January 6
Basic Life Skill: Knee Injury
I just fell extremely hard onto pavement and took the brunt of the fall with my knees. I've never had an injury like this before. What do I need to look out for and do over the next couple days? [more inside]
Best "the SCIENCE(!) of science fiction"-type book or resource?
Specifically, Battlestar Galactica/Blindsight/The Expanse/Alien(s)-esque spaceship science fiction uhhh...science. [more inside]
How do I deal with my manager's weird behaviour?
My image-conscious boss does not like confrontation ... so I am doing all of his 'confronting' for him. [more inside]
Why did all of my vintage flatware tarnish at once?
So my household has used a combination of non-matching vintage flatware + nonfancy nonvintage flatware forever. After years of this stuff holding up super well, in a short burst all of our vintage stuff became mottled and somewhat gross-looking. The contemporary pieces are fine. What happened? Can I reverse it? [more inside]
To what degree do criminal proceedings rely on precedent?
In a conversation recently the role of precedent came up in criminal proceedings. To what degree is precedent a factor in criminal proceedings? [more inside]
Looking for ways to keep my hands busy while watching TV
I am looking for games, puzzles or fidgets to keep my hands busy while watching TV. Details inside [more inside]
Best Mac email client for multiple accounts?
I have five (5!) email accounts that I need to check regularly: 3 Gmail-based + 2 Outlook-based. I need a free Mac-based email client that can handle them all, with a few further stipulations ... [more inside]
A podcast for a podcast-hater
I've been walking a lot but not going anywhere (so say we all), so I'm looking for some podcast recommendations to listen to while I walk. Important caveat: I hate most podcasts. I did like "Extremities" and "Nice White Parents" and I have lingering affection for "Wiretap" (RIP; not really a podcast I guess but you know what I mean). More picky details below. [more inside]
Short Story recs for high school speech/forensics
Recommend me some short stories (ideally with some unsettling or creepy elements) that will work for a high school speech competition. [more inside]
Help me pick up the violin after 40 years!
I decided that I can't let the pandemic end without furthering some artistic pursuits. I've managed to make good progress on my stained glass work, but I would love to start playing the violin again after giving it up in 9th grade! So, I'm reaching out to you fine folks to help me with a few things. [more inside]
Looking for good science journalism
Hi, folks. Like the title says, I'm looking for good writing on science -- not scholarly journals, but stuff aimed at curious and moderately intelligent mainstream reader. I'm defining science as physics, biology, chemistry, computer science, and not so much medicine/health/coronavirus. [more inside]
Buckled a pan - how do I fix it???
This is why I can't have nice things - I bought a lovely pan and in under a month I have 'bowed' it. How do I flatten the base back out. [more inside]
Self-help books for adolescents?
My 7th grader is going through an existential crisis and we can't find her a counselor at this time. Looking for books that might help her particular circumstance. [more inside]
Skillcrush vs Free resources + bootcamp (which?)
Someone I know is interested in a late-career change to becoming a developer. She's hooked by Skillcrush's aesthetics and the delivery of their instruction, but questions the cost and isn't sure of the value that the portfolio plus career advice brings compared to alternatives. Snowflakes inside. [more inside]
Can you translate this old postcard from german to english?
I've been doing some work on tracing my family tree and need this postcard translated from german to english. [more inside]
January 5
Looking for soap-absorbent/-retaining dish clothes
I want to quit using sponges and switch to dish clothes, so I'm looking for ones that are thick and will hold/retain a lot of dish soap while I use them. [more inside]
Have you heard of the "Naturally Slim" weight loss program?
My health insurance is offering participants free enrollment in a weight-loss program called "Naturally Slim." I'm having problems googling it because of the generic title. Does anybody have experience with this program? [more inside]
What are the current social problems and social policy issues in Quebec?
I am trying to learn more about Quebec and I am curious to know if there are any ongoing social issues and social policy issues that are being faced in Quebec? [more inside]
Cultural/historical focused tours in Africa?
