Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with laziness

Messy question from a person who is a mess

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:03:54 -0800

Please help me make a decision. I am exhausted and stressed and maybe I am not thinking clearly. A friend gave me Adderall. Should I take some? Basically, I have been working very long hours (12-14 a day) without any time off (including weekends) for a couple of months. Long story short, worst semester of law school yet. I have three days before yet another exam and I am so tired and unprepared. I can't make myself do any work, and I really need to do this work.

Con side, I do not have a diagnosis, nor am i totally convinced that ADD is a "thing" or a thing that we can reliably diagnose. I am not trying to be insulting, sincerely, but I am ignorant and my ignorance makes me skeptical. Especially because I feel like it's cheating to declare that I'm not undisciplined, weak, lazy, spoiled, and so on, just "ill." Maybe some people are, but not me. I am pretty sure I'm just those things I listed.

Another con is that I don't even feel totally comfortable taking Advil... I have an irrational fear of pills. This sounds silly to me. We're taking about a 5 mg pill. I think that's the lowest available dose. But it still freaks me out.

I also fear that it either won't do anything or will be revelatory and life-changing and boom: dependency.

On the pro side, my three days to study are now 2.5 and I've made very very little progress. I also have been struggling for such a long time with what I think could fairly be characterized as a total inability to focus... part of me wonders if it really is "cheating" to take a drug that helps with that. Isn't that just a character flaw? But what if it's not? I don't know.

I think maybe this is a ridiculous question. I apologize. I'm probably just being ridiculous because I'm so tired, and so stressed, and feel so bad about how little I am able to do, and I feel like this is maybe me being tempted to do the wrong thing.

So here I am in the library surrounded by people who are sitting there doing work for minutes and hours at a time. It makes me feel inadequate and ashamed. The bottom line is I need to get my work done. I don't know what to do. I do not feel like I am thinking straight at this point. Please share your wisdom with me.

5 Hours later...

SNWidget — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:33:17 -0800

TemporalDisturbanceFilter: I seem to lose time. Or, more specifically, I'm one of those people that needs to get a bunch of things done, but I can easily sit on my laptop and play flash games for what turns into 4 hours. How do I break this habit/get my stuff together? I've found a few previous threads that are similar to this, but I'll take any other advice I can get.

It comes up with anything - for example, I'm on Spring Break this week form my graduate studies, and I'm sitting at home. Today, my fiancee asked me to take care of the laundry, clean the kitchen, and basically just tidy up. Not unreasonable.

I've been up since 9:30am, and I haven't done a thing but sit on my couch, go through websites, chat with people, and basically screw around. Hell, I booted up Netflix and watched 3 episodes of something I've already watched a million times.

I can't break out of this - this is what I do all the time. It happens in the evenings as well, and it's really starting to effect my relationship. My fiancee will go to sleep at 11, and I'll say I'll be in in a minute. Cut to 4 hours later when I'm stumbling in at 3am. She says she's not mad, but she deserves better than never getting the chance to sleep and pillow talk with me.

It's not any one thing I fixate on - it can be wikipedia, it can be reading blogs, it can be watching DVDs of Ducktales, or even some more "adult" activites, but the main problem is that they all form a time sink I can't escape.

My other problem (which is probably tangentially related) is that I severely overestimate the amount of time it takes to do something. Say, I only have 4 hours before a rehearsal, and I'm at home. I think, well, I should throw in a load of laundry... but I don't have time for that. Clearly, I have the 2 minutes it takes to throw in a load, but in my mind, it feels like I should partition out hours and hours for that.

So, MeFi, how do I escape the time sink? I'm doing pretty good in my graduate classes, but I'm starting my masters thesis up soon, so I feel like I need to shed this. How do I stop losing so much time, and do what I need to do?

Parent Filter: What can I do about this parent/child role reversal that is poisoning my mind and my life and how can I let this parent know that even though I love them dearly I will not continue to let them manipulate me and dump all of their responsibilities on to my plate???

