Can I just be really proud of tumbleweedjack here? The right thing to do is get tested and tell anyone who might have been exposed, and I've had that conversation. It's not an easy thing to do.
Hoping it's something else, but you done good.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 11:18 PM on December 1, 2006

I use baking soda for the travel mugs. You can't use soap on them as the plastic absorbs the soap taste very soon.
I just dump a bunch of baking soda in the mug, soak, and rinse. It kills the taste and smell, and doesn't leave any chemical or soap flavors behind.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 6:59 PM on May 8, 2006

Lock up anything worth stealing. There are folks who just go shopping at other peoples' open houses on Sunday for entertainment, and one of our news stations mentioned people on drugs rummaging the medicine cabinet for goodies in your absence.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 6:04 AM on May 8, 2006

Or run out to the all-night grocery and buy one of those home dry cleaner kits, which includes a spot remover.

If that's not reasonable, get the little spot remover pads you dab at the material with. Detergent aisle.

Hang the thing in a steamy bathroom for a while and then hang it out in a dry room to get rid of wrinkles. (Anything you iron or press or otherwise get warm is likely to set the spot.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 7:51 PM on May 7, 2006

Lose the underwire bra for a while, that's a lot of weight to be putting on the wire.
That's just until you can make an appointment and show it to someone who knows about these things.
Also, you didn't say if you had quit taking progesterone, but if so, mine hurt too. (I got a 3 month shot, and by the time that wore off, it was over with.) No matter why they hurt, it's common to notice it more when you remove the support.
YBMV
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:30 AM on May 2, 2006

Just a cool Atlanta story.
We come from places where any building 100 years old is considered scenic, and anything from the Civil War era is historical.
I popped into Atlanta to visit, and asked the locals about "the historical district". Same answer every time, "We don't have anything historical, Sherman, you know."
Matter of perspective. (I loved Atlanta, it was friendly and polite.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 4:49 AM on May 1, 2006

The Botanical Garden should be killer about now, and they have a Conservatory on the grounds. The Conservatory is full of tiny poison arrow frogs, which are not toxic because of their diet, and very shy, you never see them. They are quite loud, and lend a certain ambiance.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 4:53 AM on May 1, 2006

The very last thing you should do is stop off at the ladies' room. Trust me on this. I've had dental work that went on long enough they had to lighten the nitrous and let me get up. Yours won't be that long, but it's still a good idea.

If they forget to tell you, if the sockets bleed at home, you put a damp tea bag over it for a while. (Most dentists will actually tell you to do this, it's not like an old wives tale or something.)
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 7:57 AM on April 29, 2006

Most of my reproductive years, I got a cyst once or twice a year. It got progressively more uncomfortable for a while, which I think varied but around a week or so, and would eventually rupture. It hurts like a mofo, and by the time it breaks, you're so glad to see the end in sight you don't care about the last pain. Much like livii
There are different kinds and all that, and certainly it needs attention, but there's a chance it may just resolve by itself. It should quit hurting... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 7:45 AM on April 23, 2006

We all wish you well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 6:00 AM on April 28, 2006

I had two kids, and they knew I smoked, although there were aware there were medical issues involved. I did not smoke in front of them. (That was a simpler, gentler era.)

Now one of the children smokes occasionally, and the other never, but she's anti-smoking of any kind.

The anti-smoking one required chemo, and I asked if she could get gr*ss. She reminded me she lived in Seattle. (Point taken.) I asked if she could actually stand to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 11:19 AM on March 4, 2006

I have seen that in the old days (386) from a bad monitor port. It's faintly possible it's chips, not salsa.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:02 AM on February 24, 2006

Note: Charcoal passes through the gut undigested, don't be alarmed. It is, however, truly great stuff.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 6:34 AM on February 18, 2006

Um, I once got the backup doctor, who painted the thing inside with gentian violet. According to the usual guy, who looked at it later, it will work, it's an old remedy, but I was unexpectedly allergic to the stuff. You don't want to know what it feels like to have a violent allergic reaction in this area on top of a yeast infection.

For the benefit of future generations who might wander into the thread, you probably want to paint a spot on your inner arm first or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 6:14 AM on February 18, 2006

You could get PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) and not know it for long enough to become sterile, so yeah, get tested.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:11 AM on January 5, 2006

Grandkid had tonsils, adenoids, and tubes at about 7 or 8. All things considered, we should have done it earlier. The kid had constant ear infections unless on antibiotics all the time, that's healthy. The kid walked into walls because the adenoids were so big they were blocking the eustachian tubes and it killed the kid's balance. The surgery was no big deal, and the kid was OK with not getting the ears wet for a while, considering the alternative. It was a quality of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 9:42 AM on January 1, 2006

I'd go with gourmet stuff in a basket, just keep a wide selection for the diet people. The markup on delivered baskets vs. build your own is 3x, so you can do a lot more damage at the grocery store with your money if you do it yourself.

Some of the uniform companies online have vet knickknacks and card holders, etc., also.

