Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with deadline

The 21 day CA unemployment benefit -- am I screwed?

Anonymous — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:03:11 -0800

CA Unemployment 21 Days Deadline: How to become eligible again? Back in July, I filed with California to get unemployment benefits. Around the 20th, I got a reply from CA EDD, and I didn't open it for months. I figured that I didn't need the money right then, and the state of California was giving out warrants in lieu of checks (due to the state government's insolvency).

When I finally opened it (on October 9th), it said that I had to register within 21 days of the notice date (July 20th).

My question is: am I screwed? Will I be able to obtain unemployment benefits at all? Do I have to reapply? Should I go in person to the local office to clear things up, or is it better to call in (I haven't had much luck reaching a person when I've done this) or do this online? Any help or insight you can provide would be great. Thanks.

Paging Julia Cameron!

mynameisluka — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:26:28 -0800

Published writers, how did you deal with post-sale paralysis? Nutshell version: How did you deal with post-sale paralysis and write the damn book anyway?

Longer version: So...I got The Call, The Deal, The Contract, even The Check for a non-fiction book with a major publisher. And now I have a January 15 deadline and a contractually-stipulated word count and the flashing cursor of doom and I am just paralyzed.

Though my deadline is in January I need to come in significantly ahead of deadline to give my agent time to read and make suggestions/revisions. My general outline is pinned down and I'd wager I have 10% of an incredibly shitty, incredibly amateurish and dismal first draft written. And here I have stalled, paralyzed and terrified.

Tactics I have tried thus far: bribery, fear, spreadsheets, gold stars, mockery, marathon writing sessions.

If it helps, I have a history of procrastinating on projects until deadlines loom large and then finishing them with guts and glory at the last possible minute. This approach is not an option for this work. It won't be good, and plus it deserves my time and attention. In addition, I am a full-time freelance writer, so it's not like I fear the editorial process or deadlines in general. I'm just scared.

Any advice/suggestions? Commentary on how amateurish first-timers should not attempt to sell books that haven't been completed yet is unwelcome at this point, since all non-fiction sells on proposal and since it may cause me to freak. :)

Flexibility in Flexible Spending Account

silkygreenbelly — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:27:02 -0800

How flexible is the May 31st filing deadline for previous year Flexible Spending Account claims? Is it an automatic "NO!" or are they allowed to be nice and reimburse me if I have a good case for not filing before the deadline? Will it depend on my employer? It is a claim for a pretty small amount of money for them ($50) but significant for me. Do they even have an option for processing claims submitted after the deadline? I have all the documentation for a eligible expense from December, just wondering if it is worth trying to convince them to still process my claim 4 days after the deadline.

Submit story just before deadline?

uans — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 09:10:41 -0800

I would like to submit a short story to literary journals whose reading period ends April 30. Obviously, they will receive the story just before deadline. Am I wasting my time and opportunity doing this? Should I wait until the submission period reopens, usually September or October?

Avoiding the deadly confluence of procrastination and self-destruction

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:56:31 -0800

I have Important Things I Have To Do, but I'm having trouble doing them. Instead, I find myself wanting to do a variety of plainly self-destructive things. This happens to me a lot-- but why, and how do I deal with it? The more important the task at hand, the closer the dead line, the worse it gets. I absolutely need to get something done, but instead I start doing really dumb shit.

This is different from the "ordinary procrastination" that I also experience, where I do enjoyable or neutral stuff (like watching movies, surfing the internet, reading for pleasure, cleaning house) instead of my work. Instead, I want to things that not only distract me from what I need to do but actively interfere with my ability to perform: getting drunk or high at ten in the morning, eating candy until I feel like I'm gonna puke, taking OTC sleeping pills and spending the whole day in bed.

This second, particularly ruinous kind of procrastination is more likely to happen when the thing that needs doing is especially important or daunting. Obviously there is some element of anxiety here that is disabling me. But why does it manifest itself so disastrously?

Therapy would probably be a good idea and I'm looking into it. But I don't have insurance, blah blah blah, and it'll probably take a while for me to get things rolling. In the mean time I have Very Important Things To Do, so how can I deal with this problem right now? Any insights into causes or advice about solutions is welcome. Thank you.

Should I get letters of recommendation signed across the envelope?

GPF — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:31:37 -0800

In applying to grad school, the folks writing letters of recommendation didn't sign the flap of the envelope and one doesn't have a postmark because it was sent via FedEx. How big of a deal is this? I don't know what happened. They had a form that indicated they should sign across the flap of the envelope. I mentioned it in an email and letter. I talked to two of them in person, yet none of them did it (!).

They sent the letters to me as I am to include them with my application. The signature requirement is obviously a check against dishonest applicants, which I am not. The first one that came in I didn't worry about because it had a postmark from a distant place so I thought that might be good enough. But another arrived overnighted from FedEx, so the stamped envelope that I provided didn't get postmarked.

The deadline is December 1 (16 days). Should I resend these envelopes for their signatures - with a return envelope? Ask them to print them out again and send them to me? Chill out, and send the admissions committee what I have? Ask my recommenders if I may sign their name by permission?

I guess I'm curious if the admissions committee is going to really treat them as suspect without the signatures? I suppose they should.

