Linda Z

I somehow missed out on some of the genes connected to soap operas, romance novels, and shopping. Soap operas make me cringe, romance novels (the real bodice-rippin' kind with the hunky guys on the covers) make me yawn, and shopping makes me crazy!! I'd much prefer exploring the nooks and crannies of an antique store or rooting through stuff at an estate sale than walking from store to store in a mall. My favorite clothing store is in a strip shopping center adjoining the nearby mega-mall. I'd much rather go there than traipse through five department stores looking for what I need and want. And I try things on at home. With those three-way mirrors in the dressing rooms, there's absolutely no reason ever to have to ask your spouse or boyfriend, "Does my butt look big in this?" If store owners had any sense, they'd install those carnival funhouse mirrors that make everyone look skinny. :lol: Here's one for you guys: How come you don't ask for directions when you're lost? I know that's a cliche in any "what's the difference between men and women" discussion, but I just wanna know why. Is it an ego thing or do you just not want to bother stopping somewhere to ask? What's the deal with that?

Guys, if you want to have some idea what a mammogram feels like, picture this. They put your member between two books, then run over it with a truck. :P It's not pleasant, but it is necessary and thank God, it's over fairly quickly. Galen said: You've obviously never shaved your legs. :D Shaving the face has two big advantagse: (1) You can stick it up close to the mirror so you can see what you're doing. (2) It's within easy reach. Shaving the legs involves having to reach down to all parts of your legs, including the tricky part behind your knee that you can't really see--you just have to do it by touch. And trust me, nicks on the legs bleed just as much as nicks on the face. Oeno, you mentioned size. I don't know one woman who's impressed by a huge one, and I've known few men who believe you when you tell them that. I guess they think you're just trying to be nice. As a matter of fact, sex with an oversized guy is less pleasurable than with an average-sized guy. (Or so I've heard ;))

No worries, David. I just wanted to give the thread a gentle nudge back to its original purpose. Linda

Thanks, WordWolf. I really hoped this thread would be a respite from all the debate and mud slinging. For the most part, it has been. I sure hope it stays that way.

Cool, I think you've got the two high schoolers mentioned in the article mixed up.

I know how you feel, Simon. Nothin' happens when I wear my lucky Indians T-shirt, either. They had a decent season. They just picked a reallllly bad time to go into a hitting slump. I'm more hopeful about "maybe next year" than usual, though.

Ooh, you had to go and get me started about Sears MasterCard. Thanks to their screwy policies, I paid off my balance, closed my account, and will never step foot in another Sears store as long as I live. Sometime last year I got a letter from those crooks stating that they were raising my interest rate because of "activity" on my "other accounts." Mind you, I've always paid my Sears MC early and paid considerably more than the minimum (no wonder they hate me--no pricey late fees and less interest collected). I had no past due credit card balances with anyone, and I didn't have tons of credit card accounts open. They must have pulled this on a lot of account holders when they socked me with it, because for two days I tried repeatedly to get through to customer service and only got a busy signal. I gave up and said, "screw 'em." Our accountant says Sears MasterCard ought to be shut down because of so many abuses like the ones Satori and I have described. The name "Sears" used to represent to me a place to buy decent appliances and paint and lawn mowers. Now the name just means "mud." Way to go, Sears! That's some PR campaign ya got there!

You should be proud, Shell.

BIG SIGH

Hooray!! This news makes me so happy. If you're in love with her, Ted, she must be a wonderful, wonderful woman. I wish you many, many years of happiness together. I haven't met you yet, Moony, as far as I know, but I hope to someday. And Ted, I've got a great big grin on my face!!!

David, I don't believe TAKIT was ever based in New Knoxville.

gc! I'm glad you're okay and I'm so sorry for the stuff you lost and the inconvenience of it all. I continue to pray for you all down there.

Hmmm, does that mean you'd never want to receive a teaching from a woman's mouth that's been the same place? :o

I heard some time ago (I think on NPR) that officials had been unable to document the tales of murder and rape. No situation was more ripe for the spread of instant urban legends than the locations in New Orleans where tens of thousands of scared, hungry, thristy, and sometimes angy people were crowded together in horrid conditions. I think maybe some of you are being a bit hard on the reporters in this particular situation. They were reporting what they were being told, by people who claimed to be eyewitnesses. In fairness to the critics, I suppose the reporters should have said, "alleged rape" and "alleged murder," since their usual avenues for confirming such reports were pretty much shut down. Chaos abounded in New Orleans after Katrina, as did hysteria. I can totally understand getting caught up in the emotion. The reporters were surrounded by fear, misery, and outrage--and, in some cases, dead bodies. What they did wasn't great reporting, but IMO, it was greatly human. I'm usually among the first to point the finger at reporters who don't do their homework. In this case I think they deserve a bit of a break. Although the aim is to be objective, I think the craziness that was New Orleans after Katrina shook the objectivity of even the most seasoned media professionals.

Glad you're back and fared well, George!

Krys, it's opening on mine.

David, I don't know how I'd have felt if I'd been on the plane...dunno if I'd have wanted to watch or not, because I can see arguments either way. What I was asking is was it responsible to show the landing live in light of family members watching who had loved ones on the plane. If my husband or child had been on the plane and if instead of a picture-perfect emergency landing I'd witnessed a fiery crash, knowing the one I loved was burning inside the plane, I'd think it would have traumatized me even more than learning he died without seeing it as it was happening. Just wondered what everyone else thought.

PMosh, I've been thinking about you and your wife, and our other Texans, and hoping you were all okay. Glad you made it to San Antonio. And the rest of you, please do check in as soon as you can so we know you're okay. DMiller, put yourself in PMosh's shoes and please lighten up. You said keep politics out of it and then went into your own political rant. I don't even know if gasoline goes straight from the refineries to the gas stations, but it should have occurred to whoever's responsible that the evacuation of a gezillion people by car, bus and truck just might have required upping the supply at some point. Duh.

Abi, that is indeed a flying piggy. I think I posted it for Psalmie before. Hers is better though!

Congrats on a job well done to Paw, Bob, the Mod Squad and anyone else who helped! Wow, lots of cool features.

I'm praying for all you Texas folks. Be safe! And ditto what laleo said...please let us know when you can that you're safe.

I have to wonder about the wisdom of showing the landing live. Sure, it made for super-high drama, but what if the landing hadn't gone well? How would that have been for the passengers' family members who were glued to their TV sets waiting to see the outcome? I think if my loved one was on that plane and if the landing had gone bad, ending in a big boom and fire and smoke, I would be doubly traumatized. Dunno....just thinking aloud. What do you guys think?

I watched it as it was happening, praying like crazy. The pilot did an amazing job. I can't imagine being on that plane as it circled for 3 hours, all the while knowing that an extremely dicey emergency landing was ahead. Bravo to the pilot and the manufacturer of the plane, and yay God!

Thanks, Bob. I've updated my private e-mail address, so please send me whatever I didn't get at the defunct address I still had in my profile. :D-->

The e-mail address in my profile is correct, but I got no GSC mail. It's not in my spam folder on yahoo.com, either.