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Can we jerry rig some way to pre-heat, and continue to heat, our car's front seat? The car is two years old and we regret not getting heated seats, but we didn't. Now I have nerve degeneration and cold intolerance, and oh -- to have it warm when I first sit down, and continue with specific warmth! [more inside]
posted by kestralwing at 10:05 PM - 11 answers

If you came out as any flavor of LGBTQ while you were living with your parents, and they went or were sent to PFLAG for advice, do you feel like it helped you in any way? Did it improve how they treated you or how well they were able to support you? Did it have any effect on you at all? [more inside]
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:45 PM - 6 answers

I'm a fan of the Gavle Goat and I'm aware of the Yule Lads and Krampus. What other strange holiday things/creatures/what have you are out there to learn about? [more inside]
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:44 PM - 24 answers

For Reasons, I will be spending this Xmas alone. Help me come up with things to do! [more inside]
posted by thereemix at 6:23 PM - 23 answers

I am discovering that I suck with handling paperwork. I have crates and crates of actual paper files. I also have folders and subfolders in electronic format, and I am never satisfied about how they are organized. I always find myself asking questions like: should I organize these files by date? by theme? by whatever? Should I move it in this folder or the other? OR should I tag it? And whatever decision I make at the moment seems to be the unhelpful and unpractical one in the long run. [more inside]
posted by Kitty_Levin at 7:43 AM - 14 answers

My grandma passed two days ago. I've been tasked to make a playlist for the funeral. My aunt (who was closest to her) said that she liked easy listening music, but it being my dad's (and probably one of my uncle's) preferred genre, I'm kind of concerned that it'll made him sad if he hears the songs on the radio from now on or something. Am I overthinking this? [more inside]
posted by womb of things to be and tomb of things that were at 7:47 PM - 9 answers

What is the pithy simile / metaphor / expression I'm trying to remember? It's when you're trying to make something adhere to or move through a process, but the thing and the process are fundamentally misaligned. It's not exactly "herding cats." More like, you're trying to make something slippery or liquid attach to a wall. Halp!
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:20 AM - 9 answers

I have teammates that are stuck in a boardroom for 4 days, listening in on what basically amounts to a 4 day long conference call where they are basically expected to just listen in quietly and are only there in case there happens to be a question. Needless to say they aren't having a super fun week. I want to stick encouraging and/or funny messages on the boardroom window to help cheer them up and break the boredom a bit. What funny things messages should I write? [more inside]
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 6:21 AM - 11 answers

I had some pots laying around. And a silver marker. I did a thing and I LOVED it. A dozen pots later and my metallic markers are bone dry. I want to take the next step in painting pots. I plan to buy a stack of terracotta (red) pots. Can you please recommend for me (A) a type of paint that would work well on stoneware and (B) "traditional" or other colors that look great on terracotta.
posted by rebent at 5:23 AM - 4 answers

I'd like to get some flavor of journal. I want something with writing prompts of some description; blank pages are not going to do it for me right now. I don't want something too flowery, but the "Wreck this Journal" type journals seem a little much in the other direction. Do you have a favorite journal, and what do you like about it? [more inside]
posted by telepanda at 2:19 PM - 8 answers

I am looking for ghostly, otherworldly, cross cultural music/songs similar to Above the Treetops. I want to use additional music with ATT in a lengthly slideshow presentation.
posted by Xurando at 1:23 PM - 5 answers

We went biking along the frozen mudflats that serve as our ocean beach in Anchorage, Alaska today and found a 1/4 mile stretch strewn with these weird ice balls. What are they/how might they have been formed? [more inside]
posted by charmedimsure at 9:28 PM - 6 answers

I feel like an idiot. I left the house for some errands the morning. I know I had it in the car on the way home (I was a passenger) as I took a photo on the way home. That's the last time I remember using it. [more inside]
posted by walkinginsunshine at 11:44 AM - 20 answers

We live on a small island in Micronesia. My brother is getting married in South America. That's 40 hours of flying there and 35 back! For Christmas I'm making my boyfriend the ultimate carry on bag, which will have activities and snacks he gets to open every few hours. limitations: have to be available to ship to Guam. [more inside]
posted by foxonisland at 11:46 PM - 9 answers

Bought two identical strings of “Holiday Time Multi Color LED Micro Lights” last Christmas. 150 LEDs per string. I expected to get several years of use out of them as the LEDs are permanently installed in the sockets. They both failed in the same manner when I got them out this year. Any fixes out there? [more inside]
posted by leafwoman at 3:35 PM - 2 answers

What it says on the tin. I have inherited a diamond (3 mm) in a (small, unobtrusive) pendant that I would like to wear out and about, but apparently such an item is considered more of an "evening wear" type of thing. I don't like attracting attention with my jewelry. My question: what is the general etiquette for wearing diamonds or precious stones (that are of average size, not huge blingy boulders) if they are not set in wedding or engagement bands?
posted by Armed Only With Hubris at 12:23 PM - 21 answers

Are there popular equivalents in other languages of "Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit"? I'm finding it difficult to discover via google if there are either widely known translations of "Beans" or popular songs/poems dealing with beans, farts, or (ideally) both in other languages.
posted by mattamatic at 2:02 PM - 3 answers

This was me, the first year (2011) as a Layaway Angel. But now I'm wondering what we could do that's a bit different. IOW, what's "Layaway Angel 2.0"? Specs inside. [more inside]
posted by DrGail at 1:41 PM - 8 answers

I’m planning on getting veneers on 8 of my upper teeth in January. I’m really nervous about how the process will go. Can you help assuage my fears? [more inside]
posted by anonymous at 5:29 AM - 8 answers

I'm having a casual pre-Christmas crafting party for friends and I'd like to offer to some option ways people could give back to the community and/or resist oppressive systems at the party, like letter/card writing... [more inside]
posted by dahliachewswell at 11:24 PM - 11 answers