Here's a hint - NEVER play using the Scrabble dictionary. It contains all kinds of abbreviations and words that aren't words. For example, 'za' (as in "short for pizza") is considered a word in the Scrabble dictionary. Only use a real dictionary.I have to vehemently disagree with this advice, if your goal is become a better Scrabble player. You should only use the Scrabble dictionary, because Scrabble is not,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 11:32 AM on July 22, 2008

Scrabble should be about enjoying the English language and improving your vocabulary.Kitchen-table Scrabble, maybe, but anyone who's even slightly competitive about Scrabble doesn't play this way, and will completely clean the clock of someone who believes this.

Tournament-rules Scrabble has almost nothing to do with enjoying the English language or improving your vocabulary, except inasmuch as improving your vocabulary means being able to memorize... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 2:52 PM on July 22, 2008

The OP wants to impress their ladyfriend with their Scrabble skills. Obviously, they're not playing in a tournament.There's a big difference between "playing in a tournament" and "playing by tournament rules". The first is something only a small fraction of serious Scrabble players do, but the second is something that serious Scrabble players, in my practical experience, do all the time.

I've never played in a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:28 PM on July 22, 2008

'EN' 'EM' type so-called 'words',

Both en and em dashes are commonly used typographical elements. Any moderately experienced writer, editor or publisher is familiar with them.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 1:26 PM on July 25, 2008

The spiritual/emotional/transcendent aspects of parenthood are nearly impossible to quantify, because, in my practical experience, they're different for everyone. The one thing that I can say was common to my father, myself, and my friend Randy was that we didn't immediately feel like Dad: for all three of us, it took between three weeks and a month for us to register that we were now a parent.

My dad said it didn't hit him until about a month in, when he was sitting at... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:12 PM on July 22, 2008 marked best answer

I have this problem, and, while I'm a 6'3", 260+ pound man, I tried more or less everything:Certain-Dri: worked for a while, then stopped working, and never totally stopped the sweating, just making it "less bad".Dri-Sol: completely ineffective.Maxim: worked only partially, not stopping the sweating but making a measurable difference.Avert/Secure from pharmacy.ca: worked, and worked well.There are some caveats to using Secure: the first is that it's a powerful formulation, and it... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 2:31 PM on July 10, 2008

Ken McLeod's "Cosmonaut" series: Cosmonaut Keep, Dark Light and Engine City.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 12:01 PM on June 27, 2008

Howdy:

I'm sorry this happened. You're completely within your rights to be upset, and they should make this right.

Here's what's worked for me in the past with situations like this:Call customer service, and get a supervisor.Frame the situation as "I'm a previous customer who's unfortunately got a problem with my most recent order, and I'm hoping we can work together to iron this out, because I want to keep recommending you to my friends.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 3:50 PM on June 3, 2008 marked best answer

I think I'm in heaven.

My contribution, as someone already mentioned Galls, is the Lab Safety Supply Public Safety catalog.

As far as I can tell, you can't order a fire engine from it, but you can order damn near everything else, including HazMat moon suits and the like.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 12:38 PM on April 15, 2008

I spent half my childhood on Maui, and the other half in Central Pennsylvania. I then went to work in Maryland, and since 1998 have been in Northern California.

Until about five years ago, the only use I'd ever heard of "out of pocket" was to refer to expenses, as in "out-of-pocket expenses". Then, five years ago, a new executive showed up at our company who used it to mean "out of touch/unavailable". I was so surprised by... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 11:40 AM on April 4, 2008

Okay, now I feel like an idiot. That's precisely what I wanted, spiderskull: I just couldn't manage to think of it. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 12:34 AM on March 28, 2008

Stanford is legendary for its students not having a social life. My wife was an undergrad there from 1990-1995 and has worked on campus since 1999, and she says not much has changed.

This may be apocryphal, but rumor has it that Stanford was placed where it is to deliberately keep it at a distance from Palo Alto so that students would stay focused. In terms of nightlife, Palo Alto doesn't have much, and what socializing there is at Stanford is highly constrained to the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:55 AM on February 12, 2008

This is one of those times when it might be somewhat useful to know your gender beforehand.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 3:19 PM on February 8, 2008

Well, now, don't I feel like an idiot.

Thanks, trip and a half.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:51 PM on December 27, 2007

Listen to konolia. Lots and lots of red flags here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:07 PM on December 17, 2007

I'm sorry to be so late to this discussion. A lot of good advice has already been offered.

My background: I've been involved in emergency medicine since 1991 in one capacity or another, most recently as a paramedic in Northern California. In that function, I've seen a lot of death, in all its stages.

There's a lot of theory about how best to deal with a high level of trauma and still maintain "normal" functionality. It's turning out... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 7:13 PM on December 16, 2007

Did you try this Wikipedia link? Not snarking, just asking.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:10 PM on October 3, 2007

Disclaimer: this is only my experience.

