As a "victim" of more than one of these background checks ...

(1) No. Well, unless the reason you kept changing jobs is because you kept taking money from the register!
(2) It depends on the country. Having lived in North Korea is more interesting to the Feds than having lived in Costa Rica.
(3) You don't fail your background check, but you must provide information. When I went through it, I provided the information that was correct... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 5:25 PM on April 15, 2008 marked best answer

Partly speculation, but the following seem feasible to me:

1. They don't know the condition of any apartment until the tenants move out. If the tenant really trashed the place, it might take longer to get the unit up to "leasable" condition.
2. They know, but they might set the rates based on how much interest they receive. They're waiting until late in the process so they know how high they can charge, matching supply with demand.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 5:57 PM on April 10, 2008

Look on the other boards inside your computer. Often, those boards will include jumpers, but they aren't set to anything useful. They're there just in case you don't want the default setting.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:30 AM on April 8, 2008

Maybe you should delay initiating unfamiliar transactions until you find a more seasoned "senior executive".
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 1:25 PM on March 8, 2008

Definitely Don't call it negotiating
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 3:46 PM on March 6, 2008

Strike up a conversation with some total strangers. Don't just pick people who look they'd be in your social circle. Try the mall.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 6:58 PM on March 5, 2008

Seconding Gamblor. Beat me by 23 minutes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 12:10 PM on April 10, 2007

but Old Town is the place to be only if you're in your 50's or a tourist.

This is spot on.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 6:13 AM on February 15, 2007

That's exactly what I was looking for, Gooney.

Thanks for all the tips, guys.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 1:02 PM on November 7, 2006

First of all, it's not a race. Unless the pediatrician says there's a problem, let her figure it out on her own.

Secondly, though, is if she isn't in a day care, and you can afford it, do it. She'll see the others and feel like trying more and more.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 2:03 PM on November 6, 2006

If w=1, then the problem is 16p^8 - 49p^6, the answer is (4p^4 +- 7p^3). Put the w's back in to get (4p^4w +- 7p^3w). The w's don't matter in this case is what I'm saying.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 10:42 AM on November 6, 2006

w is in the exponent. And I am correct as long as w is an integer. I assumed that w was an integer because of the simplicity of the question.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 1:57 PM on November 6, 2006

I have to second casconed. I just moved to Raleigh, and I didn't get any calls until I put a fake address local address. It also helped me to buy a second cell phone with a local number. I was going to get a new phone anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. Finally, have a very firm date for when you can start working. I got the impression that employers didn't want to deal with relocations, but not because I was asking for relocation assistance because I wasn't. I had to impress upon employers... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 1:53 PM on November 6, 2006

Maybe you can change your userAgent using this?
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 1:16 PM on October 12, 2006

er, this, I meant.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 1:16 PM on October 12, 2006

Is it because the site uses ActiveX? There's a plugin for that, too. But at that point, you might as well break down and use IE every once in a while.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 1:43 PM on October 12, 2006

Relatedly ... Interesting article on some quick change artists ran in Slate a while back.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 5:50 AM on August 11, 2006

In this non-chatfiltery scenario, does this building lack a fire-safe stairwell?
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 5:42 AM on August 11, 2006

I went through the same thing last year with my wife, and if I can provide a semi-rant, then a suggestion ...

I bristled at the suggestion that "I was doing such a good job" dealing with the pregnancy. Why? That's my fucking job! It's what I'm supposed to do. That was my son incubating in there and my wife that was doing the vast majority of the heavy lifting, physically and metaphorically. My support was minor compared to what she went through. If my... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 7:37 AM on August 9, 2006

Maybe this and all points in time in the past are so utterly devoid of interest that no one
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:16 AM on July 28, 2006

er, no one ever comes back this far
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:16 AM on July 28, 2006

Every night begins the same way. She falls asleep in the middle of the bed, diagonally across the bed, or in a fetal position perpendicular to the way I fit on the bed.