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:36:49 -0800

Parent Filter: What can I do about this parent/child role reversal that is poisoning my mind and my life and how can I let this parent know that even though I love them dearly I will not continue to let them manipulate me and dump all of their responsibilities on to my plate??? Long story short, my widowed mother (who is young by definition - late sixties) let her life go to hell in a hand basket. My DH and I moved her in with us so that we could give her care and keep her from living the horrible existence that she was (dirty house, unable to take care of the pets she had, not eating right - living off of crap - and not managing her severe diabetes). When we moved her in with us, my DH and I were both 27 years old and had only been married for 5 months. That was over 3 years ago.

She doesn't give a damn about her health and always has a convenient excuse to justify what she feels like doing or not doing. She almost put herself in a diabetic coma once because she didn't manage her diabetes even though the doctor had clearly ordered her to do so. Obviously it is perfectly fine to eat a huge tin of peppermint bark that you had hidden in your room and then try to balance it out with insulin injections.... Right! And she has so many health conditions (osteoarthritis, obesity, fibromyalgia, SEVERE diabetes and the many complications that are resulting from the diabetes) not to mention her appalling lack of self-maintenance and personal hygiene... Two months ago, she fell and broke her leg. She wound up in the hospital and had to have surgery to repair the break. This has left her as non-weight bearing for 3 months. She is obese and cannot walk without a walker when she has two legs to walk on. So she has had to go to a nursing home until she can rehabilitate but has been very unhappy about that reality and has tried to get out of the rehab requirement on more than one occasion. She actually told my husband and I that she would be fine if she would just sit at home in her recliner while we went to work and if we made her some PBJ sandwiches and a glass of water so she could make it through the day until we got home. This is crazy... We told her no and I don't think she gets it.....

She has alienated my other siblings through her master manipulator bullshit and as a result I have lost one of my siblings (no longer speaks to my mother or myself) and the other is only helping out/sticking around because they love me and want to support me/not leave me hanging. My mother has nothing to do all day long but sit around and read trashy novels, but somehow she can't seem to manage making her own doctor appointments (even though I set up a HIGHLY convenient calender which has everyone's schedule on it - hence eliminating the excuse of 'I can't make appointments since I don't know what your schedules are and someone has to take me to the doctor). Did I forget to mention that she quit driving for no particular reason?

My husband and I have REPEATEDLY sat down with her and told her that her current situation and methodology in handling it has been unacceptable. Take a shower, change your clothes, wash your hair, eat right, exercise wherever and however you can, and for the love of god, start acting like a member of the living human race!!! Now last time I checked, she was not declared mentally incompetent and I was not appointed as her guardian. In my mind, this means that my family and I do what we need to do in order to make her life at home comfortable within reason. This does not mean that I am supposed to be her personal assistant/secretary and that she can just sit back and be the Queen of Sheba with no responsibilities what so ever. It also does not mean that she can just sit there and let herself be filthy and stink just because it takes so much effort to take a shower. And god forbid she does take that shower and clean herself up! Then she can't do anything for the rest of the day because it "took so much out of" her...

Yes, I am at fault for allowing this behavior to go on for as long as I have. But I have had my awakening and I also have a infant son who needs his mother since he is in fact a baby and cannot take care of himself. Therefore here are the questions that I have at hand:

# 1 - How can I convey that I am done catering to her, that she is an adult and needs to be responsible for herself and that I am invoking the protective shield of self-preservation immediately?

#2 - Once I have established the bare minimum requirements for her, how do enforce them? I know that one thing I can use is "if you don't/can't meet these expectations then we aren't equipped to take care of you anymore". The only problem with that is that it will become an empty threat if used too much. What other repercussions can I use?

# 3 - How can I break free of her manipulation of me through guilt? I need to rid myself of those shackles in order to be strong and not allow further mind games by the master manipulator.

