Displaying comments 1 to 50 of 1385
Ask post:
How do you juggle anti-anxiety meds and tiredness?
Shit, I went on anti-anxieties because I got pretty tired when I was doing homework--studying was the very thing that set off my anxieties, and Xanax made it possible for me to study. So, yeah, talk to your doc about changing your cocktail.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:54 PM on September 2, 2008
Ask post:
Help me get my Jack Russell to quit peeing on everything.
When our dog would misbehave, we'd bop him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper--not hard, but enough to get his attention. When he took to marking the basement posts in the new house, I simply placed a rolled-up newspaper against the posts. He'd see the feared weapon of discipline, and give those posts a wide berth. Do you do the shaking-pennies-in-a-can thing? Put a can wherever he pees. Does he, like my dog, hate plastic bags? Tie them to the couch legs.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 10:46 AM on August 28, 2008
Ask post:
Getting the Group out of Group Project
Every professor who's ever assigned group projects has seen at least one student in every class with your list of concerns. When she made the assignment, she was anticipating the exact objections you posed, and has a valid, well-thought out response for each of them. She assigned the group project because she has, at least in her mind, valid, well thought-out pedagogical reasons for doing so. So don't expect a lot of sympathy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 12:28 PM on August 27, 2008
Ask post:
A ridiculous question about banana peels
Wikipedia says Panama disease is casued by Fusarium oxysporum, the same fungus that casues Fusarium wilt in, among other plants, tomatoes. I'd not heard this before, but it concerns me now, since we compost and grow tomatoes, which are looking rather wilty this year. Are there botanists out there who can weigh in on this?
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 10:40 AM on August 26, 2008
Ask post:
What type of bike should I get for pulling a trailer?
In my experience, it's not just the starting up and hills that are difficult, it's going slowly. If you're riding anywhere with bumps, you'll want to keep your speed down, even when you're coming down a hill and there's an up-hill in front of you. That meas you'll be riding your brakes coming down, and losing all that wonderful momentum that would normally help you climb the next hill. So, yeah, you're going to be using those low gears even if you're not doing serious hill climbing.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 9:25 AM on August 25, 2008
Ask post:
Calling Boris and Natasha....
We buy big bags of red pepper at the Indian grocery, and sprinkle it liberally and often on our plants. It has worked very well for us.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:42 AM on August 22, 2008
Ask post:
High-acidity Tomato Variety Wanted
At the end of the season, we wrap the unripe tomatoes in newspaper and close them up in a cardboard box. Every other week or so, we pick out one or two ripe ones, toss any that are going bad, and close up the box again. We've been able to have "fresh" tomatoes for two months after harvest that way. In semi-blind taste tests, even these boxed tomatoes have come out WAY ahead of store-bought ones.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 12:28 PM on August 21, 2008
Well, I think they're just being snobs. They're not wrong, really; yes, indeed, it is always better to let the tomatoes ripen on the vines, but if that isn't an option, the newspaper method is better than doing without. Try it, then compare yours to store-bought--we did, and were impressed. It's a pretty low-risk experiment.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 1:41 PM on August 21, 2008
Ask post:
Need a pedometer that measures miles.
Measure from the toe of the first footprint (to hit the towel) to the heel of the second.
That seems like you'd be cheating yourself of the length of one of your feet. Shouldn't it be toe to toe, or heel to heel? With my big feet, that'd add up to quite a bit pretty quickly.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 12:22 PM on August 21, 2008
Ask post:
Death of a salesman
I'm guessing this is not a hypothetical question. Can you give us more detail about the situation?
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 12:45 PM on August 20, 2008
Ask post:
Sofa so good?
If you go the futon couch route, look for a good mattress. The one in my daughter's room is a real inner-spring (Sealy or Serta or somesuch) mattress, great for sleeping.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 8:55 AM on August 20, 2008
Ask post:
Somewhat stylish wide-brimmed hats for living on the surface of the sun?
I like my Tilley, but I do wear a cheap-ish Panama when it's really hot. Tilley also includes a two-year replacement warranty--lose the hat in two years, and they'll send you a new one for 1/2 price, no questions asked. I have actually done this. The Tilley folks never asked if I, like, really lost it, or just wanted a new hat. I did need to send them a copy of the receipt.
I got the Tilley because I walk to work, 30 minutes each way, and I needed a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 6:02 AM on August 20, 2008
Ask post:
Cooking with fresh cayenne peppers
We string ours on dental floss (not the mint kind!) as we harvest them, and hang them to dry in our kitchen. I just tie on a needle and let it dangle, so I can string a few whenever they turn red. Then, this winter when I'm making chili or something, I'll break a few off and crumble them up. Attractive and functional!
If they are too hot for your tastes, you can still use them. We grew some habaneros that were, to us, inedible. I didn't want to toss them, so I cut them... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:35 AM on August 15, 2008 
marked best answer
Ask post:
Does this nullify my DC apartment lease?
I believe that you are absolved if the apartment isn't registered. We took our former landlord to small claims court over an un-refunded security deposit, and the first thing we checked was the registration (unfortunately for us, the apartment was legal).
You can actually sue for all back rent if the apartment is illegal. You might try letting him know about that, and see if he just drops the issue.
