problem cost? We have a small (19 inch) Dynex flat screen television. While we were using it last week, the screen suddenly went dark. Sound still works, and it us clear that it isa problem with the TV, not with any peripherals. The display is completely dark; it is not lit at all.

Broken Laptop Screen

josher71 — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 08:59:06 -0800

I recently broke the screen on my laptop and I need to get it fixed. What are some good computer repair places in Baltimore?

Should I Stay Or Should I Go (Here We Go Again)

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 17:28:04 -0800

Going round and round in circles in a relationship that has me asking 'what's the point?' and thinking 'why bother, he doesn't care'. Add to this my freelance work pattern, cohabitation but sleeping in separate rooms, his eating disorder, my issues with child abuse, his distance geographically from his family... and it's all just a big mess. I don't know what to do. Perhaps you can help me untangle things? Thank you in advance for reading this, and apologies that it's long. I'm sorry if I'm including lots of irrelevant bullshit.

My SO and I are 30, and have been going out and living together for 3 years. He moved a long distance away from his family for us to be together, and arrived here with no job and no contacts or friends. I was working in a job that had a long commute, shit money, mega stress and crazy people. I love him and want to be together but am starting to doubt that this is realistic.

Fast forward to the present day. I have now left that job to work from home, after much urging from SO that we could afford it, especially if I got a part time job with less stress that was closer to home. The idea being we could see more of each other, and actually have a relationship instead of passing like ships in the night. It has been (predictably) a bit of a struggle - we're not starving or going without necessities, although it's not exactly comfortable and we have no savings. We're sleeping in separate beds due to his snoring/sleep apnea and have been for 2 years. It's killing me - he says he isn't as bothered by it as I am.

My SO wasn't as supportive as I'd hoped during this time, asking me things like why can't I just get '*a* job, any job', for the time being - which I can see the sense in but also got angry and frustrated about, because the idea of leaving my shitty job wasn't to go find another and keep grinding - it was to change things for the better and to give me an opportunity. I felt extremely alone and like he had no faith in my or my choices/reasoning/decisions and wouldn't hear them out. I thought we were supposed to be a team.

My luck has changed recently, and I am getting a modest amount of money coming in the door - enough to get a coffee and a muffin/lunch once a week, maybe shout a round of drinks, maybe a book, but not enough to justify buying a new pair of shoes or clothes, if you get me. And not a whole lot left over to contribute to our expenses, but probably enough to stop getting an allowance. Our current arrangement is that he pays the rent, bills, food, everything when we're out (eg, dinner, drinks, transport) but when I'm on my own I pay my own transport and whatever else. He also puts $50 a fortnight onto my credit card. I feel awful being dependent financially like this: I suggested a while ago that perhaps an allowance would be easier than me asking him for money, and now get $100 a fortnight, although this will probably stop now.

He has been carrying a financial burden for both of us and is still working in a job with a boss who is extremely aggravating and hard to deal with, and who my SO hates. SO has a good track record at this job and says he will move on in the new year.

My SO told me soon after we started going out that he had bulimia. He said he hadn't purged since we were together but that he overate and uses food as a crutch. He is now quite overweight and is getting breasts. I think he has purged a bit lately but have been wary of asking because I don't want to meddle or be a nag or his mother/checker upper-er. I have spent two years trying to encourage/provide a safe space for things like losing weight, seeing a therapist, going to the Doctor, and addressing the snoring which he says and said he wants to do. We finally had a breakthrough a few months ago, and he went to see a doctor, and has seen a therapist, and has found out some options about the snoring. But that's all kind of stalled and hasn't been readdressed by him. We also started couples counselling because things were really getting hard to handle and we were fighting a lot.

I am conscious that I put in more than he does. He gets coffee and a smoothie in bed every morning, and I also wake him up to start the day - as he seems pathologically incapable of setting an alarm/using an alarm clock and just rolls over and turns it off and keeps sleeping. He is extremly forgetful, and delgates much of the responsibility of the day to day onto me. He breaks promises and generally derps about a lot of small to medium stuff. He can remember/prioritise to go to work, but can't remember/prioritise that he promised he'd clean the bathroom every Monday or that he said he'd change a lightbulb last week. He makes an effort for a while, but then backslides.

When we do talk about this deeper shit, I can literally see him close his ears and start forming an response as to why I am wrong, or being unfair, or why it's too hard to do that, or a list of all the shit I do that's bad and proves I'm a hypocrite.

I do want to emphasise that he pays all the bills and that this is a big, big burden and I am grateful for the chance to do things differently work-wise.

In counselling recently he admitted that he doesn't feel comfortable in situations where I am the expert and he isn't. So we don't do many, if any, things which I know all about and he has to learn. I learned more about the sports he liked and worked on seeing the value in things he valued, because they were important to him. He also mentioned he has thought I am 'a know it all' - but he is happy to rely on me being the one who does know it all around the house/our social life/organising stuff day to day.