Please feel free to e-mail me with any questions that you might have or any suggestions you can offer. I've set up a throw-away email address at: preserving.my.sanity@gmail.com

Finding Concerts Made Easy.

ryecatcher — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:40:41 -0800

LosAngelesConcertFilter: Is there some site that lists all the live acts playing at various venues around town, broken down by date? Like, if I want to see who is playing this weekend in LA I can just hop on to this wonderful site and it'll show me who is at The Wiltern, Spaceland, Bowl, etc.?

I realize I could just hop around from site to site but you don't know me and here's the thing: I'm lazy and I like things to be made as easy as possible for me.

Yes, I could also flip through the Weekly.

But seriously, there has to be something else that's even easier than that.

Lazy, bored, worthless.

giggleknickers — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:30:45 -0800

Why am I so lazy? If anyone has seen Office Space, I'm exactly like the lead character. There is nothing in the world that I want except to do nothing. I have tried and tried and tried to find something that I enjoy, or that will motivate me. Everything I can find is painfully boring. Travelling, a career, hobbies, meeting people - all of it bores me to tears. I only do the minimum in life to get by and it grates my nerves to do that much.

Sometimes I go hungry for a couple days because it's just so damn boring to go to the grocery store. It boggles my mind how some people hop out of bed and go about doing things, when it takes such enormous will to do something like washing the dishes.

I get by in life by scavenging and I have never held a job for more than a few months because the boredom overwhelms me. I'm so ashamed of myself and I'd give anything to feel motivation and drive for something. The only reason I do anything at all is so that I can keep a roof over my head.

I tried all the obvious solutions:
-Exercise
-Therapy
-Depression meds
-Blood test
-Healthy food

No, I don't have ADD, much as everybody loves to tell everyone else that they have it.

Nothing works. Please, somebody help me. There must be something.

No work today

barrakuda — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:12:23 -0800

how to explain the lack of... uhm work... at work? so my boss has been away for a few weeks and in that time i didn't do much work. i did some work but definitely not enough for all the time i had. the problem is that i am completely uninspired and somewhat unqualified for the task at hand (commenting on some really bad papers + a plethora of random tasks) and by this work in general.

at this point, i feel that the job is pointless, oscillating between little value-added and useless, and generally neverending. i am not sure if i care about keeping this job - i obviously can't stay motivated or interested in what i'm doing or focused on anything for longer than half an hour. my circumstances, other than my sentiments, dictate for me to stay here for the next four months. for the record, i have performed outstandingly in the past and only recently feel/behave as described above. generally, i feel like an ass and fully expect my boss to ask - what have you been doing all this time? i don't know what to say to this. i feel guilty but also annoyed and a bit hopeless. i don't want to make any stupid excuses, so no dying grandmas or personal health problems. tell me people, what do i say?

also, anyone who'd like to pitch in with strategies for motivating oneself to do completely uninspiring jobs, please do so. (this is not about personal effectiveness GTD type stuff - this is about making yourself do things even though you have no interest in them)

explain it to a pro

raisons de coeur — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:49:23 -0800

So a 'ruinous indiscipline' issue (described here and here) isn't getting any better. I keep getting extraordinary chances and 'rescues' through social connections but keep falling back into stagnation and crises. There's really no sort of requirement for school or work that I don't consistently fail. Now I'm thinking of getting help and I'm wondering, firstly, who would I need to see? (I don't have health insurance and the seriously low-end school I'm at doesn't really have health services, but money is not too much of an issue). Secondly, what would I tell them? I still have the feeling that "help: I can't do anything!" doesn't sound like a real problem and more just a personal-habits failure..

unable to perform thy terms too hard

raisons de coeur — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 10:41:16 -0800

I really really dislike doing things. This goes all the way ad absurdum in that I actually would rather freeze into nothingness than deal with college, work, chores, and so on. I assume this isn't normal. What to do?

