Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with escape

So much for the light at the end of the tunnel

yawper — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:47:02 -0800

Help me find this short story that I read in 8th grade 20 years ago. It's about a prisoner who finds the entrance to a tunnel in his jail cell and crawls all the way down... When the prisoner discovers the entrance after moving some loose bricks, he finds a note from his predecessor congratulating him and wishing him well on his escape. The prisoner anxiously crawls down the steep, dark tunnel and finally starts to see the light...but as he gets to the end, he sees that the exit is blocked by steel bars. He also finds the skeleton of his predecessor.

I'm pretty sure this story was titled "The Escape" but when I google, there are too many results for short stories with that name.

Help me find this dystopian movie!

sunshinesky — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:01:43 -0800

NameThisMovieFilter: Dystopian society of people living in a domed city, who don't leave their homes and spend a great deal of their time in their dream machines. -Before you suggest it, this is not logan's run
-Made in the 80s/early 90s?

Synopsis:
Humanity is dying out because of lack of contact with one another and one girl decides to break the rules and escape the dome. There are people living outside the dome, and romance ensues.

At some point, she challenges a man inside the dome who is the controller of the dream machines- he may or may not be her father, and there is some question as to whether her entire escape was simply a dream.

---

A friend of mine would like desperately to see this, and my googlefu is really failing me. It sounds pretty interesting, so I'd like to try to see it myself, if the hivemind might oblige and provide a name. Details may or may not be entirely correct, but I have no way of knowing, since I haven't seen it myself!

Thanks, hive!

Kids floating outside the kitchen window

Tandem Affinity — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:41:29 -0800

how to empty the fire escape as quickly as possible in the event of NOT a fire Our new place is on the top floor and has a pretty substantial fire escape that reaches all the way from the ground floor to our kitchen window. It seems to be very attractive to the neighborhood kids. Unlike fire escapes I'm used to, which require the person coming down to lower a ladder for the last story, this escape is a complete stairway so it's very easy for the kids to climb up and down. Which they do. All day long. Since it's a shaky wrought iron stairway, that's incredibly noisy, and it's a little disturbing to have them show up at the kitchen window when we live up so high. Speaking to them sternly about getting down worked a few times ("The fire escape is not a good place to play. You could fall. You're disturbing our dinner.") worked the first few times. Now, we get retorts of, 'good thing we don't care. good thing you don't know our names. good thing you don't know where we live.'

It's clearly prohibited to be on the fire escape in our lease (there's actually a spelled-out fine for being on there without a fire danger), so of course I'll be complaining to the landlord, but I don't have a lot of hope in them getting results. I suspect these are just neighborhood kids who don't even live in the complex. Any tips?

On a tangent to this same issue, the whole matter has pointed out to me how easy it is for *anyone* to climb up those stairs to our window. Unlike our deadbolted front door with a chain, which now seems silly in light of this, the kitchen window is large and easy to open even when locked with its inconsequential clips. I didn't really worry about window locks since we live so high up, but what kind of locks would people in the suburbs have on the ground floor?

Escape from Chase

zenpop — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:27:20 -0800

Credit union virgin. Several questions re CUs in Seattle area. I want to get out from Chase, who took over Washington Mutual this year. I can't stand them. Totally subjective reasoning, but that's not what I'm writing about. Would like to understand the benefit of using a credit union. And understand what credit unions are about in general. Totally innorant. And finally, can someone recommend a credit union in West Seattle or near that area (I live on Vashon Island). One that has online banking abilities and will be able to handle my personal AND business accounts.

Some day soon I'll know the name of this song...

overglow — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:27:52 -0800

Help me find this male/female duet that goes something like "Some day soon I'm gonna get away and you'll be sorry". I think I first heard this song about two years ago on Ann Arbor's 107.1. The tone of it is subdued anger--it's lively but almost cheerful sounding, with a pretty fast pace and high energy. I saw the music video once and the man is I think older than the woman. He had a beard and longish hair, and she had blond hair. They were driving in the video and maybe the lyrics were about driving too. Is this ringing any bells?

I want my brain back!

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:57:39 -0800

I got laid off two months ago and haven't been working. I have several creative projects I'd like to work on, as well as look for a new job. However, instead of focusing on me I've gotten caught up in a preoccupation with a romantic situation. I'm spending too much time and energy on this and I can't seem to work up the willpower to get on to the chores of life.

