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How do you make sure employees have enough to do without being a jerk? [more inside]
posted by anonymous to Work & Money at 11:22 PM - 4 answers

In the past few weeks I've spoken with 2 RN's on my local nurse line as well as a pharmacist, all about different issues. In all three cases, the person gave a disclaimer that they couldn't tell me what to do, that what they say isn't medical advice, etc. They've all repeated it several times. (They are saying things like "If this was me...") This is new. I figure something must have changed re malpractice laws/insurance etc recently to bring this on. Anybody know more? I'm in VA if that matters.
posted by mermaidcafe to Health & Fitness at 8:55 PM - 1 answer

Can anyone recommend a book containing a collection of cryptic crossword puzzles geared to someone who is new to cryptic crossword puzzles? [more inside]
posted by NoneOfTheAbove to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 7:41 PM - 4 answers

We live in the country and our 16-year-old chihuahua has disappeared. I blame my mom for losing him. What could have happened to him and how do I forgive her for losing him? [more inside]
posted by 8LeggedFriend to Pets & Animals at 7:41 PM - 9 answers

I love knitting and I'm considering picking up a new crafty hobby. I think I might like to try cross-stitch but I have a couple small questions/concerns. [more inside]
posted by NotTheRedBaron to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 7:20 PM - 7 answers

His iconic photos included a woman in a motel room with a baby lying on a bed, a winter night at an intersection in a small town, and a woman in a room filled with water. Searching on photographer documentaries hasn't produced it yet.
posted by perhapses to Media & Arts at 6:20 PM - 2 answers

See inside. [more inside]
posted by Wichienmaat to Health & Fitness at 6:03 PM - 1 answer

Hi folks. I am looking for a low-price Chromebook or regular laptop as a gift. This needs to be new in box, so nothing refurbished or used. [more inside]
posted by Slinga to Computers & Internet at 5:36 PM - 4 answers

I'm looking for brief positive things to share with friends who are having a tough time. [more inside]
posted by bunderful to Media & Arts at 4:56 PM - 11 answers

We just moved into a new apartment and the landlords cleaned the crap out of it earlier today with bleach, Fabuloso, and Clorox bleach-free wipes. I have chemical sensitivities and the fumes are so bad I don't know if I can sleep here tonight. We have all the windows open and a fan going, but is there something we can rinse the cleaned surfaces with to get rid of any residue? Besides just water?
posted by Jacqueline to Home & Garden at 4:53 PM - 6 answers

Where can I buy food grade sodium hydroxide for making pretzels? Can buy online or in person in the SF Bay Area (East Bay). I read I should buy food-grade lye - not the kind marketed for drain cleaning. [more inside]
posted by latkes to Food & Drink at 4:31 PM - 9 answers

I installed No Script the other day. I uninstalled it today. I need something like it, but easier to use. [more inside]
posted by kathrynm to Computers & Internet at 4:25 PM - 6 answers

There seems to be strong anecdotal evidence (layman's definition) that Vitamin D is helpful for prevention of COVID19, or at least can't hurt, especially given our seclusion. What I've not been able to determine is what dosage to take for it. If it is weight-dependent, I'm unfortunately a rather big guy (about 350). You are not a doctor (although any Mefite physician advice is definitely appreciated, and if so, I acknowledge you are not MY doctor). [more inside]
posted by metabaroque to Health & Fitness at 4:10 PM - 9 answers

I'm finally upgrading to the last of the Intel MacBook Pro models and the newest MacOS. Unfortunately, this means giving up the music player I wrote back in 2006. I could write a new one, but I'd rather do other things in my spare time. [more inside]
posted by Fanghorn Dungeon, LLC to Computers & Internet at 2:48 PM - 12 answers

There is a quote from I think a Turkish scholar, in the second world war. He was admonished for caring so much about the placement of a semi colon in the time of war, and he replied about the world depending on the well placed semi colon. Can someone remember the quote?
posted by PinkMoose to Writing & Language at 2:15 PM - 2 answers

A friend who is an artist -- an actual, known, professional artist -- gifted me a watercolor. It's been pulled out of a spiral-bound sketchbook, so one side of the paper has the row of punched holes with the ripped edge. Adjacent to that is the line where the paper has been lightly scored so it could have been ripped out more neatly. Now I'm going to have the watercolor framed. Should I include the ripped edge? [more inside]
posted by BlahLaLa to Media & Arts at 2:12 PM - 12 answers

