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One that I love, because it talks about not just the dark feelings but listening to them and using them to improve yourself, is Disturbed's The Light.

(not a huge fan of them, but this one just hit me in the face with the power of hope it challenges you to have.)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 9:16 AM on February 16, 2024

Weirdly, I have rarely had an issue with white rice in our Instant Pot. We buy a big (like, 5 pound) bag of the Carolina parboiled rice, put it in the IP at a 1:1 ratio, usually tossing in a tablespoon of butter. Mix it up well so all the rice is under the surface of the water. 5 minute cook and 10 minutes natural release, hit the power button immediately, and the rice is nice and fluffy. I usually pop the top, put on a potholder, hold the liner in place while I use a big spoon to fluff it, and… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 11:46 AM on December 6, 2023

One of the team leaders comes up with the list, and we vote on it. I've suggested that maybe we change the method.

I missed the drink-and-sip, and was warned I need to not skip them, especially when it's done as us being let go for part of the day to do this. If it gets scheduled in advance, we're expected to not have a "prior commitment".
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 11:36 AM on July 30, 2018

I have a doctor's appointment set up for a month from now (first I could get) for a new consultation about my knee; we're looking at a full replacement within the next few years, so that's my priority.

I'm good at not drinking after all this time, but the last big event we had (the cooking class), everyone went to a nearby dive bar afterwards, and it got really uncomfortable out because I wasn't drunk and everyone else was (the other person in the department who doesn't… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 5:59 AM on July 31, 2018

I have a meeting set up with HR, after some issues that happened today that if not addressed will probably result in legal action by me (not saying more), but things brought up in this post will be coming up.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 8:35 AM on July 31, 2018

Also, to respond to one thing:

Probably a long shot, but is there any chance that you could beg off because you 'want to focus on some work that's on your plate,' and then just stay at work to the end of your normal working day?

I work a support position, phone and email. The emails that come in get assigned by the supervisors. When these things happen, the phones get turned off and the supervisors go with so there's no way… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 9:00 AM on July 31, 2018

While I adore Kate, I would take a step past The Kick Inside, and start with Lionheart. This is mostly because while I love "Wuthering Heights", the version rerecorded on "The Whole Story" is, in my opinion, better than the original. (Except for "The Man With The Child in His Eyes", which is really excellent at all times.)

If you want a good overview, I suggest, in fact, "The Whole Story", which will give you a nice taste of a… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 6:50 AM on July 31, 2018

...they don't have Hounds of Love? Bastards!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 6:51 AM on July 31, 2018

I see that Greenish and I have a significant level of disagreement, but that's fine. At the end of the day we're all suspended in gaffa.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 7:29 AM on July 31, 2018

I know it's very old-school, but I love (and so does my wife!) the classic Clubman Pinaud aftershave.

May I also suggest a perusal of the Maggard Razors aftershaves? With almost 800 different, you can probably find something you like in there.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 11:14 AM on July 30, 2018

This is a Known Thing. People will try to go to your url/wp-admin and try to log in with various credentials. (This is why one thing I do is have an admin account, where I do the work, and before posting, change it to another account that I randomized the password to and has no rights at all.)

If you don't have it yet, I recommend installing WordFence, which deal with this kind of thing. There's a free version, and paying gets you is blocked exploits a couple of weeks early.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 8:16 AM on May 31, 2018

I had my gall bladder removed, which is totally minor in comparison.

Have a pillow nearby and use it to splint your gut if you feel you need to cough or sneeze. It helps a lot. Otherwise you find yourself twitching and wondering if you popped a staple (do they even really use stiches anymore? My mother had a freaking hip replacement and they stapled it shut).

It is, as others have said, very draining. I… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:41 PM on May 11, 2018

Adding to Stillmoving, there's this cover of Gin and Juice.

You may want to review a bunch of Richard Cheese's oeveur - I always thought of it as the 'happy face being put on for the world by a depressed person', including their cover of "Down with the Sickness":

Original by Disturbed
Richard Cheese
A close-to-the-original version with acoustic guitars that sounds very different
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 3:27 AM on October 16, 2017

I'd have suggested the Seanana McGuire InCryptid stuff, and even the October Daye stuff, and, hell, even her stuff as Mira Grant, but it's all first-person.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 7:32 PM on January 14, 2016

Taking it from the other point of view: Bowie covering Bruce Springsteen's "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City".
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 7:30 PM on January 14, 2016

Look at him and ask him, "is a cheap fur coat a trivial fur suit?"

