Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with junk

Who will take bed buggy furniture?

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:48:22 -0800

Does anyone know a junk removal service in Vancouver, B.C. that will take bed bug infested furniture? Most of it I can get rid of myself in the bin for my building, but I have an old Yamaha organ and a chair that's too heavy to get in there. Suggestions? If you prefer, email me at bedbughell@gmail.com.

how to get rid of a car quick

paultopia — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 03:23:42 -0800

How do I get rid of a car in the SF bay area? Slightly above junk level... Simple question. I'd like to quickly and easily sell my car, ideally in the next week or so. I have the title sitting around somewhere, and there are no liens on it. The car needs a few grand of work, and it's not worth much even before work, so it's not something I could take to the private party market. At the same time, I think I could do better than just sending it to a junkyard for parts.

This would be a perfect moment for Carmax. Except: I live in Palo Alto, CA, and the closest Carmax is 60-some miles away in Modesto. I'd really like to take it somewhere accessible by public transportation so I can just drive it over there, sell it, and take the train home.

Does anyone know anywhere Carmax-like but actually in the bay area? Or have any other bright ideas? Should I just craigslist it?

What is a dead car worth?

anastasiav — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:40:59 -0800

I own a 1997 VW Golf that threw a rod in 2004 and has been sitting (inside a garage) ever since. Donating it to charity has no tax benefit for me. It needs to go. Does it have any cash value at all? If so, how much? I've been looking on Craigslist, and there have been some '97 Golf "parts cars" listed recently in the $300 - $500 range, but who knows if those sold? Would a junkyard pay me anything for it? If the engine and tires were replaced, I suspect it would run ok - is there some DIY High School car enthusiast who is dying to take this car off my hands and make it into their ride?

I saw this but my car has no KBB value because it doesn't actually run.

What would happen if I did heroin just once?

Alaska Jack — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:58:02 -0800

Gimme an H! or, What Would Happen if I Did Heroin Just Once? I'm just really curious.

DISCLAIMER: Don't worry, there is absolutely zero chance of me doing heroin any time soon. I'm not depressed -- I actually tend to run along on a pretty even keel, and I think most people would describe me as calm and cheerful. Also I get random drug tests. Damn you Uncle Sam! Anyway, I've never even done pot.

ALSO, I definitely do not have a naturally addictive personality. I enjoy poker once a month, been to a casino once, drink moderately with no real urge to do it more often, etc. Just not an obsessive guy!

So, what would it be like? And would doing it just once change me into a different person, a person who WANTED to do it a lot?

Help me shoot up vicariously!

How can I prevent Amazon from sending me junk with my purchases?

Solomon — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:27:19 -0800

How can I get Amazon UK to quit sending me flyers with my purchases? Anything I purchase directly from Amazon UK (not from a third party seller) seems to arrive with several flyers inside the parcel. Is there any way to prevent Amazon from sending me this junk? An opt-out button I've missed, perhaps? A freepost address I can return them to so that they can be reused?

I realise that I can deal with them when they arrive. What I want is to prevent them from arriving in the first instance. How can I do that?

Why is junk food causing me aches and pains?

shelayna — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:31:57 -0800

Can eating too much fat and sugar cause body aches? I have recently lost about 45 pounds through eating right and exercising. I still eat a small amount of junk food once or twice a week. No problems there. But once every month or so I overindulge. McDonald's, ice cream, cookies, you name it. Later that day, the pains start. My wrists, knees, thighs, ankles, upper arms, forearms, neck, shoulders all start to ache pretty badly, and these pains last for the next day or so- until the junk is out of my system, I guess. I compare it to the feeling I get when I have the flu and my whole body aches.

This never happened to me in my fat old days, when I binged on an almost daily basis. Can eating crap really cause this reaction? I've searched on Google and have found some stories of people who suffer the same thing, as well as reports that too much junk food can cause arthritis down the road. I know I don't have arthritis, but I wonder if there's some connection. Can anyone explain why my body reacts this way?

Best reading on junk science

Neale — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:44:35 -0800

What's the best reading available for a summary of "Junk Science"? I'm looking for books/papers/literature at that demonstrate [1] Why people resort to junk science [2] What it looks like [3] How it's used and "proved" [4] Where it's been used [eg. ID, AIDS denial, global warming, cigarette cancer], [5] why it's important and the impact it's had [6] and how to argue against it.

I'm looking for some durable dark blue jeans.

