Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with progressive

Can LensCrafters adjust frames with progressive lenses?

lockedroomguy — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:18:07 -0800

Glasses filter. I bought my frames at Lenscrafters, but had the prescription filled, and the lenses put in the frames, by a doctor in my hometown. The lenses are the progressive type. My doctor mailed the finished glasses back, and left the markings on the lenses which help with adjusting and fitting the lenses the first time. After the first time fitting you erase the markings with acetone. Can I trust Lenscrafters to fit and adjust these? My doctor did do an initial fitting and measurement of the glasses (without lenses) while I was wearing them. But he recommended that someone do a final fitting now that I have the glasses, and that they use the lines that he drew on the lenses as a guide. Apparently this is important with progressive lenses.

I called Lenscrafters and this is a free service since I bought the frames from them. I imagine they can fit regular glasses no problem. But is this progressive lens thing too tricky for LensCrafters, or is it old hat?

I ask because I have the markings on the lenses now, but after they are erased they are obviously irretrievable.

I want to go to LensCrafters because it's free and convenient. I'm looking for answers that say. "Yes, LensCrafters does this all the time!" I called them, but got a perky person who just kept saying, "Yes the fitting is included if you bought the frames from us, without addressing my question."

Thanks

Progressive alarm clocks in Vancouver?

Iax — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:18:56 -0800

Where can I buy a progressive alarm clock in Vancouver, BC, Canada? I would like an alarm clock that lights up or makes noise gradually, without having to buy it online. The one I am interested in right now is the Peaceful progression alarm clock.
But if you have any other suggestions and you can buy it in Vancouver, by all means suggest it here.
Thanks.

It...it...flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my car, heaving...breath...insurance.

quakerjono — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:55:05 -0800

My car spontaneously combusted. Please help me avoid getting burned by the insurance company! Of all the values out there, which one is the closest to what they insurance company will offer me, which one should I be aiming for and how should I go about getting it? While joining friends for dinner on Leap Day 2008, my car literally burst into flames in the restaurant's parking lot for no obvious reason. I had taken my beloved 2001 Mercury Sable LS Premium, with CD changer, leather interior and moonroof into Midas at the beginning of February to replace the battery and get an oil change. They did their standard little once-over as well and said everything was in good shape, so I was stunned on several levels as I watched the fireman light his cigarette from the smoldering wreckage that used to be my car's hood. What's worse is I bought the car used in 2003 and still have around $3,000 on the 6-year loan.

After spending the weekend in mourning, I set about trying to find out how much I could reasonably expect from Progressive. I checked listings with Edmunds, Kelly Blue Book, NADA and through local car trader papers. I'm left with quite a range of figures (everything from around $3,585 for Edmunds' general trade-in value for 2001 Mercury Sables to $6,925 for NADA's retail value for the car with my specific options) and I'm not sure which ones are most accurate. I realize, since half the car looks like a bombed out apocalyptic nightmare, full retail value is out of the question. Bare-bones trade-in seems shockingly low, though, particularly given the extras the car had and how much care I lavished on it. I even have the maintenance records...or rather, I had them...in my glove box...which was attached to the dashboard...which the firemen impaled on their axe and hurled seemingly halfway across the parking lot.

This is the first time I've filed a claim with Progressive in the three years I've had them, and so far, they've been great. I filed Saturday morning, they called me back by 9 am the same day, I spoke with my specific claims adjuster this morning at 8:45 am and within a couple of hours has been contacted by Enterprise to let me know Progressive had my $40/day rental car reservation ready to go. So I'm hopeful they won't low-ball me, but I'm not even sure how I'll know if I'm getting a fair deal. Also, they'll only pay for three days of car rental after they tell me how much they're offering me so I don't have a lot of time to weigh options. While I can do without a car for awhile, longer than a couple of weeks becomes impractical to say the least.

How do I know what's a reasonable amount to aim for from Progressive and, if I think I'm being low-balled, how might I negotiate and increase in the offer?

Office Space?

