Messages

361

Chit Chat / U.S.Airways ignores need for survivor counseling

« on: January 23, 2009, 09:39:24 AM »

Hope you get a chuckle from this.

362

Chit Chat / Re: A sad update for Braeden

« on: January 17, 2009, 06:57:45 PM »

Esther, I'm so sorry. I have prayed and continue to pray.

363

Chit Chat / Re: Dad

« on: January 14, 2009, 08:30:42 AM »

I'm sorry, Vickie. 

364

Chit Chat / Re: Winter Hum....

« on: January 14, 2009, 08:21:32 AM »

Another hummingbird adventure!    What a pretty little nest- yet it looks quite sturdy. I hear there are record high temps in Ca (that was a few days ago), I so wish we were there!

With all the snow cover here, we are going through huge amounts of bird seed, especially thistle for the finches.

I hope both of your babies hatch & survive.

365

Pond Chat / Re: Winter Scare

« on: January 10, 2009, 03:58:43 PM »

Oh that really is a scare. Looks like he's got some red streaks in his pecs. I hope he gets better.
Does this mean that you'll have to house him inside for the rest of the winter?

I really dislike when stuff like this happens. Kevin and I were JUST talking about how we hate the weather here.
We want to live someplace warm, someplace where we can have a permanent koi pond. One that stays warm. .

366

Chit Chat / Re: #1 song the day you were born?

« on: January 10, 2009, 09:16:29 AM »

 "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" by The Righteous Brothers.

Definitely not my favorite song.

367

Chit Chat / Re: Please Pray

« on: January 08, 2009, 10:23:28 AM »

I am praying for all of you.

368

Chit Chat / Re: Yeah, I need a sense of perspective. (sigh).

« on: January 06, 2009, 06:39:10 PM »

Roark, I know what you mean.  It's like someone ELSE has decided what is best for YOU, and gone and installed features you neither asked for nor wanted.  Things like that drive me nuts, too.

Julles, Do I detect a streak of Libertarianism in your statement?

Jerry & Pondman, I got an Achmed the Dead Terrorist doll for Christmas. 
We all love it.

Sorry-off topic- never mind!

369

Chit Chat / Re: Dinner with LeeAnne

« on: January 06, 2009, 06:30:35 PM »

I like the beard-braid too. Very cool. 

I think you both look great. But that's a LOT of snow!

370

Chit Chat / Re: Have you ever had a sushi party?

« on: January 06, 2009, 06:27:36 PM »

You might want to google that- there are magic recipes when it comes to rice. Just the right amount of water, not removing the cover while cooking, just the right amount of vinegar added to the cooked sushi rice, etc. 

I learned to make rice from Martin Yan (Yan Can Cook), but since I quit eating it I've forgotten all the important stuff.

The tenderloin sushi sounds delicious!

371

Chit Chat / Re: Happy Birthday Johns

« on: January 05, 2009, 08:05:28 PM »

Happy Birthday Johns! You have been a great source of GOOD information. I hope you stick around for a long, long time and have lots more birthdays.

You need to stick around long enough for us to develop the technology to download all of the info from your brain into a giant hard drive. Gonna need a heck of a big hard drive for that.

372

Chit Chat / Re: My Stop Smoking Anniversary is Today

« on: January 05, 2009, 07:54:52 PM »

Sean,

Good for you!  I smoked for 18 years, about 3 packs a day (When I started, a carton was $1.89).  I smoked Parliaments for 3 years, switched to Pall Mall (Unfiltered) for 5years then Pall Mall (filterted).  [...snip...]

When I started smoking, the common wisdom was "it'll stunt your growth".  Now the proven scientific data reports that "it'll KILL YOU!.

My father used to smoke unfiltered Pall Malls. Couple packs a day, year after year, for 50 years, inside of our house. My mom smoked a couple packs of Salem menthol/day as well. Same house, no ventilation. It's amazing I'm not dead. Do you remember the old cigarette adds featuring "Doctors" who recommended one brand or another?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCMzjJjuxQI&eurl=http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/uncategorized/a-blast-from-the-past-2/

and another-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyhvHB62ph8&NR=1

Bars are squawking about the ban but I know so many people who are going to start going out more because of it. In other states, revenue went up after smoking bans, not down. It was nice to be smoke free when we were in Victoria, the pub was packed with people. I didn't even see any standing around outside smoking.