When I'm reading a resume, if I see dates and a major, but no explicit indication of a degree earned, I assume that the person attended the given school for the given years, studying the given topic, and, for whatever reason, didn't complete their degree.

I attended two different undergraduate schools from 1990 - 1992 and 1992 - 1994, and never completed a degree. At this point in my career, it's become... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:41 AM on July 24, 2007

She just wants to, in her words, "be able to sing with my son". I think that translates into basic vocal training, with a strong focus on staying in key.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 2:03 PM on July 2, 2007

This is entirely unacceptable behavior in any profession, and there is no reason you should have to understand, compensate for or otherwise "understand" this person's inability to conduct themselves professionally.

In fact, it's arguable that this therapist has in fact caused further damage through this behavior, because you're now faced with more anxiety about his behavior than, one assumes, the issues which you should be... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 3:34 PM on May 7, 2007

Stop trying to save this person, and save yourself.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:11 PM on May 3, 2007

Howdy.

The first thing to consider carefully is whether or not you believe you actually have ADD. I've had it for most of my life, and the major differentiator between ADD and what I'd consider "normal" lack of focus and lack of motivation is the chronic nature of the issue.

ADD is not as simple as not being able to focus yourself some of the time. It's a chronic, continuous inability to focus yourself tightly on... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 1:46 PM on April 26, 2007

By way of background, my listening tastes are eclectic, but I primarily listen to jazz (hard bop, Coltrane era), modern composers (Gorecki, Kronos Quartet) and, er, a lot of pop and hair metal.

I'm a musician by training and avocation (a bassist), and tend to appreciate things that display both a sense of musical history, technical skill, and melodic sense: I love little musical in-jokes like Brubeck's... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 11:06 AM on April 26, 2007

I am wondering, is it because of the type of music that you find that type of performance "noodling"? The culture surrounding it, maybe?This is an excellent question, and it deserves an answer.

I tend to consider jam-band improv "noodling" because I just don't (as a musician and as a listener) feel the tension and high-wire-anxiety that comes along with jazz improvisation (or, really, improvisation in other genres, including stage... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 1:21 PM on April 26, 2007

First of all, take a deep breath. There's an awful lot of bad advice running around in this thread, but there's some excellent advice from occhiblu and carmen.

To me, at a glance, it sounds like you (collective) have some boundary-setting issues, and that the move-in occurred under "pressured" terms and didn't allow you to take it at your own speed.

You need to find a way to have a straightforward conversation about your needs and her... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:58 AM on April 26, 2007

Disclaimer: I am not a Marine. I have never served in the armed forces of this country, as I am medically ineligible to do so. However, I have multiple generations of both Army soldiers and Marines in my immediate family.

I strongly, strongly recommend that he immediately pick up Nat Fick's excellent One Bullet Away and Thomas E. Ricks' equally superb Making The Corps for relatively contemporary views of the USMC.

An... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 2:05 PM on April 13, 2007

Of course, it's hard to define some of those variables, like the number of planets, the number of those that are hospitable to life, etc.Try impossible. The Drake Equation is useless as a predictive tool because it relies upon multiple unprovable, undefinable variables. Most of these variables are undefined because we can, at best, guess at how those variables might be quantified.

For example, we have no way of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 2:00 PM on April 12, 2007

I know I'm late to the party here, but I run 6'3" and 250+ pounds at the best of times, and I've had nothing but good luck with Brooks: I've worn the Beast, the Addiction and the Adrenaline, and loved all three of them.

I've worn Asics, and found them too thin for my own personal comfort level, but YMMV. I've also gotten a huge amount of life out of my Brooks shoes by swapping Superfeet (the green ones) in when the Brooks liners finally go south.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:28 AM on April 12, 2007

Do NOT physically engage with this person. DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT.

The very last thing you want is for him to sue you for assault and battery and have you taken in by the cops, which is more or less what'll happen if you start taking retaliatory action of any kind.

As cathartic as it'd feel to get in this guy's shit with both boots, it's nothing but a losing proposition for you. He'll call the cops, or his... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 3:19 PM on April 11, 2007

I've been working as a street EMT since 1991. I'm currently in my paramedic internship. When I began, I was 18 years old, with almost no exposure to the realities of death, let alone violent and/or unexpected death.

One of my very first calls was for a classmate of mine at college: his girlfriend broke up with him, he borrowed a friend's Kawasaki Ninja, and catapulted himself into a telephone pole at high speed, doing an immense and eventually fatal amount of damage.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 12:39 PM on April 3, 2007

Allow me to second Krakauer's "Under The Banner Of Heaven". While the net effect is far from complimentary to Mormonism, it is equally far from a hatchet job on the Mormon faith.