I started looking through all the great-looking websites linked in this question and got frustrated again that I can't find many tours that aren't 90% safari, South Africa, or Morocco. Does anyone have city-focused tours of anywhere in Africa besides that? [more inside]
Looking for alcoholism resources in Los Angeles CA
TL;DR: I am in San Antonio and cannot go to LA. My brother in LA is drinking himself to death. I can't find any local resources to help break the cycle he's in and I'm getting desperate. [more inside]
Adventures with a formerly distant but now quite lovely dad
My father is taking my brother on an expensive fly fishing trip next year, and while I was invited, we decided the cost would be wasted on my much lower level of fly fishing interests/abilities. But my dad wants to make things fair and so he's sent me a check for the same amount of money that he says I could put toward student loans, or whatever I'd like. "OR," he says, "maybe WE could take a trip?" I want to do a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing, on the order of fly fishing in Alaska. But what should we do? [more inside]
A smoke detector that will listen to reason
This tweet has me on a mission. Is there such thing as a smart smoke detector that will let me tell it to be quiet, there has been a false alarm? Asking for a dog who gets very scared. [more inside]
How should ear defenders fit?
My googling's done me no good, and I don't think mine fit right. Help me understand what I feel should be obvious but to me apparently isn't. [more inside]
Just enough chemistry - Chemistry textbook recommendations
I want to own a hardcopy chemistry textbook. I'm not going to become a formal chemist but need a firmer grip on some specific areas, [more inside]
Very short funny/interesting videos for teenagers
I teach kids in grades 7-8 (over Zoom, these days). In order to get them to read their agenda on our asynchronous days, I have just started inserting silly, short videos as Easter eggs. Help me find things that will delight them. [more inside]
Give me the night sky!
I want to transform my bedroom ceiling into a beautiful night sky. I'm envisioning some sort of concoction of string lights and fabric. Sewing the lights on the fabric and then stapling the fabric onto the ceiling, maybe? Have you ever done anything like this, and do you have any thoughts or tips on the best way to make this happen? I'm going for fluffy, frothy, calming sky and stars, in a way that will not catch things on fire or become a terrible dust trap. (I don't have any light fixtures or anything else on the ceiling.)
Long shot question about scary sci-fi/mystery British show in the 1960s
Ok, a friend of mine grew up in the 1960s in the UK. He remembers as a child being freaked out by the opening sequence of a TV show. This would have been between maybe 1964 and 1968. The sequence opened the show every week. [more inside]
What's this "serverless" hype?
I'm being asked to investigate serverless (AWS Lambda, Azure Functions), my only previous experience with it was using it like a bash script that kicks off simple jobs without needing to setup containers are K8s. I'm seeing people doing some pretty crazy applications that would seem to have been done . Am I being old or is this just a fad? It seems really like pub/sub or event sourcing with all the K8s and containerization abstracted from you. These things can be incredibly hard to track down problems when things go wrong. [more inside]
How can I reliably stream or download this week's episodes of Jeopardy!?
My wife and I live in the UK and are big fans of Jeopardy! We typically download recent episodes using a private BitTorrent tracker of which I am a member but sometimes new episodes don't appear on the tracker for days and sometimes they don't appear at all. How can I make sure I don't miss any of Alex Trebek's final week of shows? [more inside]
Am I being petty/over-reacting about money?
My husband's sister, who I am close to, rounded up the amount I owed her and that makes me feel bad. Am I just being petty? [more inside]
Work-from-home lunches that are make-ahead, with TEXTURE
What are your make-ahead lunches that I can eat while working from home with minimal prep (a quick zap in the microwave), with varied TEXTURE? Leftovers seem to get soggy/soft/mushy immediately and I'm already doing overnight oats in the a.m., which is all of the mush I can take in a day. No green leafy salads please. [more inside]
Donate plasma TV in Greater Boston?
I have a 10+ year old Fujitsu Aviamo 50" plasma TV that I'd like to donate somewhere in the Greater Boston area. It works perfectly but it came with the house and it's time to upgrade. I can't envision selling it as the shipping costs would be greater than its value. I'm happy to drop it off somewhere. [more inside]
I only want to hear from you and nobody else
Is there a way to override vibrate-only notifications in Android for one specific event? [more inside]
What are the best primers on the technical side of the Green New Deal?