My first thought is to send them back for signatures ASAP.

Mildly stressful as the deadline approaches...

What's a reasonable move-out deadline?

HopperFan — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:36:01 -0800

How long should I give him to move out? I think it's over, but he's the one wanting to throw in the towel - how much accommodation should I be providing as far as his plans to move out?

Some essential facts:

Dating almost one year, he moved here (about an hour away from where he was) in August. Does not have a driver's license, and his bike was stolen in September. (yep, very bad luck there)

Has not found a job yet, though he's been looking. Not willing to take "any" job, ie. pizza places etc. Doesn't have any friends he can crash with in the area, and also doesn't think his father/step-mother back in his hometown will take him in. (They told him they thought he shouldn't move, so there's a lot of "I told you so" sentiment)

It's a shared lease, because the landlord required that, but I pay the rent. The apartment is a relatively small 1 bedroom.

I have people I can go stay with, if need be - a brother close by, and some friends.

I don't feel comfortable living as "just roommates" while he gets a job/figures out his plans, because I'm not the one who wants to break up.

So, what's a reasonable deadline, given his situation, and wanting to be as kind as possible to him, while still taking care of myself? I don't feel vengeful or vindictive, just sad.

Flaky Photographer

brandoniain — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 09:16:23 -0800

How much leeway should I give a photographer who has already missed his OWN deadlines three times now? On August 11, my wife and I had our photos professionally taken on the Oregon Coast by a local photographer who came highly rated with a great gallery of work.

His initial promise on the day was that he would deliver to us a login code for his website so that we could view proofs and he would send a DVD of the originals by mail. He promised that this would happen within two to three weeks.

Fast forward two weeks from August 11 and I received an email saying that he would have pictures on the site within two days and mailed that very day. Nothing happened.

This past Monday I checked in with the photographer again, being very polite, and got a response that he would have things to me by the end of the day or tomorrow morning at the very latest.

Well, that time frame has come and gone - it's now 24 hours past "his latest" delivery...

I'm a photographer as well, I did a two day music festival in College Station, Texas a week later and have already processed and delivered on the 3,700 photos I shot over those two days. I'm trying to be polite - I know that things come up. But this is getting a bit silly and I've already paid him every penny PLUS a tip.

What should I do?

Should I work late?

mockdeep — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:05:32 -0800

I am working on a project at work right now that is far behind schedule. The deadline has been extended a couple of times and the current one is this Friday. I am almost certain that the project won't be done by then. Should I be working extra hours to get it done? I am really stressing out about this project, especially because I feel as if my supervisor blames me for the delay. If the blame is in my direction it has nothing to do with my work ethic and can be largely associated with my low level of experience, of which he should be more than aware being that I have been working right under him for more than a year.

I feel like I have been given a lot more responsibility on this project than I was prepared for and I am getting minimal support. Whenever I ask for help on something I get responses like, "figure it out" or "these are the things you need to learn to coordinate". Then I spend two days fumbling around in the dark before he gets fed up and spends the five minutes necessary to show me how to do it. I know my supervisor has a lot on his plate with other projects and I can already hear people telling me what a great opportunity this is to step up and take charge, but at this point that amounts to spending more hours clicking and typing in front of a computer coping with project changes on outdated software. It's hard for me to justify that when I feel like my time can be better spent actually learning new skills (which is what I like to do with my free time). Not to mention by the time five o'clock rolls around my brain is fried and I can barely think straight.

I don't think I will be fired for not completing the project in time, but the stress really builds up when you are constantly behind schedule.

Passport Problem?

btkuhn — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:24:47 -0800

I want to leave on an overseas trip exactly two weeks from tomorrow. I've never had a passport before. If I go to the post office and get expedited two-week service, will I have my passport in time? I've seen the expedited agencies online but I'm traveling on the ultra-cheap, and I (really, honestly) can't afford to pay an agency another $100 to guarantee service within 7-8 days - it's either use the P.O.'s service or don't go at all. Can someone (preferably, someone with inside knowledge, or direct recent experience) speak as to whether I will get my passport within 2 weeks if I apply tomorrow? This is in Chapel Hill, NC.

Many thanks.

Writing Here To Avoid Writing

thinkpiece — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:34:29 -0800

How can I unblock and get to work? I took on a freelance writing job that came to me from a friend/colleague with whom I've worked very successfully in the past. He pitched me to his team, we had some meetings, I got a retainer and ... was offered a different full-time, demanding job which I could not turn down. I thought I could bang out Freelance Job during my weeks before starting Real Job and now I'm stuck ... I'm supposed to be the expert, so when I submitted a first draft and my friend told me it was 'the wrong direction' I was shocked into being blocked (I've never come up against such a wholesale No on a project).

I'm over deadline, clueless as to how to jump start a new plan of attack, not-so-motivated anymore, and also, legitimately busy at my new gig. My friend is no expert (I'm supposed to be) and he is very busy and isn't sure what direction I should take anyway -- just thinks the one I've submitted is wrong. Of course, it would suck to have to return the retainer. Help.

Is anybody planning to participate in nanowrimo this year?

codger — Mon, 18 Oct 2004 07:46:35 -0800

Two weeks and counting... Is anybody planning to participate in nanowrimo this year?