I'm coming round to thinking I need to unplug and get help since I haven't snapped out of it all these years but it just seems so lame an issue, there's the internal disciplinarian saying "stop being lazy and it'll be ok"--and I stay skeptical of the capacity of external help to address something so mundanely internal.

I guess my question is "oh god what's wrong with me!", or more specifically whether you find this indicative of a particular pathology or dysfunction you're familiar with.

It's so frustrating because all the structural components to crawling back on track are laid out for me, but however resolute I get, I keep betraying trusts--mine own and other people's--and staying on one side of the bridge. It stings so badly when for example at work someone says "can you do this now? are you back? are we gonna kick ass?" and I'm all like "yeah!" and then flicker out again.

The irritating part is that this is independent of the nature of the task in question, they just all weigh down on me as numbingly boring.

It's all so greasy, dank and dreary, man. wtf.

i need to get my shit together!

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:21:11 -0800

Why is it so hard for me to do the things I need to do to make my life better? How can I motivate myself to get my shit together? I have a long list of things I'd like to do (jog daily, avoid refined carbs, walk home from work instead of drive, work on my illustration portfolio, go to sleep earlier, take classes, etc.) that would make me healthier, happier, and improve my quality of life. Despite the fact that I need, want, and should do these things, despite the fact that they are easy and completely in my control, I find myself doing none of them, day after day. I get home from work, lay on the couch with my dog, and watch a movie or read a book. Then beat myself up for letting myself down again. I complain about how bored I am even though there are so many things I can and should be doing. I've been like this for as long as I can remember, but it's getting more and more frustrating as I get older (I'm 25).

So I guess my question is how do I motivate myself to live the kind of life I want to live, instead of being boring and dull and unhappy with myself?

Songs About Incompetence

kmel — Mon, 21 May 2007 17:23:42 -0800

Seeking songs about incompetence. I'm gathering a playlist for a work event, so preferably the songs are both clean and well-known. The obvious ones are Beck's "Loser," the Beatles' "I'm a Loser," and Radiohead's "Creep." Also preferably, the songs are NOT obviously about being a loser at love, or being a drug addict/alchoholic -- think more general ineptitude/laziness/suckiness/loserhood/weakness, either from a self-deprecating perspective or putting someone else down. I feel like there's got to be plenty in the hip-hop, novelty/humor, and classic country/bluegrass genres that I'm just not thinking of.

How can I help my husband?

catfood — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:14:02 -0800

Is my husband's behavior normal, or is this indicative of depression or some sort of anger-issue? And is there anything I can do to help? I've been living with my now-husband for four years, and it seems like there has been a slow change in his personality over the course of the eight years I've known him, and not necessarily for the better.

He has always been a gamer, so there's sort of always a minor element of laziness there, since he likes to sit and play video games for hours. However, this is getting more and more pronounced. He seemed really motivated to start biking or doing outdoorsy things, and even bought a really nice mountain bike. The bike now sits unused (for 3 years now, and it's only been used maybe twice), and he never really wants to plan a trip to go biking or camping or whatever, even when I suggest it.

I've also noticed that games tend to really frustrate him a lot more than I think is normal. If there is a glitch in the game, he screams at it and throws a little hissyfit. A bad game can ruin his entire night.

He also gets really angry while working on computer stuff or putting things together. He's an engineer so he has always done stuff like this. But little setbacks send him grumbling and cursing and again seem to ruin his night.

If he's not angry, he's usually kind of apathetic. If I ask him his opinion on something, like what I should make for dinner, where do you want to go out for dinner, what movie we should go see, his response is usually "meh". It's not that he's not listening, he just doesn't have much of an opinion on anything. Either that or he gets argumentative over stupid little things.

I don't want to make him stop gaming or doing the relaxed, fun things he likes to do. But I hate seeing him get so angry about such little things. I don't feel like he is getting any relaxation or true enjoyment out of games anymore because he seems so angry and stressed out while playing them. I play the same stuff as him at times, though not nearly as much, but I don't see what there is to get so angry about. Also, his anger and yelling makes me feel very anxious and stressed out. Not because I am afraid in any way, just because it's stressful to hear someone yelling and carrying on about stupid crap ALL the time.