I'm not happy with the city I live in or its job market, so that doesn't help. I really just want to escape my entire life and I guess I'm doing it by fantasizing about that Certain Unavailable Someone.

I want to work out, write, create art, and find a new job, as well as get involved in more activities. Instead I just mope around daydreaming.

I think this can be solved cognitively rather than with meds. Maybe I just need a good kick in the butt from the green screen. So, kick away!

The trailing slash

crapmatic — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:29:06 -0800

What is the significance of the trailing slash in <foo/> as used for minor web programming? I'm guessing it's some sort of escape sequence, but what confounds me is that in the code where I often see it, <foo> often seems to work equally well. So what's the point? I see this dilemma frequently all kinds of Web stuff: PHP, Wikipedia templates, embedded code in VBulletin, etc, etc.

Catfilter: How to stop a cat from trying to run out the door when the door opens?

agent99 — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:19:54 -0800

How do I keep the cat from running out the front door every single time it's opened? I just moved to a new apartment with my two cats; our next door neighbors have two enormous, vicious, and completely untrained dogs. One of my cats tries to run out the front door every chance it gets (it did this at our old apartment, too), and I'm really afraid that one day the vicious dogs and my cat will meet and it won't be pretty. How do I stop the cat from trying to run out???

Help me in the war of deadly insects in hot, humid, Houston weather.

isoman2kx — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:02:52 -0800

Will I survive against the carpenter bees? I've been thinking about pursuing a hobby for a while. Today I bought a Rubik's cube (which I know I'll give up on in a few days, or wait until I actually can have time to google how to solve it) and a board game that I really can't play by myself, but has all kinds of cool "truth or myth" facts for me to read.

That being said, I've been looking around the internets (thanks Al Gore) and have encountered woodworking as a hobby/nice little "get away" from the daily battle that is depression/anxiety that I actually have some INTEREST in pursuing long-term. The problem is there are vicious man-eating carpenter (regular bumble) bees that live outside my dad's workshop in the wood and I'm utterly terrified of bees/wasps/etc.

Will I be able to survive if I'm working inside or will they form a coherent game plan and proceed to slaughter me?

If they are able to form a coherent game plan and disrupt my woodworking, do I simply spray them all and run until I kill them?

Regards,

- Travis

Where do you go to escape?

JimmyJames — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:15:21 -0800

Where can I go to escape for a few hours in the Bay Area? I'm searching for Secret spots in the Bay Area. (If you're willing to share) I'm finishing my Senior year and the mental/spiritual exhaustion is setting in. Recently a friend of mine sympathized and took me up a road in the middle of a residential neighborhood, past the duplexes and model homes. We parked the car, and walked up a service road to a secluded overlook of the entire Monterey bay. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest.
I'm sure that more of these spots exist. For some reason, checking out of society for half an hour really helped me de-stress. I've found a few kinda similar gems through geo-caching, but I feel that geo caching can be hit or miss.
I would love to know about similar spots in the bay area/ santa cruz area that you have found that help vanquish the doldrums, or ideas on how to find such spots. Not necessarily out looks, but rather places of tranquility close to civilization .
GPS coordinates are welcome, as well as indoor spots that fit the bill. (Flexible is good ie cafe's , tea houses, green houses)
Thanks so much.
(throw me a mefi mail/e mail if your gem is too good to lend to the unwashed masses)

A Novel Method of Escape

Tube — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 21:45:04 -0800

Has anyone ever escaped from jail or prison using this novel method, either in fiction or in real life? As a child I remember hearing about an escape by a prisoner using string and an abrasive to saw through the steel bars of his cell. I believe the story involved the string being coated with soap, which was used to adhere powdered mortar or concrete. The improvised "saw" was then pulled back and forth against the metal bar until it cut through.

I honestly can't remember where I came across this idea, whether I was told it as historical fact by my father, or if I read about it or perhaps saw it on TV as a work of fiction.

Has anyone else heard of this? I'm not so much interested in speculating whether it is really possible or not, rather if anyone can provide any specific examples.

help with nds escape please

dent8101 — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 01:19:41 -0800

im trying to get through the last level (20) in escape (clubhouse games) on the ds lite. im starting to think its geometricaly impossible, has anyone actualy gotten the block out?

