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Just moved to Pittsburgh a couple months ago and don’t really know anyone—or the city. Doing a great job but I’m hoping someone can help me figure out where to start with ketamine or other things that could quickly bring relief from severe (fibro) pain and worsening depression. I do NOT need anyone asking if I’ve tried yoga. [more inside]
posted by mermaidcafe to Health & Fitness at 2:25 PM - 0 answers

I am devastated by the results of this election. I live in a red state, which I love, and I am surrounded by people I love who voted for Trump. I have given up trying to understand it. These people are my community. I truly believe they are good, kind, thoughtful people, and they voted for someone who is promising to do a lot of harm to other good, kind people. Any advice for coping? I can't cut them off, they are friends and family. Help.
posted by mareliz to Society & Culture at 1:03 PM - 16 answers

The other night, my 7 year old Samsung soundbar up and stopped working. It died while in use, and it will no longer power up at all. I spent $20 on the gamble that it was the power brick, but still no power. Is there any realistic hope that it could be repaired, or do I have to consign it to e-waste? [more inside]
posted by jimfl to Technology at 12:39 PM - 2 answers

[comfort seeking behavior] I'm looking for personal recommendations for a nice set of loungewear. Warm. Natural fibers. Visually interesting. Sized to fit a squishy curvy body without looking femme. [more inside]
posted by phunniemee to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion at 11:49 AM - 8 answers

I will be moving on short notice. I got a bunch of lemon juice on sale, expecting to use it all up in cooking eventually. Now I need to use it all quickly, so I will be drinking a lot of lemonade. I want to make a large batch all at once. What is the perfect ratio of water to honey to lemon juice? [more inside]
posted by Mirth to Food & Drink at 11:38 AM - 1 answer

Looking for stuff that will make me laugh mostly. Snarky and kind reqs appreciated. [more inside]
posted by Eyelash to Media & Arts at 10:52 AM - 17 answers

My partner’s father’s dog is pregnant. We are in a position to adopt at least one of the future puppies. What do we need to know about timing, best practices, etc? [more inside]
posted by hapticactionnetwork to Pets & Animals at 9:09 AM - 4 answers

I'm going on a short trip soon where I will be staying in 2 different hotels (that seem very nice!) I have some new clothes I would love to wear during this trip. Looking for general advice on my bedbug precautions and specifically whether a post-trip heat treat of these new items is needed, and if so if my idea is properly balancing actually treating them without ruining them. More below! [more inside]
posted by jerboa to Travel & Transportation at 8:24 AM - 8 answers

I have a $285 budget and I want to get a fantastic gift/gift basket for a friend/coworker. [more inside]
posted by bookworm4125 to Shopping at 2:48 AM - 13 answers

Not in a happy place. Can already feel my mind about to launch into a worse place. Please give mental health advice suggestions for books to read, your tips for surviving (or, dare I ask, thriving) in 21st century right wing regime, pointers towards activities I can incorporate into my daily practice that bend the long arc of history toward justice.
posted by otherchaz to Grab Bag at 1:22 AM - 31 answers

I have a very nice toaster from Dualit, which looks good and sturdy but seems likely to burn my house down. It operates with a mechanical timer, which today malfunctioned and didn't finish the countdown and therefore the heating elements didn't shut of. So it burnt my toast to a crisp, got really hot and had I not been around would have caught fire. As it cost a lot of money I am not quite ready to throw it out. I bought a new Timer but would like some additional safety measures in place, specifically a outlet with an automatic shut off function. There is indeed such a product, but the fastest shut off time is 15 minutes, which is too long, should be maximum 5 minutes, best would be three, but I could not find such a thing. I guess I could use some kind of smart device but could not quite make out if they can be programmed like that, and there are a lot of them, also quite expensive. Any tips?
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon to Home & Garden at 2:47 PM - 21 answers

This is for a writing project. From what I've found out, George Washington was buried in a lead-lined coffin. Were lead-lined coffins from the era airtight? What happens, in terms of decomposition, to a body in a lead-lined coffin from that era? [more inside]
posted by overglow to Grab Bag at 12:20 PM - 2 answers

How do I make a dense baking-soda bread a little more, well, fluffy? [more inside]
posted by rabia.elizabeth to Food & Drink at 11:50 AM - 13 answers

What are my options? [more inside]
posted by maloqueiro to Law & Government at 10:28 AM - 20 answers

I am looking for a way to make some custom maps for a publication. The publication will be about a bicycle trip that I took, and I want to create a map for each day's journey. Often the routes including trails as well as roads, so it would be nice if I could import a GPS file and have it generate a map, then be able to further customize it with points of interest and the like. The maps should be colorful and ready for publication. Does such a thing exist? Hoping to avoid ArcGIS for something more simple. Thanks!
posted by LarryC to Computers & Internet at 9:58 AM - 7 answers