He doesn't do the things he always says are his major goals. He had seemed to want to ride his bike and do things outdoors more. He says he wants to write a novel. He says he wants to travel and go sight-seeing. But he just spends all of his time playing games or watching tv and seemingly feeling really grumpy.

What can I do to help him? Can I do anything to help him? I love him dearly - when he's not in a bad mood, he is the funniest, sweetest person on earth. I just want him to relax before he blows a gasket during one of his hissyfits. I want us to do fun things together again. I want him to want to do fun things together other than in the video game world.

How do I become less lazy?

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:33:58 -0800

How do I become less lazy? I'm 23. I'm lazy. I barely want to get up in the morning; I'd rather stay comfortable in bed. I wait until the last minute to take out the trash or do the dishes. My husband insists that it's not a problem because he likes the activity, but I feel such guilt for not pulling my share lately. Sometimes I'll skip class because I feel too tired or something to walk to school. I can't focus on readings or tasks at hand. I feel completely apathetic about my grades as long as I can maintain a B. I'll nuke a burrito if it means I don't have to spend more than five minutes making lunch and cleaning up. I've gained approximately 20 lbs. in the last year (likely from moving out on my own) and have moved from plus-sized to obese.

I'm going to graduate from college soon and so it might be the fabled "senioritis" extending to my non-academic life. Either way, I'm becoming lazier and lazier and I want to curb this now.

I believe that I have experienced a touch of SAD in the past, but I have never seen a doctor about it. There's six feet of snow on the ground and it's overcast every day here, so I'm sure that's not helping. Can I be depressed while I feel generally very happy about my life (aside from my laziness issue)? Would therapy help me with this? Did I develop some kind of adult ADD in the last year?

Help me develope a morning routine

sicem07 — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 09:00:01 -0800

What morning routine has worked for you? I'm currently working at a church before starting med school in the summer, and pretty much make my own hours. This has caused me to slowly shift the 9-5, to 10-6, and I fear I may be slipping back even farther. So I ask, masters of the green, what works for you? What should I do with my mornings?

I would like to be a morning person, I have been in the past. I also used to be in pretty good shape, perhaps I should go down that road. Should I go for a run? Write a novel? Ride my bike? Hit the gym? Read the paper? Learn a language? Say 'Screw it all' and sleep in? There are many books and websites out there, but I'd rather hear the brutally honest voice of MetaFi.

I'll go with whatever the consensus is, if there happens to be one. And yes, I saw this question but I'm not ready to admit my internet addiction yet.

Thanks in advance!

ah, the sweet sound of deadlines rushing by

nevers — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 08:32:46 -0800

How do I get over my laziness, procrastination, and foot-dragging in my office job? I have fallen into an embarassingly lazy state. I turn things in at the last minute or late. I have come to regard almost all deadlines as fuzzy. I still make the major deadlines, and I'm still doing my job, but I tend not to complete non-essential job duties unless someone chases me.

I've always been an overacheiver in the past I am horrified to realize that I've become mediocre in my job rather than excellent. It's making me feel awful about myself, and I really don't want to be the slacker everybody hates working with.

But every time I promise myself to be productive or to tackle the things I've been putting off or do whatever it takes to meet an upcoming deadline, I decide a second later that there's no real reason to work that hard when I can just finish the thing late or not do it at all like I've been doing for months. "She'll email me again if she really needs it," I tell myself.

Obviously, my heart is not in this job right now. But dragging my feet is only making it worse. How can I fake it? And make myself stick to deadlines and quality standards with very little outside reinforcement (my boss is hands off and wants to stay that way)?

(Should I mention that part of the trouble with being productive is I am anxious in some way about just about everything I've been putting off, and I don't have time for therapy right now because I'm training to be an ACROBAT for goodness sake?)

