Wheetsin

Green - I have a housekeeper. I use that term a little loosely though. More like a lady who comes once a week and does the maintenance stuff - dusts, scrubs, mops, etc. She's $50 a visit and somehow gets my house immaculate with a vacuum, Tilex, and those little disposable duster things. The irony is - I don't like to have people in my house unless it's *clean*. So before she comes, I clean everything anyway. :faint:

Yes, it is a couple's shower and he will be there. Something she expressed that I think is more the root of her reluctance than she does - it's a way to get two presents instead of one. (Ha! Someone who is as much a cynic as I!) She's feeling like, since she only knows him, the gift should be for him. Otherwise it's buying a gift for a total stranger. My advice to her - buying something just for him makes it seem like she's intentionally excluding her, and how would she have felt of people did that to her at her shower? But also - that the gift doesn't have to come from the registry. I suggested she think of the most useful gadget she has in her kitchen, and buy that for them. Being practical is rarely wrong, right?

Oooh, good timing, because we were JUST talking about adoption. One of my friends is in the process of adopting a brother and sister from Russia. Their biggest obstacle is MONEY. Their travel expenses, INS paperwork, etc. aside - the actual adoption fees they owe to whatever agency it is in Russia equal about $12,000. She was telling me in the US adoptions can cost between 10k - 18k for one child, and that this doesn't include the legal fees. I've never looked into adopting so I can't confirm nor verify these fees... but IF they are accurate - WOW. It's a shame that being able to provide for the child isn't enough.

Here's a little more of the information I have (this is not me, this is her): She hasn't seen the cousin in so long because he has been overseas in the military. When he gets leave, he usually visits - but his parents are divorced so even his visits are split. They don't talk/exchange letters, but she says none of her family is this way, but it's very much the norm that people don't see each other for 5 years, then talk like they were best friends when they meet back up. The $80 isn't out of her budget, but let's put it this way. She's looking at buying two gifts, one for the shower and one for the wedding. $80 was the cheapest, so of course it's taken. The average price of what's currently on the registry (she showed it to me at lunch) is about $185. Even then, not a financial consideration for her, jsut a matter of the principle. Her's her latest emphasis: assume she's going to both events (she plans to). Since it's a couples shower but the bride is a total stranger, does she buy something for him? Or something for both of them?

This is a good point! When I got married I was wearing a 14 (I think) in clothing, but my wedding dress was a 22.

"Last Reputation Received", should be right under your list of subscribed threads.

Take your time. This is something that will change your life. Hi , I was wondering if you can smoke after surgery ? I believe you can, but I don't smoke so I never asked. I don't see why you couldn't. I was also wondering how does alcohol react with people who already got the lab band. The same as it did before. You may see some indirect differences... e.g. lower weight - more sensitivity, or alcohol may have more effect because you'll have a greatly reduced quantitiy of food in your stomach. But in and of itself, shouldn't be a difference. Once you lost most of your weight , can you eat normal solid food ? if yes what are a few examples You can eat normal solid foods (for the most part) as soon as you're clear of your post-op restrictions. Most people find they can eat most foods they could eat before banding. Examples? Well, what do you eat now? There's your list of examples, just in greatly reduced quantities. I need to make this decision quick Why the hurry?

I would love to be able to tell you "yes" or "no", but it just can't be done. You can't even rely on things like "So far I've lost at this rate, so if that continues..." because you could hit a plateau and not lose another pound, or you could find a nice groove and double your weightloss. There's just simply absolutely no way of knowing. And so much of it will depend on you, separate from any other factor. How well you stick to your rules, whether or not you're eating an additionally restricted diet, how well you exercise... even what difference exercise makes for your body. Sorry, can't help with the seamstress part. My version of sewing = super glue.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

BTW, if you mouseover that box, you will get a popup - a spelled out version of the box's color. On some boards they call this their "kharma".

Here's my best guess. Normally rep power is visible as a string of boxes. You'll see this a lot on other forums where there's some type of icon, and perhaps only 3 of 10 are filled in. Rep power is nornally not a single box, so I am guessing that reputation here is displayed in the single box you can see, and is summarized as "positive" (will be a green box) or "negative" (will be a red box). I'm also assuming that, since it's either green or red, the reputation is averaged. Again - with a lot of LBT-specific questions, all I can give is best guess or answers based on common practice, so I can't ensure this is the right answer.

Ah crap, I can't edit yet. I remembered the disclaimer in the main message but not the summary. Consider this info revised to say the following (in red): Summary To sum it all up, here is the gist of the Member Reputation System. Default Reputation Every member starts with a reputation level of 0. Rep Power It's an indication of how many Reputation points a member can give to others, or deduct from them. Seniority The longer you stick around the forums, the more influential you become. Every 365 days, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point. (These are general guidelines, I don't yet know what LBT has as its specific criteria, it may be fewer days, more days, or seniority may not even be factored) Activity For every 1000 posts, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point. (These are general guidelines, I don't yet know what LBT has as its specific criteria, it may be fewer posts, more posts, or activity may not even be factored) Reputation For every 100 points of reputation, members increase their Rep Power by 1 point. (These are general guidelines, I don't yet know what LBT has as its specific criteria, it may be fewer points, more points, etc.)

