Essentially, you are proposing this: you loan the electronics retailer $n intending that he loan you a hard drive enclosure with a value of $n in return. After you are done using the hard drive enclosure, you return it with a value of $n - $X (where $X is the loss in resale value from an opened item, restocking costs, etc.), and the retailer returns your $n to you, leaving him short $X.

If you owned an electronics store whose business was selling (not renting)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 11:18 PM on August 31, 2008

Also, as dirtynumbangelboy points out, you would taking home a hard drive enclosure "for the express purpose of data recovery" without really paying for it.

Do you really think BestBuy is in the business of giving away hard drive enclosures for free so long as they're taken home "for the express purpose of data recovery?"

Is Macy's is in the business of loaning out their dresses overnight for free so long as they're... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 11:33 PM on August 31, 2008

I agree wholeheartedly with both iamkimiam's view that the question has a flawed premise (native-language debates in other countries are largely irrelevant to English-only debates in the US), and his view on diversity and the value of English as a de facto lingua franca and linguistic bridge.

But his post, and an earlier post by deuetude raise one rationale for immigration that I've heard before that I find somewhat more convincing than the usual xenophobic and/or... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:49 AM on August 29, 2008

English-only policies may be the sole bulwark against that huge cultural shift.

You realize that's really just another xenophobic argument.

I realize that xenophobes make this argument, but I am not sure this is necessarily a xenophobic argument. Yes, ethnic enclaves have always existed -- I don't dispute that fact nor am disputing that they make New York City the capital of the world and a place I miss every day. And yes,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:54 AM on August 30, 2008

My wife, who is a strong advocate of natural childbirth (having gone through three), found that NYT article that ikkyu2 linked to incredibly biased, as did I. If you want to know about some of the worst, most unprofessional doulas working today, that article is all you need. "Doulas: Why Hospitals Hate Them and Why They Hate Fathers. More on page B2!"

But if you want to learn about what doulas actually offer to women and their families,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 9:34 AM on August 25, 2008

I liked the non-stick pads with the spongy feel and waffle wave. They look like giant sheets of drawer liners used in kitchen cabinets. I got them from Target. They worked pretty well in keeping down the waves and stopping the rug from slipping underfoot. They did, however, allow migration of a few inches over time, so every time I vacuumed the rug, I'd lift the rug and pull a corner to get it re-centered. That was easy to do.

IMO, avoid rug-sized pads with adhesive.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 2:53 PM on August 18, 2008

I have a Polaroid of Sandy Allen from the Ripley's Museum. I was about 6 or 7 when it was taken. She's standing behind my mom, my older brother, and me. She struck a silly pose before it was taken -- resting her elbow on my mom's head, her giant hand on top of me. The museum workers, for some reason, found this hilarious, and I remember them literally doubling over in laughter. As a self-centered child back then, I assumed they were laughing at me, so in the picture, I have an angry scowl.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hhc5 at 11:46 AM on August 14, 2008

To repeat what some others have said, an actual dress shirt is defined by having two measurements: neck circumference and arm length. Both are in inches.

So yes, go to any department store (seriously, any department store -- sears or nicer), and ask for the dress shirts. If they send to you a rack of clothes sold in s/m/l, ask again, this time for the suits, and look for the nearest shirts on sale. Those will be your dress shirts. Tell a clerk... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 9:05 AM on July 15, 2008

Exactly a year ago, I was studying for the bar exam, crazy stressed, but had to fly out to an important wedding in NM. That weekend, in Santa Fe, my wife and I stopped at Cafe Pasqual's and had a GREAT time. Fabulous food, nice vibe, and great service. Really took the edge off some of the stress. For dessert, we ordered the sampler platter, but instead of bringing out small portions of several desserts, for some reason the waiter just brought out three full-sized desserts.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 4:25 PM on July 8, 2008

A few people mentioned the train stations along the NE Corridor. For the most part, they are among the best interior spaces in each of their respective cities -- except for Penn Station in NY.

If you haven't yet had the displeasure of coming through Penn Station yet, expect to disembark into little more than a very gritty subway concourse. Penn Station is entirely underground and shares space with two other commuter rail lines. Poor layout makes it hard to get... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 7:26 PM on July 6, 2008

I've also read the posts in this thread praising prenups, along with the the two or three situations in which their utility outweighs the anxiety they provoke.

But none of those situations apply in the OP's case, AFAIK. Instead, I see a situation where, as amanda and Miko note, the OP's fiance holds an inequitable and sexist view of his future marriage and future wife. He now seeks to cement those views with a contract that could leave the OP with fewer rights... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 7:25 PM on July 1, 2008

If you want to minimize discomfort at "suggested admission" museums, hand over your small-denomination bill (or coins) at the same time you ask for an ticket. This avoids the awkwardness of being told the admission is $20, and you (either apologetically or defiantly) paying a fraction of that.