I recently learned of Use Tax. The use tax I learned about is a little different than that defined above in that it is a small town enforcing a tax on goods purchased elsewhere, even though a sales tax is applied in the other location. I am flabbergasted that this is legal. Has there ever been any legal challenges to this? [more inside]
posted by falsedmitri to Law & Government at 7:53 AM - 6 answers

Okay, here is an anodyne question that will take people's minds off the election - I had a flash of insight yesterday about Christmas gifts.... [more inside]
posted by Frowner to Food & Drink at 7:29 AM - 17 answers

I'm told the figure I should be putting into my Marketplace application here at open enrollment is AGI or MAGI. Once the explanation goes farther than that, it overtaxes my WHAT-IF-MY-COUNTRY-IS-TOTALLY-FUCKED addled brain. [more inside]
posted by less-of-course to Work & Money at 7:03 AM - 3 answers

I have to wear a uniform at work, and we have an approved sweater with the company logo embroidered on the left breast. I want to move that logo to another more functional sweater that I prefer. [more inside]
posted by Thistledown to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion at 5:57 AM - 11 answers

Time to get a big client a splashy gift. But he has everything. What to do? [more inside]
posted by nouvelle-personne to Shopping at 5:40 AM - 14 answers

I can be fun, enthusiastic, etc. in novel situations, but day to day I am a wet blanket. I want to be a warm blanket. How do I learn to be warmer in the mundane everyday moments when I am around others? [more inside]
posted by hotcoroner to Human Relations at 3:38 AM - 25 answers

My seven year old son has been struggling with spiralling thoughts for the last few days and I'm looking for advice on the best way to help him through this. [more inside]
posted by NoneOfTheAbove to Human Relations at 9:43 PM - 16 answers

I am a 27-year-old electrical engineer, and I am very frustrated with my career. I am strongly considering switching things up to become an electrician. My dream is to have a job where I feel like I am working for people in my community, not for the C-Suite of a multinational corporation. This is the main reason I am considering the trades. What advice would you give to someone moving from a white collar career to a blue collar one? How might I be able to use skills from my current career to get a head start in my new one? How would you suggest I go about finding an apprenticeship? [more inside]
posted by gunwalefunnel to Work & Money at 9:07 PM - 22 answers

I really need a good earbud solution for computer calls. However, I don't really understand the technology, and it seems like a lot of the fancy ones that promise to really reduce background noise (something I very much want) seem to only do it with phones. I do my calls on my computer (macbook), so I mostly need them to work with that. [more inside]
posted by lgyre to Technology at 4:46 PM - 8 answers

The New York Times Tech Guild is on strike. They have stated that Games and Cooking are behind the picket line, and have asked people to stop using those until the strike is resolved. (Regular news coverage is not behind the picket line.) What game can my family Wordle text message group substitute for Wordle during this interregnum. We are all agreed we do not want to cross the picket line.
posted by Winnie the Proust to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 3:41 PM - 31 answers

My child has outgrown her favorite brand of socks (sorry for the Amazon link; we purchase elsewhere whenever possible) and my efforts to find a comparable pair of socks in a larger size have failed. She has sensory sensitivities so I am hoping I can find something closer to the particular fabric blend of these socks, which is 45% Wool, 40% Polyester, 15% Spandex. Does anyone have any leads or magic ways to search? Thank you!
posted by Threeve to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion at 3:13 PM - 6 answers

It's (going to be) that time of year again, where I find gifts for people who already have everything. Recommend me some good nonfiction books from this year or last (but not too good, or they'd already own them). [more inside]
posted by queen anne's remorse to Writing & Language at 2:55 PM - 14 answers

A father, mother, and nine kids arrive in St. Louis circa 1840, knowing no one. What options would they have had? Would tenements have been their only choice?
posted by John Borrowman to Grab Bag at 2:51 PM - 11 answers

My current project at work does not have a project manager and as a result is an absolute, unmitigated shitshow. I have decided to become the project manager because it seems to be the only way any of us will survive the year. I need some advice on how to do this. Details within! [more inside]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese to Work & Money at 2:35 PM - 18 answers

Recently purchased a used 2022 Honda CRV and noticed some amount of rust/corrosion on the engine (photos). Is this an issue, like more than a normal amount of rust? How should I deal with it? (Are the white spots just dried salt or is it some kind of corrosion?
posted by roaring beast to Travel & Transportation at 2:34 PM - 7 answers

We have a small(ish) sailboat. Our outboard motor has been giving us a lot of grief this year and we are thinking of replacing it with an electric motor. Yea, nay? [more inside]
posted by vernondalhart to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 1:32 PM - 4 answers