This was news here just this morning. Turns out that Bars & Restaurants have seen an increase in patronage. Our smoking ban started Jan '07. Many bars have put outdoor heated smoking areas for the smokers at great expense, so it seems everyone is happy for now.

When I finally stopped I went cold turkey, I finally realized by looking for an aid to quit I was only prolonging the inevitable, in my honest opinion, if you are going to quit, go cold turkey and just get it over with, the hardest part is the first week.

Wow, thanks for that! Maybe I'll try again. I didn't try the drugs or patch, but did try the gum. Didn't work. It was easier quitting sugar than tobacco. I don't smoke in my house, so hate having to bundle up to go outside for a smoke. Winter is a great time for quitting, for me.

373

Chit Chat / Re: Yeah, I need a sense of perspective. (sigh).

« on: January 05, 2009, 06:23:26 PM »

I love Jeff Dunham. 

I'm with Jerry on this one. Talk to the dealer and see what they can do. Maybe the doors are supposed to unlock, but a part/sensor/whatever has gone bad on yours.

 

374

Chit Chat / Re: Easy Bake Oven

« on: January 05, 2009, 06:19:26 PM »

Karen, I had 'Incredible Edibles' too. Remember that?

I wonder what was in that stuff.

Wow I remember those! High Fructose Corn Syrup?

375

Chit Chat / Re: Easy Bake Oven

« on: January 04, 2009, 08:59:27 PM »

I suspect that the "Child Safety" regulations have ruined the current batch of kid toys. My Easy Bake oven from the 70's used a light bulb, and if you stuck your fingers in there you'd get burned by the light bulb (parental supervision was required in those days). The newer one I got for my kids was awful. REALLY awful. The parental controls were removed in favor of "automatic" safety controls. A poor product resulted, a burned brick comes to mind.
Back then, I could make beautiful little cakes for my Dad. Nowadays, there are so many safety things going on that if you stick your fingers in there they get stuck, and burned, How is that different than the old days? In the past, you could remove your fingers before they got burnt, nowadays your fingers are trapped until they are burned. Whats the difference? All on the premise that the kid can (and does) operate the machine without supervision. Adult supervision is always necessary, and an older machine is the only way to provide edible results. Hope that makes sense. The older machines are better, provided you supply the supervision.

We had a similar situation with Creepy Crawlers. The new machines are AWFUL, but the old machines were dangerous (but productive).. The solution was to use the old machine WITH PARENTAL SUPERVISION. Problem solved!

An even better way (but time consuming) is to teach the child to bake for real. Not that they should be eating that carbage, but it's nice to know how to do it

376

Pond Chat / Re: Show Me Your Snow Covered Ponds!

« on: January 04, 2009, 08:04:58 PM »

We had a ton of snow when I first saw this post. My daughter had my camera at a sleepover, when she came home we had 50* temps and all the snow melted. Oh well. Flash flood warnings notwithstanding- didn't get any photos.

On the plus side, the little stream is clear and the birds are having a blast.

377

Pond Chat / Re: Elephant ears seem to be edible

« on: January 04, 2009, 07:59:59 PM »

Thanks Joyce for the explanation.  Guilty for not checking info first but sometimes it's easier to ask AP and find out stuff. 

Finnpond, you've tempted me to try your Lau Lau and Kalua Pig...   

Ooooh you got that right. Thanks also, Joyce, for the info. My Hilo Beauty has failed miserably, yet we continue to nurse that dead baby. It comes back in spring, languishes in summer, then dies back in fall. Year after year. I want to make that Kalua Pig from my regular Taro. Sounds/reads delicious!

It's so hard to grow those plants around here. I've had some success with certain varieties, none with others.

378

Chit Chat / Re: My Stop Smoking Anniversary is Today

« on: January 04, 2009, 01:12:11 PM »

Happy anniversary, Sean! I know how hard it is to quit, I've tried several times. You've gone a long time without smokes, keep it up!

