My wife has been a child protective worker for ten years. Only a small fraction of cases result in the child being removed and very few removals are permanent. Their primary goal will be to make the child safe in her own family.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:28 PM on August 5, 2008

Does this mean they're going to put me on the hook for two years' of taxes?

Only if they're aware of evidence that you've been driving it. (Don't drive it to the DMV to do the registration) But paying the registration retroactively is probably the not the biggest part of the penalty for that.

On the other hand, I wonder if they believe that it hasn't been driven for years, if you'll need to get it safety certified before... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:18 PM on August 5, 2008

Well, it doesn't become a conflict of interest until you sue your brother, unless the lawyer's had more involvement than you let on. Your brother is using the same lawyer for more than one endeavour that he's involved in. That sounds normal.

The lawyer is required to do what is best for his client. He has many clients. Once in a while, what is best for one client may conflict with what is best for another client. Then he has a conflict of interest and should probably... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:00 PM on August 4, 2008

Losing weight isn't complicated. You lose weight when you take in less fuel than you burn. End of story. Calories are the unit of measurement for this.

Human behaviour is the complicated bit (on preview: and, as gjc points out, the fact that you need nutrition and not just energy). The hacker-type personality, who does well with engineer/math type problems, can benefit from the Hacker's Diet. Counting calories does not necessarily mean starvation, so I don't see any... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 5:52 PM on August 4, 2008

I like MediaMonkey
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 3:38 AM on August 4, 2008

What is the basis for determining who is correct? Your friend is trying to make a logical argument on what seems to me to be an issue of language. Even if his logic was correct (which doesn't seem to be the consensus), the English language isn't very logical in these matters.

Something becomes correct in the English language when it becomes common usage. A pizza is a sandwich if many people use the word sandwich to describe a pizza.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 9:20 PM on August 3, 2008

What is the reason for the price limit? Is this set by your employer? You can probably make a business case for spending more if it saves a lot of time/money. (e.g. cost per hour of set-up/tear-down X number of hours saved > money spent)
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 7:46 PM on August 3, 2008

Just about everything at this age is (at least partially) about the kid seeking control (in a world where they control very little). One thing that will help (though I can't promise to what degree) is to give him control over everything it's okay for him to have control over. Not necessarily wide-open, but at least a choice of two options (e.g. which of these two outfits do you want to wear today). The more control he feels he has, the less he has to seek it out. There are probably also... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 7:41 PM on August 3, 2008

Craigslist ads don't tell you the selling price. Searching completed eBay auctions might give you a better idea of what they're selling for.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 10:50 AM on August 3, 2008

Drying out car seats quickly is hard. Finding ways to comfortably sit on a wet seat is easier. Maybe a towel with something waterproof on top of it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 7:00 PM on July 31, 2008

David Ball's book, "Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays" (which will greatly enrich your reading of plays/Shakespeare and, despite the dry-sounding title, is lots of fun to read) uses Hamlet as an example throughout.

I recall that he demonstrated how Fortinbras should be essential to the story but seems irrelevant when the artists have made certain mistakes in reading/interpreting the script. But it's been 15 years since I read the book... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 11:57 AM on July 30, 2008

For me, the choice depends more on the ISP than cable vs. DSL. I've had big problems with reliability from both Sympatico and Rogers (not to mention the atrocious tech support from either one), and they both have limitations on what you can do with their service (e.g. running a server).

In the Toronto area, you have more than 50 choices for DSL providers, but only one choice for cable. If you search Ask MeFi for questions about recommending a DSL provider, you'll find... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 10:59 AM on July 30, 2008

(hit reply too soon)

Do you have a specific need for bandwidth? Unless you have some application that won't work unless you get a certain transfer rate, I don't think comparing the speed of various broadband connections is really going to make a huge difference. If you need a guarantee that the speed won't be below a certain threshold, then you need a business service -- no residential service will give you that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 11:02 AM on July 30, 2008

Also, doesn't Dr Drew's only-the-initial-action-counts approach also rule out most stimulants?
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:02 AM on July 30, 2008

Greyhound will ship a bike

Greyhound's courier service does not take parcels across the border.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 1:47 PM on July 29, 2008

See "Disqualifications" on this page. The relevant bit seems to be/ "You are disqualified if: [...] You voluntarily left work without good cause."

