Ask MetaFilter posts by parma

Most scenic route from LA to Detroit?

parma — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:53:29 -0800

This weekend I will be driving a roadster from Las Angeles to Detroit with a buddy. Help me find winding, hilly or mountainy roads with great views of nature to see on my way. Twisty mountain roads are always preferred over long straightaways. (Bonus if they aren't too much out of my way, thought I don't mind changing my route somewhat.) So far I am thinking of passing through Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Rocky Mountain National Park. (Google map)

Ghost Doctor?

parma — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:30:27 -0800

I am going to visit a doctor, but my Bluecross Blueshield/billing will not show his name and instead will show the doctor he reports to (according to the frond desk person), since he isn't in today. Sounds kind of strange to me. Is there anything I should be asking/should be aware of? (Or is this normal?)

In search of good ripe tomatoes for home-made juicing

parma — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:07:46 -0800

Tomato Filter - As a kid I used to get fresh hand-squeezed tomato juice. It was heavenly. (I lived in a 3rd world country, where vegetables didn't taste like cardboard.) Where can I get very ripe (even if some are close to rotting) tomatoes for cheap or relatively cheap in the S.E. Michigan area? Organic or home-grown would be a definite plus, but I'll take what I can get...

Rule of thumb about who to invite at work to your wedding?

parma — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:30:35 -0800

How do I decide who at work to invite to my wedding? I'd love to invite everyone on my 20 person team - even the ones I only have worked with with five minutes here or there (Most of them.) But I'm afraid by inviting them, I may be making them feel obliged to come, lest I get offended. (I wouldn't at all.) Is there some sort of rule of thumb here? And what about my boss's boss, who I've had a total of maybe 4 minutes of conversation time with (99.9% chance he won't come, mainly because he doesn't know me and doesn't care). But he ultimately is the person who hired me since my boss is a contractor and not fully my boss.

...My motivation is that I am wanting to have a good relationship with everyone since I really like my job and want to stay.

Protector Plan + Marriage, Yay or Nay?

parma — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 19:22:06 -0800

I am getting married in three months and just got off the phone with citi credit cards. Their credit protector plan will credit (meaning I don't have to pay them back) my account for two months' minimum payment when I get married. As anyone who calls their CC company probably knows, they often push these "protector" plans because they're a big money maker. (I am assuming people sign up and forget to cancel.)

It would be nice to have a break from paying for two months (even just skipping a month or two wouldn't be a bad thing).

Should I sign up? Is there a down side I am not thinking of? Would this hurt my credit? (I know from this post that it may put me on junk mail lists. That might be worth the risk though...)

Sharing Files While On Lockdown

parma — Fri, 04 May 2007 08:33:59 -0800

How do I share files between a corporate desktop (no admin rights, WinXP Pro) and personal laptop (WinXP Home), via a router. I work at a large Detroit-based corporation and I have a locked down desktop and a personal laptop. They are on a router and (Success!) I can now get the Internets on both.

But how can I sync folders between the two machines? (I can set my laptop to any workgroup I want - but my desktop is on a domain and I can't change it. So they aren't talking... Tried to install Hamachi on corporate machine - no luck - need admin rights.)

It's just that there's a router between them... mustn't there be a way to share files!?

Placeholders In Place Of Images In Powerpoint

parma — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 12:06:11 -0800

Help! Time-sensitive: My boss's boss, when editing, sees transparent placeholders inside his powerpoint everywhere there is an image (Images do show up, though, in actual slideshow - so they're there). Changing zoom didn't fix it. Everyhting shows up ok on my computer. My Google-fu is failing me, and he's counting on me - got a quick fix?

Log Cabin Rental (In Michigan)

parma — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 13:41:47 -0800

I'm in S.E. Michigan and looking to rent a log cabin for a weekend with some friends. Aiming for Sept 16/17. Do you have a good place you think we should look at? Or know where I can I get any reviews of log cabin rental places? (Tried hrvparkreviews.com and michcampgrounds.com... not much help - and my google fu is failing me.)

Hoping for something clean and good for first-timers. (Even if that takes away from the "outdoors" feel of the trip.)

And ideally it would be close to water and within 2 hours or so of the Detroit area - a bit more is ok too.

Better blank DVDs for long-term storage?

parma — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:56:27 -0800

Of blank DVD manufacturers (Memorex,Verbatim, Best Buy's Dynex, etc.), are there any that stand out as better for long-term storage of data? (I realize other solutions, such as hard drives, may be better long term data backup needs, and I read through this helpful thread http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/19718. But of DVD media, was wondering if any manufacturers/types might be better than others.)

MacGyver Cell Phone Charging Hack

parma — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 22:11:39 -0800

MacGyver Cell Phone Charger Hack: I'm on vacation and stuck in the middle of suburbia in SoCal with: no car or any store nearby, a working Nokia charger that's useless to me, a Motorola cell phone (t720 pic) that is about to go dead, and sadly, no Motorola charger. Badly in need of charging this guy. If we assume the voltage is close enough to work, how do I know which of the many pins need to connect to a neg/pos feed so I can try my luck at getting my Motorola phone charged, maybe with paper clips and some luck!?