Although I wouldn't feel too bad about paying less than the full suggested amount. Maybe someone in museum management can tell me I'm wrong, but I always assumed that... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:55 AM on June 24, 2008

Summer in Washington DC isn't like the desert, more like the swamp, but here's some recent advice on hot weather pants in poplin, seersucker, and linen, from our local lifestyle magazine.

■ The difference among seersucker, poplin, and linen is weight. “Seersucker is the lightest,” ... “Linen is the heaviest and great on the beach or someplace breezy. Seersucker and poplin might be similar weights, but seersucker’s crinkled material makes it more breathable.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 2:02 PM on June 23, 2008

New Jersey: Starting from New Jersey (just outside New York City), the trip takes about 4 or 4 1/2 hours. But driving from LaGuardia to New Jersey could take up to 1 or 1 1/2 hours (or more -- who knows, a construction crane could fall down in front of you) So, yes, rent from Jersey if you can.

Tolls: EZ Pass is a small radio receiver that mounts onto the dashboard or license plate and automatically deducts tolls from a pre-paid account as you drive under sensors at... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:48 AM on June 4, 2008 marked best answer

Just to elaborate on rokusan's answer: if you take suspicious looking money to the bank, and they confirm the bills are counterfeit, even if they don't call the cops, they will confiscate the money. They will not give the money back. They will not deposit the money into your account. They will not exchange the funny money for genuine bills.

My grandmother gave me a suspiciously fuzzy $100 bill for my birthday a few years ago, and instead of depositing it to my... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:57 PM on June 2, 2008

I concur with mkultura, and add that your inability to think of middle class NYC neighborhoods might be a function of residential racial segregation

I respectfully assume you are not a working class New Yorker of color, b/c if you were, I believe you'd know the answer to your question. It would be "Where I live."

In New York City, a majority-non-white city, many of the household incomes that would qualify as middle class elsewhere in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 11:52 AM on May 5, 2008

Four years ago (four!), the New Yorker also ran a story dealing with the military's care of their fallen.
posted to MetaFilter by hhc5 at 11:10 AM on May 1, 2008

I know you're using the term "robbed" in the popular sense of someone taking your stuff, but in terms of unfeeling unsafe in your neighborhood, take comfort in the fact that you were not really robbed. Robbery is the use or threat of violence to take something from somebody's body. That's the really scary shit. And it didn't happen to you.

What happened to you is that someone broke something you own to take something else you own. They did it when they... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 4:05 PM on April 30, 2008

More detail on what deejay jaydee suggests: study this chart and read this WSJ article. Before you start law school, you need to (1) calculate the cost of your investment and then (2) the likelihood of earning enough to pay off that investment.

Everyone thinking about law school needs to figure this out, but I suspect (perhaps unfairly) that with your ADHD and what you've written, your grades may disqualify you from the better law schools that, with a few exceptions,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 11:20 AM on April 28, 2008

We went to a points-based timeshare presentation. If you are the type of American who will be taking a Europe/Hawaii-type vacation, a week at Disney-type vacation, and a long-weekend at the beach/Vegas-type vacation all in one year, every year, year after year, points-based timeshares might be worth the cost. That is, when compared to rack-rate hotel rooms and standard airfare (we were promised the ability to turn in points for discount air tickets).

But that's an... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 2:21 PM on April 23, 2008

theantikitty, I don't know if you've gone to bed already, but if you re-read the thread, the consensus seems to be that there really aren't false positives from at-home kits. In other words, one positive and two negatives probably, very much, means you're pregnant.

For one pregnancy, after my wife called her doctor to ask if the pee stick might be a false positive. Doctor said no, told her take vitamins, and scheduled her for an early-term ultasound. That was it.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:17 PM on April 20, 2008

Colleges don't admit legacies to reward their parents. They do it because they're afraid of pissing them off. Colleges must have long known what this study discovered last year: alums give more each year as their children approach college age, give even more if their kids gets in, but stop almost all donations if their kids is denied. Denying admission to legacies means pissing off the parent alum who, in his 40s or 50s, is at his peak earning power.

A parent who... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by hhc5 at 11:11 PM on April 7, 2008

Based on my wife's experience, I'd also say idiopathic urticaria. Apparently, it's common enough among pregnant and recently delivered women like our wives that there's a name for those cases: PUPPS (IANAD, so I can't vouch for the info on that website, it's just one of the top results on google for PUPPS).