Has anyone ever changed from apathetic to motivated? What happened?

AuroraSky — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 15:45:32 -0800

Since developing bipolar disorder, and subsequently being out of work since April 2005, I find my motivation and concentration has gone to be replaced by apathy and what must seem to others like laziness. Has anyone else been in a similar situation and got themselves out of it, and if so, how? I seem to have slowly become the stereotypical depressed unemployed person, getting up very late, washing as little as possible, with an incredibly untidy house, and all the outward signs of being incredibly lazy. At the same time I know my bipolar disorder has a lot to do with that, and have got treatment for it (Prozac). My problem is this - I can manage to motivate myself to do things I might find enjoyable - visit a friend, participate in online forums about social anxiety, go to the cinema. However for things most people dislike but just get on with - making job applications, cleaning and tidying, washing dishes, I really have NO motivation and literally spend hours in bed doing nothing. I don't have that nagging voice or those internal standards that get people going. Unlike some depressed people, I am all too forgiving of myself and let myself off the hook where they might be filled with self-recrimination.

In April I will have been out of work for 2 years and worry about getting into a lifestyle and habits I will struggle to get out of, and if I manage to find a job will perform poorly, perhaps drifting from job to job getting poor references from each employer.

Has anyone else ever been that depressed/ lazy guy or gal? How did you get yourself out of it? Or if you have a relative or friend who turned things around, what did they do? I have the uncomfortable feeling that my life is just drifting away, I am 37 and 50 doesn't seem as far away as it once did, so the sooner I get my act together the better. Thanks in advance for any help, and happy holidays everyone.

One-click single page for nytimes.com?

ericbop — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:22:54 -0800

Anyone know of a firefox extension/greasemonkey script that would cause all nytimes.com articles to automatically open in the "single page" format. I read the whole paper online, and it's really annoying to have to click the "single page" button for every article that's longer than one page. Alternately, how hard would it be to write such an extension/script?

How to get to work on that million-dollar idea?

lifeless — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 04:45:05 -0800

I've got an idea for a web-based product that, when completed, could eventually make me a millionaire. I'm confident it would work, I've got the necessary programming skills and all the steps from beginning to end mapped out in my head. And yet, I'm completely unable to start actually doing something – anything – about it. It's been the same thing over and over again with lesser ideas and small personal projects throughout my life, and I don't know how to break the cycle now that I REALLY should. Anyone have any ideas? I'm 26 years old, and I recently realized that I have only ever completed ONE non-trivial personal project in my entire life, though I've started or contemplated dozens and dozens. (And no, I don't really know what separated the one from the others.) Looking back, I've recognized the same pattern all the way from childhood, but it's just in the last 2-3 years that it has started bothering me. I'm pretty innovative, but I never get any further than kicking around ideas in my head or, at the most, scribbling some notes down. Any attempts to do the actual work always end up in frustration or don't even begin. I end up punching a wall, screaming and crashing on the bed staring at the ceiling in despair of failing yet again. Many a good project's gone to waste because of sheer laziness and lack of motivation.

In this case, there should be ample motivation. The project would potentially forever free me from working 9 to 5 (a waste of life which I hate and am simply not built for) and get me enough cash to fulfill any wealth-requiring dream I've ever had. This is quite unlike anything I've ever thought of before, and it would only take a few months of none-too-hard work. My father has agreed to loan me all the money I need to start, a few thousand bucks, without interest or a time limit for paying back. My little brother is an expert on finance and bureaucratic technicalities. Everything is in place except my head.

Why is it that I'm easily able to allocate several hours for time-wasting stuff, like hacking through a very difficult level of N, or trying to get a near-perfect score on a Guitar Hero song on Expert difficulty? Both of those produce a lot of frustration at times, but that frustration is like fuel, it keeps me going until I eventually succeed. I may swear, shout or punch a wall or a sofa, but the motivation lives on, even improves. Contrast that to work-related frustration, even a little of which quenches any creative fire I may have. I just give up instantly at the first hurdle and become depressed.