Is there a good guide online for how to watch and interpret the election results come in? Not so much where to watch the returns on TV, but more so things like what time all the state's polls close, which states and races are "ones to watch," bellwether results that may indicate how the election is going, or any other interesting stuff to look out for. Bonus points if there's a PDF I can fill out as the night rolls on, like a baseball scorecard!
posted by miltthetank to Law & Government at 12:45 PM - 5 answers

We are registered voters in California, residing in Vancouver, BC, Canada. We're thinking of driving down to Bellingham WA to vote tomorrow. Is that possible? How would it work? [more inside]
posted by wutangclan to Society & Culture at 12:18 PM - 15 answers

I have ADHD and I am looking for a hands-on approach to boost accountability, guidance, and task management. I've tried Focusmate, which works well as a body double, but I need more interactive support. Are there any other options you’d recommend? [more inside]
posted by Boyd to Work & Money at 11:57 AM - 1 answer

I've have a great fondness for a few UK treats. Does anyone have a suggestion where I can buy them in the US? [more inside]
posted by specialnobodie to Food & Drink at 9:50 AM - 19 answers

Our dear departed microwave had great controls, including a button that would immediately turn it on for 30 seconds. The new microwave we recently looked at had clunky controls. [more inside]
posted by wnissen to Home & Garden at 7:35 AM - 16 answers

What did you wish you'd known? [more inside]
posted by ambulanceambiance to Grab Bag at 2:52 PM - 23 answers

My beloved Pomodoro app is gone and I need to find a similar one! [more inside]
posted by silverstatue to Computers & Internet at 1:13 PM - 10 answers

Thinking about the Faust story and the fairly common trope of making a "deal with the devil", looking into things, it's been strangely difficult to find examples of the trope before the 18th century except a small handful of works. Is the notion of the "deal with the devil" a fairly modern phenomenon, or are there far earlier works I'm missing? It seems strange that this is a modern trope.
posted by I EAT TAPAS to Media & Arts at 1:06 PM - 15 answers

As someone who has always wanted to be able to sew their own clothes, should I accept my great-grandmother’s treadle Singer machine? It’s in working order, I’m told, and it’s been refurbished in the past few years. [more inside]
posted by Countess Elena to Home & Garden at 12:37 PM - 20 answers

Follow-up to this question! I would like to cover the text in this Burma-Shave ad and replace it with my own poem. Unfortunately, the Mask option in Final Cut Pro does the opposite of what I want it to do--it cuts out the rest of the frame and just leaves the sign. What's the best way to cover the text in this video and replace it with text of my own?
posted by pxe2000 to Technology at 10:57 AM - 3 answers

I’m feeling out of my depth and could really use some support. My 16-year-old daughter recently admitted to drinking alcohol, and I’m grateful she trusted me enough to share this. But now, I’m facing an even more complicated situation. [more inside]
posted by nandaro to Human Relations at 12:56 AM - 47 answers

I am looking for podcasts or articles in which people detail the tools - hardware, software, kitchen appliances, tools, whatever - that they use in their day to day lives. My platonic ideals for this are Lifehacker's old "How I Work" column and the Cortex podcast "State of the Apps" and "State of the Hardware" episodes. I care less about the specific type of tool being discussed and more about it being an actual lived experience, by a real person, as opposed to simple product review or a top ten list. Ideally, not very old, so the recommendation might still be relevant. Any suggestions? Have already run through ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity, without great results. Best ones were The Sweet Setup (but still feels too professional, review-y, desperate to sell me something) and UsesThis.com (which felt like it should have been exactly what I was looking for, but somehow left me cold - I think there's a quantity vs. quality thing going on, I'd prefer one really good interview to 200 just OK ones). Thanks in advance!
posted by LingeringMoon to Technology at 12:22 AM - 9 answers

I saw an exhibit on the Impressionists and their immediate artistic successors (e.g., the Nabis) this weekend. It occurred to me that while I've read some basic books on the Impressionists, like Ross King on the decade leading up to Impressionism's birth, I have not read any books on the women Impressionists: Cassat and Morisot for sure, but there was at least one other woman whose paintings appeared in this exhibit. I'd like to fill my TBR for next year with books by and about women, so this seems like a good subject for books. [more inside]
posted by gentlyepigrams to Society & Culture at 8:57 PM - 5 answers

I am looking for a device (maybe a light?) that would connect to my work mobile (it's an iPhone SE, I think from about 2020) and be a visible indicator that I've missed a call. Does such a thing exist? Of course I have use case snowflakes... [more inside]
posted by Cheese Monster to Technology at 7:52 PM - 16 answers

