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I'm lucky to have a pretty great, comfortable life. My biggest current problem is that I work for a large corporation whose work I have come to object to, and I want out. I'm starting a private coaching business, and it's going well, but slowly, because I find the business development aspects of my work uncomfortable, so I avoid them. Help me think of ways to bring risk-taking into my days. [more inside]
posted by spindrifter at 8:10 AM - 6 answers

What's the simplest, fastest, and cheapest way I can take reasonable outdoor photos of animals in low light? [more inside]
posted by asperity at 10:40 AM - 5 answers

How to care for a French Polish guitar when I'm a bull in a china shop? [more inside]
posted by humboldt32 at 10:55 AM - 4 answers

Looking for a known sports cliche stating, essentially, "When the game is on the line, trust the process that got you there!". I.e. don't try new stuff when pressure increases.
posted by Quisp Lover at 1:37 PM - 16 answers

My cycling coach has me lifting weights 2x a week, which has done wonders for my sprints, for sure. However, I'm running into a weird problem with foot pain. [more inside]
posted by uberchet at 6:51 AM - 6 answers

Walk me through taking six adults to Dave and Busters on 42nd St. in NYC after work. [more inside]
posted by griphus at 6:26 PM - 2 answers

I'm haunted by the memory of robot/cyborg dinosaur wind-up toys that I played with as a kid ca. 1989 or 1990 in the USA. They had some kind of postapocalyptic lore setting and IIRC the T. Rex, who might have had a circular whirring sawblade in his chest, was described as blind, but with "the soul of a poet." Does this ring a bell for anyone?
posted by yhlee at 1:17 PM - 4 answers

Handyfolks, woodworkers, and metalworkers of Metafilter-- say I want to drill a reasonably perpendicular pilot hole (<1/8") in hardwood. Is my money better spent to get a nice (?) set of clamp-able drill guides like this, or an inexpensive ($80 or $130) Harbor Freight-quality drill press? Mostly (currently) for use in wood, not (currently) doing any tapping/threading. Precision desirable but I'm not going to Mars here. Compactness desired, all else equal. Assume reasonable existing cordless and corded drills. [more inside]
posted by supercres at 11:10 AM - 12 answers

Considering the purchase of the Apple SD Card Reader to transfer photos from my mirrorless Fuji camera to my iPhone and/or iPad. I have a question for anyone who has used or owns one. [more inside]
posted by jrchaplin at 2:16 PM - 4 answers

I have snowshoes, but finding the right footwear is proving difficult. I've tried on 10 pairs last weekend at 3 different stores, and I've just gotten more confused. Help me stay active during the winter months! [more inside]
posted by tinydancer at 2:32 AM - 8 answers

The kid got a Nintendo Switch from Santa and is having a blast playing her fun games. I used to be quite the gamer in the past, but really only with first person shooters. Are there any games on the Switch that you could recommend that are FPS? I would also maybe enjoy horror themed games and they don't have to be FPS. Thanks!
posted by NoMich at 5:57 PM - 14 answers

I would like a current video game console. I haven’t gotten a new one in maybe 5 years. Here’s what I like and have liked: [more inside]
posted by jitterbug perfume at 4:06 PM - 10 answers

I'm about to run my first D&D 5e game, on Roll20. I have played and run D&D before but it's been a while. Many of the people joining my game have never played any D&D before at all. How can I help these newbies have a great first experience with this wonderful hobby? [more inside]
posted by Pastor of Muppets at 11:16 AM - 16 answers

So I say I can't use meetup because I've already tried it, short of tech stuff, people were I live don't really use meetup, there's really very little with that. However, with that said there is a ton of stuff to do, I just don't know how to find it. [more inside]
posted by Tarsonis10 at 8:02 PM - 15 answers

I'm making another throw because they are kind of fun and nice to have around. I have a fussy question about the pattern which is basically big circles that you then making into squares. The question is aimed at me not spending a fortune on yarn and involves short rows for shaping. This is probably very boring but I generally find someone on here is bored enough and enough better a knitter to venture an answer. [more inside]
posted by less of course at 10:14 PM - 6 answers

My 2020 planner is bound. I want to add more pages here and there. How to best do so? [more inside]
posted by katypickle at 5:17 PM - 5 answers

I want to get better at riding my bike, so I can feel more comfortable/in control when I'm riding in traffic to go places. I've got my bike, a helmet, an empty parking lot and a couple days off. Can you suggest specific drills/things for me to practice so I'm not just literally riding in circles? What skills are essential for the commuting/everyday cyclist?
posted by btfreek at 10:04 AM - 17 answers

Playing Rummikub last night and my daughter was unable to play the required 30 point starting play until she had drawn her 31st tile. That got us thinking - what is the most tiles you could accumulate in a 4-player game without having 30 points to play? [more inside]
posted by COD at 2:56 PM - 5 answers

We got a switch for christmas and we've been playing minecraft. I launch the game under my profile and my wife plays as player 2. I don't really understand player data and how her information is saved, but she would like to be able to open our world in single player and play as her, not me (with her items and map, etc). [more inside]
posted by Naib at 2:38 PM - 2 answers

This year, we pulled this "talking" jigsaw from the back of the closet and it was a hit because once the little four-piece "windows" are assembled, figuring out where to place them in the larger puzzle was a matter of visual clues and logic. The "Talking Puzzles" are no longer made so I am looking for some other style of jigsaw that requires more use of color/image/word clues and logic and less dependent on matching shapes. Any ideas? [more inside]
posted by metahawk at 9:37 PM - 7 answers