Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with services

WorkAccidentFilter: Help me protect my mother.

jofuu — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:52:07 -0800

She's burned her hands at work and I fear the company doesn't even want her around. Here's a little (err, lengthy) backstory...

My mother just turned fifty years old. Previously, she ran her own house cleaning business for seven years before her arthritis forced her to leave. Over the past few years she's gone from job to job, never really fitting in and usually leaving (or being let go) from around 6 months to a year. Mostly she has picked up work waiting at various restaurants, but at five feet tall, diagnosed with post-trauma stress, alcoholism and arthritis it shouldn't be too difficult to understand why things haven't worked out. Unfortunately this is the type of work she's done all her life.

She has a tendency to be overbearing in that she never stops talking (in part, I feel, from the very solitary lifestyle she's acquired.) She doesn't really have friends because of this and, having no friends and little family who care to deal with her stress, has absolutely no confidence and seems to be always throwing herself under the bus in an effort of falling under the good graces of others.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So last week she started at a little soup shop that just opened up in her town. After a few days of training they eventually stuck her in the back kitchen thawing and handling bags of hot soup (160 - 200 degrees F). After her first day she complained that she had burned her hands. (The shop didn't supply their workers with any sort of protective wear) She had even attempted to explain to her boss the situation, but he was "busy". By morning the pain had not gone away so she visited the walk in hospital where they told her she had first degree burns and that she shouldn't be handling anything so hot in the near future. She was advised to have her boss file an accident report and then file workmen's comp.

The next day she was scheduled to work the front register and she went in as scheduled. Upon arriving she learned she would once again be handling the hot soup in the kitchen. Knowing that if she complained, not only would she incur the scrutiny of her boss, but her coworkers also - she stuck it out another day in the kitchen (she said her hands had been feeling better and would work with them). Last night she calls me up crying because again her hands are burned. She called the hospital back and they told her she should DEFINITELY not have worked in the kitchen, and that until she files workmen's comp. she shouldn't be working at all. So she called out of work today and explained what was needed before she could return. My obvious concern is what repercussions her attendance will have on her future employment with the company, and if the negligence on the part of her boss is wholly unwarranted and due, in part, to a personal bias against my mothers individual persona.

In the event she is let go, or neglected to the effect of her leaving, how can I protect her? I just helped her sign a lease on a new apartment and I don't know what we will do if her income is cut off. For the past few months she has received unemployment (which we will only partial now that she has a new job).
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Her situation is recurring. The opinion of her family and former friends generally falls somewhere between sympathy and an attitude of questioning her ethics and values. She comes from a staunchly lower-middle class family (Catholic, nonetheless) but the town she was born and raised, which she raised my brother and I, has been slowly inculcated with an air of superiority due to a flood of new money. Life here is too fast for her, no doubt, but there is no where else to go. (and I can guarantee you, if there was money for a lawyer I wouldn't be posting this on Metafilter, no offense :) )

Yes, she struggles with alcoholism and has been charged with various petty charges due to her behavior when drinking, but she attends all the programs the state demands of her (at the expense of her time/energy/money). She's a very lonely person who doesn't have the means to help herself, and most people around her blame her struggles solely on her, or at least cannot make the effort to see the effect of the larger social system on the individual. One last thing I would like to mention is that, when she realized she had a drinking problem years ago she brought it up to social services and asked for help for the three of us, wherein DCF charged her with neglect and threatened to remove us from the home. She was in the middle of getting a degree so she could become a teacher and, now with much time wasted due to the neglect charge, finished her degree for nought. (At the risk of this becoming a tirade I would just like to throw it out there that in my opinion social services in the United States have much more to due with maintaining a population of workers than it does with helping individuals better their lives.)

What was the name of the service that provided you with a free 800 number and credit card processing?

thinktwice — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:17:47 -0800

What was the name of the service that provided you with a free 800 number and credit card processing? Their model was that they took a percentage of the credit card fees and you billed your customers through them. It was a very neat way to setup a small service business with almost no overhead. Are they still in business?

Please don't let my cat eat me.

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:13:11 -0800

Is there a service that will email me once a day, and if I don't respond, contact local EMS? I live alone. I have no family or friends that contact me on a regular basis, often a year or more will go by between phone calls. As I get older, I worry that I could slip and fall (or other medical emergency), and be unable to get help on my own.

Keepin the story straight

chickaboo — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:02:09 -0800

How can I host a member directory for a nonprofit, for free, online, that is password protected? Are there any sites that would protect basic contact information for our members, and also enable us to upload other basic organizational info that multiple people (at least 50) would be able to log in and view?