Thorzdad has a great idea, gift cards for some fast food place near the office?
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 12:52 PM on December 31, 2005

Lack of calcium does that on pregnant women, and we used to feed them calcium gluconate. IANAD, but I know you aren't supposed to take only calcium for any length of time, you need the other minerals as well. This stuff is a heavy sugar based syrup that will get the calcium into your blood in minutes, although in a pinch you can chew up a couple of calcium based antacids. This is just to see if it helps, as a diagnostic thing. If calcium cures it, then you just know more about the problem.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 6:59 AM on December 31, 2005

Don't smoke. I didn't look old at 40+, but at kissing 60 on the cheek, it'll show, big time.

I knew a hairdresser who said take care of your neck, it goes first, and she seems to be right.

Good genetics help. But the most important thing it to lower your standards. Not to sound like I know everything, but some of us show our age earlier than others, and outside of avoiding UV exposure and other bad habits, there's not a lot to stave it off.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 3:34 PM on December 29, 2005

it/is
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 3:36 PM on December 29, 2005

I always notice folks who haven't had children look younger, I think it's because they don't have as much to worry about, but that's just my opinion. You may wish to bear that in mind when comparing yourself to others.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 4:11 PM on December 29, 2005

Used to work with a guy who actually worked for the state police full time. He knew but didn't care about anything less than a half ton or so.

They can't get into the apartment without a warrant, and that takes some kind of probable cause. Without that, you can tell them no at the door. In any state. (OK, unless the cop has probable cause, which he doesn't, because he didn't personally see anything.)

I'm thinking, just send it to visit a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 2:56 PM on December 29, 2005

OK. I don't know. But you need to google a thing called "vulvodynia" right away. See if it rings a bell. If you have ever been diagnosed as having fibromyalgia, you need to google that and "guafenesin" right away. Maybe even if you haven't, if vuvlodynia rings a bell.

I have actually had that forever, (meaning many decades) and they kept saying it was yeast, and it wasn't. I finally found some spot on the 'net that recommended guafenesin (which... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 1:40 PM on December 29, 2005

"bigass platter of electrical death"...

Safety engineers call them suicide strips, because they are fairly likely to lose the ground connection inside where you can't see it. I like yours better, though. It really conveys a better sense of the thing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 6:03 AM on December 23, 2005

Hmmm.
Decades ago, I lost consciousness and rolled out of a chair onto the floor. I called the doctor, who told me I'd had a stroke and would probably never have another one, don't worry about it. (Yes, medical care was a lot more casual in those days.) Come to think of it, it was during a time I was taking birth control pills. Those were stone age BCP, a lot stronger than they are today. (That's so you won't compare apples and oranges.) It sounds like I was lucky it wasn't... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:15 AM on December 21, 2005

Yeah, show it to someone who knows, 'cause it could be soft tissue instead. And get the X ray, because you'd think if it was broken in two places, it could move or something.

I've broken ribs a couple of times, I used a rib belt. Modern medical science no longer recommends a rib belt, they say you won't breathe deeply and clean your lungs, and you'll get pneumonia. I was aware of the risk, and I just made it a point to cough once in a while. Haven't broken a rib... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 4:46 AM on November 1, 2005

You're dealing with your eyesight.
Do you really want to take the risk of going blind/having seriously impaired eyesight, vs. the inconvenience of having to find a place to go show it to someone who knows?
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 12:23 PM on October 30, 2005

Since no one else has mentioned it:

People with IBS frequently can't use Allegra. IBS is flipping back and forth between diarrhea and constipation. I took a survey of IBS folk, most of them get constipated on Allegra D. One of them was Crohn's, she can't either. One of the IBS people reported she can't digest the second half of the pill and it kills her. I didn't ask her for details. Apparently, I was the last one in the country to try Allegra and figure this out.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 11:25 AM on October 28, 2005

Whatever system you like, you have to file stuff.
I have used a file cabinet as an end table for years, you can throw a tablecloth or just a hunk of print fabric over it, and get to it easily. If you live in small quarters, it's an easy way to hide a file cabinet.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 10:55 AM on October 28, 2005

The toilet flapper is connected to the lever attached to the flush handle by means of a chain. You must make sure the chain is as short as possible, and then cut off the excess chain. No matter how clever you think you are being, sooner or later the chain will get loose, and end up wrapping around the working chain, and the toilet will run. (The SO did this experiment twice in the last couple of months, both times it failed.) It would be intermittent, so you might not... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 10:16 AM on October 28, 2005

I think we have a quorum on the toilet flapper, but that's based on the fact you had dye in the commode.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 10:20 AM on October 28, 2005

I cut off a knuckle once (don't ask) and the sutures looked pretty awful but settled down nicely. Doc at the time worried about the "dog ears" healing into it, and it actually just flattened out and looked like everyone else's knuckle pretty quickly.
That's to make you feel like you are not necessarily doomed. Then, because it's on your face, I'd take it back in and see the doctor who did it. He doesn't want you running around with a Frankenstein scar either, it's bad... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:05 AM on October 27, 2005

Sounds like they are sneaking in from outside, maybe a hole in a screen or something.

