It wasn't just about me any more; it never would be again. :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 2:20 PM on July 22, 2008

Keep your lawn mowed. Make sure your windows are screened, as well as your entry doors. Assure that those screens are tightly fitted.

Use sodium vapour lights for outdoors (crickets are attracted to light, less so to the yellowish light).

Keep geckos.


What do other people in your area do? You live in the cricket's territory; there must be regional strategies that help people to co-exist with them.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 3:13 AM on July 21, 2008

sciapod, i'm also fairly short. <>
If you sit forward on the chair, you not only strain your spinal curve, you also put pressure on the back of your thighs.

A footrest whenever possible is important for good circulation. I don't know about you, but my feet "go to sleep". If no foot support or opportunity to get up and walk is available, discreet foot-circle exercising is helpful.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 9:41 AM on July 15, 2008

that was a "less than" symbol. less than 5 feet. :)
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 9:41 AM on July 15, 2008

Do you hate her? It seems to me that you're about to do a really cruel thing to a person you say you care about.

Note the "it seems to me" part; I'm not you or the woman you are going to marry.

Good luck, fairlysober. Maybe going for the couple's counseling would give you a way to stop this and at the same time make it a mutual decision.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:36 PM on July 14, 2008

I echo chudmonkey. It's more of a decorative wrapping thing than a preservation strategy.

Sealing cake in a plastic lidded container does the same thing, with the added benefit of not being at risk of breaking in transit.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:57 PM on July 13, 2008

You've got a risk-thing going. The project is very seductive, isn't it?

It may be that the risks, on paper, outweigh the benefits. It's your job to weigh and put a value on your creative urge and need.

It might be true that it's a pure, selfish incredibly strong desire. That can be a very good thing, and worth a lot on your balance. If that's the case, accept the penalty will be paid, and follow your heart. Of course, you'll smile and shrug and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:39 PM on July 13, 2008

Do talk to him, emphasizing the loving messages spoken of above.

As well, (and consider deeply beforehand whether you truly are willing to put your time and self into it) your brother would benefit by you saying something like: "I want to spend more time with you, and I think you'd like hanging with me more. Not only would I get to enjoy having you in my life more, but [a grin] I'm also something else to do besides drug and drive that you can do without your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:27 PM on July 13, 2008

The smoke is actually greasy.

You have to wash everything thoroughly, rinse just as thoroughly. Every surface: walls, ceiling, fixtures... everything. Shampoo the carpet, maybe twice.

A big job, maybe you can make a work party of it and get your friends wet and sudsy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 5:59 PM on July 12, 2008

I know a person who is trying to wean off it right now. She's in a great deal of misery. What we're (I'm trying to be supportive/a help to her) doing right now, is opening a capsule and removing 3 THREE grains a day. That's a very slow reduction, but she's desperate.

Her physician ignored her request to try fluoxetine as a withdrawal aid.

I've sent him this article: http://pb.rcpsych.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 12:57 PM on July 12, 2008

You know what? I'm pretty much in agreement with those who think her behaviour is over the top.... but...

perhaps this could be worked on AFTER she finishes the exam. That's some intellectual and emotional heavy lifting, and it seems a bad time to start a new "programme". The work on her PhD is rough stuff.

Not saying that it doesn't need to be addressed, but if you've waited this long, maybe it would be a good thing to wait just a bit longer.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 7:57 PM on July 11, 2008

Mulching to kill the grass is a bit dicey, in that grass seeds live a long time, and can never be exposed to sunlight, and every tiny piece of root will grow if left behind.

You have to either put thick plastic down, and vow to never disturb it, or you can mulch with at LEAST 9 inches (a foot would be better) of something like wood chips (NOT cedar or hemlock chips). I've had the best luck with the heavy thick mulch approach. If you put it down now, you can add soil or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:52 PM on July 5, 2008

GardenGal, with respect, I disagree.

I hold a Master Gardener's certificate, and my work in reclaiming bad ground gets praise. Seeds of invasive grasses will sprout if there is sunlight within 6-9 inches (some can come from farther down, but the sprouts are sparse and easily pulled). The seeds actually sense the presence of light, even if it's not reaching them. Thick plastic can do the same thing, but then you can't till at all. Of course, wood chips are acidic. When... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 7:40 PM on July 9, 2008

I was under the impression that Northern CA got snow in the winter. Overwintering a thick mulch of wood chips, (or of anything) does break it down. I've seen the process in action in Humboldt County, admittedly the only part of N CA I'm familiar with. I'd have suggested something different, but went with the ideas the OP was presenting.

Ideally, you could layer wood chips, new soil, and other organic matter. Price-wise, if someone is already considering laying sod... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 7:42 PM on July 10, 2008

heh... good enough.

Gardeners can argue as passionately as any true believer. What I do works. I bet that what you do works, too.

I agree about CaSO4, it's a good thing. pH is very hard to change, and any regional gardener, if wise, just goes with the flow. I'm sure the lawn mixes there are different than the ones best suited for here, as are the ground covers, and the perennials that thrive. Even though the large categories appear the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 12:20 AM on July 11, 2008

You don't need pectin or sugar to make black currant jam. Just heat the berries to 95C/200F in the jars, and seal. Yes, it's going to be very tart, but that's my preference. Sugar can always be added; it's hard to take it away toosweet.