Paper pushing en espanol

nameleech — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:39:39 -0800

What online tutorials or books are best for learning literacy only in Spanish? I am applying to a credit card disputes department at my workplace in October because they have need for the Spanish-literate. I'll be dealing with written statements from Spanish speaking customers primarily.

However, my language skills are so rusty I'll definitely need to do some brushing up beforehand. What books or online tutorials are best for achieving literacy only in Spanish? Free is better, but I'm willing to pay if the lessons are quality. Thanks all!

Seattle, West Edge neighborhood. Need suggestions on where to buy stuff, services, parks, etc.

valannc — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:44:57 -0800

[Seattle filter] We just moved to the West Edge neighborhood in Seattle, near Pike Street Market. Need suggestions on where to buy stuff, services, parks, etc. We've been in Seattle for two days and we love it. 1. Need place to stock up on groceries, cleaning supplies, paper products. Neighborhood prices are way too high. Where can we drive to get lower prices on these things? Not Costco. We don't have space for a pallet of toilet tissue. Looking for a big supermarket with good prices. I'm OK with driving a distance, if the selection and prices are good.

2. Cheapest place for gasoline (brand name only)

3. Parks. My poor old dog is missing the green grass of the suburbs. Is there a nice quiet grassy park nearby -- with easy parking? (No dog parks. My dog doesn't like other dogs.)

4. Pike Market! Fabulous! What are the best stalls for produce, fish, meat? Best quality and prices?

5. Is there an excellent chiropractor in the neighborhood?

6. Yoga classes? I see lots of choices. Any recommendations?

Know of an intensive, concentrated EMT course in the US?

howgenerica — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:50:07 -0800

I'm already certified as an EMT outside of the US, but now that I'm going to school in America I'd like to get certified there as well. However, I don't have a lot of time over the summer for the course. Does anyone know of any really intensive, really concentrated EMT basic course? Like all day, every day for a couple weeks. Does this exist in the US?

How can I find a dentist who is good with terrified patients?

photomusic86 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 21:35:42 -0800

How can I find a dentist who is good with terrified patients? Yeah, it's me. I'm looking for one in Northeast Ohio, nearish Brunswick. If you know one specifically, please recommend! Or maybe some sort of recommendation service?

I need stationary!

l33tpolicywonk — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:35:51 -0800

Help me find an economical, customized stationary and business card service. I've decided to get business cards and personalized stationary. Here are my needs:

Containing very little information - basically my name, e-mail, phone number and one URL.
Black (or black and another color) on white or ivory - no pictures are necessary
Clean, modern look
Business cards and flat cards for writing notes, preferably with envelopes included.
Prefer an online card designer or preview, but I can design them myself if I have to.
Low quantity: 50 - 100 business cards and 20-30 stationary cards
I'd like to keep the price low but I'm willing to pay more for an independent designer or the like.
Available online or in the DC area.

Any recommendations?

What are your favorite premium online services (of any kind) and why?

raddevon — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 18:16:22 -0800

What are your favorite premium online services (of any kind) and why? I'm looking for services of all kinds (photo sharing, video sharing, online backup, online file storage, music, etcetera). Feel free to give multiple answers in different categories or just a single answer. Contribute as little or as much as you want!

I've got the collar. I've got the bible. I memorized that "speak now" bit. What else is there?

rileyray3000 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:16:19 -0800

What's involved in my performing a wedding in Los Angeles? I need to perform a wedding in Los Angeles in October. I got a card that says I'm a reverend from World Christianship Ministries way back in pre-internet 1993 and it says I'm clear to perform weddings in most states. So what else do I need and what do I need to know or do? Do I have to apply for the license for the couple? Do I need to fill out any forms? Or is it just a "show up in a collar and sign this document" sort of thing?

Where can I find a high-quality jumbo t-shirt printer?

wmeredith — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:48:34 -0800

Where can I find a high-quality jumbo t-shirt printer? Preferably one that will seem rip the tags out of the blanks to be printed on. Example 1 (Scroll all the way down.)

Example 2

Need Music, man

crapples — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:40:43 -0800

I need a way to purchase music -- what's your favorite method? I have certain things that I look for -- see inside: I used to use allofmp3.com, but now that they are history (and their sister site mp3sparks doesn't allow credit card payments) I am finding myself with no way to purchase music that I'm satisfied with. What are the best options?