Brian Puccio — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:54:08 -0800

Please recommend durable jeans that would fit a 6' 2" male that weighs around 190 pounds with most of the junk being in the trunk. I've been wearing three pairs of Gap jeans in size 34" x 34" in the relaxed fit cut for a little under a year now, but they're all wearing out. I'd be willing to spend more money if they would last longer. I keep a wallet in one back pocket and a small notebook and leatherman skeletool in the other back pocket. I'm seeing small holes in the back and the knees are starting to get pretty thin. I live in my jeans, I wear them 16+ hours a day, 7 days a week.

I went to H&M last night at the advice of the GF who thinks just buying everything online in terms of clothes is a bad idea, though this is what I've done most of my life. Turns out that while their shirts fit me nicely, their pants, even in a 38" waist, do not. I have far too much junk in my trunk to wear their pants. OK, so maybe the GF was right and I should try things on if sizes run so differently.

I'm looking for pants that aren't baggy, but can still easily fit the section of my body between my hips and my knees which seems to be a little thicker than the rest of me. (I love how H&M's shirt's look nice on me instead of like a big sail like most of my shirts do.)

Bonus points for ethically made, environmentally sound companies that can do this without breaking the bank (say, $100 a pair, if that's not completely unreasonable). I'm not against ordering online if the sizes run similar to every other pair of pants I've owned, unlike H&M. A few pairs of dress pants in black, gray, etc. would be nice, too.

there is no more forbidden. why can't i understand this?

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:06:49 -0800

Raised in a super-strict, health-conscious household - I never learned "moderation" with not-so-healthy foods. Can I, as an adult, re-train good eating habits that do not include restriction, and do not include binging? My father was a biochemist/nutritionist. During my birth, my mother was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. As a result, food and healthy eating was a constant subject in our house, and I had little freedom to come to decisions on my own.

"junk" food was kept in a locked filing cabinet, to which only my father had the key. Our rations would include anywhere from 1-4 cookies a day, depending on our ranking from youngest to oldest (I am the youngest of four). Additionally, prior to my birth and my mom's cancer, food was less of a issue. It's normal for older siblings to pick on the younger ones; in my case, I was picked on because of the change in eating habits that merged birth and sickness. "We could always eat (x, y, and z) before you were born" was something I heard for many years.

Brown rice, tofu, steamed veggies, lean meats, low sodium, no-soda (and so on) was the diet of our household. As a result of this, I actually do sincerely enjoy eating "healthy" foods - they taste great to me. My favorite snack as a kid? Seaweed.

We were allowed to go go trick or treating as kids - but never allowed to keep the candy. Our rooms were searched for storing snacks we might have smuggled from school. This, in addition to keeping cookies under lock and key. Learning to develop a moderate diet, inclusive of everything with no restrictions, but knowing how to moderate foods, was something I don't think I ever developped.

Beginning in middle school when we had a little more freedom, I'd buy snacks at school, and hide them in places my dad would never look.

When I got my license and began earning my own money, this habit magnified - sneaking in the bad foods, hiding them, scarfing them down before I'd be found out.

I feel like I've carried these unhealthy habits into adulthood. I feel like if I get junk, it's not going to stay around. And so I must eat it quickly, in private, before it's found out and condemned. And I hate this condemnation. Even living on my own now, it's hard for me to rectify this ingrained reaction to junk or indulgent food - nothing lasts for long, because nothing ever lasted for long when we were growing up. In my mind I know no one is going to steal my hershey's kisses in the cupboard - but I feel like I've deeply internalized that if I have 3 now, I can't count on them being there tomorrow.

My problem is not that I dislike good-for-you-foods - I love them, actually. But I also feel like I don't know how to moderate my eating, and re-train my mind when it comes to developing good eating habits, where nothing is off limits - and find a balance between restriction and binging.

Can I change the way I think about food?

Fire from the sky!

dejah420 — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 11:05:19 -0800

There was a huge fireball in the sky; looking southwest from my back yard this morning. How do I find out what it was, or where it landed? So, I'm standing outside this morning (in North East Texas), about 10:30 am I'd guess, looking to the southwest, and there was a huge fireball streaked across the sky. I didn't hear anything hit, and it appeared to flame out before it crossed the horizon line...but I can't find any news about it...and with anything in the sky, it's really hard to tell how far away something is.

