Best Of MetaFilter

Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial by cliff1066™ (cc by)

MeFi member arnicae shares what it was like during the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Columbia's crash 11 years ago in east Texas.

The response of the communities of deep east Texas, an area of the country with some very problematic and sad history is nothing short of phenomenal. Though the weather was cold and rainy throughout the days and weeks that followed the crash, searchers, many of them volunteers from throughout the South (and around the country) stayed out for twelve hour shifts.

MetaFilter member chambers recounts an amazing story of working at a college TV station and accidentally making Beavis the new face of C-SPAN for a weekend, long ago.

Emptily Nested by CarbonNYC (cc by)

In a thread about a famous Christmas cookie cookbook, MetaFilter member Elsa shares an amazing personal story about cookie cutters, stern family members, and giving thanks.

Final Assembly of Aero Supersports by joncallas (cc by)

On the occasion of the Toyota company founder's death, MeFi member ceribus peribus reminisces about his father's time working for Toyota and how it was different than American car manufacturers:

My Dad worked in a very senior position at TMMC for over 16 years before his retirement, so I became familiar with The Toyota Way, the Toyota Production System (yes, TPS reports), kaizen, and kanban through discussions with him and from glancing through the written materials he brought home.

March of the Baby Turtles by Clearly Ambiguous (cc by)

MetaFilter member Muddler studied sea turtles and came away with some important lessons:

So, there is a balance that can be reached to help save the turtles, but it takes some creativity and understanding of the predicament of both the turtles and the people who live near their beaches. Thankfully, the Olive Ridley population is doing relatively well, no doubt in part to the efforts at Ostional.

NASCAR by Pranavian (cc by)

While discussing Danica Patrick qualifying first in the upcoming Daytona 500, member dejah420 recounts the demands of car racing and what it's like moving up in the racing world as a young woman:

I am a woman. I drove my first drag race when I was barely big enough to reach the pedals. I won. A lot. The majority of that because the powerhouse I was holding on to was so insanely good; not because I was a prodigy. Drag racing is all about holding on to your ride. By 16 or so, I could hold my own on dirt tracks, and won regularly enough that someone was willing to chance me driving oval.

Obey Giant by Stewart Dawson (cc by)

When a member recounts meeting Andre the Giant, while on a first date, at the premiere of The Princess Bride, there are at least three reasons the story is going to be great:

"I'm Admiral Haddock, Mr. The Giant, and I am on my first date with Jenny. I am a big fan and I think you're great."

C.W. Billings (LOC) by The Library of Congress

MetaFilter member HuronBob got an amazing Christmas present one morning, his own rifle. He not only learned how to shoot it, but also learned what it meant to have a dad.

It was an Ithaca, single shot, lever action .22! All I had to do was throw on some boots and head for the fields across the street. Look out, rabbits! Get out of my way, crows! I'm after big game, fox, deer, elephant!

"First you have to learn how to shoot it safely."

IMG_1536 by JohnnyO1000

At the third perfect game thrown in Major League Baseball this season, MetaFilter member Slarty Bartfast brought his 3 year old son to see his first game and it sounds like not only the perfect day but you find out the coincidences don't stop there:

At the last called strike, the crowd goes wild and the team is jumping up and down, giving each other hugs not 10 yards in front of us. My boy is getting high fives from all the people around us including the Mariners Moose and the people sitting in the row behind us who tell me my kid is the cutest, luckiest kid ever. Perfect game, indeed.

NRCSDC01017 by USDAgov (cc by)

MetaFilter member fraula tells the story of her amazing great-grandmother and how she struggled, yet supported not only her immediate and extended family, but the entire neighborhood as well:

My great-grandma always said she did it because we were all in it together. Maybe it's easier to understand when you know the crushing poverty, abandonment, violence, and terror of a tall, strong drunkard of a husband she had, while trying to raise eight children. Alone and sabotaged by abuse.

Rogue vs. Parasite (212/365) by JD Hancock (cc by)

MeFite Narrative Priorities talks about a decade working in the comics industry.

Marvel and DC aren't the primary sources of forward momentum within the comics industry. Arguably, their relevance to the working comics community as a whole is at an all-time low. I have worked in comics for years, and the only thing that Batman makes possible in my life is a pile of movies I don't watch and books that I don't read.

Great Wall by michswiss

In a thread about "lost" or unrestored sections of the Great Wall of China, many members are sharing great stories of visiting relic sections of the Wall: story from awfurby, photos from michswiss, and lucy.jakobs' story and photos of an epic hike.

In a thread about a doctor confronting misdiagnoses and financially strapped hospitals, MeFi member stormpooper tells the story of her own mother's recent passing due to misdiagnosis, cancer, and bureaucracy:

But if you take away the barriers of economics, both women had fear of what would happen to them, their family, their job (although my mom didn't work). And that shouldn't be. There should be no fear---period. I can't imagine every nuance of what my mom and this woman in the story went through during their disease but I can say I saw how afraid my mom was of dying when her time was coming. Both were braver than I could ever be and they deserved better.

Student in Class by Tulane Public Relations (cc by)

In a thread about apologizing to grade school teachers many years after the fact, member Navelgazer tells the story of an impromptu popularity contest that had the potential to hurt the least popular kids, but thanks to their amazing teacher, it got turned around:

Anyway, the next day, the last day, he's giving us the speech about having never taught a class nearly as gifted as this one, the speech every teacher gives, but this time it's utterly 100% sincere, and he's near tears, and there's just good feelings going all around, which must be how we convinced him to let us do the thought experiment with our classmates.

I don't know at what point it dawned on him just how cruelly awful an idea that was, but by then we had control over the classroom and there was seemingly nothing he could do about it.

Beef stew with small potato dumplings and carrots by vauvau (cc by)

In the thread about the six minutes of slow-mo stupidity, user Blasdelb remembers when a college friend tried to cook a can of beef stew on an electric cooktop like the video, and the aftermath:

Then the absolutely predictable happened. The can went off like a beef cannon, it detonated with aspects of the stew projectile breaking the sound barrier and everything.