Things I really liked about allofmp3: (1) I could choose my bit rate (I like 320 or 192), (2) It was cheap, (3) there was no DRM (this is a requirement for me, so iTunes is out), and (4) the selection was great.

... Not looking for any discussion about the legality of allofmp3, I'm just looking for current music purchasing alternatives. What do you use? Why? Is there any service on earth that can give me the four points that I named above? Thanks.

Translation services recommendations.

wongcorgi — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:08:34 -0800

Any recommended online language translation services? (for a foreign birth certificate). I'm filing some USCIS forms and need to have a birth certification translated. It needs to be notarized also. Can anyone recommend services that they have used before?

I found jrlanguage.com on a search and they seem to be reputable, but I was not able to find any reviews on their service. I'd like some other members opinion before I send off a sensitive document like this.

Mobile phone streaming music recommendations?

bartleby — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:02:04 -0800

Can you recommend streaming music services/sites - for mobile phones? So I've got an AT&T WM6 phone and an unlimited data plan.
I'm fine for loading my own music on it, but I need exposure to new/different music.
AT&T offers a limited (to top 40, basically) version of XM for $8/month.
Worth it?
Any other mobile music streaming services to recommend?

Then there's websites that will stream for free, like SomaFM (old favorite) and tuned.mobi (great idea, but commercials and the interface get me down) - anyone have any other recommendations?

Commercial-free listening, or at least limited, is preferred. I would post my music preferences, but I'm bored with everything I own, so need exposure to the unfamiliar. Whatever you use and/or like, I'll try.

Thanks!

What are the major food/wine/restaurant email subscription services in NYC?

geoffbart — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:28:04 -0800

What are the major food/wine/restaurant email subscription services in NYC? What are the major NYC-based food blogs or email subscription services? For blogs, I Know of Eater, Grub Street, Diners Journal, Gothamist, Bitten.

And email subscription services like DailyCandy, Urban Daddy, and others cover new restaurant openings.

But are there other major New York food/wine/restaurant email subscription services out there that push out content to subscribers for free? thanks for your help.

What email service does your company use?

x41-pbj — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:02:14 -0800

What email service does your company use? The small company I work for (10 employees and growing quickly) uses GoDaddy now, primarily for historical reasons, and it's pretty terrible. Any recommendations for enterprise email services?

How do I get terminal services to keep a port connection?

KevinSkomsvold — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:49:45 -0800

How do I make a USB port map permanent with terminal services? Here's the situation:

I set up a USB CC reader on a local workstation. This workstation connects to a Point of Sale software package via TS which uses the card reader. I am able to configure the card reader just fine and it will work perfectly. As soon as the user logs out for the day and tries to use it the next morning, the USB card reader isn't recognized in the TS session. The cashier has to run the card reader utility again. I'm guessing its because TS only uses the port mapping on a per session basis. What is the best way to make this connection permanent? Or better, what would be the best way to set it up so that the user can log out and log back in without having to run the card reader config utility each time?

Thanks.

Thin client terminal hardware problems

Tawita — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:59:00 -0800

I am looking to replace some thin-client terminals on our W2K Small Business server running terminal services over RDP. We haven't had much luck with our existing terminal hardware (Compucon Phoenix - the power supplies burn out far too often) so I am looking for something simple, hardy and (of course) not too expensive. We have a 15-terminal, single location set up, connected to a single server running W2K SBS. We are situated in a developing country - hot, humid, dusty, with dirty power and extremely inquisitive ants, and little (if any) IT budget. We are happy with the server set-up (stable and running largely problem free for four years), but it is the terminals that are letting us down. The proprietary (?) power supplies for the Phoenix terminals give up the ghost on a regular basis, and I am sick of spending AU$150 each time to replace them (plus the hassle of having them shipped from Australia - no easy task). We currently have five terminals out of action, and I am weighing up whether we might be better off moving to different brand of terminal. Old technology is fine, but fewer moving parts might be better. Perhaps an external power supply (as for laptops) would be a good idea, so the terminal could be sealed to prevent ant and dust intrusion. Re-purposing old PCs might be a short-term option, but they are likely to have much greater issues with component failure.

I am not an IT person, although I am (unfortunately) the IT person. I assume (hopefully correctly) that it is okay to mix-and-match a different brand of terminal with our existing set-up. We have little money to spend.

Any assistance/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

online legal services

bytewrite — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 08:03:40 -0800

Does anyone know of good guide to online legal services (both paid and free)? I'm looking for a guide to what is out there, all types of services and all the options. I'm not concerned about legal information but actual services.