379

Chit Chat / Re: How much weight did you gain over the holidays?

« on: January 04, 2009, 01:06:07 PM »

I didn't gain anything, but I've been pretty good this year. We had lots of antipasto-type appetizers and a big roast beef. Lots of bacon, sausage, and eggs for breakfasts. Lots of shrimp cocktail, pickled herring, and smoked salmon. I only made three batches of cookies and we didn't eat too many. The kids wiped out all the rest.

Whew. We made it through. 

380

Chit Chat / Re: Holiday Pets....

« on: December 31, 2008, 07:42:19 PM »

We have no pets anymore.  :'( Only fish. My daughter decorated the tank with glass markers... very festive, but I can't see the fishies!  I know my lights/skimmer/TT in the pond are still working, a good thing.
We need pets. We are feeding the birds, squirrels, and deer; and there are two stray cats living under our deck. I don't think they're feral, just abandoned. They're adorable and I want to bring them in. I'm going to start putting out some food for them. Any suggestions? I'm thinking MEAT. 

381

Chit Chat / Re: New update yammering about Braeden

« on: December 31, 2008, 07:36:51 PM »

I really have nothing to say except that we are here if you need anything. Prayers to the little darling, we hope for continued success.

Who cares about hair? It's overrated. 

What a brave little boy. We could all learn a lot from Braeden. 

382

Chit Chat / Re: Happy New Year!

« on: December 31, 2008, 10:54:27 AM »

We are all on this rock hurtling through space for one reason...be good to each other!

You're right. I can't think of any other reason.

Happy New Year!

383

Chit Chat / Re: UFO

« on: December 31, 2008, 10:50:52 AM »

Somehow I think it's vain to believe in alien life, other times I think it's vain not to. I've never seen a UFO, and I've never seen an alien. So, to believe it exists takes faith...

I would like to see something, but most of the stuff I've seen looks altered (like photoshopped pictures, etc). I know for a fact that our military has done all kinds of tests in secret- not because they wanted to but because they had to.

We used to love that X-Files stuff. We rented the last movie the other day and we're having a hard time getting through it. It's really bad.

Will rent The Last Mimzy next.

384

Chit Chat / Re: My TWIN boys turn 16

« on: December 31, 2008, 10:39:50 AM »

Kim, I hope they have a happy (and safe) birthday. Where does the time go?

385

Chit Chat / Re: Greg Bickal

« on: December 31, 2008, 10:38:05 AM »

Except you can learn from the past. 

Besides, I betcha 300+ views are from the rude little snots themselves. 

Ditto that!

The internet never forgets.

Interesting point. We've been trying to teach that lesson to our 12 yo, who is now interested in MySpace and Facebook.

Sean has done a great job with this forum. We really haven't had any incidents for a long time, and that's quality stuff.

Dare I say it, but there was some entertainment value with some of it, but the Zac thing was just irritating. Why bother asking the question if you're going to argue with all the intelligent and polite answers? Gaa.

It used to drive me crazy. But there are people in this world who are honest and of good character- and there are people who are not. It's just like the rest of the world.

386

Chit Chat / Re: Becoming a weather geek!

« on: December 27, 2008, 09:16:39 PM »

We used to listen to the Weather Channel 24/7.  Yes, we are weather geeks too. The fog today was surreal- driving through pockets of it felt like some kind of movie. This is after negative temps and a huge amount of snow. The foot of snow seemed to melt overnight and we have flash flood and fog warnings today. Gotta love nature.

 

387

Chit Chat / Re: Photo Journal: 12/27/08

« on: December 27, 2008, 09:12:24 PM »

what pretty pics!

Kevin and I used to take lots of "trips to nowhere" on Long Island. Didn't matter where it was, as long as it was someplace where we'd never been. We discovered an abandoned fish pond in St. James that had goldfish in there that must have been there for years. Rhododendron Road was also interesting, although I can't remember what town that was in. Maybe Stony Brook. They were the tallest Rhododendrons I've ever seen.. just beautiful.
Then there was an abandoned mansion we used to visit in Smithtown, but I guess it got raised for a subdivision. When we visited you in '05, it was gone. We also used to drive around King's Park psychiatric facility. That was scary... all those abandoned buildings in such a beautiful setting. I wonder if they ever did anything with that place?

