September 29

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I am in Canada. My car is in the US. I want to rent a car in Canada, return that car in the US, then drive my car back to Canada. My concern is crossing the land border. Is this allowed/essential travel? Is there an official contact to ask? I am a US Citizen and Canadian PR.

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In elementary school, I was shown an educational series teaching library skills. It is set in a post apocalyptic world and the protagonists of the series are trapped in a library, and use the card catalog to look up information about defeating a robot centaur monster who has laid waste to the earth.

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I want to make a graph that looks like a textbook example of a spirograph. I want to be able to set some key values randomly, but keep the shape similar. Is this possible?

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A while ago, I used to go to GEMM to look for rare and hard-to-find vinyl, but it appears to now be defunct. Is there a go-to, reputable place online for vinyl that is like what GEMM used to be?

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For health and career reasons, I may need to get off weed. I've used it to self medicate at night for years. Details inside

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I need help determining the least-bad option for dealing with the furnace filter in my home.

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I like to drink sparkling water. I usually have three or four cases of Trader Joe's sparkling water on deck. But I recently read the news coverage about how plastics recycling is a sham, and I want to change my habits to recognize this fact and reduce the amount of garbage I'm producing. What is the greenest way to purchase sparkling water?

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In the US, in various coastal towns, it's possible to rent a small sailboat for a day -- think a dinghy for 1 or 2 people like a Sunfish or Daysailer. Where are some places around the world where one can rent similar boats? Particularly interested in non-Anglophone and non-European locations.

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I'm looking to buy an 'experience gift' or some other present for a trivia player and her daughter. Any suggestions? Details inside...

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How do I trap a salamander?

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One sad attempt at a Narnia reference later... More questions about apartment decisions below the fold.



Does anyone here know about the Schroth Method of physical therapy for scoliosis patients? I've seen the website . I'm wondering if anyone has tried it or knows someone who has.

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Does anyone have a dependable recipe to process a lot of apples into pie filling, which we then freeze? The spices and sugars might vary from our preference, but the big question is: Do you cook it or not?

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I'm trying to purchase an apple tree for a friend as a housewarming gift. She grew up near Turin, and her favorite apple growing up was the renetta, which is a mottled golden color.

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While job searching, my priority is to network and to apply to advertised positions. But inevitably a part of it will be sending out resumes to employers that I have no particular connection to and that aren't advertising any openings - a cold contact. In this case I could try to talk to a person in charge of hiring before sending them a resume. Or, just go straight to sending the resume. Which approach is best?

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I have tight muscles and fascia. Should I get a Theragun - and which model?

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I'm looking for an alternative to Twitter plug-in for a website?

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We have a propane-fueled gas range that can't go low enough to hold a simmer. I've tried troubleshooting (details inside). I know how to adjust the little screw behind the knob to make the low setting even lower, but if I do, blowing hard on the flame blows it out. That's an unacceptable safety hazard, not a common condition, right? If you turn your gas range to the lowest setting, can you blow it out?

September 28



Does anyone know what this logo or design is from?

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I'm trying to find a book I read some 45 years ago when I was a kid.

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I am trying to construct a treasure hunt for my wife and son to take the place of Hallowe'en and I'm wondering if there is an app that will allow me to mark several gps locations, send them to my wife and then the app will show the distance and direction towards the nearest one?

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Ok nerds, help me out! In the past I've played a very large flashcard game with my classes (in person) regarding rhetorical strategies and definitions and examples. The game plays in that I randomly distribute the 70+ cards to my students, we start with one student reading a definition from a card, and the students have to figure out the word that matches the definition. That card is then read "I have [], who has []?"

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My 17 year old son needs to get his blood drawn. He has a major needle phobia. The doctor prescribed Xanax, with the directions for him to take one pill 15 minutes before the draw. Can you help me know what to expect and how I can help all this go better? I'm feeling stressed myself now (ugh) and want to work through that so I can be chill for both of us.

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Quote along lines of: "I couldn't have known. No one could have known. It was impossible to know. It was unknowable"

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My property manager has become a little too friendly. I am working from home now and want to dial this back. How can I this with the least repercussions?

