An amazing number of folks have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Most of them bounce wildly up and down until the thyroid dies, which is a good thing, as then you can get thyroid replacement thyroid therapy and it's predictable. You get one dosage for the rest of whatever instead of playing whack a mole with it.
I'm a big fan of sea salt, which has all the trace minerals in it, but it does come with iodine added, if you look around.
I saw once somewhere that levothryroxine is... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 9:15 PM on July 29, 2008

My kid, who had 10 cats (don't ask), did the experiment with everything on the market,and she reports Anti-Icky Poo is the way to go.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:47 PM on July 28, 2008

Back before they had baby formula, they made it out of condensed milk, water, and Karo syrup. They controlled the kid's regularity by adjusting the amount of syrup. It may only work on babies, it's just a data point.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:14 AM on July 22, 2008

Call the insurance company and ask about what your benefits are, and most of the insurance companies use the same deductible for an urgent care center that they do for a doctor's visit. Ask them if you can go to one without a referral from a your PCP (since you don't have one). You can ask who's on the list at the same time, or have them fax you the list, or most of them have the list posted on the web site anyway. Actually, it's likely you can find all this on the web site, except if you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 1:25 PM on July 20, 2008

White used to be managers/engineers/superintendants, and "safety guys".
Just FYI, stickers or paint used to be an OSHA violation, because it could hide cracks.
I think OSHA is all but gone, (along with safety guys) but it's just something to think about.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:10 AM on July 11, 2008

Clicked too fast.
It's a good idea to have a different color of some kind if you don't hang out on jobs much, because they'll try to keep you from getting killed. (It slows down the job.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:12 AM on July 11, 2008

I know of at least one guy who lost 100 lbs, and didn't need the CPAP, and pretty much whipped diabetes too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 5:52 AM on July 7, 2008

I used to do a little safety and you'd be amazed at what some idiots will do. My concern, if I worked for the company that made them, would be that it would get fired and need replacements, and some idiot would figure out a way to bypass the mechanism, change the blade, and "get this job back on the road". The first rule of safety is, you never run out of idiots.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:34 PM on June 28, 2008

Twice I sent objects to Greer SC, priority mail, and both times it took a month to get there. This may be specific to Greer; all post offices are different. But if it needs to be there Tuesday, I'd spend the money. If it would be nice if it got there Tuesday/Wednesday priority might be good enough. (Our local PO is so bad that apparently it's famous throughout the system. Life is a crapshoot.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 4:39 PM on June 27, 2008

I think "largely vegetarian" or "almost vegetarian" or something along those lines.

What you said was in response to a question you weren't expecting, and I can't find fault with saying "vegetarian" as a quick response. Do I think you need to become an actual vegetarian to make this not a lie? No, of course not. (My morality allows me to tell a lie only when the truth would be more harmful than a small lie, or oversimplification. This... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 5:42 PM on June 25, 2008

If you had recently lifted anything heavy with a less-than-empty bladder before this showed up, you should tell whoever you see. That's free, unsolicited advice from an ultra-sound technician, who said she sees a lot of Bad Things caused by that. If this does not apply, never mind.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 5:19 PM on June 21, 2008

All I know about it is what I read here, but everything I've seen here says if you have to use pepper spray, beat a hasty retreat, because it smells good to eat to a bear after it's gotten on foliage in the area. I didn't see that mentioned much, but it sounds like good advice, from others who know more than I do.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 5:11 PM on June 21, 2008

The trick to garbage bags is tape it or rubber band it in one place, and then do it again, above a towel around your leg. You can never get it completely waterproof, but the towel will catch the drips.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:00 AM on June 20, 2008

Second the epoxy or some kind of coating. Once removed, the teeth dry out and split in a fairly short time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:53 AM on June 17, 2008

No dial tone from inside and busy signal from the outside could be a dead short or the line has lost the ground. But yeah, the first thing to do is disco everything and start checking with one single line phone. If the phone company comes out, the first thing they will do is blame whatever's plugged into the system, so you want to get everything off before you call them (if you do). They only have to give you a dial tone to the network interface, which is the new name for the demarc. That's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 9:10 AM on April 20, 2008

Should have previewed, slow typist.
Yeah, what he said.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 9:12 AM on April 20, 2008

No need to be embarrassed or apologize whatsoever.
It was a very weird problem, and all the answers were great, and some day, somebody will go looking for the answer to something similar, find this thread, and will figure out their problem without even having to post a question.
You were looking for a local problem, as were we all, and nobody would have suspected that the telco themselves created the problem. (We all sort of assume that the signal they provide to the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 11:45 AM on May 17, 2008