My wife had this after giving birth to our second child. It was awful for her (and presumably for misanthropicsarah and your wife). Thankfully, my wife's case... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:51 AM on April 3, 2008

...my husband's evil relatives
...I can only think of 2 people in this world that I truly hate- and they happen to be my husband's aunt and uncle
...Uncle Bastard and his Bitch Wife
...I truly hate these people and don't want them at our special day

If you decide not to invite these people to your son's bar mitzvah, just be prepared to say this to yourself and anyone who might inquire about their absence:... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:50 AM on April 2, 2008

I took Barbri for VA last year and for NY a few years before that. It's okay if you don't "learn" a thing during the actual lectures. I think the barbri materials or a lecturer at some point even admits to this. Just go, let the words bounce around in your head, and take notes.

Barbri is set up so that the real work comes after each lecture -- every night in June after each lecture and during July when there are no more lectures. That's when you review,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 12:58 PM on March 24, 2008

For New York: Newyorkistan
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:42 AM on March 6, 2008

$5 for the 1st tooth, $1 for each tooth thereafter (YTD fairy expendures: $7). My son shared his $5 haul with his little sister by picking up her tab from the ice cream man the day after the tooth fairy's visit. It was very sweet (the gesture and the treat).
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 9:14 AM on January 28, 2008

Seconding averyoldworld's suggestion to anonymously call the insurance company. Only the insurance company knows when the insurance company will change the insurance company plan to a zero deductible, and only the insurance company knows what the insurance company considers a pre-existing condition (is it when the condition arises on a cellular/biological level? Later, when the patient first notices the strange green rash? Or even later, when a M.D. has actually diagnosed the condition?). The... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:46 PM on January 23, 2008

I knew a lobbyist who, 15 years ago, worked for the school bus industry. One of their most important issues was keeping seat belts out of buses. So yes, there is political pressure influencing the exclusion of seat belts from school buses.

I remember one of her arguments being that kids wouldn't use them properly, would instead swing them at each other's heads.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:52 PM on January 21, 2008

Mississippi Burning also places the FBI (or at least its two good-cop/bad-cop FBI protagonists) in a heroic light in the Civil Rights even though the FBI generally and J. Edgar Hoover in particular were far from helpful to MLK and other Civil Rights leaders. This is a fairly common criticism of the movie.

Boycott, a made-for-tv movie in which the always fabulous Jeffrey Wright plays MLK, is memorable to me for depicting the courage and actions of people who actually... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 7:39 PM on January 20, 2008

Your desire for economic homogenity anywhere in Brooklyn is both unrealistic (as Lassie well noted) and wholly incompatible with finding an apartment for $1500. Googlemap "check cashing" using the intersection from your first best answer, 7th and 15th. You will be disappointed.

I moved into a gorgeous two bedroom, two bathroom apartment 1 stop from manhattan with views of the Empire State Building and the Macy's fireworks, and the rent was $1550. Thing is,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 11:38 PM on January 12, 2008

I took and passed the NY bar a few years ago, then retook (and passed) the Virginia bar this summer.

Luckily for me, my firm paid for Barbri self study (you get the books and an ipod with the lectures preloaded) and gave me paid leave from July 5 until the date of the bar exam to make flashcards/cram. I was very fortunate in this respect.

Compared to the NY bar exam, the VA bar exam itself is easier -- the questions are more superficial and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:40 AM on December 31, 2007 marked best answer

Addendum: I think I did well on the VA bar, so in retrospect, could have put in fewer hours to Barbri and bar studying. But since laterals like me don't get a second chance at passing the bar (a bar failure requires "de-lateraling" from my firm), I wasn't taking any chances. Your friend should find out the consequences for failing the bar at his new firm, and the possibility of re-taking.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:45 AM on December 31, 2007

Perhaps in the serial tellings of what really happened with MIL and baby (MIL to A, A to B, B to anon), events got exaggerated or distorted. This may be particularly likely if A, B, or anon is unfamiliar with the rituals of MIL's church, and confused certain events with "baptism." Several people here have suggested that the "baptism" was really just MIL, baby, and some holy water, sans priest. But is it also possible that MIL merely decided to take the kid to a mass and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 7:48 AM on December 28, 2007

Eccos, with rubber soles, are attractive enough, but are the button-down-collar shirts of the shoe world. Nice enough for biz casual and a matching LL Bean monogrammed cloth attache bag, but not "appropriate with the most conservative business attire" IMO.