Did anyone else see this? NASA and spaceweather.com are reporting that there are meteor showers this time of the year, but anything big enough to be visible in the daylight would have to be relatively close or relatively large. Reportedly two satellites collided on 2/10/09, but I'm not finding much on the debris coming to earth.

It was astounding; and I'd love to know what it was, but I'm not even sure where else to look besides NASA and spaceweather.

Help me figure out what this was.

Which is better - integrated nForce 420 or external GEForce2 MX400?

obiwanwasabi — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:22:27 -0800

What should I use in this aging Packard Bell desktop - the integrated nForce 420 chipset, or an external GEForce 2 MX400 64mb card?

GTA/Toronto area electronics surplus?

the dief — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:00:15 -0800

Any Toronto/GTA area electronic surplus stores? Is there a store in Toronto or the GTA (or Hamilton ideally, but I'm not holding out a lot for that) that is sort of like the US Bay Area's Weird Stuff or Chicago's American Science and Surplus? I need to get my hands on a power adapter for a random bit of electronics.

Chicago for an atypical tourist?

fritley — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:42:52 -0800

I'm going to Chicago, Sunday - Wednesday. What geeky/techie things should I not miss while I'm there? I'm going to Chicago with a fellow geek friend for IMTS (machine tool/manufacturing trade show) next week. I'm looking for some fun things to do Monday and Tuesday afternoon/evening. I would like to know about any local electronics junk/surplus shops, machinery junk/surplus, museums that cater to adults and have interesting displays about technology (new or especially old), or anything else of the kind.

Examples of great finds that I've really enjoyed in other cities are Fair Radio (Lima OH), Exploratorium (San Francisco CA), HGR Industrial Surplus (Euclid OH), Boeing Surplus (Wichita KS), Early Television Museum (Hilliard OH), Pavek Museum (St. Louis Park, MN).

Hooked on junk

WPW — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:14:09 -0800

Does anyone know of any "good" junk shops in east London? I've lived in east London (Mile End) for a year now, and have only ever found one "good" junk shop, on Roman Road.

I say "good" because what I mean is "crammed with junk, mostly of no value, but with the strong possibility of coming across something very nice indeed; not a forgotten Prouve, just a decent piece of old furniture". I've been to the one of Romn Road three times and once came away with a beautiful c1920 trunk; that easily repaid the investment of time and effort.

So, does anyone know of any place like this between the City and the Lea Valley?

Dead Letter Office

Shepherd — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:01:47 -0800

What happens when I tell catalogue people I am dead? Somehow -- I suspect it was the Folio Society, because it seems to be mostly book companies, British culture companies and classical music clubs -- my name and address has been sold to a list mill. This is addressed mail, not "Occupant" or "Current Resident" mail.

Conventional Internet spam wisdom is "never tell them you don't want their catalogue, because that just confirms the address is valid and raises your spam value rating." Does the same apply to junk mail?

And if so, what's the best way of dealing with it? I have considered drawing a line through the address and putting "UNSOLICITED" on the mail, then leaving it sticking out of the mailbox for the postal person to return to sender, but I'm worried that that's not a recognized reason to send mail back. "DECEASED" is more fun (and kind of cool), but I'm concerned that it, along with "NOT AT THIS ADDRESS," will result in the post office proper thinking I am dead/no longer resident and bouncing legitimate mail. My name, in theory, becomes valueless and is removed from lists (rather than becoming confirmed and therefore more valuable).

I am in Canada, and we do not have an equivalent to the options listed here. I think nipping this in the bud, and telling these companies I am "dead," either by "DECEASED: RETURN TO SENDER" post or by calling their 1-800 numbers, is the best method of getting my name conclusively removed from their lists, because dead people generally do not purchase things by mail order or otherwise.

But are there ramifications to being catalogue-dead that I am not considering?

Looking for a junkyard of musical instruments

moonmilk — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:05:28 -0800

Where in New York City or the San Francisco Bay Area can I buy dirt-cheap used/wrecked musical instruments? I want to dig through bins of dented trombones and xylophones with missing bars. Is there such a place? Preferably near public transit.

What level of success have you had cutting down on incoming junk mail and how?

poppo — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:40:29 -0800

I saw this thread from last year, which listed some sites for cutting down on junk mail. If you have used some or all of them, how effective was it? Which one(s) did you use? I am particularly interested in opinions on 41 Pounds or a service like it, where they take a fee in exchange for the bulk of the work, which seems time consuming if you go the piecemeal route.