Brandon1600 — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:59:40 -0800

I am thinking of taking a job selling insurance for Progressive. Do any of you have any experience with this company or type of job? The job description states I would spend 90% of my time taking calls from customers and talking about rates and policies for $12-$14 an hour plus a 7.5% shift differential. I realize this sort of environment differs from office to office, but what could I expect in terms of pay increases, career advancement and stress? I have never worked in an office before.

suggest resources for budding liberal

chicainthecity — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:09:14 -0800

A student of mine (college junior) asked me to give him a list of progressively-oriented blogs, films, and websites. I have a few ideas for him, but would like to solicit the hive mind for more.

Help me get my head on straight about a political idea

snsranch — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:55:04 -0800

How can a person who doesn't even have a blog start a meme like thing, a cultural change or influence based on word play? I'm really tired of the use of the word "liberal", "lib" etc. So my propagandist idea is to somehow replace it with "progressive" or anything that doesn't connote mediocrity, weakness and lack of focus.

It's a long shot, and no I'm not exactly pro-Democrat, but it's worth a try.

(sorry-kinda USian context)

Is there life after 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry'?

Ash3000 — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:17:08 -0800

In light of the horrendously awful "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," are there any GOOD (i.e. both funny and non-homophobic) comedies about straight people either having to pretend they're gay or, more generally, about straight people slowly but surely letting go of their prejudices towards LGBT people? I saw an advanced screening of INPYCAL recently, and am still in disbelief of just how awful it is, and in disbelief that post-Brokeback Hollywood still seems to believe that a. all gay people prance about and/or wear leather and feather boa's, and b. that we're supposed to be grateful that Adam Sandler will lecture his fanbase about how the word "faggot" is hurtful. I'm no pc fuddy-duddy, but this movie's totally non-ironic depiction of gay people as all being silly, silly people sets us back about 20 years - is there any movie that's both funny and progressive that I could recommend to a friend in its place? It can totally poke fun at gay culture, again, it need not be super-p.c., but it better be defensible. (I've heard of Happy, Texas, but some reviews say they basically portray gay people as helpful comic foils in that film as opposed to actual people - any thoughts?)

grants for liberals?

delmoi — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 07:42:35 -0800

I have some ideas about creating a sort of web site or "netroots" organization around promoting progressive, liberal, and anti-authoritarian ideas, as opposed to a lot of what I see online which mostly concerns itself with the short term goal of getting democrats elected -- not that that's not important, but I don't see much focus on long term strategy and ideas. Anyway I'm wondering if there are any grants I can apply for to help get started. I have a good idea how I might want to proceed. Basically a blog or community site to start, and eventually creating sort of a transparent system for promoting and refining ideas democratically, and funding politicians who subscribe to them, and it would all be facilitated by some cool social networking software.

Anyway, it seems like there might be some groups interested in helping to create this sort of thing, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any places I might be able to apply for grants to help get started and initially promote the site.

70's samples

Jesco — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 14:48:46 -0800

Are there any rap or hip-hop songs that sample from 70's prog groups? I'd like to find examples of songs sampling from early Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, etc.

I guess it doesn't have to be hip-hop or rap, any songs will do.

Suppose you could help jumpstart a real progressive youth movement.

Ash3000 — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 05:26:24 -0800

Help me prepare a presentation on the use of social media, especially networks like facebook and myspace, to help grow and enhance progressive youth groups, particularly College Democrats. For reasons too complicated to get into here, I'm co-presenting a workshop soon on utilizing relatively new social media for progressive youth groups, particularly College Democrats; while my section can touch upon any of the various aspects (e.g. podcasting, texting, etc.), the main focus of my section is to be upon social networks like facebook and myspace and how they can be used to recruit members and build broader political networks/coalitions.

This is a topic where I already have a strong base of pragmatic experience, but a. you should still let me in on any - and I mean any - ideas, tips or material you've used or come across on this issue, as there's always a chance I know nothing of which you speak, and b. I need good suggestions for how to present this information in a way that sticks and can actually help influence some youth leaders. I'm particularly interested in material that looks at how the conservative college activism movement (e.g. young americans for freedom, leadership institute, etc.) can be caught up with using social media. Thanks so much for any help!