You can probably make a case that you have a good cause. But it's probably worth getting the advice of a lawyer with experience in this, who can tell you exactly which points you should (not) make to meet the department's definition.

It might even be worth calling the unemployment... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 7:29 PM on July 28, 2008

There's a book called Once-A-Month Cooking that may interest you. Now the idea in the book is that you spend one Saturday a month cooking the whole month's dinners (efficiently because, for example, you chop all the onions in one go, or brown all the ground beef in one pan, etc.). Even if you don't want to take it to that extreme, the recipes are useful for what you want to do. Googling for "once a month cooking" will find you additional recipes that others have come up with.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:51 PM on July 28, 2008 marked best answer

Now that I actually scroll down on the page I linked to, I see there are links to many other freezer-food cookbooks there too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:53 PM on July 28, 2008

Perhaps a case of wild exaggeration. She could have been involved somehow in some sort of concert that the Queen attended.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:11 PM on July 28, 2008

You could write the LSO. Maybe say something like you're looking for a copy of the program for the performance at which your friend's work was performed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:13 PM on July 28, 2008

You don't want to reward her, but you also shouldn't cut off your nose to spite your face. Getting your stuff back and giving her appropriate consequences for her behaviour may be conflicting goals, so keep in mind that they don't have to both be satisfied by the same action.

I'd probably start by seeking the approach that gets you the most of your stuff back, even if it "rewards" her. After that, you avoid the possibility of ever finding yourself in this... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 12:20 PM on July 27, 2008

Do the callers actually identify themselves as representatives of the dealer or the manufacturer?
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 12:11 PM on July 27, 2008

The ASPCA has a poison control center for animals. 1-888-426-4435.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 9:34 AM on July 26, 2008

The problem is not. "Help my wife stop fidgeting," it's "help me get to sleep peacefully." Thinking of it the latter way may help you come up with answers that were not part of the former.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:18 AM on July 26, 2008

There is still a huge market for automobiles. The companies are in trouble because their business model doesn't work anymore. There's still going to be someone in their position, in the future -- whether it's the "same" company depends on how you reckon it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:33 AM on July 25, 2008

I don't think there's that much thought going into it. People get in the habit of following way to close and just do it all the time without thinking about it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 1:04 PM on July 23, 2008

Try to work with organizations that already serve independent musicians (e.g. IODA, or CD Baby -- these are just examples, maybe your service isn't compatible with theres or is a competitor, but there are others). Maybe you can work some package deal together, or users of one company's service can get a discount on the other.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:20 AM on July 23, 2008 marked best answer

Hi, skwt. I'm also a Canadian in Toronto and I went to Brooklyn College for an MFA program (not writing). If you are admitted to an American school, you get a student visa pretty much automatically (assuming there's nothing that would bar you from entering the country altogether). A student visa does not allow you to work off-campus and you have to show that you have financial resources to last for the school year. There are different types of student visa, which I don't know much about (I had... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:04 AM on July 23, 2008

Rubbstone, I think the lender thinks that they might have received the $2k as a loan and so it doesn't count when totalling up how much cash they have on hand.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 9:33 AM on July 21, 2008

(hit reply too soon)

A down payment is supposed to be non-borrowed money, so they want to make sure it's not being paid by money borrowed elsewhere.

Edelweiss,
I suspect that if you went to an independent mortgage broker, they could find you a lender that would have a product suitable for your situation.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 9:37 AM on July 21, 2008

I'm sure they do exactly what it says in the terms of the warranty. This is probably less than what those who don't read the terms were expecting.

However, this type of warranty is often overpriced. It just doesn't seem like as much money when it's included in your payment for the camera. A good test to use is this: If an insurance salesman knocked on your door and offered insurance for (only) your camera for the same price and term, would you buy it?
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:21 AM on July 21, 2008

It could be bedbugs. But if it only happens once and never happens again, then there's no problem, right? So it might be too early to get worried about it.

The turning purple part isn't typical, however.