We explore around here, but the kids have a short fuse with each other in the car. I never think to take the camera, but there are lots of interesting things around here that I should photograph. I wanted to photograph an interesting outbuilding on a farm that was painted wild-and-crazy, but I did not get the chance and now it's gone.

388

Chit Chat / Re: Greg Bickal

« on: December 26, 2008, 07:53:55 PM »

Well I guess we learn something every day. Had no idea that the guy had all those aliases. I DO remember, however, that it was a huge problem back then, with lots of aliases. There were even one or two that confessed to me. All they were interested in was arguing for the sake of arguing, trolling, and flaming people.

The most recent was a couple of years ago, when "Pondho" confessed. He was a guy who tried to tweak Joyce into admitting some kind of "gay hate". Whacko dude.

Joyce, do you remember "Lenore" or "Leanora" or something like that (Leona)? Nasty stuff, and I could never figure out who had a similar writing style. Usually you can figure that kind of stuff out based on the writing style.

That gal with the tornado who stiffed a bunch of people was easy to figure out, because she had horrible run-on sentences, poor punctuation, and no capitalization. I think that was "snowbird" or "Snowgal"... something like that.

One quick call to the police cleared that one up.  I thought it was pretty fun investigating that one. Lots of work went into it (mail fraud is a crime), and it paid off with a confession and an apology. No refunds to the folks she stiffed, though. It makes me think that I missed my calling. When I watch a show like Forensic Files, I marvel that one person can commit a horrible crime against another, but it takes an entire team of experts to solve the crime and bring the perp to justice. Gotta appreciate that, and sometimes it chokes me up. That's what I'm willing to spend my tax dollars on, not the fat politicians.

rant over.  

389

Chit Chat / Re: Maybe another Silent Night

« on: December 25, 2008, 09:39:23 PM »

Esther, I really don't like bringing up such a controversial subject, but it makes me soooo mad that none of Braeden's  doctors have brought it up. They don't have time to read the scientific research.  Cancer cells can not get nourishment from anything but glucose (Otto Warburg proved that, and won the Nobel Prize eighty years ago, when it was actually worth something).
Even hormonal-fed cancers rely on sugar, because insulin is a precursor molecule of estrogen, progesterone, etc.

Are they feeding him ANY waffles, pancakes, bagels, bread, jelly, syrup, pasta, Popsicles, "whole grains", sugar, cookies, watermelon, (fruits), fructose (anything with "ose" at the end), English muffins, candy, chocolate, ketchup, BBQ sauce, potatoes, French fries, Breakfast cereal, oatmeal... any of that?

I know it's common for cancer patients undergoing therapy to not want anything to eat (often advised to eat anything that will go down), but the addiction to processed refined, causative carbohydrates overwhelms and is more addictive than heroin. The nurse attending to my dying brother and father said "So what? They're going to die anyway- let them have the Ice Cream".  I've sat by more family members than imaginable, watching them die, yet feeding them pancakes, Ice cream, and bagels, Never crossed my mind that it was the processed, easily digestible carbohydrates that were killing them. Or the highly refined processed vegetable oils that nutritionists say are the best oils to eat (Wrong).

I understand that neuroblastoma is a very bad cancer. But Sugar causes (and feeds) cancer. Don't feed it. Sugar is EVERYWHERE.

390

Chit Chat / Re: Greg Bickal

« on: December 25, 2008, 08:19:49 PM »

If I remember correctly, some folks at Koiphen were trying to convince Greg to get better koi stock, he was happy with his mutts at the time.

I met him once at the MKPS show and he seemed like a nice guy.

We've been using the same Bickal DeIcer design for years. The only time we need to replace/rebuild is when the plastic rots (they usually get about 3+ years). We've even had rollovers where the bin got filled with ice cold water and all we had to do was pull the thing out, let it dry, and plop it back in again.

I'd like to see him around here again.