I don't want to get hosed buying a pretty label and sales pitch on the bottle. I don't mind buying more than one bottle to get a better price. I don't know what "should be" in good mayo but you do, that's why I came here for guidance. I know we all hate Amazon, plz go to the next question rather than telling me Bezos blows; I am aware.
posted by dancestoblue to Food & Drink at 5:16 PM - 8 answers

I recently picked up a copy of John McPhee's Annals of the Former World at a church sale - but decided I really wanted someone to read me the books in the series. The only place I am seeing audio books in the series is on Audible - but would I be able to get them as MP3s? [more inside]
posted by rochrobbb to Media & Arts at 11:14 AM - 6 answers

Three things need to happen with my phone: what's the order of operations here? [more inside]
posted by Ideal Impulse to Technology at 11:12 AM - 11 answers

A friend is going to be in hospital for 3 weeks (cancer related) and she's really not looking forward to it. She's also generally had a shitty year above and beyond the whole cancer thing. I am a long way away and looking for suggestions on things I can send to help make their stay more tolerable. Maybe even occasionally pleasent. [more inside]
posted by platypus of the universe to Health & Fitness at 10:30 AM - 39 answers

I need gloves to wear to workout at the outdoor gym this winter so I can keep doing pull-ups and press-ups and dangling from metal rings. Googling suggests outdoor gym gloves are definitely a thing, but what are your recommendations for your favorite grippy gloves that handle cold and damp well? [more inside]
posted by hydropsyche to Health & Fitness at 10:05 AM - 10 answers

My wife is a great and caring mom, truly giving 100% to our two young kids. She is also always on social media, and slowly her algorithm is filled with anti school/ pro home schooling propaganda. She is afraid of either our kids being abused or indoctrinated. We do live in the country and our school system is overall relatively poor/underfunded. She is a full time stay at home mom. She has no background in education. [more inside]
posted by Sentus to Human Relations at 8:55 AM - 42 answers

We’re excited to be “that house” at Halloween with full sized candy bars, chips and drinks. How can we up the wow factor? [more inside]
posted by raccoon409 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 7:21 AM - 13 answers

Are there any generalisations amongst power-tool brands regarding size of grip? I am looking to make ergonomic choices regarding weight and grip-size to ensure my toolshop is accessible for women and younger people or others with smaller hands. Bonus: is there a good site where I can pop in tools for side-by-side comparison? [more inside]
posted by J.R. Hartley to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 6:17 AM - 9 answers

In the past few months, reactions to my posts have dropped off steeply and friends say they don't see my posts often. I want to fix that. [more inside]
posted by mermaidcafe to Computers & Internet at 4:21 AM - 14 answers

I've found a really nice apartment to rent in an area that's difficult to find a nice place at a decent price, but it doesn't have a washing machine. On one hand, every apartment has some sort of shortcoming - and I like to think I'm adaptable/ can problem solve - but on the other, I wash clothes and towels and sheets like most folks (no kids) so going to the laundromat - not my favorite place to spend time - every time/ weekly could get old real fast. Would you? [more inside]
posted by 7 Minutes of Madness to Home & Garden at 3:05 AM - 34 answers

For many years I have exclusively been doing gel nail polish manicures at salons but would like to stop. I'd like to revert to polishing my nails at home, but there are many new systems available compared to when I was last doing this. What do you recommend? I'm looking for options that won't further damage my nails, which are quite weak and brittle. [more inside]
posted by unicorn chaser to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion at 6:23 PM - 18 answers

I would like to cover and replace the text in this video and crop out the lady on the right. I have access to iMovie and Final Cut Pro. How can I do this?
posted by pxe2000 to Technology at 6:02 PM - 1 answer

Every year I attend a large chi-chi party with 400 or so guests at a friend's house. Every year it's themed but I usually do not partake in the costume wearing as I'm rather broke and uncreative. This year it's Old Hollywood and I'm looking for inexpensive suggestions. I'm 56 year old 5'8" white male. Thoughts? Thanks!
posted by dobbs to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion at 5:51 PM - 9 answers

I'm flying into Lisbon next week with my partner and arriving at 10am. The ultimate destination is a small rural town 1.5 hour drive away, where we won't be able to check into our lodging until 3pm. What should we do for 3-4 hours near the Lisbon airport as people whose bodies think it's 3am? [more inside]
posted by oxisos to Travel & Transportation at 5:18 PM - 4 answers

I'm determined to make sending and receiving emails a less overwhelming part of my job. What techniques do you use to improve how you handle incoming messages, both technologically (through settings and sorting features in an email app) and also behaviorially (in how frequently you check and deal with messages and how you prevent things from building up)? [more inside]
posted by umbú to Computers & Internet at 3:47 PM - 12 answers