Does this exist? Before, I used to go to a heated therapy pool and do gentle resistance exercises. That’s gone now. I would like to replicate this experience at home with a hot-tub like thing where the water is shoulder high when I, a 5’ tall person, am standing, and where there’s enough room to stretch my arms out. Doesn’t have to have jets, doesn’t have to have seats, doesn’t need to fit a crowd, just needs to be deep and warm and sanitary. Surely this must exist. What is it called?



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Should I get a below-the-knee amputation and a prosthetic limb?

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Nursing a long-simmering crush on a friend during quarantine—how to get over it?

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The times that I have been the most successful with weight loss were when I was working with a nutritional coach or personal trainer. How can I replicate that support over a long period of time?

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Can someone tell me what kind of light bulb I need for a fixture labelled "MAX 100W Type "Q" 120V A3 60 Hz" ?

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I've been asked by my mother to purchase new sheets for her guest bedroom (where we'll be staying when we visit). She cannot be relied upon to wash whites separately or do any kind of special laundry routine. Is it a terrible idea to buy white sheets in this case?

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I am curious to know what exactly are the differences between a Data Scientist and a Statistican? Is it possible for someone with a solid statistics background to embark Data Science?

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By in earnest I don't mean swallowing the worm from a tequila bottle, or nibbling the end off a chocolate-covered ant. I mean eating whole insects as an hors d'oeuvre (chili-lime crickets anyone?), or as a garnish or main protein for a dish. I mean using insect flour to make bread and pancakes. I mean, most of all, managing to get over the gag factor...

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The one unambiguous no-exceptions success I have had with my virtual middle school students is an ongoing Rock Paper Scissors tournament bracket. They cheer each other on in the chat, they have made signs for each other, it is hysterical and a great team-builder. Tragically, we are nearing the end of the bracket and I need more ideas for something like that that's...not that, since we have done that.

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After a few months of writing for a friend’s blog, I landed a paid writing opportunity. The publication wants me to fill out tax forms, but my government name doesn’t match my byline.

Pretty much what it says on the tin. I have some job prospects for work as a therapist. As I see it, this will require 1) a computer whose internet connection does not constantly conk out as my Dell laptop's does and 2) some space on the machine itself to keep notes, which I think it might be unethical to keep in the cloud. (I'm still feeling out all these issues.) I would love to spend under $500 on this. I am average Gen X non tech person levels of tech savvy, which is to say I am on the internet all the time but I read specs on a laptop description and don't know what a lot of them mean. Suggestions? Thanks in advance. People who do similar work, feel more than free to chime in with stuff I'm not thinking of.



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I'm considering buying an elliptical machine. Do you have recommendations?

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How can we get ancient odors out of a quilt?

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On my work computer, how can I access one Word file that lives on my home computer?

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I have an American iPhone (11?) and I will be travelling in the next few weeks to Ontario Canada and then to France (and Amsterdam, briefly). I would like to buy a prepaid SIM card that will allow me to have data and a few minutes of talk time for emergencies, GPS, and the occasional important youtube video. (I am happy to buy more than one SIM card if that makes sense.) I called PC mobile in Canada and they tell me my phone won't work with any of their SIM cards because the networks are totally different. Is this true? Please help!

I'm new to an offline recreational activity (disc golf). All the local clubs and group activities seem to be coordinated through Facebook, but I don't (and won't) have a Facebook account. Do you have any advice for staying connected?



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Anyone figured out how to use the new Census website to make maps showing percentage of folks in each racial category? (link to data inside)

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Within the past couple years, I've read and really liked the first few Cormoran Strike books by JK Rowling (aka Robert Galbraith). With JKR's recent transphobic comments, I'm naturally unwilling to keep buying them. What else would you recommend in the same line?

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I had a baby 3 months ago and we're staring down the barrel of a long covid winter. Help me come up with some ideas of things to do so that doesn't seem like a nightmare.

My Windows computers hate Anaconda. They gripe and freeze and crash with it. I've tried re-installing, but the problem persists. I want a package manager like Anaconda that installs things in the correct places and that makes it so I don't have to think too hard. I use it for Python and R. I like coding in Spyder because it color-codes my syntax. Are there alternatives to Anaconda? I've browsed the Internet, and it's frankly overwhelming.