I am looking for Christmas gifts for my mother who lives independently but is in her 90's and should be easy on/off. I am thinking pant suits suitable for doctor appointments and church, but with the ease of sweats. [more inside]
posted by readery to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion at 1:50 PM - 8 answers

I'm not going anywhere for a good while, of course, but I'm dreaming of traveling again at sometime in the next few years. I'm interested in natural phenomena worth seeing that happen on a specific schedule or within a relatively limited time span. [more inside]
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis to Travel & Transportation at 12:38 PM - 19 answers

thinking of getting a really durable meat grinder for a dear friend as a holiday gift. have never really considered meat grinders before.. could you guys share some stories of .. your favorite home meat grinder? was thinking I might be able to score a deal today or monday.
posted by elgee to Food & Drink at 12:26 PM - 6 answers

I like to lock myself out of apps like Google and Chrome so I can only get into them if I really need to. I used to use one called AppLock from DoMobile Labs, which allowed you to put a really long password in (got the idea from this post). Now it won't work on my phone, and the other apps I find only have 4-digit pins. Are there any other app lock apps which allow at least 16 digit passwords?
posted by catquas to Computers & Internet at 12:25 PM - 0 answers

Should I take a job I don't want? [more inside]
posted by Asian_Hunnie to Work & Money at 12:05 PM - 15 answers

I'm taking a goal intensive and need to do a time audit of how I spend my time. What are some ways to do this? [more inside]
posted by diode to Technology at 11:56 AM - 5 answers

It's the time of year when kitchen goods are going on sale and it's time to replace our cookware but there's a dizzying array of options and I'm dividing by zero trying to make a decision. [more inside]
posted by joycehealy to Food & Drink at 11:18 AM - 14 answers

I'm having trouble deciding whether to paint the entire desk or just the wood parts, not the metal legs. [more inside]
posted by BeginAgain to Home & Garden at 11:09 AM - 4 answers

What is wrong with our bathroom sink drain? Can we fix it? [more inside]
posted by vernondalhart to Home & Garden at 10:15 AM - 12 answers

If your dog, who sleeps in a crate, predates your robot vacuum, which you run at night, how did you introduce it? Dog tax.
posted by chesty_a_arthur to Pets & Animals at 10:06 AM - 1 answer

If you PowerWash a Chromebook and give it to someone who starts using it with their own Google account, will it have a new browser fingerprint?
posted by Epixonti to Computers & Internet at 9:33 AM - 1 answer

Well. Our libraries have all closed now. We have been reading picture books but I think now its time we try to move to chapter books for me to read aloud. I would prefer enough pictures to keep the boys interested, like one per page, or one per every other page? We don't have an e-reader for kids. [more inside]
posted by catspajammies to Education at 9:24 AM - 14 answers

My old watch has slowed to a halt and the band is falling apart. I’d like to replace it with something not too cheap or expensive. [more inside]
posted by azalea_chant to Shopping at 9:06 AM - 4 answers

I'm having an old friend over for the weekend and we want to play some PC-Games! We talked about it a bit and we like to play Coop instead of against each other. We both have laptops, but would prefer to playuse on my big TV. I guess I have to purchase a pair of controllers for that, which is no problem. I am also very open to use Emulators and, for example , play some SNES classics, whatever brings the most joy! [more inside]
posted by SweetLiesOfBokonon to Computers & Internet at 8:31 AM - 12 answers

I'm looking for a kneeling office chair with an adjustable seat and kneepad. At the very least an adjustable seat. One would think this would be a very basic feature to add to a kneeling chair, but I cannot find any that satisfy these conditions. Do you have any leads? Or any kneeling chairs you especially like? [more inside]
posted by schroedinger to Home & Garden at 7:44 AM - 2 answers

My therapist has suggested I try journaling to help ease anxiety, especially my tendency to get stuck inside my own head and think over the same things again and again. Our session ran out of time before she could explain more though so I'm hoping to get some help here. I'd love to hear from people who journal for mental health reasons. How, exactly do you do it, and does it help? [more inside]
posted by Zumbador to Health & Fitness at 3:19 AM - 29 answers

My darling cats knocked my coffeemaker off the counter tonight and broke the hinge on the basket. It's a Braun KF400 Aromaster 10 cup drip machine and it's faithfully served me since the '90s. (I wish that replacement parts were available, but that doesn't seem to be the case.) But I digress... [more inside]
posted by computech_apolloniajames to Food & Drink at 8:33 PM - 23 answers