A complete non sequitur should break his mind a little.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 1:21 AM on October 31, 2015

And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
And life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend.
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.
-- Stan… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 4:58 PM on September 21, 2015

I'm marking this down for later as I will want to know about it in a year or so.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 2:32 PM on September 14, 2015

Maybe a sandwich from George's Delicatessen? (their actual site seems not-working, thus the stranger review)

There's also the 2 bus that comes frequently and can take you downtown, which might also work, if you don't see anything you like in the area.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 2:26 PM on September 14, 2015

My wife had something similar happen, but with zithromycin. Taken it for years, no problems. Then one day, mid-sequence, BAM, allergic reaction. Called for an ambulance, and when the paramedics got there, between looks, in the space of a minute, she developed hives. Epipen in the ambulance, heavy doses of benadryl, six hours in the hospital.

Scary.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 3:16 PM on July 30, 2015

You may also want to consider a nifty lunchbox. I used to own one like this one, and it ended up being pretty great. I would grill some chicken the night before, stick some bits of cut-up pita in one, some homemade tzatziki in another, some lettuce and onion in a third, and chicken in the main, and boom, instant chicken mini-gyros. The temperature control was really great, too, and I never had a leak, even on the day I brought some clam chowder in the soup bowl.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:12 PM on December 6, 2013

This is KIND of like it... and might be useful.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:01 PM on December 6, 2013

Basically, anything within about a mile of Union Square will do it for you. Which is, well, a LOT of area.

The question of 'medium-priced' is the question. What's 'medium priced' in New York City might be Insanely Expensive in other places.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 6:41 PM on August 4, 2013

I can't view 3-D movies and hate their recent rise to prominence. To see it in 2D required me waiting until 10:30 last night, which really annoyed me. So I vote for 2d purely for spite.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 2:06 PM on July 13, 2013

I should clarify: by 'can't view 3-D' I mean: my strabismus (lazy eye for some of you) means that the amount of physical stress on my eye muscles to make a 3-d movie work at all puts me into the bathroom about half an hour in, throwing up from the pain. Happened to me at Despicable Me (the original one), and it's only gotten worse, so I'm not willing to push more.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 4:49 PM on July 13, 2013

Maybe this book and some pencils?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 2:39 AM on July 13, 2013

Mine is a bit different from yours:

I went into the ER after a nine-hour gallstone attack, not knowing what it was. (My doctor had said it was just bad GERD the last time this happened, but I was scared at this pain that just wouldn't go away at all.) Got there at 4 AM, they had me piss to check for kidney stones, then hooked me to an IV and gave me some (oh blessed) morphine. 7 AM my family got there (I left a note that I was going to the hospital and took a cab;… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:29 PM on July 12, 2013

What headnsouth said. This is not something to discuss by phone. You want to have this conversation with him face to face.

That said, hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Make a list of your options, and also prepare the documentation for any kind of transfer of knowledge you need to do. While the reason for doing it by phone may be 'I don't want to go back, I want to stay here and do the caretaking', you should at least have that one-on-one in person to… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 3:50 AM on July 5, 2013

Have you had the seals on the door checked? I've read that sometimes you get water in between parts of the door, and that's where some of the problems come from.

Ours, for example, has a flat window on the outside, but a shaped piece inside that makes it a bit wider. There's notes about water getting inside it and causing mold and mildew, but we've been careful with it and no problems yet.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 4:08 PM on June 23, 2013

My nephews are twins in a Montessori school. They have been separated, and together, as various things happen. My brother and sister-in-law think that the separation is good for them, as they get to learn things and not have reinforcement from each other. They were a little weirded out by it when it started in kindergarten, but now it's just normal for them to be separated for part of the day to do something else.

That's the anecdata I have for you.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:12 AM on June 23, 2013

I had this.

I printed out a copy of this Something Positive comic and taped it to their front door when I got tired enough of it.

They stopped.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 1:07 AM on June 22, 2013

Spreadsheets usually don't do name changes of columns. What you can do is put the names in line 1, then do sorts with the "header row" active, allowing you to sort by the names you put in line 1 and work with that.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 1:02 AM on June 16, 2013

I know that for iOS and, I believe, for Android, there's a Wordpress app that you can use for your self-hosted site, so that may be worth looking into just to look at, and it's free.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:13 PM on May 13, 2013

Also if you have a Zipcar account, we do have Zipcar in Seattle, if you don't want to rent a car for a day or so.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 1:56 PM on May 12, 2013

Salt water rinses, talk to your dentist.