I leave all the lights in the house off, except for a TV or a omputer screen, and wait for them to land on the screen. You can grab them with a Kleenex or something, they can't see you coming from behind them because they're in the dark. Flush it down the toilet. Repeat as necessary.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:18 PM on October 23, 2005

I don't know.

Does this have to do with a critical flow orifice, in case someone who does know is still watching?
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 2:47 PM on October 23, 2005

Alcohol would relax the muscles that make the eyes track together, so it could cause a sort of amblyopia. If you have enough experience with alcohol that your brain circuits are compensating it out, I would suspect you need to be evaluated for ingesting a metric buttload of booze, far too often.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 3:24 PM on October 22, 2005

I'm glad you cleared that up, we did not know from the question that this was over.
It sounded as though this were an upcoming event, and you were planning to get drunk to celebrate in advance or something. I, at least, was confused.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 9:08 AM on October 23, 2005

languagehat: You're right, my bad. I did not go back to the original question and check the poster.

ikkyu2: I'm sure that's all true. They usually don't look at both eyes at the same time, although I was guessing having temporary amblyopia could cause strange things at the eye doctor's, which they might notice. I was basing that statement on someone I used to know, who was badly cross-eyed only when he drank, and that was the explanation his eye... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 2:25 PM on October 23, 2005

What everyone else will tell, and ask your doctor for 5% cortisone cream. The OTC stuff isn't strong enough to do it.

Eat a dill pickle every day. Takes a month or two before you'll see improvement, but it's coming. Do this for a few months, then can you can switch to the maintenance plan, and eat a pickle a couple of times a week. By then, you won't hear from them much, except for the rare occasion when you "over-do" it, and they will heal quickly.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 3:57 PM on October 21, 2005

It works.
I swear. I was throwing those thrombosed kind all the time until someone told me that. That's a side effect of a couple of deliveries they won't let you have any more, they do a C section instead.
And you can cure bad knees with Vit B6, and heartburn by drinking hot water. Nobody ever does those things either, they're waiting for something more scientific-sounding.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 1:37 AM on October 22, 2005

The plants they usually grow in water with the fish in the vase are peace lillies. They'll do fine forever in plain water.
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 6:40 PM on August 7, 2005

Been there, done that. 'Bout a year ago, and I'm older than you, 58. (One year tomorrow.)

I refused for 10 years, while I bled for sometimes months at a time because of fibroids, for basically the same reason you have. I was concerned it would make a difference in my sexual function. (Just because you're old doesn't mean you don't care about those things, you do.) It didn't. I'm completely happy, I don't bleed any more, and I can actually ejaculate, which I haven't... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 8:35 PM on August 6, 2005

Ask a lot of questions. What are they doing? What's going to happen? Ask enough questions to be sure you understand all you want to know about it (some people don't really want to know much, they find it unsettling.) Most surgeons will almost automatically reassure you why this or that bad thing is not going to happen to you, and they know what bad things can happen better than you do.

You'll have to trust the surgeon on the anesthesia, the surgical team and the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 8:23 AM on July 16, 2005 marked best answer

OK, I know this one. I traded home cures with a hospital employee for a couple of weeks once, and he said you eat a dill pickle every day. All I can vouch for is mine, but they don't bother me any more. I still have them, but they don't hurt. I know it sounds silly, but it has been working on the research group I could get to eat them.

Prep H used to contain some herb that worked like a charm back years ago. Now it's got shark oil and cortisone in it, and while... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:27 AM on July 1, 2005

Hoping this fits in, but I seem to have developed Weird Head Noises. I don't have any other signs of TMJ, dentist just says it's not my teeth, and I presume he'd have noticed if I had TMJ. This is like a tiny sharp clicking or popping noise, about once or twice a second, I only notice it at night when it's quiet. It sounds like teeth moving or resettling, but they'd have fallen out the first week if they were moving that much. Directionally, it feels like it's coming from the front of my... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 10:14 AM on May 14, 2005

Current house, last owner, suicide in the garage, no problems. Got a good deal on it, it had been on the market forever. I'd buy this one again in a minute.
Previous house: Pretty sure it had a body in the basement, and we all got used to turning off lights we didn't turn on. I didn't know that when I bought it. It had knob & tube wiring, so it could have just been that.
(Someone's going to ask, how can you not notice a body in the basement? Well, there was a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:50 AM on May 11, 2005

SO is 58, he smelled fine until about 5 years ago. Now when he gets hot or works, he has an incredibly noticable odor. It's not anything like fish, it's just more like those old men whose wives have died, and they don't have a clue how to do laundry. It has good days and bad days. I hauled him to a doctor. Fabulous, I find the only doc in the North American continent with apparently no sense of smell, he tells him he smells OK and sends him home. The GP says it won't help to culture his... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 7:48 PM on May 7, 2005

OBs fall out of _everybody_. I'm with everyone who says try different brands and sizes. I use tampons with a cardboard applicator because I could easily visualize an entire landfill made up of nothing but plastic applicators over the course of a lifetime, but use whatever works for you.
Since no one else has mentioned it, there's no rule that you can't use them two at a time. You may have to find the right kind, but use something with an applicator and aim one of them up each side... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by deep_cover at 5:30 AM on May 6, 2005