What are the best explainers out there that go in to detail about what will actually be required to pull off the Green New Deal's call for 100% renewable energy in the U.S. in the very near future? [more inside]
Take my money, Duo
Difficulty re-upping my Duolingo Plus subscription due to no longer being able to get into Apple Pay and card expired [more inside]
Removing Black and Green Mold on Siding & Deck
Our vinyl siding and decks tend to need a good cleaning every few years, we get both black and green mold. Previously I had been doing this myself with a pressure washer I would pre treat the decks with a bleach water mix but use only water on the siding. It was hard work and took me a few days to do it by myself.
A couple of years ago I won an exterior house from a Facebook contest from from a local company to clean my siding. The guy walked around the house once with a low pressure hose spraying on some kind of cleaner. Then walked around a second time with a low pressure hose with a water rinse. To me it looked like magic because in the past I was using back breaking brute force to get the mold off. It took this guy less than 20 minutes to do the siding and another 20 or 30 mins to do the deck. House is in need of another cleaning this year and I'd like to do it myself. What was the magical cleaner concoction that he used that only had to sit on the siding for 10 minutes or so before it melted all the mold away and cleaned off with a quick water rinse?
Preferred names in Oregon
I've been using a preferred name for the 6 months I've held my current position. Boss has told me to begin the legal name change process or they're switching my email address over to my legal name. YANML; what are my rights? [more inside]
Missing features in old Amiga games
I have a vague memory that in the old days of computer games ('87-'90), you might get home with your newly purchased computer game, excited about a feature advertised on the back of the box. But then you would find an errata card saying that the manual was incorrect, that this exciting feature was not actually in the game after all, possibly because it was too buggy to ship. Can someone help me identify a specific game where this might have happened?
January 4
Where can I get my hands on a wombat? Literally.
So I've now interacted with most of the animals on my bucket list: kangaroo, quokka, koala, otter, sugar glider, penguin. All the cute ones and pretty much all at animal sanctuaries. Last one on the list? WOMBAT. So where can I pet, scritch or tummy rub a wombat in a supportive environment?
How am I supposed to pay taxes on a stock sale?
I'm going to be selling stock from my company's employee stock program in a couple of months, and will have to pay taxes on the gains. What is the procedure for paying these taxes (US, Oregon)? [more inside]
Which version of Final Draft should I buy?
I'm creating a script. Right now, I'm using Celtx. I want the script to be in the format that will be most acceptable to professionals and from what I read, that's Final Draft. But when I look to buy it on eBay or Amazon, there is a downloadable Version 11 for about $35, which I assume must be a subscription. And, there are old Version 7 and 8 packages. These cost $40, $150 and almost $300, respectively. I'm guessing the difference in price means something regarding functionality, but I can't tell what. [more inside]
Is it time to cancel my term life insurance policy?
I'm a divorced 58 year old, with two adult children. I have a term life insurance policy that I have (thankfully) outlived with a 20 year lock in price that is coming to an end. [more inside]
Decolonizing Crucial Accountability
I'm about to have to take a course based on the Crucial Accountability book, which I understand many here like. I've been warned that the course does have some issues wrt power imbalances. Can you help me understand these better before I dive deep into the course? [more inside]
Know any good virtual event producers?
I am looking for recommendations for a virtual event producer or production team for an award ceremony. I'd like to step it up from just Zoom for a live streamed event with participants in multiple countries. [more inside]
Question about The Expanse
I recently started watching "The Expanse" and I have a question. Spoilers inside for Season One, Episode 2: "The Big Empty". [more inside]
Eating for one: Optimizing for health, weight control, and convenience
I want to figure out ways to feed myself where I can eat very healthy meals, in a way that is very, very convenient. Convenient for me means: Around zero to five minutes of active prep. Healthy for me means: lots of veg, fruit, fibre, etc, low on processed foods, sugars, bad fats, etc. It also means being able to have a reasonably good handle on how many calories I am consuming. I’m in Toronto, Canada. [more inside]
Putting red to bed?
I'm in my mid-50s and have dyed my hair red for many years. I love the red! But is it time to change the red out for what lurks below? [more inside]
Lingering religious indoctrination in step-kids
How should my wife and I address religious issues with our children resulting from years of indoctrination by a narcissistic grandparent? [more inside]
Is it possible to repair a leaking low-pressure CO2 cylinder?
