https://ask.metafilter.com/ The past 24 hours of questions at Ask MetaFilter Thu, 21 May 2026 16:20:05 GMT Thu, 21 May 2026 16:20:05 GMT en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 https://ask.metafilter.com/389782/How-do-you-stay-motivated-for-a-long-term-tedious-project tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389782 Thu, 21 May 2026 16:20:05 GMT chariot pulled by cassowaries Housework MountainOfDoom PileOfDoom https://ask.metafilter.com/389782/How-do-you-stay-motivated-for-a-long-term-tedious-project/rss
I do solo holidays also. I deliberately go to places where they don't speak English. Last year, the night before my flight home there was English speakers at the airport hotel bar after closing and I just gravitated towards them. The were welcoming but the following morning I just felt like a stray dog approaching people randomly like that.

So my question, for somebody who spends a lot of time alone, how do I avoid my brain going into some sort of over-compensatory social rebound at social events?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/389781/How-do-I-deal-with-my-brain-going-into-social-rebound-mode tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389781 Thu, 21 May 2026 15:46:46 GMT jacobean events social https://ask.metafilter.com/389781/How-do-I-deal-with-my-brain-going-into-social-rebound-mode/rss
... that is, I am still technically eligible for COBRA coverage, and the qualifying event is when the COBRA clock runs out at 18 months, not when I stop paying for it. (I'd just have to pay $2500 a month for COBRA once the subsidy ends, which I am obviously not going to do.) So it's sign up for the new plan now or not until the end of the year, which would leave us without medical coverage for three months after the COBRA subsidy ends.The insurance through my old employer is better than the new insurance, and furthermore my wife has already hit the out-of-pocket maximum on that plan. So I'd like to keep using it even though I'll also have coverage through my new employer. Even paying for new coverage I'd come out ahead.I would think that my new employer's plan would be happy to be paid for someone who won't use it for a few months, and the COBRA plan should be happy because they're still being paid. But is it actually feasible to keep using the old plan even though I'm paying for another one?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/389780/Can-I-keep-using-my-COBRA-insurance-after-starting-new-job tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389780 Thu, 21 May 2026 15:15:57 GMT kindall benefits COBRA HealthInsurance MedicalCoverage https://ask.metafilter.com/389780/Can-I-keep-using-my-COBRA-insurance-after-starting-new-job/rss

This is a six year old car, well maintained. The climate is southern, no snow, no road salt, but near the ocean.

Growing up, I remember helping my aunt wash her car. But it was not something I saw people doing.

When I met my husband, he treated car washing like an oil change, a part of how you maintain a car. I enjoy car washes quite a bit.

But now I am poorer and kind of see it as a luxury. I have a hand held vac that I can use on my own to clean the interior. I guess I could wash it in my driveway?

So, how often do you wash your car and do you ever do it at home?

thanks!]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/389779/How-often-do-you-wash-your-car tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389779 Thu, 21 May 2026 15:12:50 GMT rhonzo car https://ask.metafilter.com/389779/How-often-do-you-wash-your-car/rss
Before I bought it, my house used to be a business, and as such it has a signpost in the front yard. Also, my small-ish town has one of the area's more popular July 4th parades, which goes right past the front of the house. I've occasionally painted signs to put out there. The area is more or less split 50/50 politically.

What would be a good message for this year that expresses my pretty lefty opinions but won't get my house vandalized? Last year, I made a US flag background with "Of - By - For The People" over it. That's the sort of tone I'm aiming for. Any ideas for a good one for the 250th in the current climate?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/389778/Neutral-not-neutral-J4-250-sign-ideas tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389778 Thu, 21 May 2026 13:23:49 GMT transient july4 protestsigns uspolitics https://ask.metafilter.com/389778/Neutral-not-neutral-J4-250-sign-ideas/rss one-click solution that will both Block Sender on a spam message and delete the message?

I get a LOT of spam, and these people don't deserve two of my clicks.

Thanks!]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/389777/One-click-Block-Sender-and-Delete-in-Apple-Mail tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389777 Thu, 21 May 2026 12:57:33 GMT wenestvedt AppleMail Mailapp productivity spam https://ask.metafilter.com/389777/One-click-Block-Sender-and-Delete-in-Apple-Mail/rss
I'm on my first day of low residue colonoscopy prep & I realized I didn't buy cows' milk to go with the corn flakes from the allowed list. I figured it's the first day so I indulged in some oat milk.

[first day of 4 low residue, then 1 liquid, then evening before & early morning-of prep solution]

It has me wondering about the distinction between low fiber and low residue. Even corn flakes have some fiber. Does the processing that oats go through to make milk affect their efficacy as a fiber supplement and does it reduce the residue in the colon vs. rolled and steel cut oats?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/389776/How-does-ground-insoluble-fiber-work tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389776 Thu, 21 May 2026 10:19:30 GMT ASCII Costanza head colonoscopy colonoscopyprep lowfiber lowresidue oatmilk https://ask.metafilter.com/389776/How-does-ground-insoluble-fiber-work/rss
I don't plan on trying to identify who the person was or anything like that. I'm just genuinely stumped as to what would require this.

* Everyone attending works for the same (large) company. The event was in the US, as are most employees, in case that helps figure out the range of conditions for which medical accommodations could be requested.
* This is tech, and the demographics skew young. Few attendees were over 50.
* Outdoor highs were in the mid-80s.
* Previous versions of this event have been held in the same space and were notably warmer, so this isn't about eg precooling because the AC can't keep up otherwise.

Any ideas?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/389775/Medical-conditions-that-require-cold-ambient-temperature tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389775 Thu, 21 May 2026 05:33:11 GMT matildatakesovertheworld MedicalConditions https://ask.metafilter.com/389775/Medical-conditions-that-require-cold-ambient-temperature/rss about huffing petrol has me wondering about the substance of my own teen-aged experiences. Marketed as 'Worm Capsules' at that time (1969), the product appears to have disappeared shortly thereafter (but you can find scans of its packaging online). Did it work? Seems so rude to me, introducing such a harsh solvent into a mammal's digestive system. And - what KIND of worms was it for - roundworms? Screw-worms!??

These capsules were similar to Vitamin E, but red, not orange. Ovoid, translucent blobs containing a clear fluid, which we'd harvest by slicing open the capsules with a razor blade. Years later I was stunned, encountering that same smell when walking past a dry cleaners.

Was it effective? Were side-effects known about, observed in the animals? Did some event precipitate its market removal?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/389774/What-WAS-that-stuff-TetrachloroethyleneFilter tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.389774 Wed, 20 May 2026 21:17:24 GMT Rash dryCleaning substanceAbuse veterinarianScience https://ask.metafilter.com/389774/What-WAS-that-stuff-TetrachloroethyleneFilter/rss