If you are in a situation where "the most conservative business attire" is expected or required, someone will notice you are not wearing leather-soled captoes, wingtips, or the like. If you... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 11:34 AM on December 27, 2007

Does your scenario necessarily involve a c-section? If not, and if a certified nurse midwife is attending the birth, there should be no OB in the scenario at all. My wife had two routine, vaginal deliveries attended by certified nurse midwives in the "birth centers" located within two urban teaching hospitals. In these instances, the midwife was the only caregiver during active labor and delivery (there were nurses around only when we first checked in, and afterwards, of course).... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 9:14 PM on November 29, 2007

If the grandparents want custody, they should try to have Dad declared unfit. See a lawyer

If the grandparents want visitation rights and Dad objects, unless a court has found him unfit, the grandparents must show the children's interest in seeing their grandparents outweighs their Dad's fundamental constitutional right to raise his child as he sees fit. This will require a lawyer and a lot of money. This is the legacy of the US Supreme Court's Troxel decision.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 4:19 PM on October 9, 2007

The New Yorker ran a harrowing article (.pdf) about Lesch-Nyhan syndrome last month. Towards the end, after a discussion of the sufferers who chew off their fingers and lips because they feel divorced from their body parts and compelled to attack them, someone theorizes that the disease represents the most extreme form of the commonplace compulsion to chew our cuticles or the insides of our mouths until they bleed. Not that any of this helps you stop biting your tongue. But maybe the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:24 PM on October 4, 2007

I had our vows (which we had drafted ourselves) letterpress-printed and framed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 2:48 PM on September 21, 2007

Take off the carafe lid before you pour your coffee. The lid on the carafe I used to own had a strainer that fit over the carafe spout. The strainer appeared to diffuse the coffee stream, causing some of it dribble down the front of the carafe.

I first witnessed this lid-removal solution -- I kid you not -- while watching Robert DeNero pour himself and Val Kilmer coffee in "Heat" using the same Krups coffee maker I used to own. Before he fills his mugs,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:23 AM on August 28, 2007

There have been a lot of good answers on this thread.

When my great uncle died last year, I took my five year old son and two year old daughter to the viewing and funeral. The only reason I would not take your daughter is that at a funeral, she will require constant supervision. As RavinDave points out, love and respect for the deceased and family demand vigilant parenting. If that requires you, as the custodian of the child, to miss out on the ceremony you feel a... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 8:45 PM on August 14, 2007

David Pogue reviewed a bunch of noise-cancelling earphones in the Times in June (here) but only tried one pair under $50, the JVC HA-NC100, and didn't recommend them.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 1:53 PM on August 2, 2007

I was in a childbirth preparation class with two women who what CKmtl suggests.

Although only one of you passes on your genetic material, both of you have equally strong claims of motherhood (though in different aspects), which may obviate your concern B (although I agree w/ Ambrosia Voyeur that the love in your family should be enough alone to obviate that concern).

In the family I know that did this, the egg donor was the younger of the pair,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:48 AM on May 24, 2007

"who [did] what CKmtl suggests"
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:49 AM on May 24, 2007

I was in jr. high living in the Pa. Capital area when Dwyer killed himself there in Harrisburg. It was on a snow day, and there were a lot of kids at home watching tv in the mid-morning when the broadcast affiliates broke into their normal programming, expecting to cover merely the resignation announcement of a state official caught in a notorious scandal. So a lot of kids got to see a man blow his brains out on live tv. (But not me -- I saw a version only later that day that carried the sound... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 10:12 PM on February 9, 2007

Congrats. No suggestions on destination, but I would suggest not waiting for your son to get older. In terms of his enjoyment of the trip/being a burden on you and your husband at your destination, there will be no difference between a 14 month old and a 22 month old.

But a 14th month old is much easier than a 22 month old to deal with on a plane, in a stroller, or baby carrier, and generally to travel with.

Besides, why wait when you can take... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 12:12 PM on January 23, 2007

Seconding the Mandalay Bay Aquarium and thirding Red Rocks, though a trip to Red Rocks prolly requires 1. a sturdy baby backpack, 2. a car, and 3. lots of sunscreen.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 1:31 PM on January 17, 2007

Simply marrying an undocumented or out-of-status alien does not guarantee her a green card or safeguard that person from deportation. The NYT on Nov. 12 ran a story about a preacher who married an undocumented Honduran woman. They had two kids. Then she applied for a green card and got deported. She can reapply in 10 years (Immigration was esp. hard on her b/c she'd already been deported once). The story's went behind the NYTSelect paywall, but not before some advocacy... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 5:52 PM on November 20, 2006

I like the Economist, but the OP is someone who didn't have any idea what the the people on CNN (or whatever TV news broadcast) were talking about. The Economist might be a bit too intimidating for someone like the OP. As far as I could tell the question was not, "Where can I get the most thorough weekly discussion of the most complex international issues? And I don't mind paying $50-70 for it." The question was, "What can I do to figure out who John Murtha is?"... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 7:09 PM on November 16, 2006

In 1998, I interviewed a woman for Newsday that had been hit in the abdomen by a falling .22 fired some distance away. Off the record, the surgeon told me the victim was lucky to suffer no organ damage because all her fat stopped the bullet before it went too deep. Sorry no link, but it's on Lexis.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hhc5 at 7:47 AM on November 10, 2006