As we found out, though, it's really up to the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 8:42 AM on August 13, 2008 marked best answer
I don't think it adds much info, but there's an article about tenant rights organizations on DCist.com today.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 11:35 AM on August 14, 2008
Ask post:
How long does it take to kill an ant?
The devices described so far aren't really "traps," but bait stations. Your ants ideally don't get stuck in there (though some do); rather, they take the bait back to the colony and feed it to the queen. She dies, the colony dies, and you have no more ants.
In my experience, it's sort of an on-going control thing, rather than a total elimination. If conditions are conducive to the existence of one colony, then they're conducive to the existence of multiple ones.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:19 AM on August 12, 2008 marked best answer
Ask post:
it's actually a peninsula
I've done that trip, twice, actually. No, there's not a lot of really super exciting stuff, but it's a pleasant summer vacation, with lots of opportunities for eating wonderful creamy pastries and smoked fish and maple syrup and cheese curds and lots of Canadian stuff like that. We USAians had a fantastic time doing not much more than that. Twice. A whale-watching tour was fun, and I learned a lot of French (excuse me, where is the closest fish market? Can I find lobster nearby? I need a tow... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 10:51 PM on August 1, 2008
Ask post:
What songs make you wonder whether humanity should even bother?
Just some quotes--I trust you'll know the songs:If I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat
If I shiver, please give me a blanket
Keep me warm, let me wear your coatLevon wears his war wound like a crown.
He calls his child Jesus
Cause he likes the name
And he sends him to the finest school in townMars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it's cold as hell
And there's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 1:17 PM on July 25, 2008
Ask post:
Fun with a purpose?
Walk to work. I get an hour a day of exercise, and it takes virtually no time out of my day, as it'd take about as long to ride the subway or bus as it does to hoof it. A buddy of mine was getting ready for a major hiking excursion, and he got in shape by walking 3 1/2 miles each way to work and back. Sure, it takes time, but you are getting somewhere in the process.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:34 AM on July 25, 2008
Ask post:
Here a Drive, there a Drive...
Our desktop died, and we bought a laptop. Just last weekend, I got a hard-drive enclosure at Microcenter for $25. I'm fairly handy, but no computer wiz, and I was able to get the drive out of the old computer and connected to the new one in less than 15 minutes. The enclosure even came with autobackup software--now I can press a button on the enclosure and get a full backup of the laptop drive, plus I have access to all my old files.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:30 AM on July 25, 2008
Ask post:
There is a mouse living in my stove. He was not invited.
We've had the same problem, even with an actively-mousing cat. We propped up the stovetop and set traps. Worked great.
Now, the pee issue--we did have several mice nesting in the oven insulation, and the smell was pretty bad. We ended up ordering new insulation, and taking the stove apart and replacing the nasty stuff. It was a big job. We videoed the take-apart, which eased the putting-back-together immensely.
To keep the problem from recurring,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:24 AM on July 25, 2008
Ask post:
On your bumper and accelerating
Cluelessness, mainly. Sure, I can see tailgating a guy 4 cars from the front in an effort to get him to try to get the guy in front of him to move, but I can't count the number of times I've been tailgated in the right lane, while going well over the speed limit, with plenty of room to get around me. There is plenty of aggression to go around, sure, but most folks aren't really trying to be jerks.
It's like folks who walk on... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 10:49 AM on July 23, 2008
Ask post:
Just the write place, DC
Seconding Library of Congress' Jefferson Reading Room. Amazing surroundings, electrical outlets, and, yeah, air conditioning. There's a pretty low threshold to get a reader's card--just tell them about a research project you're working on. No view, but the interiors aren't bad.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 9:09 AM on July 18, 2008
Ask post:
You'll put your eye out
This is really just for awesome toy purposes, so the DPSS lasers are definitely out of my budget. I hadn't thought about splitters, but those look fun. Quietgal, I wish I could say I'm planning on doing something really cool, but mostly I'm looking to just point it at stuff and go "Oooh!" Unless there's something neato you could suggest!
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 11:37 AM on July 17, 2008
Ask post:
Relationship minefield
I was in a smilar situation 10 years ago--long, emotionally-dead marriage, met someone great right afterwards, clicked amazingly, all that. We went out for about a year, broke up, then I met another woman with whom I clicked amazingly. After that relationship ended, boom, more amazing clicking.
This is not to minimize the amazingness, not at all. But you may find, as I did, that you have an ability to click (amazingly) with many women (guys, too) that's been supressed by... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 8:42 AM on July 16, 2008
Ask post:
Is it Xanax or is it stress?
"disconnected and foggy" are the symptoms that led me to take Xanax. I only ever had one anxiety episode, connected with a temporarily stressful situation. I couldn't concentrate, and fell asleep too easily, at inopportune moments. Xanax fixed that. I was able to quit it after a month.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:43 PM on July 10, 2008
Oh, and I am, indeed, a doctor, but not in any way medical. The stressful situation was my PhD exams. I failed the first time, hence the stress. Xanax is good and effective, but, yeah, you should see an MD, as I did.
posted to Ask Metafilter by MrMoonPie
at 7:46 PM on July 10, 2008