Come out, come out, wherever you're tunneled into!

datacenter refugee — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:02:04 -0800

Identifying my home machines via their VPNed-in tunnel interfaces without dynamic DNS - help! I have a number of home machines that are regularly VPNed into my place of work. The internal VPN pool is DHCP-dynamic and the segment in question will not be offering dynamic DNS service record updates anytime soon. I need a way to sweep the VPN pool(s - multiple concentrators) and identify which machines are mine and which are which with a reasonable degree of certainty.

VNC is the only service they all have in common, so as a stopgap measure I had been doing an nmap sweep with '--open -p 5900' to find all VNC servers and then banging on all of them with login attempts until i found mine. Besides being security-stupid (unencrypted), this pisses many savvier users off and mandates that I keep X running on boxes that don't need GUIs. I'd like to find a replacement service that can run on all of my machines (many linux, a few windows, 1 mac) that can be quickly polled with nmap and return a unique string ala 'quirky hostname lives here' that can be parsed out of the nmap results with grep.

I can already do such things with SNMP but I don't think NMAP can poll snmp strings. I'm thinking about qotd, chargen, upnp, etc. but while I know of them I've never customized them. Does anyone know of any such services which I can install on all of my hosts that will advertise themselves on all interfaces (even temporary ones)?

Thanks!

My Windows caught a cold?

MtDewd — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:23:49 -0800

My Windows 2000 system suddenly has many services problems. Details inside. WIN2K with SP4 at home. No antivirus program.

First thing I noticed was that I couldn't copy from Firefox when I posted a couple of days ago. (Can copy from IE)
A day or 2 later I tried to print and saw I didn't have any printers installed anymore. Went to services- Print Spooler was on auto but not started. Clicked Start and get message '...Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start.
I see that many automatic services are not started and get this message. Searching the net I see the RPC service is mentioned a bit. My RPC service is disabled. If I click Properties, the properties popup does not appear (although if I try to close Computer Management it says I have a Properties screen open.
Oh, and if I go to F:\WINNT nothing shows up (although the status bar says there are 123 objects there and if I arrow down it tells me how big the objects are)

I assume I picked up a virus of some kind. I ran an (old-2004) antivirus scan (Symantic) which picked up nothing.

I thought if I booted the Windows CD I could get a repair option, but it won't boot from CD anymore, either. (Still shows CD ahead of disk in boot options, though)

Is there any hope for me? Thanks in advance.

It's possessed!

Iosephus — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 23:17:29 -0800

Windows services from hell, I command you to leave... please? How do I stop them eating cpu like candy? The possessed: Toshiba Portege M200, 768K RAM, XP SP2, Intel Pentium M 1.67 GHz, NVidia Go 5200, no funny things floating inside as far as I know. Laptop is a lending, so not possible to follow the "reformat and reinstall" usual advice (which looks like a circus trick to do in any case, considering the thing lacks a CD/DVD/floppy drives and no USB boot capability). Followed several online hints about what services to kill and not, not much changed in the CPU frenzy. I can see a regular 20-30% eating, with often enough spikes into the 50%. It did got a little better once, when I tried lobotomizing the services right and left, but it screwed up most of the things I wanted to do. On sporadic occasions, svchost.exe and the NVidia nvsvc32.exe go bonkers and stay in 100% until I kill them. Or just the svchost.exe (so I can't blame NVidia - by the way, everybody and their momma has a diferent opinion about what version drivers for NVidia I should be using in this thing; right now it seems to be loaded or cursed with the 165.01 version). Spyware and virus scans with decent and updated tools show cleanliness and health, so I can't blame that either.

I'm halfways already to buying my own refurbished machine, but being the stubborn SOB I am, I want to beat this beast into some sort of submission (not to mention it would be a nice way to pay back the owner's kindness for the lending when I finally give it back in a better state than it left). Clues? Hopelessness to share?

What are your favorite podcast-hosting and -streaming services?

x41-pbj — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:01:35 -0800

What are your favorite podcast-hosting and -streaming services? I'm looking for a service that will let me host my podcasts on their site, but will give me options to stream them on my own site. Gabcast seems like a good option, ditto libsyn, but i wonder if anyone's got reviews to share...

Private Dancer

Blazecock Pileon — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:18:17 -0800

How do I make services publicly available behind a private network? I have a department that uses NAT to hide a bunch of machines behind a single public IP address.

Is there an easy way to allow some (2 or more) of those machines to run services, e.g. web or VNC — whatever — such that someone from outside the NAT could connect to those machines?

What kind of service would I run in conjunction with the NAT box?