Back in the day, most of those knobs were made of Melmac (tm), which was a special kind of plastic that would eventually dry out and become brittle, then crack into 2 halves and fall off.
Melmac was also used for the heat resistant handles on pans that went on the stove, and the heat would make it dry out faster, so they always cracked at the base, closest to the heat source, and then fall off.
Melmac was the first kind of "plastic" to be widely used... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:42 AM on May 14, 2008

aramaic is perfectly correct; the brown stuff was Bakelite, and that's what I get for trying to remember the 50's without enough caffeine. It wa a while back. Sorry.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 5:46 PM on May 14, 2008

"Need a New Drug"
"Codeine"
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:58 AM on May 14, 2008

Many factors involved, but most states are a little more touchy about drug offenses than some other kinds of legal problems.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:37 AM on May 12, 2008

I asked them to stop sending them and they do, but it seems like I have to call them every year, as eventually they start coming again.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:32 AM on May 12, 2008

Carbon tet has been outlawed in the US for decades, because on some sensitive people, even one exposure can kill your liver.
I'd suggest other solvents, like rubbing alcohol, first. There's no way of knowing if you are sensitive until your liver just fails.
(My father used to always use a pump full of the stuff to dry out the car's electrical system when it had drowned out, until it was banned. Then he had a heck of a time disposing of it. That was about the 60's.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 4:44 PM on May 11, 2008

If you go with the in apt washer option, you can hang stuff on plastic hangers (to prevent rust stains) and hang it on the shower curtain rod. The trick to it is to stick a floor fan in the bathroom and blow it towards the laundry. Assuming you don't stuff too much in one load, it can dry by morning, or the next evening at most. If it isn't dry by morning, you want to turn the hangers around backwards so the fan hits the other side.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 3:53 PM on May 11, 2008

For bonus points, nothing will shrink if dried this way.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 3:54 PM on May 11, 2008

It's been around forever. I've seen it with the punchline, "You're right, there is a difference."
My grandmather had a plate or something when I was a kid that had this on it, and I think it was vintage, if not antique, at that time and that must have been 50 years ago.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 5:33 AM on April 22, 2008

When you start flossing (you are going to, aren't you?) if your gums bleed a little, take some Vitamin C. It makes the capillaries less fragile and will help that, which is sort of alarming, if you're easily alarmed, and I think we've established that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 8:15 PM on April 20, 2008

My kid, formerly of Seatle, would mention that when the wind comes up, you turn them on for a while, (or one cycle if they shut off by thermostat) because the wind will knock the trees into the power lines and you're going to lose power, but if you run them once before it dies, you probably will still be sort of comfy when they fix the power lines.

Anything that glows red hot, I'd be dubious about leaving unattended, but if the room is warm when you go to bed, it'll... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 8:03 PM on April 20, 2008

Depending completely on your age (or that of your passengers), reading glasses.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:17 PM on April 20, 2008

I've owned a lot of refrigerators in my life, and almost all of them seem to keep the odors out of the fridge better than the freezer. (My theory is that there is some sort of odor control system in the fridge that doesn't reach to the freezer. Many of them brag of this feature, and you'd think it involves some kinda activated carbon thing, but I don't know.) Whatever it is, it doesn't work very well in the freezer.
I have used a flat container of baking soda with a large surface... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:00 PM on April 18, 2008

Do not do anything that might personally identify you, yourself. This person is obviously violent, and you want to avoid becoming a target yourself. People get murdered in domestic violence situations, and you don't want to place yourself in harm's way.
Call the police if you hear sounds of domestic violence, and yes, logging it would be a good idea. You can decide later if you want to come forward with it, should the occasion arise, but that way you'll have it. If you happen to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:43 PM on April 16, 2008

Just list it like it was any other job and if the question comes up - which it may well based on what you've said about this guy's current notoriety - then you just say something like, "Yeah, I worked there. That was before all this happened. Then the opportunity at MostRecentJob came up, and it was more in line with my career ambitions so I took it." I wouldn't even suggest that you had suspicions about the place if you don't have to.

I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 3:22 PM on April 12, 2008

No idea if this is applicable, but the clicking noise might be diagnostic.
The body has a meniscus in 8 places, two per knee, one on each side of the jaw, and one at the base of each thumb. The clicking noise can be characteristic of a cracked meniscus. (Ever notice those people who roll their lower jaw until it makes a cracking noise? Blown meniscus. Also, I think if one of them goes, the rest of them tend to be weak, which might be something you'd want to be aware of.)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:21 PM on April 9, 2008

Diagonal cutters, which sometimes have a small notch below the blades used as a stripper. The stripper is often a homemade add-on feature.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:54 PM on April 1, 2008

