she might need a slightly lower dose, as well. that anxiety and fidgetiness (and insomnia if that's happening too) tend to be symptoms of too much of a good thing.

definitely follow up with her doctor if it doesn't fade.

what helped for me was to gradually ramp up on the wellbutrin over the course of a couple of weeks til i was at full dosage, so it didn't hit my system like a truck.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 1:19 PM on July 25, 2008

connie willis' short sf story "fire watch" mostly takes place in blitz-era london.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 4:48 PM on July 21, 2008

eminem does that with several other songs, too.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 12:24 PM on July 21, 2008

naomi's room by jonathan aycliffe. creeped me RIGHT THE FUCK OUT when i read it.

i'm told his other stuff isn't as good. i don't know from personal experience, tho.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 11:00 AM on July 21, 2008

"let's stay together", al green
"the book of love", magnetic fields
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 2:53 PM on July 20, 2008

... dare i suggest "never gonna give you up" by rick astley?
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 3:46 PM on July 20, 2008

JujuB: i hear it a lot at weddings, but i think of "sunrise, sunset" as the song that gets played when the couple dance with their parents rather than their first dance with each other.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 3:48 PM on July 20, 2008

i've had good luck training my cats to stay off of certain surfaces with a combination of water pistol (or canned air if you don't want things to get wet) and covering the surface with double-sided tape. even if they don't get sprayed, when they jump up they decide that THIS SUCKS and tend to leave it alone.

it'll take a while, since the learning curve is sometimes very shallow.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 1:00 PM on July 18, 2008

i really like short sands beach, in oswald west state park
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 9:37 AM on July 17, 2008

depending on where you live, do you have a town councilman or alderman who represents your district? talk to them and ask them to put some pressure on the police as well.

and document document document.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 12:54 PM on July 13, 2008

yeah, massage therapy is good stuff.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 4:57 AM on July 11, 2008

this is *absolutely* the sort of thing that can often be helped with therapy. while it doesn't sound like you have an eating disorder, talking to groups that deal with people with eating disorders might help since they may be able to suggest a therapist who deals with extreme body image issues.

also, seconding this: not saying you will need meds forever but they can be a godsend in getting you back on your feet after a traumatic experience.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 3:43 PM on July 10, 2008

take up blacksmithing! if civilization crumbles, it'll be an incredibly in-demand skill, and in the mean time, it'll be a good way to vent stress by swinging hammers around.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 9:35 AM on July 9, 2008

great big sea's song "Boston and St. John's"
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 3:09 PM on July 8, 2008

anorak, a british term that i adore.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 4:27 PM on July 7, 2008

nthing RT.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 2:27 PM on July 3, 2008

huh. i'm not a big simpsons watcher and was going to ask if it was miss piggy...
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 4:18 AM on July 3, 2008

a friend of mine (who has been making her own kitchen cabinetry) has one of these saws. at it has not been triggered due to accident yet.

there is a plan, at some as yet unspecified point in time, to spent the bucks for a replacement cartridge and trigger it on purpose. there will be video. oh yes, there will be video of this event.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 9:27 PM on June 28, 2008

"i blew up the united states" by was not was.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 4:01 PM on June 27, 2008

a lot of big commercial buildings will have the "as built" drawings available for fire safety folks in the event of a major disaster.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 12:27 PM on June 27, 2008

carnival, by elizabeth bear
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 10:13 AM on June 27, 2008

i don't know, but the folks over at twoplustwo.com's forums might know.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 12:06 PM on June 25, 2008 marked best answer

caveat: IANAE.

by part of the same switch unit, do you mean it's a duplex switch, like this: duplex switch

if so, you'll need some kind of combination fan control/light switch. there may be something that'll do this at your local hardware store.

nota bene: do *not* use a regular dimmer for a ceiling fan motor control. using it for the lights is fine, but using it for the fan motor will cause problems... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 3:25 PM on June 22, 2008

The difference between fan controls and lighting dimmers is that fan controls start out high and fade to low, so that on startup the motor gets all the power it wants, since there's a high startup requirement, whereas lights can just start out from low.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 8:40 AM on June 23, 2008

hanging out, yes.

if you're intimidated by the idea of cooking together, scale it back and think about renting a movie - watching a flick gives you something easily-interruptible to do and something to talk about all in one. it also allows you to somewhat set the mood -- for serious and sweet but not intimidatingly romantic, try "wings of desire" (the german one).
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 8:01 AM on June 20, 2008

gawker will let you do time lapse movies with the isight, too

i recently set it up to record what my cats are up to when i sleep. turns out one of them spent a little while laying *on* my head. sneaky damned animal.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 7:15 AM on June 18, 2008