He masturbates almost every night, apparently, and when we do have sex, which isn't often (once a month?), he is so out of shape it doesn't last long. He does not seduce or romance me. When I have tried to initiate recently he has rebuffed me. The sexy powerplay we had years ago of him being the Dominant and me the submissive has gone, utterly. The relationship feels like we're flatmates. I feel like I get very little out of this situation and have to constantly be 'on' and aware, with no break or chance to be less responsible or 'off'. And no feeling of being with someone who has initiative or is proactive or notices me and my needs and desires and tries to fulfil some of them on his own impetus.

I know it's mostly his job which makes him stressed, and overeat, and put on weight, and the sleep apnea he has makes him constantly tired, which isn't in turn helped by his weight, his lack of motivation, here we go round and round again.

I went to couples counselling alone this morning after he walked off angry when we had a spat on the way there, and spent most of the time crying angry tears. She suggested I roll back the things I do and let him have his own consequences instead of stepping in.

Do you have any other perspectives you could offer me about this situation? It feels like such a huge, gross, sticky mess and I don't know what to do any more. I have tried to be good and feel like my 'reward' is someone who barely bothers to think about being considerate, let alone act on the issues we have as a couple or he has himself. Am I that girl who everyone has a little inward sigh about when she starts talking about her relationship, because, duh, it's broken, move the fuck on? Is there anything you can see that I could try or refrain from that may make things less upsetting and more rewarding? What IS the point? Thanks if you made it this far.

GOD GOD WHY

Coatlicue — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 08:22:46 -0800

So my cat just spectacularly broke a CFL lightbulb. I've read the other Asks on this topic, but I still have a few questions. My cat climbed on top of a desk, and knocked the lamp off. The CFL bulb shattered into a thousand pieces. I didn't know what had happened, so I walked in there and stepped on the shards with my bare freaking feet. I don't believe I was cut, but I was standing on them.

Why did I not call Poison Control or even my doctor? Because I have no phone.

I swept up the shards the best I could (it's a hardwood floor), covered the area in dish soap, and wiped it down with a rag. I disposed of the rag, the dustpan, and the broom. I didn't use gloves, because we don't have any. I didn't even think the air out the room before I put down the soap, but the house is airing out now. When the bulb was broken the air conditioner was off, and the fan in that room was off.

I was able to contain the offending cat to another room before she tromped around in it too much, but not the other cat. And he tromped in it, ran on our bed, ran throughout the house, ran into the bathroom. What am I supposed to do about that? I walked to the fire station around the corner and asked them, and they said "the bulbs have more halogen in them than anything, you should be fine". What.

I cannot take either of the cats to the vet. In theory, I can go to the doctor if I _have to_, but we will have no money left. My husband will end up taking vacation days from work because he won't be able to afford the gas.

I'm getting from the other Asks, that this is probably not a terribly big deal. But I do need to figure out what to do about the cats possibly tracking mercury into our bed, all over the floors, and etc. We can throw out some things, but we are not in a position to throw out all of our bedclothes, and that seems like overkill.

Thanks!

Broken tooth. What are my options?

morning_television — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:47:39 -0800

I broke a tooth I had a root canal done on. Haven't been to the dentist in years. What can they do? I have very good dental hygiene, but yes - I know I need to go to the dentist. Especially now..

I had a root canal done on my left premolar tooth back in 2006. The tooth recently broke. It pretty much split right down the middle. There's not much of the tooth left. And I'm assuming since I had a root canal done there, I'm not feeling any pain.

I haven't been to the dentist because I had a bad experience before. I won't get into too much detail but it involves the dentist not speaking very good english (my parents speak spanish and it was the only one they could afford) and there wasn't much communication at all. Also, I have a fear of being lectured by the dentist. My teeth are in good shape but still, I feel like I'd still feel embarrassed. I really want to get this fixed though because even though the tooth isn't entirely visible, it's affecting my self-esteem.

What would be the options? I looked up dental implants but it looks like something that would take multiple visits and would cost a lot of money. And could possibly be painful.

I don't know if I just want him to take the rest of the tooth out and just leave it at that. Having a missing tooth would make me feel incredibly self-concious.

Automated Garage Door Broken

thanotopsis — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:23:00 -0800

After record heat waves here in Wisconsin, one day my automatic garage door closed, and as it touched the ground, I heard the top panel of the door "pop" into place. From that point on, it won't open without someone there to manually lift it through about 50% of the way open. Suggestions? To clarify: I've inspected the tracks on the door, and they appear to be solid and functioning properly. The wheels move along the tracks smoothly, and I even slathered them in WD-40 in case I wasn't seeing anything.

As soon as the door gets about halfway up the track, I can let it go, and it'll open the rest of the way by itself.

Additionally: Every time it closes, that top panel seems to pop into place, making a loud sound.

Is there something I can do, or do I really need to call a repairman?