The people near me have no advice besides "just start doing it!", which does not help at all. I would if I knew how, but I don't. I never have. Even if I force myself to start, I can't get myself to continue for very long.

I'm getting desperate. I hate the idea of popping pills or taking drugs, but I'm seriously contemplating the option. For God's sake, it's a few months of work, all of which I know how to do, none of which is even that difficult. What the hell is wrong with me?

How do I learn to stop and smell the roses?

richmondparker — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:44:45 -0800

What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I tend to fill my spare time with brainless crap? There's I’ve always considered myself to be a very introspective and thoughtful kind of person. The kind of person who would keep a journal, or enjoy painting and reading. In my mind’s eye, I imagine that these activities would bring me a great deal of satisfaction. The problem, however, is that I find such pursuits to be incredibly boring.

Instead, I spend most of my spare time ‘zoning out’ to the TV / Internet / video games.

I work a lot, and have convinced myself that these kinds of mindless activities are soothing. And they are, to a certain extent. But I’m beginning to notice that I’m not getting out of them what I say I’m getting out of them. I can spend an entire day doing ‘nothing’ and still not feel like I’ve recharged my batteries.

I want to learn how to enjoy more creative pursuits. Help me be a better person. Has anybody had any experience with teaching themselves to enjoy a more deliberate lifestyle?

MySQL help!

LoopyG — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 22:07:27 -0800

Please help me create a MySQL database from a collection of images. There is of course I have a folder which contains some subfolders. Each of these subfolders contains 100-200 images. These images are all numbered in the format #########.jpg, and each photo has a unique name. In other words, there is no photo in folder X which has the same filename as a photo in folder Y, for all X and Y.

What I want to do is add these photos information to a MySQL database on my local machine (I have a WAMP setup). I want to enter the following information.

ID# - this is the filename of the image but without the .jpg tag. In other words, image 000001307.jpg should have an ID of 000001307

description - the description needs to be the same as the name of the folder is in. So if a file is in folder "School" it needs to have a description of "School".

filename - simply foldername/filename for the image.

How can I set up some sort of loop to automatically create all the entries needed in a MySQL table? There is only ~10 folders of images, so even if I had to set up a new script for each folder, that wouldnt be too bad.

Please help save me the time of manually enterring 1300 entries into a DB!

Portland, OR charities that pick up?

pdb — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 08:59:04 -0800

Are there charities in Portland, OR that will come pick stuff up? I have a couple heavy (300-ish pounds) items (an old TV and various accessories) that I want to give to a charity, and I have no easy way to get them out of my house. Are there charities in the Portland metro area that will come get things?

How much does a bubble mailer + 2 dvds + a case weigh?

anonymoose — Fri, 26 May 2006 00:22:22 -0800

PostOfficeAvoidanceFilter: Has anyone made a weight calculator (or just recorded weights of commonly mailed objects) such that I can figure out how much a double DVD case, 2 dvds, and a bubble mailer would typically weigh? I imagine the variance between different 6x9 bubble mailers is relatively small, and the variance between different brands of DVD cases also small. Surely there's a way for me to spend a great deal of time successfully avoiding a trip to the post office.

(No, I unfortunately do not yet own a kitchen scale)

Alternatively, if anyone frequently sells DVDs on ebay and knows how heavy this thing is, that would do in a pinch.

Help us never get dressed.

my homunculus is drowning — Mon, 22 May 2006 01:20:49 -0800

Since my lady and I mostly just lay in bed all day, we're looking for some more appropriate clothing for our lifestyles. What are your favorite lounging around clothes? Our current idea is that she needs a good kimono, and for myself, well, I've got a strange obsession with the bathrobe that Johnny Depp wears in Secret Window. . .does anybody know where to find one like that (minus the holes)? Or alternatively, where did you buy your amazingly soft and comfortable bath robe? Or is there something softer and much more amazingly great that we should know about? Help!

