Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with day

How would you make the most of 1 full day without sleep in Bangkok?

gttommy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:25:39 -0800

How would you make the most of 1 full day without sleep in Bangkok? My friends and I will have only 1 day in Bangkok but we want to see/do as much as possible. I want to organise something similar to the 'Amazing Race', rush from one place to another non-stop, except, not as crazy and the destinations should be all nearby (within Bangkok).

We decided not to even book for 1 night accommodation. Instead we will just stay up partying hopefully and have a nap afterwards at Bangkok airport before flying to Patong.

Who: 4 male adults
Interests: food, anything unique to Bangkok, socialising, nightlife
Time: day 1, arrive at airport 11:10 AM --- day 2 depart at 7:30 AM

What would you do?

Something similar to the below will be most helpful:
catch a taxi at xxx outside the airport
go to xxx
visit xxx
ride the xxx
eat at xxx
run to xxx
avoid xxx
drink/party at xxx
catch taxi at xxx to go back to airport

Otherwise, even simple suggestions will be appreciated, Thank you so much!

Advice needed for an agnostic ESL teacher at a very very Christian school

MostHolyPorcine — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:05:03 -0800

Help me not get fired from a Seventh Day Adventist School... I've just signed a contract with a private Seventh Day Adventist middle school in Asia. The teachers seem great, the students are smart, the school is loaded, the pay is great....but....well, let's see, I was raised catholic, and now I'm a meat eating, drinking, chain smokin homo.

Now, they're well aware I'm not SDA, and many foreign English teachers who work there aren't. But it is still quite a conservative school, no doubt. I'm not allowed to smoke at school, or drink or do narcotics on campus (which...uhm, yea, the smoking thing I get, but is it really necessary to have a clause in my contract that says don't show up to work drunk?).

The honest truth is, I respect their beliefs. I've told them as much, and also made them aware that I am not going to convert but understand that I need to keep my beliefs to myself. But I'm still really worried about doing something horribly offensive.

Any advice from SDA members or former SDA school teachers would be greatly appreciated.

Bada Bing Book

Sully — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:45:51 -0800

I've been watching the last season of the Sopranos and am curious about the mob in NYC and NJ today. Can you recommend a book or website that details the modern day Mafia? Or, if power has changed hands to a group other than the Italian one, a book about that group? Thanks.

Les we forget

fantasticninety — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:12:27 -0800

How is Remembrance Day celebrated in Germany? Does anyone here live in Germany or is German? What kinds of conversations are had on this day? Is there a moment of silence? Are there videos shown in school before this day? Is it an official holiday?

Thanks for any answers on this.

Are portfolio days for real?

davidriley — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:02:30 -0800

I recently attended a National Graduate Portfolio Day for students interesting in pursuing an MFA. I had a positive response, making me feel confident about my work and its presentation. However, I am suspicious, as I haven't heard anyone telling stories that they were really chewed out or criticized by their reviewers. I actually tried to push some of my reviewers to give me negative feedback, but they were ultimately optimistic. Are these things for real, or are they just a way for schools to talk people into applying?

Where is a good place to get breakfast near St. Paul's Cathedral in London?

Your Time Machine Sucks — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:47:42 -0800

Where is a good place to get breakfast near St. Paul's Cathedral in London? The hotel breakfast is extra and is priced nonsensically, and who knows if it's any good. Breakfast is a bit of a make-or-break thing for the day's mood while sightseeing and it's also something I like to get inside tips on, so I thought I'd ask if any locals or experienced visitors can steer me right.

I like English breakfasts/cooked breakfast with eggs, toast etc, she likes Continental breakfast, but this isn't a super-rigid thing. It doesn't have to be cheap although it definitely doesn't have to be in any way fancy, just good. Thanks!

Did Mark Twain ever comment on the Seventh-Day Adventist Church?

Anephim — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:03:34 -0800

Did Mark Twain ever comment on the Seventh-Day Adventist Church? My father-in-law heard that Mark Twain once remarked that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church would have X number of members by year Z. Please, does anyone know if Mark Twain said such a thing (perhaps even about a different church)? If so, what were the membership and year mentioned?

From another angle: Mark Twain is often attributed to things he did not say. So, did some other famous writer say something along these lines?

I have Googled and searched the letters in the Mark Twain Project. I have not looked in any Twain quotation collections, indexes, or concordances.

Many thanks!

Nighttime worrying

yersinia — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:36:31 -0800

Why does life always seem so much gloomier, and problems more formidable, when you're thinking them over in the middle of the night vs. during normal waking hours? And which perspective is more accurate-- the rosy daytime view, or the pessimistic nighttime one? As the veteran of a few extended late-night worry-fests, I'm kind of freaked out by how different the same problems can seem when viewed at different times in the day. I can honestly go from thinking that Bad Thing X is very likely to happen, and would be completely terrible if it did (3AM) to feeling sure that X is fairly unlikely to happen, and would be not especially problematic if it did (11 AM the next day).