What tools, products or items make housecleaning easier? I'm bad at cleaning and don't enjoy it. I'm looking for products that will make it easier, more efficient, and less annoying. Cleaning the floors (particle board and tile), scrubbing the bathtub, dusting, vacuuming, vacuuming behind the bed or under the couch - blah. Perhaps a better toolkit would help me.
posted by bunderful to Home & Garden at 4:31 PM - 32 answers

I want a .ss domain because the last 2 letters in my last name are "ss" and I think that would be a cool looking personal URL. Things like .com.ss or .net.ss or .org.ss are already available, but all I can find online about .ss is ".SS top-level-domain is closed for now and will be made available at a later stage." Does anyone have any insight on this topic?
posted by glenngulia to Computers & Internet at 4:06 PM - 5 answers

One of our cats periodically gets violently aggressive and we’re not sure what to do anymore. [more inside]
posted by past unusual to Pets & Animals at 2:59 PM - 12 answers

Thanks to the magic of 2020 I will spend my first Christmas in my own apartment with my own tree. Apart from a small number of assorted dangly things with personal significance I utterly lack decorations for the tree and am in search of inspiration. Willing to spend some but not exorbitant money and / or try some simple crafting ideas. Very open minded on style of decoration. Tree is traditional green Nordmann.
posted by roolya_boolya to Home & Garden at 2:29 PM - 24 answers

This will be NSFW. I can’t stress this enough. Anyways, my (basically-cis F) partner has been on a testosterone replacement regime for about a year. There have been some side effects; nothing major,, but we may be at a bit of a crossroads here. [more inside]
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness at 1:59 PM - 24 answers

Is this weird or not weird? Mother-in-law behavior. [more inside]
posted by anonymous to Human Relations at 12:30 PM - 25 answers

What are some serial TV shows/miniseries which are genuinely scary/in the horror genre, and which follow an established or official team of people investigating a series of scary supernatural occurrences? Not looking for sci fi (a la X-FILES, DARK) or a cop show devoted to investigating one supernatural-tinged crime (a la TWIN PEAKS.) And no anthologies, please - just serials. Thanks!
posted by egeanin to Media & Arts at 12:12 PM - 16 answers

This is such a silly thing, but I can't be the only one with this problem. I have trouble distinguishing app icons from one another. My brain does not like pictures. My brain likes words. And yet the world is becoming more and more image-oriented. [more inside]
posted by kitcat to Technology at 12:01 PM - 15 answers

Very specific question. I want to deliver a small birthday cake to a family member who lives alone in Stuttgart. I don’t speak or read German, and the English internet doesn’t show me any leads. Are there any DoorDash type delivery services in Germany that will transport a cake from a bakery? Or good bakeries that deliver?
posted by redlines to Food & Drink at 10:22 AM - 4 answers

What do you think is the best, most vibrant vegetarian and/or vegan guide to eating out in London that a college student would like? So, not a book whose sensibility pretty much shouts being Gen-X- or Boomer oriented. Which is all my algorithm wants to show me. It doesn't have to be youth oriented exactly, just not assuming a middle aged tourist. [more inside]
posted by nantucket to Food & Drink at 10:12 AM - 11 answers

I mis-remembered how long a turkey needed to defrost. It's been in the fridge defrosting since midday yesterday. ("An hour per pound" -- NOT.) For a 12-lb turkey, it apparently needed three days to thaw! I have many questions about this! [more inside]
posted by slidell to Food & Drink at 9:47 AM - 18 answers

Is there anything I personally could do to help nurses in my area? Or even, like, one nurse? [more inside]
posted by Spathe Cadet to Grab Bag at 8:52 AM - 5 answers

Right now I'm under homeworking and homeschooling pressure. While I don't spend any time thinking about work once I'm off the clock, my body hasn't gotten the message. It takes me more than an hour to fall asleep because I'm still tense, my heart is beating faster etc. I would like to get the stress response out of my system by doing something with my body. Please help me, who generally dislikes excercise, find three or four things I can do to help my body reset so I can settle down to sleep? [more inside]
posted by Omnomnom to Health & Fitness at 8:33 AM - 18 answers

Can I eat this, expat edition. I was very excited to discover a jar of fruit mince for Christmas mince pies in my cupboard. This stuff is hard to come by in the us. BUT I bought it last year and it expired in July. It’s completely sealed and unopened. Can I still use it, knowing it will be baked into pies? Or will I need to to brave the local fancy supermarket to get a new jar?
posted by media_itoku to Food & Drink at 8:26 AM - 7 answers

