Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with forever

Present that will last forever?

kg — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:08:06 -0800

I'm looking for a present that would last for a long time. I'd like it to be something that's useful and very unlikely to break. Costing about £150. My Mum recently got married, and I gave her away and acted as bridesmaid. She tells me it's traditional to give the bridesmaid a present, so I benefit from this! I'd like it to get something that would last for a while.

I was inspired to ask this after seeing my flatmate has a good set of cast iron pots and pans. Something like that would be good, but obviously at the moment I don't need that.

The best man at the wedding (now my step-brother) got a new digital camera. Whilst that also seems nice, I'd like to have something that will last a lifetime.

I'm a student for the next year or so, and rent my house furnished, so don't need anything like that (but please still suggest things if it could be useful in the future!)

Sorry for the vagueness of the question, but I'll be around if anyone asks questions!

Minor but annoying Firefox problem

N2O1138 — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:08:49 -0800

I'm using Firefox 3.5 (on Leopard). Whenever I re-open FF, it remembers my tabs as it should, but there's a catch. All of them will "load" forever without actually doing anything unless I go to the location bar of each and hit enter. Hitting "Reload all tabs" doesn't work, instead it makes them all go blank. Also, until I switch to another tab and back, the URL of the first tab doesn't even appear. At first I thought the Fast Dial extension was causing this, but I disabled it and still have the problem. However, the problem seems to go away when I disable TMP and enable Tab Kit (so it seems it's TMP-related). I would simply use Tab Kit, but there are a few things in TMP that "I just can't live without."

I also just switched from TMP's session restore to the Session Restore extension to fix another minor problem (which it did), but that didn't help this one.

Why does the post office sell 42 cent stamps? Why do people buy them?

Flunkie — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:25:04 -0800

Why does the post office sell 42 cent stamps? Why do people buy them? The US Postal Service sells "Forever Stamps", at 42 cents apiece. These are supposed to be valid first class stamps forever, even if the price of a new first class stamp increases beyond 42 cents.

However, it also sells 42 cent stamps, at 42 cents apiece. If the price of a new first class stamp goes above 42 cents, these can only be used in addition with other stamps, making up the price difference.

Why do they sell 42 cent stamps?

I understand that the answer may simply be "Because people might buy them instead of Forever Stamps, and the Post Office makes more money, in the long term, if they do."

So why would people buy them?

Is there any reason, other than being a stamp collector, or reasons like ignorance or carelessness?

What have we lost forever?

MrBCID — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:14:38 -0800

What significant items have been irretrievably lost? Back in 1906 a fire in San Francisco caused by a huge earthquake destroyed the Levi Strauss headquarters and factories; taking along with it many original designs.

Last Fall the fires in North San Diego destroyed the house of Paul Kassel who owned Mickey Mantle's last baseball jersey.

Is there a list out there that has compiled items or collections lost forever? For example irreplaceable items lost in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001?

With any luck then I suppose the music never ends.

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 03:10:48 -0800

You have been together and/or married for a long time. You are still very much in love. How do you do it? What advice can you give someone just starting out? We're in our thirties and are really in love now. What can we do to make sure that it sticks? So that if there are hard times someday, we make it through them. Without becoming jaded or tired or just detached from one another, but keeping the sweetness and mutual caring that we have now?

Advice from your close observation of happy couples you know well who have been together a long time also welcome.

Crappy Body shop broke my car..

crewshell — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 15:14:14 -0800

My Car has been in the body shop for a minor fender bender for over 45 days and today they call to tell me it wont start! what legal recourse do I have? (more inside) O.k I got hit in a parking lot ( a guy backed into the front of my car) I have damage on the front bumber and the two left and right quater panels. I got the estimate it did not include everything so I got a supplement on it myself, took it to a shop, and ordered the parts and continued to drive the vechile until the parts came in.

It was in for two weeks before i made my first call to check on it and they said they were getting a supplement. I called a week later and they said they were getting ANOTHER supplement because the first was 1st (2nd total) was not high enough, I then resever the check for that damage in the mail and noticed they had changed the parts from aftermarket to OEM, which i did not authrozie (its fine i got the "brand name" but i am sure this contributed to the time my car was in the shop) finally i get a call that the car was done being repair and the parts where in paint and finish, this was LAST monday and they told me it would be ready thursday or friday. Well wed came and I called to check and they said maybe friday. So I go in on thursday (on my lunch break, which ran WAY over) INTO the shop to put my face to the unhappy customer on the phone and they said MAYBE MONDAY. They said it was done and that it just needed to be put back together and detailed.. so I said fine monday, now its tuesday and I still do not have it. I called the shope today at 10:25 and they said the car will be ready tomorrow it just needs to be finished up. I then say i want to speak to the manager (who i have dealt with several times before) and they tell me he is busy but will call me back. I get a call at 2:30 saying that my car would not START and that they TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP!!! now It may be a flooding problem, I told them that this car must be kept running until it warms up once started (its a mazda rx-8 sports car) when i dropped it in and i told him this over the phone and this is what he said " I know you did, but I have 20 employees here they're bound to forget" WHAT! no you do NOT FORGET TO PROPERLY HANDLE A VECHICLE! if i was mr million man with my bentley there they would not have fucked it up (yes this place handles VERY nice cars, which is why i chose it in the first place) so I called the dealership and they said it had been in there since 11:10 this morning. I was one the phone with the shop at 10;30! The guy at the dealership siad he had jsut gotten on the phone with the body shop manager as in he did not talk to him and get authorization to look at the car until 2:20ish!!!! So now they say that they can not get to it untill tomorrow , so the days are jsut adding up and I am so so so upset right now. OI am paying for my rental out of pocket until the insurance company pays me back but STILL its crap i should not have to deal with. Also i do not want any problem with my car fix under warrenty, I want the body shop to pay for it, i do not want the issue to be connected with MY care of the car in anyway, I do not want it to come back to me down the line when some other problem creeps up. I want it documented that SALLERS did the damage they are repairing... it ran great when i took it in (less then 3 months after my maintance and it was running fine for the 44 days they drove it to department to department...

so I ask you. metafilter what recourse do I have against the body shop? Legal of course but also, I want to hurt their business, I Want everyone in hollywood to know NOT to go to them that they do not repsect their customers and what a awful experience I have had with them, here is their info.. STAY AWAY

Saller’s Body Shop. Elaine & Dick Saller 11511 Ventura Blvd. Studio City, CA 91604. Phone: 818-753-9557