If no one else can smell the 'putrid' but you, however, I'd lay it on the anaesthesia. I had my wisdom teeth take out in a single four-bang in a twilight state (but I didn't need surgery, just the yanking out), and nothing like that.

But when I was under for my gall bladder, a few days afterwards the byproducts of the anaesthesia started leeching out of my fat tissues and oh god, the horror of taste. Even… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:35 PM on May 1, 2013

If you spend time with geek people, Real Genius.

I showed it to a friend a few years ago, and her face kept getting this 'oh wow' expression as all these jokes and references suddenly had this lock. It's one of those movies where now, people just know some of the jokes. (One of the best known: "I am reminded at this time of the words of Socrates when he said.... 'I drank what?'")
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:23 PM on April 28, 2013

...so i just used evernote clipper to clip this page.

It seemed appropriate.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 3:11 PM on April 24, 2013

I think you need to hit https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/ and send this up the chain. Not the guy in the office, the inspectors. It sounds like there's a huge problem in your area, and there needs to be a hammer brought down.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:08 PM on April 23, 2013 marked best answer

Do you have iMovie for the iPhone? It's not nearly as full-featured, but you could, say, do a quick rough edit on the phone before moving it into the full iMovie on your machine.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:01 PM on April 23, 2013

I'm with BECU and have had almost no problems with them. (And the one problem I did have wasn't theirs, it was someone who ran my card four times and kicked me to $3 under my daily limit on a Sunday, when they don't have hours and I had to wait until Monday morning to call and get it dealt with.)

Oh, and the ATMs that are run by Citibank in 7-11s everywhere are free-to-use for BECU members.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 5:26 PM on April 9, 2013

We had a bunch of calls stop when... well.

I had one of these calls on the line, was trying to get to an operator. She picked up just at the precise moment one of the our cats jumped onto my sleeping roommate's chest, causing her to let out the most blood-curdling scream I have ever heard before or since (and my roommates are horror movie fans and I have heard a lot of them). There was a moment of silence, they hung up and the number of spammy calls dropped to about… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 5:35 PM on March 30, 2013

Yeah, that's the one that's pinging in my head, too.

The Elvira thing threw me off - I remember it was actually shown on ABC as a 'halloween movie'.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 1:47 AM on March 25, 2013 marked best answer

The movie Nightbreed, based on the Clive Barker novella "Cabal", is pretty much MADE of this.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:02 AM on March 19, 2013

I seem to remember that the P3 ones are indoors, a level below the Airtrain. The doors open and close a lot, so it's one of those 'heated areas with lots of bursts of cold' (or in the summer the opposite).
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 4:47 PM on February 8, 2013

I do it now.

I share the house with two other people; they have large upstairs bedrooms, I have two rooms in the basement (a small bedroom and a small office space). There's another bedroom upstairs, but it wasn't really what I wanted - it's a guest bedroom if someone needs to sleep over. I have a bathroom (shower, toilet, sink), and we share the cooking randomly (last week I made mozzarella chicken, for example, just because I was in the mood).… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 12:40 AM on January 23, 2013

if you're going to bring a power thing, I suggest this device, as it gives 3 outlets and 2 USB device chargers (which experience tells me WILL charge an iPad, so it'll almost certainly charge your Android Device). I've used it traveling (including by train across the midwest, so I was able to charge my iPhone in the food car when there was no plug by my seat), and in coffee shops ("Can I plug in here?" "Sure!" And people are happy) with minimal troubles. It probably won't… [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 4:37 AM on December 13, 2012

I do know that if you subscribe to Adobe's Creative Cloud, they give you a free one-shot submission with Digital Publishing, basically setting it up as an app on the iTunes App Store.

A link to the DPS single-shot.

But right now a lot of these things are in flux. No one really knows what's going on. You can be an innovator, a definer, a leader. Or it might not work. That's kind of the amazing bits of the current situation.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 1:54 AM on December 4, 2012

I've had good luck with King Size Direct.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 10:56 PM on November 29, 2012

I cannot, cannot second what brennen said enough.

Some kinds of fish, in the microwave, can stink up an entire floor and then one in both directions (this from experience). It can be kind of horrific and there will be full-on crusades for the one responsible.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 3:52 AM on November 27, 2012

Also invest in a lock, or perhaps some of those shock collars for animal training.

Either way, you can use them to keep your children away from the delicious things.

(kidding!)
posted to Ask MetaFilter by mephron at 1:14 PM on November 27, 2012