Lazy pregnancy = bad mom?

justonegirl — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 05:56:03 -0800

I'm pregnant and it's not at all what I thought it'd be. And evidently I'm not at all the kind of mother I thought I'd be. I'm 8 weeks pregnant and the baby was a surprise (my husband and I had finally stopped focusing on getting pregnant after about a year of not succeeding). Last year, when we were really hyper-focused on it, I had so many plans for the kind of pregnant mom I'd be -- I memorized the nutrition requirements, was so certain I'd exercise and do all the things to ensure my baby was the healthiest it could be.

I guess I'm having trouble coping with the feeling that I'm a horrible mother-to-be. Because the reality is, I can barely bring myself to eat anything (I'm living on saltines, ginger ale, cereal and other random, non-healthy things). I'm not doing much besides laying around. And I feel really guilty about it, yet physically, I feel so horrible that I can't really fathom preparing (or eating) good meals or getting any kind of exercise. On top of that, I'm feeling pretty useless in general because my other responsibilities (my freelance work, contributing to my husband's business, and household chores) are really suffering. Basically I feel lazy and worthless, in spite of the fact that my husband's been supportive. I know plenty (if not most) other mothers-to-be are able to juggle working full time, taking care of other kids, etc. and the fact that I can't seem to do the bare minimum is really tearing me up.

Oh and one other thing -- one would think that the fact that we've had some complications (a miscarriage scare, low fetal heart rate, and a trip 2 days ago to the ER with a UTI and enlarged ovarian cyst) would motivate me to be SuperPregnantMom. But it hasn't. Sure, I spend a lot of worrying (and convincing myself that "bed rest" is somehow helping), but nothing productive to enhance the health of my baby.

Sorry this is so long...I guess I'd just appreciate any kind of advice on handling either the practical side of pregnancy or the emotional aspect of feeling like such a bum and a bad mother. Thanks in advance.

Help: weed related sloth / amotivational syndrome .

lalochezia — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 09:47:49 -0800

Help: weed related sloth / amotivational syndrome . So, I have this friend who lives in a country where marijuana use is tolerated. He’s happy as a clam. The drug enhances his creativity, makes sex, eating and simpsons watching way more enjoyable and is a pleasant indulgence every other week or so.

The problem happens over the next few days: the following day, he is in a torpor. Can’t be bothered to get out of bed. Not a hangover of headaches, etc, but just plain sloth – slightly heavy limbs, fuzzy thinking. If he has to get out of bed, no problem (i.e. for work) – but woe betide any weekend that sees MJ use the night before. Similarly, for the next couple of days, a mild melancholy decends on him where he’s a tad more miserable than usual.

Are there any pre / during / post chong activities or remedies this person can use to remove the listlessness and blueness from his post pot persona?

Is it a bad idea to hire a co-worker to clean your apartment?

picklebird — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 07:34:55 -0800

I am moving out of my apartment this weekend, and will not have time to give it a thorough cleaning in order to get my security deposit back. I am willing to pay someone to do it. I mentioned this to some co-workers at lunch, asking if they knew anyone. (I'd prefer to pay an individual, rather than a service-- see this post.) An administrative assistant said that she would be interested in doing it herself. Is this a bad idea? Here are my issues: I like the idea of paying someone I know (who says she could really use the money and that she loves to clean), but I feel weird paying someone I work with (who is already in a position at work "beneath" mine) to do my "dirty work." Should I just get over my bourgeois guilt and hire her? Am I just hung up on this because it's house-cleaning, a truly menial task or is the issue about hiring anyone you work with at the office for an independent, non-work-related job? Or does all of this reveal that I should just suck it up and find the time to clean the place myself. I suppose there is another awkward possibility: that she does a lousy job and I have to confront her about it. Also, how much should I pay someone for this? - 1 bedroom apartment, will be dirty but empty.