Too sweet ..... last week my sis made some rhubarb pie that i found way too cloying. A big yummy spoonful of unsweetened blackcurrant jam mitigated that sweetness and combined wonderfully with the flavour of rhubarb.

On meat, it's divine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 1:07 AM on July 9, 2008

Oops. Heat the berries to 95C, PUT IT IN THE JARS, THEN WATERBATH, and seal.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 1:08 AM on July 9, 2008

You'd better contact the moving company office ahead of time. I'ts quite possible that they won't even wait for you to make trips with a pickup. They might just unload on the sidewalk and drive away. They might not; they might be very helpful, but I don't think what you have in mind is in their job description, nor might it match their timetable.

Good luck with your move.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:46 PM on July 1, 2008

....and be prepared to be asked to provide a stool sample when you do go to the doctor.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:26 PM on July 1, 2008

Many nursing schools start revealing scholarships after you've proved you can hack it. The attrition rate is fairly large for the first couple of terms/semesters. (I think it was around 25% in the first 6 months at my school.) Approximately 40-50% of the students were single parents, but there wasn't anything for those with just financial hardship. Every place is different, though.

If you can find a way to get started, it's not unlikely that you can qualify for help as... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:24 PM on July 1, 2008

A couple of drops of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon in a small amount of water on the stove burner.

Burnt toast is not a great smell, but it masks almost any other odour. (this one told to me by a pot-smoker. dunno about it masking that, but it sure takes care of things like when the freezer died while i was gone and when i opened it.. ouhhhghhh)
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 11:39 AM on June 27, 2008

zennie said something very wise. Take those three questions to heart.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:41 PM on June 25, 2008

You were a vegetarian that day. Don't sweat it. People change their dietary habits all the time.

If asked, tell them "I was a vegetarian then; right now, I'm not. I'm not rigid about it. Sometimes I don't want to eat meat."
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:36 PM on June 25, 2008

My sister let a dentist "guide" her into having her front upper teeth removed, only to find later that a periodontist could have saved the teeth. She cried so hard to lose them. THEN she found that she's so sensitive to having foreign objects in her mouth that she gagged and gagged trying to wear the bridge. Bridge redesign didn' t help. She can only put them in after numbing the inside of her mouth, and when that wears off, she has to take them out. We're all used to her without... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:37 PM on June 24, 2008

A teeny pinch of salt in the pot can really cut down the bitter flavour.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:21 PM on June 22, 2008

I think it's one of the milkweeds (Asclepias). It's a big plant family.

Did the unopened flowers have a long pointy head?

For example: this member of the family is "goatsbeard". (
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 10:38 AM on June 21, 2008

shoot :)

http://www.shortcourses.com/naturelog/goatsbeard-seedhead.jpg
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 10:38 AM on June 21, 2008

They get mushy when they're spawning, and are just not as yummy. The "no R" months are usually when the water gets warm enough to stimulate spawning. This year, it's been so cold, that May, a no R month wasn't spawn time yet. They were still yummy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:09 PM on June 19, 2008

A slight step sideways, anonymous. If you're masturbating daily, and thrice daily on weekends, you're possibly teaching your body how to never enjoy actual sex.

Don't choke it.
Don't squeeze tight.
Don't move your hand faster than your hips could move your penis during intercourse.

A vagina is much different than a hand.

You're normal. As said above, put aside the pron for a while, and take a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:24 PM on June 18, 2008

Try this:

Make a new bookmark.

Paste the javascript below into the "url field" of the bookmark. Name the bookmark whatever you like; mine's called "get YouTube Video". Be sure to copy all the javascript.


javascript:if%20(document.getElementById('download-youtube-video')==null%20&&%20!!(document.location.href.match(/http:\/\/[a-zA-Z\.]*youtube\.com\/watch/)))... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 11:34 AM on June 6, 2008

Oh no.

I broke the appearance of AskMe. :(
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 11:35 AM on June 6, 2008

Work peanut butter into it. Likely the dog will help.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 5:52 PM on June 2, 2008 marked best answer

Tune it to where it wants to be, not where you want it.

Find a low "E" analogue sound that the toy WILL hold; tune the other strings to that note. Hopefully, you can find a key (ish) that will harmonize with your voice and/or any other instruments.

Toy instruments can make fine music, but you'd be happiest if you use it within the toy-tolerances, and not put a lot of strain on it. You could force a tuning, but it'll probably break.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:58 PM on May 24, 2008

All seem to agree with me that the joke's not funny, over and above the stereotype issue. I'm not going to censor my daughter, just inform her, and encourage her to think more about why something is funny or not.

It still seems racist to me, because of the assumptions you are asked to make about the black man. I'm agreeing with alexei's and Pater Alethieias's, words... heh.. likely because they're reinforcing what I think. I'm trying NOT to write a speech to give her,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:18 AM on April 29, 2008

This has been happening to me in Tiger since i bought this iMac last winter. I posted in the Apple forums and got nothing. I've asked around, and mostly .. yeah.. no one really believes me.