Apart from 200 Motels, what were the most essential/important feature films Frank Zappa was involved in making? [more inside]
posted by pxe2000 to Media & Arts at 7:28 AM - 9 answers

I feel like if I never had sex in my life again, I could be totally fine. But is something wrong? Am I missing out on life? [more inside]
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness at 6:15 AM - 32 answers

Ashkenazi background, Jewish mom, raised totally secular, no bat mitzvah, I live in a country with very few Jews, is there an online, asynchronous, adult Jewish education or conversion class for me? [more inside]
posted by athirstforsalt to Religion & Philosophy at 6:13 AM - 5 answers

I'm working on an essay for a law course I'm taking on information privacy; attempting to trace the evolution of "privacy in public" theory in the context of photo consent, and contrast it to both Canadian legislation and the growth pressures people in higher ed marketing are facing. I'm looking for information on how much higher education presence online has grown in the last decade -- increasingly large websites, more social media presences, etc. -- and it's been surprisingly difficult to find anything definitive, but I figured maybe y'all would have some ideas? [more inside]
posted by Shepherd to Computers & Internet at 5:24 AM - 1 answer

Little to no violence, please, but beyond that, I'm open. LOVED Succession, This is Us, Mad Men, Veep, Fleabag, Friday Night Lights, The Wire (back when I could handle more violence). Didn't love: Mrs. Maisel, West Wing, Sopranos. Ideas welcome!
posted by heavenknows to Media & Arts at 3:21 AM - 38 answers

I have long covid. The neurological effects vary a bit but for the past few weeks I've been experiencing something like vertigo, which means my brain doesn't enjoy all the scrolling involved in internet time. I'm optimistically wondering if there is an app or extension that enables an alternative to this - something like page flipping in the Pocket app, but for the whole of the internet. I have a MacBook and an Android phone, and usually use Chrome on both, but definitely don't need to.
posted by FifteenShocks to Computers & Internet at 2:36 AM - 4 answers

I need some better masks for working out: mostly running (outdoor and treadmill in my apartment gym) and bodyweight training. Needs: fit is good for a woman with a somewhat small head, and with fabric that won't choke me (like my mask almost did today). [more inside]
posted by Paper rabies to Health & Fitness at 9:24 PM - 7 answers

Let's go beyond Heart and Soul or the Real Book. Please recommend piano duet books / pieces where *both parts* are moderate (2nd year piano skills). In "teacher / student" books, the "teacher" part is sometimes too hard.
posted by gregglind to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation at 6:00 PM - 2 answers

This bird in Minnesota seemed to be crepuscular and/or nocturnal. It was first noticed in July and it was still around as recently as early October, audible at dusk and for a few hours after sunset. I don't know if it was active at other hours as well. In summer the calls were spaced roughly 5 seconds apart, while in October they were about 30 seconds apart. It was kind of like a screech but with a shift in tone that gave it a slightly drawn-out, plaintive quality. What was it? Audio links and additional details inside: [more inside]
posted by theory to Science & Nature at 5:51 PM - 7 answers

I am having a debate with friends. None of us are computer experts. Is a paywall a type of firewall? [more inside]
posted by Waiting for Pierce Inverarity to Computers & Internet at 2:57 PM - 15 answers

I am looking for a cheap or free speech synthesis/text-to-speech tool that (a) can control the pitch and timing of syllables for a janky "singing" effect, (b) can be invoked straightforwardly from the command line, and (c) runs more or less out of the box on a modern Mac or Linux machine. I don't need any level of acoustic realism: it could sound like Jingle Cats with English syllables as far as I'm concerned. [more inside]
posted by nebulawindphone to Computers & Internet at 2:52 PM - 3 answers

I had a first generation actifry. It broke. I want a new air fryer for Christmas. I'm intrigued by the new models that don't have a whole in the middle (and are thus presumably more versatile), but I'm concerned that they don't (Seem to?) stir/move the food as it cooks, like the actifry did. Do they not stir the food? Do the fries get properly crispy if they're not stirred? Taking into account my non-negotiable need for crisy fries, what air fryer should I ask for? [more inside]
posted by If only I had a penguin... to Food & Drink at 2:17 PM - 2 answers

I bought some "smart" GU5.3 6V LED downlights for my living room. When I install them and flip the switch, nothing happens — no solid light, and no flashing light for "pairing mode". The old "dumb" LEDs work fine. What's the problem? [more inside]
posted by robcorr to Home & Garden at 1:13 PM - 5 answers