https://ask.metafilter.com/ The past 24 hours of questions at Ask MetaFilter Mon, 21 Sep 2026 22:51:09 GMT Mon, 21 Sep 2026 22:51:09 GMT en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 https://ask.metafilter.com/390780/What-should-I-do-now-if-I-may-loose-my-hearing-in-15-years tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390780 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 22:51:09 GMT genmonster aging disability Hearing loss https://ask.metafilter.com/390780/What-should-I-do-now-if-I-may-loose-my-hearing-in-15-years/rss
My understanding is that one of the reasons I was hired was specifically because of my experience and ability to work independently. I was impacted by the DOGE layoffs and had been doing project management in a research institution with many external stakeholders doing high-profile work. I did extremely well, was promoted multiple times, and felt like I was a really competent person who others wanted on their team. I now work in the private sector where my projects are all internal and the stakes feel much lower than my previous work (think things like mailings going to the correct customer on schedule).

I am the project manager for a department that includes 3 major teams and collaboration with several data-focused teams in other departments. I don't "belong" to any given team, work fully remotely, and my boss is really the only person I interact with one-on-one. I don't have any direct peers. My boss is an operations program manager.

My boss is nice enough but I find to be a pretty extreme micromanager. Here is an example of a typical interaction:

We have a project call every Monday with members from every team involved in the project, typically 12-15 people. I am supposed to lead the call. I draft an agenda and discuss it with my boss during our weekly 1-on-1. They usually say no to everything I have on the agenda and ask me to re-write it. I then send it to them again on Friday with all the re-writes we discussed on Tuesday. They then typically completely re-write it again. Or, they like to call me and dictate over the call what items they want changed rather than editing the document themselves.

I find their style of agenda very odd - it's much more like a running list of thoughts or reactions than a typical meeting agenda. It often has full sentences and blocks of text that are large enough to be paragraphs. This makes it very difficult to figure out what exactly they want discussed or what decision we need to make. I have no issue doing things however they want things done, even when it's an idiosyncratic way of doing things.

During the call my boss will often interrupt me while I'm speaking. If we have a 6 item agenda and I move to item 3 it's not unusual for my boss to interrupt me because that item is "parking lot" and doesn't actually need to be discussed.

At first I found this really frustrating. The main project we are working on has had a ton of snags, nothing is documented, and right when I started there was a major error that upset an important client. I don't feel like my boss's way of doing things makes a ton of sense, but they have absolutely zero interest in doing anything differently.

While I don't love this behavior from my boss, the fact that they reflexively re-write, re-do, veto, or nix basically anything I suggest means I just don't have much work. They often leave me out of meetings and have been discouraged from doing anything with out them cc'd or meeting with anyone if my boss wasn't the one to set up the call. I've done some work to create SOPs and process diagrams so that while I'm out of the office on vacation folks can sub in for me without much issue and so I can show I've done something with my time.

At first I thought this must mean I was doing a bad job, but as I have interacted with others on the team including my boss's boss I've had significantly more positive interactions and feedback. I think my boss may just be kind of an intense micromanager who just isn't going to let me do any work myself. My boss only supervises me and one other person, who as far as I can tell they get along with much better and also seems to barely work at all and is very upfront about how much time they spend on their side-hustle business.

This would have driven me nuts in the past, but I've been enjoying the slower pace. I'd like to take advantage of this situation so I have been studying to take the PMP and will qualify for some tuition remission next year.

My check-ins and evaluations have all been "met expectations" but I'm concerned about potentially getting in trouble or fired since I'm honestly barely doing anything. My boss has no project management experience and I think they feel like my position is more or less the same as having an administrative assistant. Rather than being frustrated by this, what are some things I can do to make this a positive situation?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/390779/How-would-you-make-the-most-of-a-micromanaging-supervisor tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390779 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 21:11:19 GMT goblincore career micromanager projectmanagement work workplace https://ask.metafilter.com/390779/How-would-you-make-the-most-of-a-micromanaging-supervisor/rss
My mother, who lives in India, has asked me, who lives in the United States, to purchase and bring her a mahjong set when we meet up in Japan in November.

Here are my questions:
1) She claims (and seems to be right) that most mahjong sets being sold in India are very expensive (in the $150-$200 range). We have looked at Amazon India, Etsy India, and even Crosswords bookstore. She says that the sets they sell on Etsy India are not the standard ones she plays with (Chinese Mahjong). Is there somewhere else in India that we can purchase a Chinese mahjong set online (or IRL in the Delhi area) that we dont know about?

2) She has sent me a link to a set that can be purchased off Amazon US for $90. I dont love Amazon, and would rather purchase elsewhere. What are my other options for getting a reliable/good Chinese mahjong set in the US for around the same price?

3) We are meeting in Japan in November - can we buy a comparably priced (around $100 USD) set somewhere in and around Tokyo?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/390778/Where-to-buy-Mahjong-set-details-inside tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390778 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:25:29 GMT something_witty games mahjong https://ask.metafilter.com/390778/Where-to-buy-Mahjong-set-details-inside/rss
Some parameters:

-She is not super dextrous or experienced and she gets discouraged easily and I'd really like her to enjoy this activity so nothing that's going to make her too frustrated
-Please no stuffies, especially those ones that are just two pieces of fabric sewn together
-No projects that are just felt please

These do not have to be fancy or practical (although they can be); my real goals are that she has fun, wants to keep doing this, and feels proud of herself. Thank you for any suggestions you have!]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/390777/Good-hand-sewing-projects-for-a-not-very-crafty-ten-year-old tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390777 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:20:05 GMT an octopus IRL Activity Child Children Craft Kid Kids KidSewing KidsSewing Project Sewing https://ask.metafilter.com/390777/Good-hand-sewing-projects-for-a-not-very-crafty-ten-year-old/rss
We are both in our 40s. I grew up driving in the mountains of North Carolina. He grew up in European cities. We both now live in Brooklyn and he is learning to drive for the first time. He knows basic operations of how to drive and we have practiced in low-traffic areas around town in my 2005 Corolla. But how does one teach the skill of parallel parking?