Who can help me with a broken Hyundai Elantra in Denver, CO, ASAP?

circle_b — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:24:39 -0800

Stuck in Denver, driving across the country. My car (2001 Hyundai Elantra) decided that death was preferable to Oregon. Help! Chain mechanic has no idea what's up. If you live in Denver and have ever used a Hyundai dealership or know a good shop that works on them, help! The problem:
About 100 miles east of Denver, on I-70 westbound, the car started jerking/stumbling hard and stopped responding to the accelerator. Drifted off onto the side of the road, got towed to Denver. Shop there said it was a faulty relay involved with the fuel injectors, replaced it. I paid them a disgusting fortune, we got 5 miles down the road and the car stopped responding to the accelerator again, on interstate 25. Less jerky, but no response with the pedal pushed all the way down.

Got towed to a Firestone (closest thing open on Saturdays and Sundays). They have been, well, unhelpful, but I'm having them replace the fuel filter.

I'm losing my marbles, I have to be in Oregon for my clinical internship... really soon, really really soon, and now I'm petrified of getting broken down 100 miles from anything again.

No problems with starting, no problems with idling. A sensor gone awry?

questions:

Do you know a place that works on Hyundais that could solve this problem, say, Monday?

I'm in a major pickle here, me and my buddy are staying with a classmate's friends tonight, but that isn't a multi-day solution.

can I glue my mom's Lalique bowl back together?

sabh — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:00:32 -0800

one of the feet broke off of my mom's Lalique bowl. it's a pretty clean break, it looks like I could just put it back on. can I? what would be the best way to do this? or am I better off taking it to a specialist to repair? thanks in advance.

How do I re-create the broken camera/video camera effect on this video?

rinsemedown — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 10:27:00 -0800

How do I re-create the broken camera/video camera effect on this video? How do I re-create the broken camera/video camera effect on this video?

I want to shoot a music video using a variety of cameras that have different defects on them.

I believe this may be of help ?

I'd rather shoot the video with cameras that are actually broken as opposed to applying this affect afterwards.

Is there any way to deliberately break a camera (digital or VHS) to make it still function but in a weird way?

Best way to replace borrowed tool?

Ommcc — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:36:39 -0800

How should I handle the reimbursement/replacement of a tool I borrowed from a friendly neighbor then broke. I was working in my front yard as daylight was fading when my friendly neighbor offer to let me use his portable work/flood lights.

I took him up on the offer and worked for few more hours well after it was dark with the aid of his handy lights. The light, more specifically the tripod light stand, broke when I tried to collapse it. I loosened one of the fittings on the stand to collapse the telescoping section of the stand. The fitting released completely and suddenly and gravity took over. The telescoping section was about 18 inches long so this was about the equivalent of dropping the stand 18 inches (but evenly distributed on the 3 legs). The stand could not take the force and the plastic hub that connected each leg to the shaft shattered. There is no way a product that is meant to be used on job/construction sites should brake so easily and I don't feel I am at fault.

All that being said; I like my neighbors and I don't think returning a broken item and telling them to buy better quality tools or passing the blame on to them is a good way to thank them for being generous and helpful.

So how should I go about making this right? The item costs about $40 at a big box store. But it is not obvious they need the light (it could have just been used for a projected they finished) and perhaps they would just rather have $40. However I am concerned they would refused either if asked. Lastly, assuming I fully replace the light or give the money to replace it would it be poor form to keep the light I borrowed (it separates from the now broken stand and is in fine condition) ?

Kindle repair in India

grak88 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:42:40 -0800

Where to get a broken Kindle screen fixed in India? Travelling the world at the moment and broke the screen on a Kindle. Will be heading to India and landing in Banglore. Given that this is an IT hub, does anyone know where I can get the screen fixed here? Or anywhere else in India for that matter? Thanks.

Replacing a broken cell phone

davcoo — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:43:09 -0800

My wife dropped her AT&T Blackberry Torch 9800 in water last night, and even though the phone wasn't damp inside, it doesn't power up. We just came from the local AT&T store, and we can't upgrade until July. The only options they gave us were to buy a new Blackberry Torch for $499 or wait four months and buy it for $99. Do we have any other options? The phone's data has been backed up to our PC, so we'd really like to replace it with a Torch (she likes the keyboard) or at least a compatible phone so the data can be restored.

Psycho with grief.

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:31:05 -0800

I feel like I'm losing my mind from grief due to a broken heart. The people I have tried to trust since my break-up have let me down (except for my one true friend and my therapist but they can only help so much and they are kind of like Saints). I'm scared of my paranoia (big business is corrupt and it rules our country without scruples -- today I decided Verilli must have been drugged by the GOP to have so royally flubbed the Health Care oral arguments which may not be insane but if it's true it makes me want to die). What can I do for myself in NYC to not lose my mind and keep growing as a person? I'm a smart-ish person who was dumped two years ago. I'm employed but the job pays poorly and my co-workers don't include me in lunches or even conversations. So I'm lonely. I notice that I'm increasingly paranoid and feel criticized by everyone. Therapy is helping with these big old self-hate issues. If I wanted to be assessed, I expect a psychiatrist would say I had some type of personality disorder. But I do not want to be assessed. I do not want to see myself that way. I have always been sensitive but this break-up has nearly killed me. I don't know what to do with this grief.