Go to your user CP. The rep info is at the bottom, including whether it was good or bad.

I'm waiting for someone to register Mr. Ow That's who will get my attention.

Other members give you positive or negative reputation, e.g. you get one rep point per reputation that someone gives you. It was part of the board a while ago, then removed, then recently added back in. Reputation is usually given when someone strongly agrees/disagrees with something you've said... a sort of thumbs-up or thumbs-down kind of rating system. What good is the rating? Well, one benefit is that it's able to help users identify who to listen to and who to ignore. That sounds harsh, but there are people on boards who spew all kinds of misinformation, and do it intentionally. As another user recently put it, it helps you figure out who to listed to. BTW, to add reputation to someone, you click the little scales icon next to their online status. You'll notice that if you hover your mouse over this icon, it will read, "Add to X's reputation", X being the poster.

Now when I was younger the saying was, "It's not the length and it's not the size, it's how many times you can make it rise." Now it's, "Hurry up."

I didn't mind my liquid Lortab. Maybe because I was so fond of its end results. When I was a kid I would fake a cough so that I could get a swig of Vick's Formula 44. I haven't had any in years but I used to love the taste of that stuff.

Just tell the truth. Are you worried that you have a condition that will prevent you from being able to have surgery? Or that you don't have enough medical reason to have it? I would advise against "making up" conditions. The doctor will only make the referral, at best. If the surgeon is told of medical conditions, chances are you will be sent for medical testing to verify (sleep studies, bloodwork, endoscopies/upper GI, etc.) If your'e self-pay, which you would pretty much have to be to get this done with a BMI under 35 and no significant comorbidities, then it won't matter. Surgeons won't require the same maladies that insurance companies will.

What's cosplay?

Whose children? To whom is this addressed?

And there are people who can actually stomach olives and green peppers. What can I say. I can do the cherry. The chewables are probably some of the worst tasting things I've ever had in my mouth, next to collard greens and dolmades.

I've gone up a cup size. I think it's the same thing that happens with the penis when a guy loses weight. They're the same size they've always been, they just stick out a bit more now.

Lauraj23 - the onmly place I can find it is Wal-Mart (unfortunately). It's called "Rapid Blast" and comes in cherry - there's also a PM version that comes in something like "warm vanilla" (GROSS). I pretty much hate anything cherry flavor, but the Tylenol isn't horrible.

I should add - do I think it has anything to do with being a liberal? Maybe - in the distrust. But I think it has more to do with my personality/cynical nature. I don't like the spotlight, hence I prefer anonymous or "behind the scenes" work. I don't really like people that much, hence I prefer the "hands off" situations. Etc.

Reading your post made me reflect, and I've realized something. I don't really donate money. Most of that comes from working for nation-wide and international charitable organizations and seeing what really happens with the money. And being a cynic at heart. I just find it hard to trust that the money goes where it should be going. I probably donate something measly like $20 a year, in the form of a few dollars to the firemen on the street, etc. Well, that's to human-based organizations. I do give much more to wildlife and more environmental causes. I do adopt a family each year and sometimes two for the holidays. That's probably the biggest source of charitable $ outlay. But I have done a lot of "effort" donation - where I'm giving my time or my labor instead of my money. Volunteering in soup kitchens, hospitals (used to do this every summer in high school, and still do it when I can and they need someone), the animal shelter, Habitat for Humanity, etc. I own a business that builds websites and last year we donated our services to build sites for 11 charities. If you convert that to dollars, it's probably significant, but it's still not us handing out money.

This (emphasis mine) is actually the #1 reason why people donate and are involved in charitable reasons... it makes them feel good. (I don't remember the exact name off hand but this is per your every day college level text on human motivation). It's rarely about the actual charity or what the recipient receives, rather how the giving makes the giver feel. I'm not picking on anyone, and especially not anyone on this thread, even though one of the examples I'm giving was used -- but you'll notice that mention of charity or good deeds is often expressed with some type of personal qualifier - e.g. I make X and give X%, versus just I give X%, or even "I give". Or we donated a set that cost X, versus we donated an expensive set, or "we donated". Or "I gave them almost X worth of clothing" instead of "nice clothing" or just "I gave." A common example is giving a donation that, in turn, gives you recognition. E.g. buying a memmorial brick for someone, that is placed into a new construction, and has your name on it... or theirs, on behalf of you. Sorry for the tangent, but you know how I have to be all over the psychology.