Clearly, either 3-AM-me or 11-AM-me is wrong, and in the interests of rational decision-making, it'd be handy to know which one. Thing is, I've never really been able to find any obvious flaws in either my daytime or my nighttime logic. So whom should I trust-- is it that daytime and distraction causes us to (ahem) misunderestimate the magnitude of our problems, or that creepy darkness magnifies issues that aren't really so bad? Anyone have ideas about the physiological/hormonal/psychological factors that might be causing this sort of circadian perspective switch?

Need a northern Jersey soccer camp

kemah201 — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:27:15 -0800

Looking for a summer soccer day camp for an 11 year old that's more than a week...in northern New Jersey.

Help Finding an Election Day Piece

knmr76 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:24:35 -0800

This is a shot in the dark, but maybe you well-read, politically minded people can help: I am trying to track down a short commentary I remember reading around election day 2008. It was written in a French newspaper, I believe, and it was a short piece, but the basic gist was: "Today we are one with america. that may change later, but today we're one" re: the Obama win. I feel like I saw it linked in Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, but couldn't find it in the archives. I was voraciously reading so many sites at the time that I have no idea where it actually was. It was just a beautiful piece and I would like to read it again and keep it around. If it rings a bell with someone, that would be great!

Zipcar Update?

The Whelk — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:35:30 -0800

Daytrip Dreamin': I've read the previous question about Zipcars in NYC, but it's about a year old and I have some specific questions. I am considering joining, but have heard that the availability is not terrific. What's it like for a daytrips out of the city? Any big problems? Does it make sense if you're only planning to use it 2 or three times a year?

How to cope with day job / school stress

bad grammar — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:53:26 -0800

Help me deal emotionally with a bad case of academic jealousy. As those who've read some of my previous posts, I am working on an MLS. after having received a Ph.D. in classical history (B.A. in classical studies). I failed at the job search for classicist/ancient history positions. I now feel at a disadvantage in my MLS. program because, not having studied library science in college, I am encountering most of these subjects for the first time. I also don't have time to get into subjects in the same depth as students who are not working, or working short hours on the campus. I work 30 hours a week and I commute to campus (about 60 to 90 minutes depending on the time of day).

I realize that the shoe is on the other foot and some students in my ancient history doctoral program probably felt the same way about having to learn ancient Greek, if they hadn't had it in college. In my doctoral program I had a fellowship and did T.A. work-study, but many of my fellow students were also working their way through their program by teaching or unrelated jobs. So I don't expect any particular sympathy.

I do need advice on how to manage my emotions. I have been stuffing them down, telling myself at my day job that it isn't about me, I am a merely ancillary person who can be let go at any time. The school where I am the MLS.-less librarian is a special education school and so the real work with the students has a heavy dose of therapy and social work. There is a high level of background chaos due to the students' problems.

I have no skills or training in therapy/social work/SE teaching and feel basically useless. I have done all kinds of things that were not in the job description per se in order to make myself useful, including applying for and obtaining grants for the library (many students are in a lower-income category), updating the nonfiction collection, and fixing the catalog. I feel both chronically guilty (that I am not a social work-type person) and underappreciated. There isn't any way that I could do my homework at work.

I did fine in my MLS courses last semester and one of them this semester. But a course on information structure (cataloging, but also databases and a heavy dose of information architecture theory) has left me feeling stupid, as if something bad has happened to my brain in the nine years since my Ph.D. I am good at reading, synthesizing written material, writing, ancient and modern languages, and recall. I do not have a particularly abstract or philosophical turn of mind; when I get abstract, it's political.

In the cataloging class I am feeling jealous (because the final exam and term paper are approaching and I'm stressed out) of those students who are getting the concepts better than I am, because they have been exposed to these concepts longer or have more abstract minds, even though many other students are also having trouble. I am getting worried about my future library job search (it's the end of my first year). I thought I wanted to work in an academic library, but now I am afraid that the competition will be too stiff.

In short, I'm feeling psyched out and burned out. I am afraid to take some time off either from my day job (because I can't count on getting another) or from the MLS. program (past the prerequisites, you basically have to take the courses as they are offered and can't count on them being offered again soon).

I need emotional self-management tips and especially on managing feelings of perfectionism, jealousy, and anger. I apologize for turning AskMe into therapyfilter, but I don't have a personal therapist and I can't vent most of this to my parents or to other students.

Help us plan our day trip in the CO Rockies.