How do I get a job outside the UK? ASAP.

zingzangzung — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:14:54 -0800

How do I get a job outside the UK? ASAP. I'm a kind of half arsed learning technologist/instructional designer/web developer/graphic designer/video maker etc etc etc.
In other words I am a kind of jack of all trades in the web based learning business. I want to leave this country (the UK), in the next two weeks if possible. I have no savings, Where can I go, what can I do?
I will do (almost) anything.
I am attracted to Eastern Europe, could I find work there?

Toilet getaway folklore question

rongorongo — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:28:25 -0800

In his book "Catch me if you Can", Frank Abagnale claims he evaded arrest by removing a panel in the toilet of a VC10, climbing through it and hence escaping out of the (taxi-ing) aircraft through a hatch. Could this actually have been done?

Help me avoid rain in China.

matkline — Tue, 15 May 2007 19:51:39 -0800

I'm on vacation in China - there's only one problem: I Hate Rain. Can you help me plan a new itinerary with as little rain as possible? Also, which online weather sites are reliable? Currently, I'm in Dali, Yunnan Province. But, yesterday I booked a ticket to Chengdu, Sichuan in a bid to avoid rain. At that time, the sites I consulted said there would be 15 straight days of sun in Chengdu - that seems to have changed. It looks like I'll still have a little sun, but I'm hoping to avoid any rain that does come. I'll be here until the 8th of June. (When I have to fly out of Kunming to Hong Kong).

For various reasons I'm unable to leave China or go to Tibet, so that's out of the question. Any help would be appreiciated.

Why do my ice cubes grow arms?

AlisonM — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:12:22 -0800

Why do my ice cubes grow arms? So, whenever I make ice cubes, at least one or two grow what I call an "arm". See the picture here, where its happened to three! Why would this happen? This only seems to happen when I make them (not my roommate), but I think that's because I tend to fill the tray up to the top with water, and she doesn't.

Does it have something to do with the way ths cold air is blowing over the surface of the water? See here - the air comes out of that vent and blows across the top of the ice. Usually, the arms get broken off when I put another tray on top of it (they're not stackable, so the ones that aren't frozen yet can't have anything on top of it).

Science peeps, please help me solve this mystery! Are my ice cubes trying to escape? (ha) Its been bugging me since I moved in to this apartment 1.5 years ago.

Where should we escape to?

Listener — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 16:28:02 -0800

Where should we escape to? We (couple, not going to have kids) vant to be alone. We telecommute, so all we need is somewhere very quiet and safe and stable with good home Internet access. Where are the best places? I know we will have to do some travelling and check them out, but if you can give us some ideas, places, links, strategies to start on, we're grateful. I looked at past threads and found this about retiring in the US but I'm Canadian so that's right out. The Shetland Islands look like a good place to check out, since I have relatives in England. He's from eastern Europe and it would be nice to be in Europe to be near his family, but that's not the only option either. Would be nice if it's a place that has English speakers, but not absolutely necessary. Hot climate is nice but hardly necessary. We're both from cold "temperate" places.

We could buy a place to live cash down for about $100,000. Not much, I know. Of course in a few years we'll have more, but that's where we're at. This is not really about retirement, as we are decades from retirement age.

My first thought is Moose Jaw -- they have that nice natural spa in town. Pretty cold, but decent community activities, considering the tiny size of the place. Can we do better than Moose Jaw?

disappearing doggies do dastardly deeds

muddylemon — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 12:21:30 -0800

How can I contain my houdini hounds? In the last month:
1. I came home to find someone had opened the gate in my backyard and let our dogs out.
2. The pole holding up the gate came loose, the dogs pushed it and it fell over - and they ran off
3. Yesterday, both gates were closed but the larger dog disappeared, was just found a couple miles away today.

I'm sure the humane society thinks we're reprobates now. But between the dogs being let out by persons unknown, knocking over gates and possibly teleporting through the fence, we're running out of ideas for keeping the dogs where they belong and not rooting throught the local chinese restaurants dumpsters. We live in an urban area and they've always showed up a couple of busy streets away. Any ideas or tips for preventing this? We're already going to get some locks for the gates (apparently there's a nut in the neighborhood who likes to let dogs out.) Another question: is it possible for a 60lb shepherd/lab mix to jump a regular sized chain link fence? I'm trying to figure out if she jumped or was let out by some idiot (or astral projected across town.)