I learned as a teenager somehow and I'm pretty very good at it in my small camera-less car, but I have no idea how to begin to teach it bc to me it's just second nature. I also have no idea how to teach him in an urban area where parking is at a premium to begin with so there aren't just big open parallel spots in which he can easily practice. I'm totally fine with him banging up my car a little but I don't want him banging up other people's cars.

He is taking lessons with a local driving school and has his permit but he wants to practice with me in preparation for the driving exam. I think a video for how I can teach him (not just a video for him to learn) would be super helpful maybe? Open to suggestions!]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/390776/How-to-teach-an-adult-to-parallel-park tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390776 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 17:51:07 GMT greta simone driving parallel parking https://ask.metafilter.com/390776/How-to-teach-an-adult-to-parallel-park/rss
Of course I know that this is not how our 'legal system' works after seeing the DOGE fallout (to use a ghoulish example). But, all the more reason to look for people who have thought the ramifications of rapid policy change through. Anti-idealogues. Pragmatists. Anti-DOGE.

And I know that seems unlikely, but I don't hear that question asked as often as the insistence on the need. Obamacare became something between a net good and a craven emboldening of the medical and drug and insurance fuckery, largely because the framers KNEW they had to work with those people to obviate catastrophic outcomes in early adoption. Jokes on us, still a shit show roll out. Still the fuckery continues. Still intolerable casualties, with more of a shuffling than a surcease.

So does anyone like some groups for this? Think tanks or collectives or movements or whathaveyou that have a well thought out plan for transition if we can make it happen?]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/390775/Who-has-the-best-plan-for-universal-US-Healthcare tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390775 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 17:07:17 GMT es_de_bah insurance medicaid medical medicare medicine obamacare pharma policy universalhealthcare US USA https://ask.metafilter.com/390775/Who-has-the-best-plan-for-universal-US-Healthcare/rss something so that it can run with a fuel the manufacturer didn't design it for. Are there reputable kits that do work as advertised?

There are a few older questions about automotive E85 but none address this.

Has the calculus on using E85 fuel changed in the US in the last decade+? I'm seeing E85 at a lot more stations, and the cost difference compared to E10/E15 is higher than ever. Right now it looks like E85 would have lower operating costs for me after accounting for a 25% decline in MPG, but if it's still just laundering natural gas via growing corn it feels like there's not a real ecological win.

I don't care about the "performance" increase that some sites promise (torque, hp, etc) but about fuel economy (I'd like to lower dollars per mile and emissions per mile). My vehicle, a 2020s Honda HR-V is operated in the US, in a midwest US state with no emissions testing.]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/390774/Automotive-E85-conversion-kits tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390774 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 16:54:13 GMT the antecedent of that pronoun aftermarket automobile car e85 environment flexFuel fuelEconomy mpg https://ask.metafilter.com/390774/Automotive-E85-conversion-kits/rss Legistar to research New York City Council legislative matters. When researching a specific bill, is it possible (maybe using the Legistar API; documentation) to learn what date each cosponsor signed on and became a bill cosponsor? (This might use MatterSponsorLastModifiedUtc in the API.) This would help me understand whether a bill had most of its cosponsors upon its initial introduction, deduce what specific news events or advocacy campaigns may have inspired a member to cosponsor it, etc. Also: Is it possible to find/list Councilmembers who used to cosponsor a bill but then stopped? (Example.)]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/390773/Legistar-API-and-cosponsorship-addition-removal-dates tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390773 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 16:09:15 GMT brainwane API cosponsor legislation Legistar logs NYC recordkeeping sponsor https://ask.metafilter.com/390773/Legistar-API-and-cosponsorship-addition-removal-dates/rss
I have an L shaped desk I want to cover in self-healing cutting mat material. I also have a rectangular self-healing mat bigger than the desk in total area, but not wide and deep enough that I can carve a continuous L of the right size out of it.

I have two problems to solve:

• cutting the mat: I'm thinking of an old-style manual guillotine/paper trimmer. The one in my old school had more steel in it than a modern car, and would have done the job perfectly. But I have no way to know if the ones I find on Amazon will manage a mat. Most say "up to 12 sheets of paper" or some such. Ideas?
  
• re-sticking the pieces together: I can use tape on the bottom, and piece the parts together into the right shape, but I don't know what kind of putty to use to fill in the spaces left by the cuts. Preferably I'd like something that binds the plastic in the cutting mat.
  

I'm in Melbourne, in case someone works in a printers' and can offer cutting equipment, or knows a local print shop if there is any still going.]]> https://ask.metafilter.com/390772/Equipment-for-cutting-and-re-assembling-a-self-healing-mat tag:ask.metafilter.com,2026:site.390772 Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:13:47 GMT kandinski craft cutting CuttingMat DIY glue HomeOffice plastics tools https://ask.metafilter.com/390772/Equipment-for-cutting-and-re-assembling-a-self-healing-mat/rss