Kimberly — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:39:32 -0800

I live in Denver and my parents are coming to town in a few weeks. We thought it would be nice to take them up into the mountains. We don't want to drive for more than a couple of hours and we'd like to bring our labrador retriever. Does anyone have a suggestion of a nice city/area we can visit that is dog friendly? We were thinking of maybe the Dillon area--we've been to Conifer with them a couple of times and would like to go further up into the mountains.

SteakFilter: Help us wow our Mom's with a great steak recipe for Mothers Day!

pghjezebel — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:34:33 -0800

SteakFilter: Help us wow our Mom's with a great steak recipe for Mothers Day! The Mom's in our family have requested steak for Mothers day dinner. We're tired of cooking the same old stuff (dry rubs, BBQ, plain grilled). What we need is a recipe that will wow them!

If it helps, so far the side dishes ideas being tossed around include:
Cauliflower Popcorn
Garlicky Greens
Polenta Fries or Spinach Mashed Potatoes
Salad

Help us wow our Mom's!

But what about the children?

Quizicalcoatl — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:50:52 -0800

What do people do when they have kids and both parents work? Bonus points if you have answers specific to Concord, NH! I'm going to graduate school next fall after 5 years of being our family's primary caregiver. We've never had to deal with day care before. My wife and I are relatively competent people, but this seems overwhelming. We can't seem to find the convergence of available openings, knowledge that our kids will be safe and happy, and a cost we can afford. The answers must be out there because I see families with 2 working parents all the time and I'm sure that they don't all just toss the kids into the first random nursery they come across.

Possibly relevant: We have no family in the area. The miniature quizicalcoatls will be 5 and 3 next fall. The 5 year old will be attending our fair city's half-day kindergarten, and so will need after school care 5 days a week. We need coverage for three afternoons and 2 full days each week for the 3yo. I'd love a place that will be educational in some way...

Joining MP3 Files Together Based on Date in Filename?

WCityMike — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:08:55 -0800

I have a podcast that downloads as multiple segments over multiple days. Its format arrives as YYYYMMDD_showcode_segment.mp3; so, for example, one download might result in files as 20090323_goofa_01.mp3 through 20090323_goofa_21.mp3, and also within the same download 20090324_goofa_01.mp3 through 20090324_goofa_21.mp3. What I'm looking for is a Unix script (shell, perl, what have you) that would look at a directory and look at what dates are represented there, and let me join all of the segments together by day. I can use mpgtx -j to do the actual joining; I'm looking for the code that would let the script determine what dates are in the directory and then get each day's segments united into a single MP3 for that day's show.

one novel = one day

jammy — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:21:17 -0800

Please tell me of good novels you have read where the story all takes place in one day. Or less. The novel could all take place in an hour, or an afternoon.

Here's some I already know: Ulysses by Joyce, Mrs. Dalloway by Woolf, Saturday by Ian McEwan, Travels in the Scriptorium and Man in the Dark by Paul Auster.

Let's get philatelical

miss lynnster — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:22:31 -0800

About ten years ago I picked up an amazing collection of 114 (mint condition, plastic-sleeved) vintage first day issue stamps/envelopes at a thrift store. Been simplifying my belongings and I'm thinking it's time to sell them. Hey you stamp collectors... what are your recommendations? The person who put this collection together was METICULOUS. I mean, just absolutely anal retentive about their collection. This is why I bought it... even though I'm not a stamp collector I was impressed to my core by their effort and how much passion they clearly had for their hobby.

All of the envelopes are neatly typed to the same person in Colorado, all placed with love into slotted cardboard and sleeved in plastic. Each envelope is the customized first day of issue envelope, with the official stamp and first day of issue postmark. Most of the envelopes are United Nations, American history, government, or arts themed, dated from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s. Here are a few examples of the envelopes and stamps, although my envelopes have a typed address. Many of the them seem to be pretty obscure, I couldn't find their topics online.

Any tips? How should I go about making sure these go to a good home and get a decent price? I know a dealer would offer me less and I should probably get them appraised by a professional, yes? Or should I just hold onto them until the economy gets better? Thoughts please!

Nokia is now telling me to eat less, why?

nam3d — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:28:10 -0800

My phone (Nokia 6230i) has started giving me tips (which started tonight at 00:06 on the 01/01/09). When I turn on my phone, enter my PIN number and once it's got past the obligatory Nokia splash screen it gives me this tip: Tip Of The Day: Don't Eat Too Much! and here's the photo for you (sorry for the rubbish quality). Can some explain to me what the hell is going on?

You ever have one of those days?

pseudostrabismus — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:18:18 -0800

I'm having an "off day" for no particular reason. Feeling grouchy & peevish. This is dumb. Please help me fix it. Specifics are unnecessary, but basically a few things went wrong. Nothing major, mostly on the scale of "annoying". And there were some unrelated problems that all happened in a row- a small stack of irritating coincidences, starting in the morning and compounding all day, probably slightly exacerbated by my worsening mood.