Quebec Metro Screw Up

Napierzaza — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 10:24:24 -0800

I have been charged 210$ for using a metro pass in Montreal that I am not supposed to be able to use. What's the best way to not have to pay this amount? Essentially there are these weekly passes that are, as I was told at the pharmacy, for students. I am a valid student except in this instance it was for children 18 and below. The ticket amount is WAY too much and I can't pay it. Is there anyway I can escape?

The price of the weeklies weren't that far under the monthly one (the one actually for university students) so I thought there was no issue about, I seriously had no idea.

Books about escape and survival?

takeyourmedicine — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 17:43:03 -0800

Any suggestions for books based on the theme of escape and/or survival? I especially love books based on desert islands, in prisons or in some post-apocolyptic world. I've seen Lost, read Lord of the Flies, enjoyed Castaway and adored The Shawshank Redemption, Mad Max, Papillion etc. Now I'm looking for some not so well known Books that you can reccommend for Christmas reading and present suggestions.

We've got company

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 11:11:47 -0800

Not even kidding: What are some good ways to avoid being tailed after a downtown meeting with people I don't want to follow me home and find out where I live? Anyone know of good tips for shaking pursuers, either from the movies or real life?

Escape from New York!

onalark — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 19:21:18 -0800

Escaping the Big Apple if disaster struck. Suppose you live a quiet life in the Upper West Side filled with mathematical homework and reading Metafilter. Suppose this life was interrupted with CATASTROPHE! How would you escape the city on foot? What sort of 'go bag' would you have set to go? What would you take with you? What would you leave behind? What would your primary and backup paths be?

You are allowed to speculate on different escape/hunker-down strategies for different disasters, but the 'go bag' must be a general and reasonably priced kit.

relaxing in the hudson river valley?

kingfisher, his musclebound cat — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 09:12:03 -0800

I am hoping to get out of Brooklyn at the end of this month and do nothing nearby in the Hudson River Valley. Does anyone have recommendation for a good place to stay that is close by the Hudson, not so far north that it is past peak, and that may have reservations. Also I don't really get into the whole Victorian frilly shebang that goes on in the bed and breakfasts. Does something laid-back, maybe even a little, er, hip, exist?

Thanks

Cat wants OUT

rio — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 09:22:23 -0800

My indoor-only cat meows like CRAZY every time I go near my front door. Does my cat hate me and want to escape? Or, is it separation anxiety?? AskMe cat experts, please please help... My cat Milo is 2 years old. He is an indoor-only cat in our decent-sized apartment with an enclosed patio, so he gets a taste of outside air and can see birds and other cats. He is neutered. He is the purringest cat I've ever seen, very loving and sweet. HOWEVER...lately he is driving me nuts with a certain behavior: every time I go near my front door, he meows like crazy and it seems like he wants desperately to get out! He gets all agitated, rubs my legs and the door and paces back and forth right in front of the door. If I'm going outside just for a little while (to take out the trash or get the laundry), when I come back he is waiting RIGHT at the door and meows long and loud when I noodge him with my foot out of the way.

A couple of months ago this behavior got even worse after my husband and I got back from our honeymoon -- we were gone for 3 weeks and left Milo and our other cat Spike with my parents. My parents said that Milo was very quiet and timid while we were gone, and didn't come out from behind their couch for the entire first day (Spike was perfectly fine, and still is). After we came back, Milo's door-freaking-outedness got worse, and now sometimes he'll suddenly race over to the door even when no one is going out, and start meowing and pawing the door like mad. And recently, we were leaving for a short weekend trip, and while we were packing, Milo peed on a blanket on our bed, which he has never done before!

And now for my barrage of questions: What the heck is going on? Separation anxiety? Is he trying to escape? Should I just get him a collar and let him be an outdoor cat now? We live near a pretty busy street in Los Angeles and I'm afraid he'll get hit by a car or maybe join a cat gang and never come back. Oh, and he actually managed to get out twice now through a window with a broken screen...I came home from work and found him just outside the window, meowing to get back in! Crazy freakin' cat. Has anyone here had this problem? Did you figure out what it was? What should I do?

Can one escape debt counseling?

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 17:33:15 -0800

Enrolling in a debt counseling program automatically cancels credit cards without warning. This is unacceptable. Is it possible to back out of the program and restore the credit card accounts? If not, does the debt program block the ability to get new credit cards? This is not an issue of wanting to live on credit cards, but instead to have a safety cushion in times of emergency fiscal need.