Has she been out in the woods lately?
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:20 PM on July 20, 2008

Playing Scrabulous helps because you can have all day to think about your move. That really helped me to start thinking strategically.

I don't think so much about what words I can make with the letters in my rack so much anymore. I might see what letters I can lay alongside the high-point word my opponent just played (e.g. I can put the M or the P in front of the A, I can put the A in front of the X, etc.) and see if that spells anything. Or maybe there's a triple letter... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 5:53 PM on July 20, 2008

Also, the person using the tablet might be tracing the images.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:21 PM on July 19, 2008

Yeah, I'll bet someone in the know can figure out the company from the account number.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 9:49 AM on July 18, 2008

Maybe ask a independent insurance broker?
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 9:49 AM on July 18, 2008

its not like they are throwing a party all night,

No, it's worse. This is what noise laws are made for.

You've already ruled out the only two options: talk to them or talk to someone else who can do something.

Start by talking to them. Maybe it's certain to not be helpful, but you it's good etiquette to try rather than assuming they won't be helpful. And it makes you look much better if/when others... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 9:03 AM on July 17, 2008

Yeah. Let them taste it. They know what salty tastes like because they've tasted salt, not because you explain it. They'll know what umami tastes like because they taste MSG.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:51 AM on July 17, 2008

So the connection was secure but it seems to me that wouldn't be the weakest link even if it wasn't secure.

Were all the participants in the discussion each the only person to ever have physical access to any computer they ever used on the channel? It seems to me that physical access to the machine is the most likely explanation.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 7:05 AM on July 17, 2008

I have this as well in Firefox 3. Unicode is enabled in the options and it happens in all fonts.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 6:50 AM on July 17, 2008

I don't believe that it makes a significant difference either way, unless you have some specific health reason (e.g. diabetes) that makes sugar much worse than fat or vice versa.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 12:57 PM on July 16, 2008

Is this one of those things that are just unverifiable, or are there ways to authenticate things like this?

Find out what is the basis for the claim. If Adams himself said so, I'd believe it.

Or perhaps it was the only typewriter he was known to have owned at the time. That would be good enough for me too.

Or perhaps someone whose word can be trusted saw him using this typewriter for the book. That... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:58 AM on July 16, 2008

I just found this while researching my own lead question and thought I'd be anal and point out that parts-per-million is not the same thing as "by weight." What you're doing is similar to comparing a measurement by volume to a measurement by weight (but ppm is neither volume nor weight). So your numbers are going to be a little bit off, but the difference is as vast as you think it is.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 7:24 AM on July 16, 2008

Seriously, the only useful answer comes from your own union. I'd say they're not too concerned about it if they haven't already given you instructions. If you don't want to bother talking to them, I'd say do what you want and if anyone has a problem with it, say "[my union] didn't tell me anything."
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 12:01 PM on July 15, 2008

According to my brother, who lives in Tokyo, Japanese banks turn off the ATM when the bank is closed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 4:50 AM on July 15, 2008

I have no direct answer but want to add this caution: Don't assume that getting in on the bottom means that there's an automatic (or any) path for advancement to more desirable positions for those who have that position.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 11:10 AM on July 8, 2008

You could perhaps bring up the topic of the issues you think she's not considering without relating it to getting married (e.g. a casual conversation about where you each see yourselves in 10 or 20 years). But if she's looked at the same evidence that you have and considered the same issues and come to a different conclusion, then there's not really anything else you can do while preserving the relationship with her. (Note that this doesn't mean that the actions which will hurt your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:56 AM on July 7, 2008

I'd go for the combo. Start with just telling him that these are scars from cuts (no further details necessary). Work in the learning/wikipedia bit. Further direct questions about the cause can be answered with, "I'd rather not talk about it."
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:47 AM on July 7, 2008

The part will be the same no matter where you get it. If you want to pick it up today, you won't be able to shop based on price (in fact, unless it's a current model, it's very possible that nobody stocks the part and it will need to be ordered). Are there other criteria you have for selecting a place?
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 8:42 AM on July 7, 2008

I don't think you can use the size as a factor. As with most cartoon-type illustrations, the relative size of all people/animals/objects is off.
posted to Ask Metafilter by winston at 5:46 PM on July 4, 2008