To my mind, and I say this as someone who is highly critical of organized religion in general, it came off as an excellent "outsider's account" of Mormonism: Krakauer asked serious questions and tried to reconcile certain tenets of Mormonism with the historical record, but... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:34 AM on March 7, 2007

I'd like to chime in once more to say that this thread has just been fantastic for the civility with which most opinions in it have been expressed. I really hope it continues, and doesn't devolve into flaming, because I, for one, feel like I've learned a heck of a lot from it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:11 AM on March 8, 2007

I think thongs are silly, and my wife thinks they're hideously uncomfortable. In her words, "if I wanted a wedgie, I'd have stayed in grade school".

Most of my loathing for them comes from the unbelievably tacky trend of having the thong show above the waistline of the jeans. I mean, ye gods, it's not even "have you no shame", it's right into "you look like a moron, and YOU ARE DELIBERATELY DOING SO".

So here's one... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:19 AM on March 7, 2007

Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer! The current "plan", such as it is, has mutated to "leave on Thursday evening and deadhead it in 4-hour shifts, getting in early on Friday".
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 9:39 AM on March 7, 2007

...and here I thought it was just something Mrs. Scrump and I said at, you know, those particular times.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 11:50 AM on March 5, 2007

Capitaine Conan. You want the misery of war, you got the misery of war.

Not only that, but quite possibly the best (worst?) collection of keywords ever:

Venereal Disease / Frenchmen / War / Soldier / Prostitute

posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:30 AM on March 5, 2007

Now it's something out of apples

Well, mostly apples.

<4 7;pratchett>
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 3:32 PM on February 28, 2007

I gotta say that now I kind of think allkindsoftime and scrute should get together.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:58 PM on December 14, 2006

My First Child, by Nil Lara. Heartbreaking.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:17 PM on December 12, 2006

This owl, or this one?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 8:14 PM on December 8, 2006

If I were interviewing you, my first and most pressing question would be why you walked out. In other words, was it because you were in a situation for which there was no other recourse, or was it because you can't handle criticism? The two are very different.

This is where honesty will make a big difference: as your potential employer, I basically want to know that you aren't going to walk out on me the first time things don't go... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 6:03 AM on December 6, 2006

This may be of limited utility to you right now, but consider it advice for when you are employed again.

I cannot overstate the importance of professional networking. With rare exceptions (one inconsequential, the other more significant), every worthwhile job I have held in the past 10 years has resulted from my professional network.

That is, at the inflection points where my career either needed a boost or I desperately... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 12:51 PM on December 3, 2006

Our regular auto repair shop refused repeatedly, in the face of insistence from me, to find things wrong with our car.

This was just the most recent example of the outstanding service we've gotten from AutoQuest in Redwood City, California.

For instance, they've always been at least 30% lower than other shops in terms of cost, and the quality is always impeccable. Most recently, we blew a head gasket. Three other shops quoted us roughly $1100 to... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:49 AM on December 1, 2006

I tend to be suspicious of two types of marriages/relationships when they are described to me by the participants:"We never fight."and"I never had the slightest doubt about our marriage."Both, to me, would seem to indicate either that the couple doesn't communicate honestly or that one or both participants are fatally deluded.

People are difficult. Two people in a relationship is going to have moments of challenge. I had doubts right down the aisle,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 5:39 PM on November 30, 2006

In the event that anyone's still watching this thread, Silicon Valley MeFites are gathering on Friday, December 1st. Everyone welcome!
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 10:31 AM on November 27, 2006

The doctor just looked disgusted and was vague about what I could do, but said that since it was hard to reach she had no interest in lancing it.

What an asshole of a doctor, no pun intended.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 11:05 AM on November 22, 2006

This is mindboggling to me. All these games and silliness.

Whatever happened to being straightforward with each other? If you feel like asking her out again at the end of the date, ask her out again. She'll either say yes or no.

This is going to sound harsher than hell, but after I got married I realized just how much of my life I'd wasted screwing around with social signalling, the sole purpose of which was to fulfill some deeply fucked-up... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:16 PM on November 13, 2006

This is fascinating. What's the effect on the company? I mean, are there reputable companies that are traded like this that are getting whipsawed by spammers, or are pretty much all of these companies fly-by-night operations?
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 2:31 PM on November 13, 2006

You have said it yourself:We do not consideral confession a sacrament, as a Catholic would, so there are no particular clerical obligations to uphold.There are several things to consider:Given that your church does not consider confession a sacrament, you may not be protected by the "normal" confessor-confessee privilege.This man killed another human being. As Optimus Chyme so eloquently put it upthread, we are a nation governed by laws. He must face the legal... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 4:59 PM on October 20, 2006

He murdered a rapist.

Did he? Was he?

The OP has no way of knowing whether this information is true or not. In fact, the only way to obtain confirmation would be disinterment of the remains.
posted to Ask Metafilter by scrump at 5:00 PM on October 20, 2006