Here's your problem right there. Why would someone fall asleep diagonally, in the middle of, or perpendicular to the long axis of the bed? Purposely. To increasingly detrimental results as time passes?

No offense, but that sounds astoundingly selfish on her... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:16 AM on July 27, 2006

I've had it done at Circuit City with no ill effects.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:03 AM on July 18, 2006

You might an idea or two here
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 12:32 PM on July 11, 2006

You could also try being a little more mature than (drunkenly) acusing him. Ask him once. If you trust him; that should be enough. If you're asking him repetitvely, he's defensive - and rightly so - because no matter what he answers, you already have an answer in your head.

Do you think you have an STD? Go get tested. If you're certain he gave it to you, it doesn't matter where he got it, does it? He could have got it from a hooker at the hotel down the street, or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 10:53 AM on July 3, 2006

By the way ...

My boss has told me I need to arrive at 8am because "people have commented about your coming in so late."

just really means that your boss is not conveying correctly what he wants. He's trying to make it seem like it's not his decision for you to get in at a regulated time. By blaming it on "people" it lets him be the nice guy. But really, if "people" got to make the decisions in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 5:02 AM on June 9, 2006

I don't have a new dent in my car - not that I know of - but I did see a shopping cart roll the length of six shopping carts and hit the side of a car last weekend. Oddly enough, it rolled from the densely packed part of the parking lot to the less dense part of the parking lot, which is why it managed to roll that far.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 11:10 AM on May 17, 2006

I think you need to clarify. You start with Over 9 weeks, students are given a weekly 5 point quiz (total of 45 points.) A score of 60% (a D) is required to pass the course (graded pass/fail). Then you say My goal is not to pass as many students as possible.

Your first statement delineates who gets a pass and who gets a fail. Your second statement makes it clear that you aren't looking to justify passing or failing any students... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 6:36 AM on May 9, 2006

I'm sorry. I'm going to have to call shenanigans on you not wanting to simply pass as many students as you possibly can.

The otherwise good students who bombed one quiz are saved from failing and the consistently underperforming ones will still be motivated to improve their scores.

If no quiz is worth more than 5 out of 45 points, then a good student couldn't possibly fail simply on the basis of one quiz score.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 12:09 PM on May 9, 2006

I don't live in Toronto, but I never have any luck with Google where a yellow pages is the appropriate tool to use.

In my area, we actually have a franchise called "Glamour Shots", so that makes it easy. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have that in Tortono. You might have to phone up some of these places to see if they can do that sort of thing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 7:54 AM on May 8, 2006

David Copperfield showing up all over the place with Claudia Schiffer at his side is more impressive than his making the Statue of Liberty disappear!
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 12:48 PM on May 4, 2006

Don't say anything. If you don't what your next thought is, just insert silence. If you do it right, you'll look thoughtful and deliberate. You could also try talking slower and formulating your thoughts before you open your mouth. Finally, stop saying "you know" whenever you're talking to anyone at anytime, professional clients or not.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:31 AM on April 28, 2006

It sounds like you've got a 1-bedroom apartment already, sorry to say. If there's no other dining room in the place, and you're making that "bedroom" you dining room, maybe it was intended to be a dining room.

I think option #1 is the best. Or maybe an office/guest bedroom combo. When it comes time to move, take all the stuff out, and try to sell it as a 2-BR unit.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 10:26 AM on April 13, 2006

Since there won't be doctors, and you might end up poisoning yourself with your canned food or ill-prepared meatstuffs or developing gangrene from futzing around with rusty machinery you don't really know how to use or some other sort of unforeseen buffoonery ...

Figure out the way you're going to put yourself out of your misery. If it comes down to bleeding like a stuck pig or watching your flesh rot slowly from the toe upwards or letting a parasitic worm eat your... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 12:54 PM on March 20, 2006

Q: What did Delaware?
A: A New Jersey
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 7:20 AM on March 20, 2006

Did they exhibit this behavior before you got married, or is this a new phenomenon? Does your spouse do the same thing when she calls people on the phone?

