Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with eponysterical

Parallel Plastic Tubes

Tube — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:19:16 -0800

What is this series of tubes? While walking in Jack Block park here in Seattle, I came upon this plastic structure set solidly into the earth at the base of this tree. I have never seen such a thing before. My best guesses as to its function are:

1. Erosion control. The tree is planted on a rather steep slope, as can be seen by the angle of the adjacent stairs. Perhaps this structure acts as a dam, especially when the tree is a sapling.

2. Fertilizer addition. The structure is set close to the tree, and implanted solidly into the ground. What better way to get fertilizer to the roots?

3. Irrigation. Perhaps this species of tree is uniquely thirsty, and needs lots of water.

Whatever the case, the structure seems to be well maintained, as I'm sure it would quickly fill with organic debris and be totally clogged. The tubes were relatively clean when I examined them.

What, exactly is its function? What is the generic name for this object? Are they commonly used in landscaping?

What is this Powerbook's problem?

Your Time Machine Sucks — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:23:01 -0800

What is this Powerbook's problem? Rare kernel panics followed by disk catalog errors on startup, but I've ruled out the HD and OS. 15" Aluminum Powerbook, 1.5GHz, OS X 10.5.5.

It all began when, in the course of trying to get it to stop undercharging the battery, I did a PMU reset. On the first post-reset restart, the disk gave all appearances of crashing -- got about 10 seconds into the startup and then froze, and then couldn't be booted afterwards. I booted from disc and installed a new OS, which also would have occasional panics after/during restarts, and once it just had a system-wide freeze in the middle of otherwise working, which didn't even show the kernel panic multilingual announcement (ugh, even typing that I'm thinking "you know it's the logic board", but read on please).

Apple Hardware Test checked everything out as being OK, and after repairing the post-panic HD, Disk Utility also gave the HD a clean bill of health as far as that goes.

I originally felt that the HD was the most likely culprit here (it's old and mechanical, while the other two likely possibilities -- the RAM and logic board -- are solid state and don't have such an obvious reason to up and die after four years of working) so I put in a new drive. Symptoms haven't changed: sometimes restarts go wrong, followed by catalog errors on the drive when I run fsck in single-user mode. The catalog errors can be repaired in single-user mode. Since the kernel panics are sort of rare, I don't feel like I can easily test the RAM sticks with the "take one out, see if things are better" method, although I am certainly wondering about them now.

The practical issue is that every time it does happen and the catalog is repaired, Time Machine no longer recognizes the things it's backed up already and attempts to back up the entire drive again, making it useless as an incremental backup tool, and the combination of weird computer + no incremental backups is no good.

What do you think, definitely the logic board? If so, that is going to be the end of the line for this Powerbook. Or would you proceed by replacing the RAM (it isn't very expensive, but on the other hand I don't want to waste the money on it if it isn't to blame).

Any suggestions? Keeping in mind that I've already run Apple Hardware Test and it reported no problems, and there is a brand-new HD and a brand-new OS install, and both the PMU and PRAM have been reset in the course of recent events.

Thanks!

Hello?

hihowareyou — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:26:36 -0800

Looking for a hip-hop song I heard with "Hello" repeated as part of the beat/background. Note: It is not "Rising Down" by the Roots. Whereas that song goes "Hello, Hello, Hello [beats for 5-10 seconds] Hello, Hello, Hello [verse]" this was simpler and more persistent, more like "Hello [beat] Hello [beat] Hello [beat] Hello [beat]..." and the verses went over it. Sorry I can't remember more info. Thanks in advance.

Food items that helped your weight loss

rolypolyman — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:40:27 -0800

Which food do you credit most for your weight loss? I know this borders on simplistic, but I thought it might be cool to ask this question to fish for a different perspective. I agree that there's a laundry list of healthy foods and it's good to have variety. But I'd like to know if there a specific food, drink, or entree that you credit above all for adding sensibly to your diet, satisfying cravings, and helping you through a period where you lost a lot of weight.

Simply switching to diet sodas is not quite what I'm looking for, since cutting out or moderating sugar is a no-brainer.