Looking for Yard Junk

crawfishpopsicle — Sat, 10 May 2008 08:38:40 -0800

I am looking for a good non-auto junk/ salvage yard in Portland, OR area that allows you to dig though and buy scrap metal. I am trying to find some funky old metal to use to build a metal gate and some trellises for my yard. That and I just sort of feel like wandering around a junk yard, but I can't seem to find any (other than auto yards) that allow people to dig around. In addition to junk yards, any place that might have rusty old gates, crazy old headboards, or random wrought iron would be helpful. Something like Scrap but more dangerous and dirtier.

Any ideas?!

Po-tay-to, po-tah-to

kidsleepy — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:06:01 -0800

Which is the healthier option: french fries or potato chips? The cafeteria at work offers a choice between generic crinkle-cut french fries and generic ruffled plain potato chips.

Which option is the lesser of two evils?

(There are healthier alternatives, like fruit and salad, but sometimes a girl just needs something salty.)

For sale: Dead car. Not very pretty. Perfect for target practice.

mudpuppie — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 13:03:24 -0800

Can I sell this car? And how? That car that's been sitting in my driveway for seven years? I'd like to get rid of it. I know I could donate it, but I'd prefer to try to make a couple hundred bucks off of it.

The details: It's a 1988 Sentra. It's been sitting for so long that it's not running, but it was running fine when I parked it. It had a complete valve job before I stopped driving it. I'm in CA, but it's never been registered here.

I don't imagine anyone would buy it to drive (nor would I encourage them to), but it's got some junk value, no? (Especially with the new valves?)

My first question, I guess, is will anyone buy it? Two, how much should I ask for? (KBB value is approximately $900.) Three, how do I best word a Craigslist ad to attract the type of person who wants to chop my car into pieces?

Many thanks.

Old videotapes

A-Train — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 10:44:10 -0800

What do people do with old videotapes? Do they pitch them, donate them, sell them (on Amazon, maybe?), transfer to DVD, something else?

I have a few boxes of tapes and I'd like to clean them out, at least in part because I have not watched them in a few years, but I am unwilling to throw them away unless there is no real alternative.

Do I have to have a mailbox?

nitsuj — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:46:11 -0800

Do I have to have a mailbox? I live in an apartment in the U.S. with a mailbox, but literally 99.9% of everything dropped into my box is junk (hehe). I get maybe once piece of mail every two months that I actually open. Am I legally required to have a mailing address in the eyes of the USPS? If not, is it possible to NOT have a mailing address but continue to live in an apartment with an address?

Signed,
Confused

Do Not Mail List

destro — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:05:03 -0800

How do I stop paper junk mail? Is there an equivalent of the government Do Not Call List for regular mail?

Please give me my email back!

Rabulah — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 09:40:09 -0800

I'm using Thunderbird 2.0.0.6, and I want to alter it's behaviour. Several "features" are really starting to annoy me, and I'd like to be able to turn them off. 1] Sometimes I email myself from work, via my Gmail account. I will send an email from rabulah@gmail.com to rabulah@gmail.com. It's just things like "pick up the milk", "get the cat in", etc. Thunderbird picks them up, then Gmail archives them. But Thunderbird always thinks these messages are Junk, and flags them as such. How can I stop it from doing this?

2] Every time I get an email from someone not in my Address Book (apparently), Thunderbird blocks the pictures. To get the pictures to show, I have to save the email address to my address book. How do I turn this functionality off, so images are displayed by default?

3] Sometimes, when I get an email from my credit card company, telling me that a payment has been sent to my account, Thunderbird decides that this message is an email scam. It sometimes thinks that my ebay "favourite searches" are scams too. They're not. They never are, and I've been on the internet long enough to be able to tell the difference between a scam and a legitimate email. How do I disable the "email scam" warning?

I'm on Windows, if that makes any difference.

Why do my outgoing emails often get spam-filtered?

jimmyjimjim — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:26:48 -0800

More than half my outgoing emails wind up in spam folders. I realize that it's inevitable this will happen sometimes, but how can I minimize it? I use gmail, and I do not, fwiw, use words like "mortgage", "refinance" or "penis" in my messages. I sometimes use a sig, but it's non-hypeish. I do often send links in the body of my emails. One solution is to follow up re: unreplied-to emails, but 1. if someone did receive my mail but hasn't had time to reply, I look pushy and 2. chances are that my follow-up will be spam filtered, too.