I think, ultimately, though, you would start to recognize their voices. If it were me, I'd have stuck with the "who is this?" bit until they were retrained.

Ultimately, if this is the worst thing about your in-laws, consider yourself lucky!
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 8:27 AM on March 14, 2006

Talk to your wife about it; it's her family. Get her to tell them ...

Depending on the pettiness of this family, he'll just become the guy that's being difficult about the thing with the phone. If he's ticked off about the way they use the phone, giving them the ammunition to mock him for it won't help much. I guess it all depends on the in-laws.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 8:44 AM on March 14, 2006

Definitely not the Outer Banks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 5:25 AM on March 2, 2006

MetaFilter
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 8:37 AM on February 28, 2006

Maybe you can get a few cases shipped online from one of these places
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 1:11 PM on February 21, 2006

What I am proposing is to remove the player's ability to deliberate. It will be impossible in this game to scan the screen without causing some sort of change. What kind of games would even be possible in this setup? Also, what kind of games would be fun?

I worked with a group in college ten years ago that was able to allow computer control (patricularly the cursor) with the eyes. They asked me to study it's viability for games. At the time, the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 8:21 AM on February 17, 2006

Daily Cromulence

Blog Blog Fizz Fizz

Blog The Shark
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 10:19 AM on February 16, 2006

If the removable handle is only for taking a the pan out of the oven, then it doesn't need to be rubberized. The handle won't heat up that fast. We used the same deal type of handle when I worked at a pizza joint. Those pans got significantly hotter than what you'll be working with, and never did the removeable handle get too hot to handle.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:39 AM on February 15, 2006

I haven't used the particular LiveCD you mention, but does it show that's it's probed the hardware at all? Even if it's hanging on detecting a hard drive, you should see some sort of messages. Also, if the hard drive was dead, wouldn't the LiveCD still work eventually, booting you into a diskless mode?

Can you access the BIOS configuration?
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 10:47 AM on February 14, 2006

If the bulk of the donations were made as checks, can she ask for replacement checks? Then, she could should/must make up the difference herself since it was her fault.

IANAL, but there might also be some funkiness if the school is claiming tax exampt status for donations and passing out receipts for donors. Re-raising the cash might not obviate the problem. At the very least, it might nice (and a good lesson about responsibility to any children... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:39 AM on February 13, 2006

Be careful at this point. You've been driving around a potentially stolen car with bad plates on them. Seems like at best, you've violated local licensing laws, and at worst, you're an accessory to fraud or theft.

Call your local DMV and see what can be done to title the car.

she has considered abandoning it, i think there is a way to keep it, or at least sell it. not interested in the moral issues right now.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 11:04 AM on February 9, 2006

Go to whatever passes for a tenant's meeting. If there are assigned spaces, suggest that the building contact a tow truck company. Most tow companies extract so much money out of the people who they tow. So much that they might not even charge your building/complex to let their drivers patrol the parking lot for people, though I can't say for certain.

The tow truck drivers will generally hit the parking lots around midnight. Probably because of the scenario you raise... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 5:26 AM on February 8, 2006

Whatever you do, at some point you're going to have to make a choice. Choose brutal honesty - whether it's tell him to get a job or to get some therapy or whatever. If you two are actually that close, he should appreciate you for it.

You can't truly learn from a mistake until you make it (at least once). If you find that he doesn't appreciate you being on the level with him, the mistake you learned from wasn't that you were honest when it mattered.
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 9:50 AM on February 3, 2006

"The Stand" was good, but King doesn't spend a lot of time expounding on containment.

Outbreak had a quarantine in it, if I remember correctly. It's inifinitely less entertaining and more crappy than "The Stand". Bonus: you'll finish it faster.

I don't see cutting a whole city off from the rest of the world working very well ... unless the city is on a big island, or course.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 12:27 PM on January 30, 2006

er, meaning, the drive will write 720k on a 1440k disk ...
posted to Ask Metafilter by clearlynuts at 12:21 PM on January 30, 2006