September 27

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When trying to treat a fungal skin infection, how important is it actually how one does laundry?

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... particularly those that belong to my octogenarian mom, because they don't appear to make a difference, despite the large price tag, much to the frustration of everyone around her. (It's unclear how much she is aware of the issue.)

Are you someone who is descended from people who left Lithuania prior to 1941 who has obtained Lithuanian dual citizenship? If so, tell me more! Did you do the paperwork (in Lithuanian) yourself or did you use a service? How long did it take?



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I'm looking for recommendations of philosophers/thinkers whose work could help me ask better questions about the nature and history of specific roads. For example, thinkers whose work would shed light on the contrast between "the history of US 41" as a designation vs. as a physical stretch of road. Or whose work might shed light on the use of roads and road construction in asserting and resisting various forms of hierarchy. Et cetera.

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My kid had my old iPhone for a while and their own login. Now things are messed up and the reminders app thinks I am my kid. As far as I can tell I’m signed in as myself everywhere. Has anyone run into this lately?

I replaced a bunch of old hardwired "dumb" smoke detectors (like, 6 of them) with a gaggle of battery-powered Nest alarms. When I unclipped the dumb ones from the power supply, I just nudged the plastic connector/wires into the wall hole and screwed back on the now-unpowered detector. So the detector is still on the wall but the plug is disconnected behind it. Is it a terrible idea to have the powered clip in the wall behind the unplugged detector, or is it okay if it's not connected to anything? If I need to properly decommission them, do I just pay an electrician to cap them off?



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Recommendations for nice (color value, design, lack of buzzing sound) grow lights for general living space?

I have a 2nd Gen Apple TV. I have the Apple TV remote app on my iPhone. It replaces the Apple TV remote if the Apple TV is on the same WiFi as the Apple TV. However, without the remote, I have no way to connect the Apple TV to the WiFi in the first place. If I connect the Apple TV directly to the modem, I can see its menu on the TV. But I have no way to control it. I gather that if I reset the Apple TV it will try to connect via Bluetooth. But resetting the Apple TV, again, requires the remote. Catch-22. Is there no way to configure an Apple TV directly from a laptop over Ethernet?



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I'm looking for an ottoman that has an upholstered top that moves out of the way to reveal a flat tray that comes up out of it - exactly like this one (out of stock) BUT less wide. I've tried emailing the company that manufactures the one I linked and they don't make anything smaller. If no one already makes this, is there somewhere I could get one custom made? I don't know where to look!

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I want to impress my daughter with the perfect pizza sauce. She's had pizza all over Europe and the US, and she says good pizza is all about the sauce. I need recipes and tips for amazing pizza sauce for when she's home over the holidays.

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If all goes well with checking our references, this sweet boy will be coming to live with us soon! We are experienced dog owners so we're set on all things except neither of us have had a dog with a coat like this. How do we care for it? It's quite long! The rescue didn't have much of an idea.



My partner has a very old (decades-old) pair of Revlon tweezers. They allow me to tweeze hairs without looking in a mirror, because they have a blunt tip that does not grab or poke my skin. I've tried for years to find these or comparable tweezers, and have had no luck. Searching for "blunt tip" gives me pointy, poky tweezers. eBay might be my best bet if I knew what to look for. I need this magical combination of a great grip but also a relatively wide, blunt tip and am tired of buying substandard tweezers. Help? Images of the tweezers in question.

The most flattering style top for me has a collar and preferably is button-down as well. But I want the softness, ease, and comfort of a jersey or knitted fabric, not woven. The collar is a must-have, especially during zoom meeting times. But I'm having a hard time searching for my criteria. It's the knit part that's hardest. All my searches bring up woven shirts or, if they're knit, they're more t-shirt, collarless styles which are too casual and less flattering on me. I wear a 16W or 18 in straight sizes.



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About a week ago, our distant cousin called my brother and me to tell us that my father and aunt are in the hospital, and my grandmother has died. We are the next of kin but can't get there for at least another week. On top of everyone's health, I'm worried about caregiver fraud, since the person who was helping my father seems to be sharing false information and posing as family.