Great Doc for A Woman at Kaiser in L.A.?

Scram — Sun, 28 May 2006 09:54:13 -0800

Can anyone recommend a good, woman-friendly physician or nurse practitioner at Kaiser-Permanente's Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles facility? When I signed up for Kaiser years ago, I was assigned to a nurse practitioner who was so good, I never bothered to pick a personal physician. Now she's been promoted and no longer will be seeing patients, and I have no idea who to see for my (happily very infrequent) medical needs.

Since I mainly go to Kaiser for annual pap smears, I'd like to find someone who another woman can vouch for, ideally a practitioner open to alternative treatments and who is kindly and a good listener. I ran into a couple of absolute jerks there (two physicians and a nurse) when I was seeking non-hormonal birth control, and would like to avoid a repeat of that experience.

I reckon I'd be willing to go to a different L.A. Kaiser facility for a great doc, but Sunset and Vermont is ideal. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Music for those Goddamn Liberals?

jdroth — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 14:33:12 -0800

I'm looking for songs that you associate with Liberal ideals. (Or "progressive" ideals, if you prefer.) Examples: "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen, "If It Were Up to Me" by Cheryl Wheeler, "I'm Not the Man" by Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs, "War" by Edwin Starr, etc. I'd prefer the songs weren't blatantly "Republicans suck and Bush is mean" (though "When the President Talks to God" is a fine song); I'm looking more for songs about social activism and progressive ideals, about the things that Liberals typically hold important. (Songs about the general state of the world are fine, too: "Ball of Confusion", etc.)

Progressive think tank needs tech help.

viewofdelft — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:08:25 -0800

Progressivefilter: I'm looking for a wiki or online document that represents a collaborative effort to outline a vision of progressive government. As the youngest member on the board of a new progressive think tank, everybody looks to me for solutions to the group's technology woes.

We'd like to state (actually, restate) a progressive philosophy on which to base our policy analyses. I suggested the group collaborate on a wiki but I later realized that something like this probably already exists.

This "something" would look like this or a political party platform [PDF]. Is there a nice, neat wiki already doing this or are we going to have to go it alone?

What Progressive People should I interview in DC?

By The Grace of God — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:47:37 -0800

I'm headed to Washington, D.C. shortly for a few weeks, to conduct interviews for my book of interviews with innovators on the Left. Got any suggestions for folks I should attempt to interview while I am there? I'm interviewing Congressman Dennis Kucinich and cartoonist Matt Wuerker among others. Other subjects for the book include cartoonist Harvey Pekar, SF author China Mieville, Amy Goodman, etc. Techno-progressives like the BoingBoing crowd are also eminently bookworthy.

How do I invest leftily and lazily?

gurple — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 13:41:24 -0800

How can I find a financial advisor who specializes in investments that are in tune with my lefty sensibilities? My investment guy will only reluctantly agree not to buy any Wal-Mart. I want to go beyond that -- I'm awfully darn liberal, and I figure I ought to put my money where my politics are. I can afford to do less well in the market in order to feel better about where my capital is going.

But I'm lazy. I know from experience that I won't do it if I leave it up to myself, and I'll just have a bunch of cash in my checking account. I need someone who will handle everything for me, and just let me know when they move my money around.

Are there investment firms that specialize in progressive investments, or at least "socially conscious" investments? Or tools for finding such firms?

If geography matters, we're talking about the Seattle area.

"Progressive" as opposed to "liberal"

alumshubby — Sat, 28 May 2005 05:51:13 -0800

This post had me wondering: Is there a difference between progressive and liberal? Is it a difference in kind, in degree, or some of each? Is it a case of using one word because the opposition uses the other perjoratively? Started to ask this in that thread, then realized it would derail the discussion...

Rental Car Insurance

o0o0o — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 18:20:37 -0800

Is the extra insurance offered by rental car agencies really needed, or is it just a big scam? I always go for it, but that extra $10 a day can really increase the price. My personal car insurance company (Progressive) really doesn't say one way or another. I've searched around on the web and all I can find is wishy washy non-commital answers. I want to know once and for all.