I had this, with a roomate strep carrier for a couple of years. He would only come down with it when he got stessed. Once we had it at the same time and had two different antibiotics; he had penicillin and mine was erythromyacin,. They tell you not to ever, ever take drugs with the lights off, and I did it anyway. Damn near commited involuntary suicide. What saved me was the different shape of the pill.
Do as I say, not as I do.
Family folklore said he got it... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:47 PM on April 1, 2008

Craft stores.
They sell them for keeping the Tshirt flat while you paint on them with those paint tubes, if that will help you track them down. I don't remember what they call them officially.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 11:29 AM on March 31, 2008 marked best answer

From the link mentioned above, I notice they say most people only get shingles once, if they do. I have known a number of people who got it more than once, although probably all of them were older.
Since no one has mentioned it, they do have a vaccine for that now. I don't know if it's considered helpful after you've had it or not. As a general rule, it's recommended for those over 60, but maybe it makes a difference if you've already proven you can have it earlier. I... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:32 PM on March 28, 2008

I had a bad one as a kid, to the point that one of the other kids who stuttered used to translate for me. There were a few in the neighborhood, so we never felt alone or special, it was just something some people did, some people didn't.
I generally don't finish anything for people (although usually it's on the phone so it's different), but in my field, I can ask yes or no questions and that seems to go over well as a technique. I used to hear from one guy who had it so bad... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:42 AM on March 19, 2008

gurple: Thank you! I never thought about stuttering in a second language because mine is Latin. (I don't do conversational Latin, so didn't think about that.)
I got a guy on the phone the last couple of days who stutters in English. (I don't know what his first language is, but he's not from around here.)
Apparently, he can do the first half of a sentence, and then when he gets to the second half, he has vapor lock. The second half, he just freezes up. I waited... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:23 PM on March 27, 2008

I've used rubbing alchohol to remove fly specks, and it would cut down on the amount of flying debris. I cannot vouch for the solubility of rat feces in alchohol; no experience. You can rewash photos if you need to. But yeah, don't be breathing the dust from rodent droppings, they can carry some nasty stuff.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:28 AM on March 12, 2008

You can rinse them in water with a little Photoflo; it's milder than soap. Do a test swatch of whatever first, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:30 AM on March 12, 2008

The best advice I've always gotten about weaning off drugs came from the pharmacist, not the doctor, if you have a good pharmacist. Not to say don't ask the doctor, certainly you should, but I'd ask the pharmacist for a second opinion as well.
I've also had the best luck by weaning off until the symptoms get unlivable, then taking one extra pill in there someplace to knock the edge off, and going back to the schedule.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 7:05 AM on February 27, 2008

I like Shout spray foam, but if you drip a little lighter fluid on it first, it will work better, especially on old, run-thru-the-dryer stains. You don't let it dry first, just put it through the washer, but not the dryer, in case you didn't get it yet.
Once it's been through the dryer, it's usually too late for baby powder or baking soda, but it wouldn't hurt anything to try.
My organizational schema is that everything gets turned wrong-side out when I put it in the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 12:57 PM on February 10, 2008

I had the electric needle thing (which I suspect is Tesla coil technology) a few years ago. Cost me a 30$ copay for the office visit and did a beautiful job. The pits are another story, but the red spots were easy. This was after I spent years asking the dermatologist every time I went in to have warts harvested about it. The usual answer was, "We charge by the lesion and it's cosmetic so not covered by insurance and you have to pay that day before they do it". The estimates were... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:24 AM on February 6, 2008

Cat Pie Hurts
What Cat said; except I'd use sheets of plywood cut to fit. It's a more even distro and doesn't leave the swoop between the slats in case the mattress would droop.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 1:02 PM on January 26, 2008

Rash.
(Which could mean almost anything.)
Fanny.
(They know what that means, close enough.)
Derm.
ikkyu2would know. Sorry if some others would also know; I just don't recognize you.
Any doctor should be used to seeing things that although they may seem appalling to you, the doctor won't mind.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 12:02 PM on January 25, 2008

Alternate theory:
My chiropracter recommends ice for a muscle spasm rather than heat, which he claims can make it worse. You could try a little of each and see which works the best for you.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 9:18 AM on January 15, 2008

I have seen people with a beard that started to go grey on one side first, then the other side goes too, although it may take a while. In the meantime, I'd just dye it for now and wait for the other side to catch up. (Occam's Razor explanation.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 6:32 AM on January 11, 2008

Boomshine.
The kid cannot lose; they just play until they win.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 4:14 PM on December 31, 2007

I got a really ugly one; left tibia. It left a huge lump on the bone, visible on Xray. They seen to think that's normal. If they tell you that about yours, it's probably OK. IANAD; I just have wierd lump on my tibia.
posted to Ask Metafilter by unrepentanthippie at 4:05 PM on December 31, 2007