I got a 20 pound CO2 cylinder and retrofitted my SodaStream to use it. It was amazing (lasted 11.5 months! cost <$20 to fill!). I think the valve was damaged on the way to refill it, however, as it has now essentially emptied in a matter of days. [more inside]
Do you google how-to videos better?
I bought a Magic Chef 2.6 portable dryer(MCSDRY1S) to go along with the Silk Lux small washer referenced in one of my previous answers. I need to mount the dryer on the wall above the washer. The dryer came with an instruction booklet and the parts to hang this dryer on the wall. Unfortunately, I cannot figure it out from the booklet. I need to see a video of someone actually mounting the dryer on the wall using the provided hardware. But all the videos I find are of reviews, or other mounting methods, or both. Can someone with better google sense find me the elusive video of wall mounting using the hardware provided?
Gentle exercise routines without the gym
I have been calorie counting for a while and would like to add an exercise routine to my life. I am a forty year old female who currently weighs about 170 lbs (down from 210). I still have some knee and foot problems so I am looking for something that will be easy on the joints. I thought about swimming, but with the covid situation I don't feel comfortable going to the pool. My main goal is to improve/maintain my flexibility and build some stamina so I don't feel so winded going up and down the stairs or chasing my cats around the house.
Making life easier (for family) if something happens to me?
I am trying come up with a concise list of things I could do right now to make things easier for my family if something were to happen to me. I have 3 siblings (48, 50 and 52) and 2 living parents (79 and 86). If I get hit by a bus today and live (but can no longer make decisions) or die what information should I have thought about, put together and disseminated to them to make things as non-stressful as possible for them? I'm thinking of Disability Insurance, Life Insurance, Living Will, Final Will, etc. [more inside]
Medicare for an out-of-state surgery
My mother needs a hip replacement in the next year. She lives alone in the midwest, my husband and I live on the east coast. I would like her to get surgery out here so she can live with us for a bit post-op. I am wondering if you have navigated this, particularly the insurance piece with Medicare. [more inside]
Plus size overalls in fun colors
I love, love, love Universal Standard's overalls, but wish they came in more colors than blue and black. Do you know of any places to get cute plus-size overalls in fun colors? My size falls in the 16-20 range depending on cut (photo for scale).
Leaving Social Media, Gmail, etc. Are there safe options.
Long and short of it, I watched "The Social Dilemma" and am getting the hell out. As of this time, I am moving to Substack to keep others informed and establishing a website where I can keep a business/personal presence.
What other options are there for social media and emailing. Is SubStack a wise choice or is there better? What is available to protect the website? What am I missing?
What is the best peanut butter for making peanut butter blossoms?
What is your preferred peanut butter for making peanut butter blossoms (those pb cookies with Hershey kisses on top), and why? If you have a fave recipe send that along too, but only if you include the brand/type of peanut butter that gives you the tastiest results.
Comprehensive list / collection of microaggressions?
I'm working on a project to help identify microaggressions in my workplace, in the hopes that at least some of them are due to ignorance rather than malice, and that awareness of them might help well-meaning people avoid them. But to do that, we need a categorized list of many examples of microaggressions, so that people can recognize their behaviors and correct them.
Does such a list already exist somewhere? The closest thing I've been able to find was this, which breaks them down into categories and shows a few examples. But it's far from comprehensive. [more inside]
How to watch Jeopardy! without a television or cable signal?
For reasons, I no longer have a television signal. I do not have cable. If I would like to watch this week's episodes of Jeopardy!, are there streaming or other reasonable options available to watch those episodes, at or around the time they are broadcast, without getting my hands on an antenna or signing up for cable?
LARFCP = ?
While out on a hike yesterday in the Angeles National Forest, I saw the abbreviation "LARFCP" stamped in the base of a concrete cistern. Nobody on the Internet seems to know what it stands for. Do you? [more inside]
What does FPP stand for?
I saw the acronym(?) "FPP" recently. It seems to be a MetaFilter exclusive term that's old enough that no one bothers to spell it out and I can't figure it out from context. What does it stand for?