*particularly* if you're in a nerd job (since nerds are typically socially reticent), make a point of getting up, walking around, and chatting with your coworkers and checking in about what they're doing. it's like the employee version of 'management by walking around'

i'm a network wrangler, and one of the things i do in the morning most days is go chat with the server wranglers and some folks in other groups to make sure we're all on track together, that they're not... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 7:34 AM on June 17, 2008

my cats love love love beef jerky. (obviously, use tiny tiny pieces)

even the picky cat who has been known to turn down tuna and salmon loves beef jerky.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 12:14 PM on June 12, 2008

campsoap breaks down in rivers better than dr bronner's.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 1:45 PM on June 11, 2008

make sure he's not uncomfortable when getting food or water. some dogs like their bowls to be raised a bit off the floor so they don't have to lean as far.

and yeah, give him lots of loving and scritches. if his hearing is good, talk to him sometimes so he knows he's included in the pack (eye contact usually does this for non-blind dogs)
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 3:12 PM on June 9, 2008

i think some wal-marts are starting to frown on the parking lot thing. http://www.freecampgrounds.com/noparking.html
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 12:07 PM on June 9, 2008

a friend of mine is currently reading "watching baseball smarter" by Zack Hemple and speaks well of it. Apparently it has a lot of "inside baseball" stuff about what's really going on between the pitcher and catcher and stuff like that, how to watch baseball on TV versus live, etc...

If you can handle the effusive Yankee love, some of the back-essays at Cecelia Tan's "Why I love baseball" blog can make pretty good reading. archives at... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 9:58 AM on June 9, 2008

yeah, that's not ex-drama. that's fucked-up-person drama.

definitely log all contact and ask your folks to do the same.

ask your therapist what the best next steps are. s/he probably has some experience with this and may be able to point you to local resources, and can probably suggest if it's time to talk to the cops yet or what.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 9:09 AM on June 8, 2008

get a big slab of salmon steak, cover it in salt, and smoke it. it turns out incredibly tasty.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 6:56 PM on June 6, 2008

i had my tonsils out a couple of years ago, along with having my uvula removed. it wasn't as bad as i'd feared. i spent a day eating ice chips and freezy-pops, then moved up to jello and sherbert and pudding and meal replacement drinks and broth/boullion and eventually to noodles after a few days.

i had it done as outpatient surgery, and set up the recliner in my living room with a whiteboard and whiteboard marker so i didn't have to try and express myself verbally and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 11:15 AM on June 6, 2008

nthing jet_silver. also, solving a problem, particularly one that's been pissing me off. i love problemsolving.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 4:17 AM on June 6, 2008

musically, meredith monk.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 4:31 AM on June 5, 2008

i'm so very sorry. my dad was starting to slow down with age and then died very suddenly in an accident this past winter, and i've been slowly dealing with my own situation for a while, now.

while your mileage may vary, here are things that i have found helpful:
realize (and if possible, accept) that you're going to be running at diminished capacity for months. cut yourself a lot of slack. heartbroken is just as good a reason for a sick day as a fever.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 5:05 PM on May 19, 2008

btw, as i'm dealing with the 6-months-ago loss of my dad, i'm finding this thread to be incredibly reassuring.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 10:36 AM on May 31, 2008

Ambergris Blowhole
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 8:44 AM on May 30, 2008

this sounds like a totally awesome project. good luck with it!
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 5:09 AM on May 27, 2008

yeah, i was raised (in new england) to consider "shoes" part of "being dressed" most of the time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 7:55 PM on May 26, 2008 marked best answer

i just recently signed up for twitter and was wondering wtf with random people following a gazillion folks suddenly following me. now i feel more informed. YAY ASKMEFI.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 10:02 AM on May 23, 2008

just write it down and make sure you both agree on the terms, and both keep a copy of the terms.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 10:41 AM on May 18, 2008

if you get to alaska, consider the alaska marine highway system to seattle rather than trying to bus it. some parts of alaska are not road-reachable from the main part of US/Canada, while the marine system serves many of them.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 1:03 PM on May 17, 2008

i don't know if it's the main release or not, but knhc has been playing a madonna/justin timberlake song called "4 minutes to save the world" that has drumline music in the mix.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 5:24 AM on May 17, 2008

seconding shuttle express if you've got substantial luggage.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 11:43 AM on May 16, 2008

seconding the nolo book rec.

assuming you're going to be a live-in landlord:
check local laws -- my city (somerville, ma) provides a tax abatement for live-in landlords to discourage absentee landlords.

if you buy so much as a bolt for the house, save the recpt -- it's a business expense!

i know turbotax handles the "live-in landlord" case pretty well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 9:06 AM on May 16, 2008

yeah, i think there's a picture slideshow screensaver that comes with windows. you can download a bunch of awesome hubblesite pictures or other ART! IN! SPAAAAAACE! pics and put them in a directory and have the screensaver look there for pictures. (in xp, at least, it's called "my pictures slideshow")
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 6:17 AM on May 16, 2008

check out http://www.healthcareforartists.org/ -- they have a fair bit of good info.
posted to Ask Metafilter by rmd1023 at 1:14 PM on May 14, 2008