Durable gaming headset

furiousxgeorge — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:51:58 -0800

Can you recommend a good, durable wireless gaming headset? I have a habit of destroying in rage various items around me during my gaming sessions, from NES controllers back in the day to mice and such now. No, this is not a request for psychological help, I'm fine, thanks.

So, anyone know any nice durable wireless headsets for gaming? (w/ mic of course)

How is dough supposed to feel?

chef_boyardee — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:09:56 -0800

Newbie breadmaking question: What is dough supposed to feel like when you start and when you end? And more specifically, how do I know whether there's too much flour or too much water? I followed this recipe today for baguettes. I made two batches and noticed that each time the dough started out exceptionally dry and brittle. This didn't seem right, so I ended up having to add over half a cup of water to get the bread to be sticky and firm, and to not break apart while I kneaded it.

I think I did ok as I did the "dough spreading" technique between fingers and saw the translucent pane of dough. That's the only rule of thumb I know, unfortunately. The bread is out of the oven -- it looks great but I haven't yet tried it.

So can any breadmakers advise me how dough is supposed to feel, and how it isn't? What are some rules of thumb I could go by until I get better at this?

Also what's the deal with wooden spoons? Why do so many recipes want me to use one? I've done just fine grabbing a fork out of the silverware drawer.

The 'feeling fat' syndrome

rolypolyman — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:13:30 -0800

What causes the temporary "feeling fat" syndrome? Not "feeling full". I'm a male in my late 30s. Yesterday, I ate light and sensibly, and felt great. But in the evening I had some definite junk food (Long John Silvers: 2 chickens, 2 hush puppies, and some fries, with water) and later indulged in four beers.

Today I didn't wake up hung over, but all day I've felt fat, for lack of a better word. I don't feel full, because I've eaten very little today. The feeling is hard to describe; sort of like a very vague, very slight, persistent, stretched feeling all over my torso, sort of a "fat" heavy feeling that suggests my clothes won't fit.

I've felt this from time to time after eating bad food, but now I am convinced that the syndrome is completely ridiculous and not tied to my weight. I am 11 pounds lighter than I've been at any time during 2006. My clothes DO fit, and I fit in them great.

What's going on here? Is there some sort of physiological cause to this? I've suspected a relationship to sodium intake; could this be true? Is this some sort of water bloat? (This wouldn't make sense as the beers should have dehydrated me and I haven't had much water today) And most of all, is there a good "antidote" to curb this feeling or do I just have to wait it out?

Yeah, and this post is eponysterical as all get out, so I'm tagging it as such.

How to tell a new employee her clothes are too sloppy?

mygothlaundry — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 11:36:30 -0800

How do I gently inform a new employee that she needs to dress better? We recently hired a new part time person for our (very) small staff. She's wonderful; we love her; she's already great - work-wise. Appearance-wise, however, she leaves something to be desired. She's sloppy; her clothes don't fit well or match and they're just inappropriate for her position, which is very much in the public eye. She's also in her mid thirties, so you would think that she would know dressing like a college student is no longer appropriate. Her clothing style is what we here in Asheville call "crunchy" btw: messed up old Ugg boots, corduroy jeans that don't fit, a not quite clean shirt that clashes horribly with the much too small cardigan over it, striped kneesocks with a plaid skirt and so on. We do have a dress code but it doesn't cover this kind of thing: it just says no jeans & no logo T-shirts & please be neat.

She doesn't have to get all corporated out - noone expects her to wear a suit every day or anything - but she should look like an adult, have clothes that are basically business to business casual and are clean, match and fit. This whole thing is hard for me because I certainly don't dress like a corporate clone: I mostly just wear black and try to make sure that everything looks at least kind of "officey." So I have no idea how to approach this entire conversation and, as I hate confronting people for anything at all, much less something personal like this, I am turning to the hive mind.

Removing semen stains

PenguinBukkake — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 17:30:50 -0800

What's the best method for removing human semen stains from dark cotton bedsheets? Very hot washing machine cycles don't always work. Thank you.