It occurs almost every day, and I've not found it to be related to any particular application.

Restart or logout is the only fix I've found.

I'd love to know the answer. The problem itself isn't big, but since there's no answer, it's a mystery I want to solve.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 6:42 PM on November 15, 2007

NEVER FAIL ROAST BEEF

roast beef 4 1/2 to 12 lbs. (2-5.5 kg)
Flour
Salt
Pepper

Remove roast from refrigerator 2 1/2 to 4 hours before cooking. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260C). Place roast in shallow open pan, fat side up. Sprinkle and rub in a little flour, salt and pepper.

Put roast in oven and roast 6 minutes per pound (2.5 minutes per kg), timing exactly to the minute. When... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 11:06 AM on October 16, 2007

ps... this works just fine for smaller roasts. I've used this method with roasts in the 1 pound/0.5 kg size range with .. again..perfect results.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 1:03 PM on October 16, 2007

You've hit on the right strategy.. HEAT. No water, ok?

All those label glues will come off if warmed.. gentle heat. if you put the bottles in a fairly heavy plastic bag, and immerse the whole thing in a pan of hot water for 10 minutes, the label will peel right off.

Heat works for all those labels that are stuck to products. I use a heated spoon or table knife to warm labels, so I can get them off without leaving sticky residues.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:01 AM on March 8, 2007

sergeant sandwich, bless your heart! I was thinking that my question was badly worded and I'd get no answers. Thank you so much.

Your answer was NOT too basic. I'm downloading the pdf now,

Questions answered beget more questions, as is only right. You've given me enough to go on. I "get it" now. That feels very very good.

Again, thanks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 3:21 AM on May 5, 2006

Email received and replied to, saffron. What a great opportunity. I really appreciate that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 9:05 AM on May 5, 2006

Follow-up:

What I was doing was giving a presentation on the satellite mission. I belong to a "club": a group of professional women who meet once a month to hear a lecture by one of the members on a complex subject. We all have our areas of expertise, and are assigned topics totally outside that.

I'm a medical type, with a love of chemistry and microbiology, so... I got astrophysics.

sergeant sandwich's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:38 PM on June 17, 2006

One of the best lovers i ever had weighed at least as much as you. He was sensual and smart and funny and attentive.

You are hiding your light, i bet.. :-)
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 11:47 AM on April 30, 2005

I'm hoping it's not wrong to piggyback a question here, but if the questioner used an anonymizer like JAP, can he still log in and POST to the site he's trying to use? It seems to me that he could read the forum, but not post.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 11:40 AM on April 30, 2005

How full is your hard drive? OS X needs a lot of elbow room, and if your drive is more than 85% full, it may not function properly.

The "fsck" (filesystemcheck) routine gets run with every startup; there's not much sense in doing it over. if that helps, a simple restart would do the same thing.

There's also a chance that your directory is muddled, in which case, a handly application called DiskWarrior (bootable) may help.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 3:15 AM on April 21, 2005

It's a common garden spider. Spiders are a good thing to have, you just don't want them in your bed. I'd bite if you rolled over on me, so would a spider.

You mention you have a vacuum; clean it thoroughly. If you find a spider, put a glass over it then put it outside.

An exterminator would be *cough* over-kill. Spiders don't hang around frequently cleaned areas.

This is my style of coping with insects; if you're phobic, then i guess you'll hire someone.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 12:05 PM on April 19, 2005

West of Philomath is the Coast Range, heading for the Pacific (about 55 miles past Philomath). Where there's water, there's usually a proven well..GPM can vary substantially. 5-10 acres is a big chunk of property there. If there's salable timber on the property, it's going to be expensive. You want something that's been logged in the past and is now in "third growth"... the old growth cut a long time ago, the "second growth" cut about 30 years ago, and the current trees will... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 11:47 AM on April 16, 2005

If you look into one of the online sites on container gardening, or check out one of the books, you'll find information on growing mediums (ie dirt). I'd like to emphasize that the weight of dirt can be considerable, and wet dirt even more so.

Weight tolerances of balconies are fairly high, but not unlimited. It would also be wise to consider where the runoff from watering is going to go.

Enjoy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:32 AM on April 11, 2005

Nullipara means "never been pregnant", which is not the same. I read this thread twice, and still wonder what's wrong with "childless"? It's perfectly descriptive, one word, and can be used noun-ishly.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 4:56 PM on April 9, 2005

Crisco's really bad for you!!! Use butter.. NOT margerine.

It took me a while, reading.. and doing math in my head, figuring dosages. I thought you were really trying to cook with tobacco for a moment.. and was appalled. The dosage you're talking about COULD kill a child, if you were using tobacco.

DO the fat-soluble thing and strain it.. if you use marijuana. There's lots of pot-sites out there; I'm curious why AskMe is the place you asked this question.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 1:12 AM on March 27, 2005

I should be clearer. Laparascopy uses multiple small incisions, and an open appendectomy uses one slightly larger one. The amount of tissue damaged and needing to heal is approximately the same.
posted to Ask Metafilter by reflecked at 5:19 AM on March 25, 2005