I'm fully aware that I should just let inconsequential stuff like this roll off my back, and how lucky I am to be alive & healthy in a nice country & etc. But nevertheless, I feel grumpy, petulant, discouraged, and annoyed at myself for reacting this way. It's just a bad day, fer Pete's sake, get over it, right?

I have a few things I usually do to try and fix bad days, but suddenly it occurred to me that you probably have even better ideas. So, hive mind, what are your best strategies? How do you turn a bad day around?
Thanks!

Am I overpaying for stocks?

SirStan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:31:52 -0800

Help me understand what I am paying for stocks at Sharebuilder.com I have purchased two stocks at Sharebuilder.com. I am not looking for any criticism of the stock, or my time to start investing -- I am looking to understand why it seems like I paid too much for the stock.

I bought GM on 10/21/08. I believe I bought $71 worth, and there was a $4 automatic investment fee.

10/21/2008 BUY ORDER POSTING GM 9.9470 -$70.00

I bought $475 CV on 11/27/08 @ 12:58 ET. I paid $9.95 for the trade.

11/28/2008 BUY ORDER POSTING CV 25.0000 -$484.95

If I bought 9.9470 shares for $66, isnt that $6.635 a share?

If I bought 25 shares for $475, isnt that $19.00 a share?

Neither of these stocks hit that price -- infact GM was @ $5 that day... what am I missing?

Go big or go home?

clearly — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:34:17 -0800

The Dow Jones average on November 5th: Is it going up or down, help me decide. The problem: You can wager between 1 and 100 points on whether the Dow Jones average is going to go up or down on November 5th, the day after the general election. The amount by which the market goes up or down is the multiplier by which the amount wagered is multiplied.

Lets say that I predict the Dow goes up, and wager 10 points. If the Dow gains 250 points that day, I wind up with a positive score of 2,500 points for the problem. If the Dow drops by 250 points and I chose that it would go up, I lose 2,500 points.

The Dow Jones following recent contested Presidential elections:

November 3rd, the day following Bush/Kerry 2004: Dow Jones gains/loses 0 points.
November 8th, the day following Bush/Gore 2000: Dow Jones loses 47 points.
November 6th, the day following Dole/Clinton 1996: Dow Jones gains 97 points.
November 4th, the day following Bush/Clinton 1992: Dow Jones loses 29 points.

There are many variables to this question, especially framed within the context of the day after the election. How would you approach this problem to achieve the best possible outcome against numerous other participants?

Thank you for your insights.

I am not putting money on this event, this is an exercise posed to an economics of gaming class.

investing on losers

SirStan — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:44:32 -0800

Investing/Day Trading -Why is it bad to pick stocks off the losers of the day assuming they will rebound? I have been casually watching stocks on Google's daily losers list, and playing with $1000 of pretend money and Excel.. and so far I am up 50% on three weeks (not counting $9/trade fees).

So -- Why doesn't this system work? Bonus points for any investing research that shows its a bad idea (tm).

Naturally there are some mega losers.. but even back when Fannie May tanked.. there would have been money to be made by buying at the crest of the loss, and selling the next day.

For example... If I had invested $1000 in Fannie May at the end of trading on September 8th, and sold it at the end of the day on September 9th I would have netted $356 (minus trade execution fees). I caught Foundry Networks as they started to go up a second time on the 24th of October @ $10.85 and now they are at $12.39.

Naturally there are really bad examlpes of this (like the drug company Savient, but even that might go up tomorrow! It seems like people overreact on large percentage sales.. and then it rebounds.

Am I playing with fire that will burn me? Is this how day trader junkies get hooked?

Tel Aviv Weekend Trip?

howgenerica — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:23:16 -0800

I live in Jerusalem and am going to Tel Aviv for the weekend. I really don't know the area, and am looking for: 1) A good day spa in Tel Aviv Yafo. My solid foam mattress is slowly killing my back, and I am in dire need of a good, strong massage. 2) Discotheque recommendation 3) Other recommendation? Anything? Cool place to visit, shop, good restaurant, anything. I live so close there's a good chance I'll come back too, so it doesn't have to all fit into a weekend. Thanks

get behind the thrift store

msconduct — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:51:07 -0800

i'm heading to birmingham, alabama from new orleans to see tom waits at the alabama theater next thursday (yea!). my compadre & i would like to hit some thrift stores along the way. anyone have any good recommendations for thrifty places along i-59 between these two cities? thanks. bonus for anyone who can recommend a good hotel/motel that doesn't cost an arm & a leg. and thanks to ScottUltra who posted this link to the thrift store directory in a previous question.