Wheetsin

Miscommunication, me thinks.

SPeaking of anonymity on the road -- have you seen the ones where there's a stick figure representative of each family member, with their first names, and then a "The Whatevers" on top? (E.g. "The Smiths" on top, and a dad stick figure that says "Raymond" below, and a "Glenda" mother, and then three children, all named as well.) That always scares me, on their behalf, because that's enough information for someone creepy to do a good bit of harm.

Oy, yes. I'm the same way about car "bras". DH had one on a white car once, and it was a real doozy on the paint job.

The situation for many insurance companies is purely fiscal. It has to make dollars and cents because it's a business. This means the investment of paying for the lap-band has to save them at least that amount in what they pay out. When you factor in the time that the averagte American of average banding age stays at a job, and the long term success rates, etc. -- insurance companies just aren't seeing great ROI. I had a conversation with a person who had worked at UHC when the "banding buzz" first hit. She said their average customer stayed with them for 3 years, but that it would take an average of 5 years to break even with their investment. I've heard the same claim (different numbers) from people who have worked for two other major medical providers. My ins didn't require a supervised diet, but if they had, I wouldn't have had a problem with it. But I think it's a thin, thin band-aid to change someone's qualifying status because of any loss or gain during that time. They see from our records histories of losing & gaining weight. Of course we'll lose weight on a supervised diet, and we'll probably gain that weight once the diet is over. So if my BMI drops to 39 because I went on this diet, don't pull my qualifications, ya know?

...and a computer monitor. (Which actually, I'm quite fond of. Had it not been a "Vlentine's Day" present, I'd be quite pleased, so perhaps I should turn that friwn upside down...)

Ok, so was this a random gift, or had you commented to your students about the dryness of your hands? BTW, romantic intentions or not, Aveeno is good stuff!

What, if anything, is too serious to joke about? Nothing that I've come across yet, depending on the situation. There's situational seriousness, but not absolute. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or one ability, what would it be? Greater patience for some of the things I have little patience for now. Whom, if anyone, do you envy enough to want to trade lives with them? I don't know that I truly envy anyone enough to give up my life to have theirs. I had to fight obesity, but all in all my life is plenty good enough for me. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what woud it be? More exposure to lower income families/people. I was raised in a very affluent area, in a family that - from about the time I was 3 on - did not want for anything. My classmates were mostly the children of actors/actresses, professional sports players, etc. The first time I was introduced to a less affluent "real" setting, it was very uncomfortable to me. To date, I still do not always respond the way I should. E.g. - suggesting an expensive restaurant without thinking that might put a friend in an akward position, or being out shopping with a friend and walking into an expensive store without first thinking that it could be "in your face" to be there. I should be more proactive in my considerations. If there were a public execution on tv, would you watch it? Probably depends on the type of execution, and how it was being broadcast. If it were being done for money/ratings, no way. I've seen people die before. And in my time I've seen some things I later wished I hadn't, and I know they can stay around and haunt you for a while, and have a way of literally making your skin crawl regardless of how much time has passed. Yet I am very curious in a purely physiological/medical way about what happens during some types of execution... curious enough to watch one... perhaps, depending on the type. But I would really have to weigh it against the potential for regret. Would you rather arrive at a party underdressed or overdressed? Probably overdressed. It's much easier to dress down an outfit, than to dress it up. What's more important: actual experiences, or the memories that remain from those experiences? I think the memories. The experiences last - minutes. Each second is over in the next. It's only the memories that live on past that 2nd second. In real conversations, do you tend to talk more or listen more? Definitely listen. I'm an INTJ -- an observer. If you had to chose one, would you rather be blind or deaf? Deaf, for a purely practical reason - communication. If I'm blind, I have to re-learn an entire written system. If I'm deaf, I can still read what people write to me. I enjoy music immensely, but can always recall and feel the vibrations.

Yep, I have dryness too. I've had to switch from "for oily" or "for normal" to "ultra hydrating", and even after a hydrating wash & condition, I still get frizzy. My hair never used to do that. It used to lay very nicely. And my curls have changed. I've heard anesthesia can do this. They've gone from loose spirals, to flat waves. But only in some places, leaving me with really uneven curls that I now have to get permed if I want uniformity.

Let's see... A book someone has written about lap-band. A removed lap-band. Print outs from a fluoroscopy. T-shirts (a la cafe press). Ok that's all I can think of, but none of those would surprise me.

I have a picture I think you'll enjoy, if I can find it out there somehwere. I took it in Mexico. It's a bright orange VW bus, but somehow -- it's really short. I don't know if they came that way or if it was something custom, but it was defintely love at first sight.

I welcome questions and/or responses, when done appropriately, 3loves. I'm sorry, Mr. 3loves to me. I've had many great conversations about them.

Another factor to keep in mind is anethesia, and general trauma to the body. I've hit my Protein + 95% of the time, take a multi, folic acid, Calcium, Q10, etc daily, and am still losing hair. Not as much as I was, but my hairloss started around month 4, and I'm now in month 11 and it still comes out noticeably. I used to have the stylist thin my hair, especially in the summer, becaue it was unruly/unmanageably thick. I used to have to buy hair clips & barettes for thick hair. Now I use regular hair clips, and they fot loosely. I hope this stops sometime soon.

Nice "cop out", I believe you called it.

Ah, that could be. I do tend to read literally (to avoid reading subjectively, as much as possible), so I can see how that would be possible. Darnit, Laurend, I've told you to stop calling me and trying to plan out our posts. What the heck is up with this "mind of your own" stuff, anyway?

I didn't buy any. I follow the "If it's not here, I can't eat it" philosophy. BTW, side note if I can - are there dues to belong to girl scouts, or are they 100% funded by this cookie drive? And if there are dues, what does the $ from this drive go toward? None of the cookie sellers can ever tell me that.

My pologies for the many posts. There was a lot there, and I should have consolidated. My bad. Still wondering what "you are your shadow" means, Ron Cusano. That's either silly, or very profound. Kind of like, wherever you go, there you are.

So you find it difficult to function. Is that how you're explaining your own wrongs? So rather than "I'm wrong", it's "I can't function because there are atheists and heathens here"? No, I'm not twisting what you're saying, I'm asking. And if that's wrong, please clarify. So now I tell lies from the pit of hell? What exactly does that mean? Are those like -- uber lies? Am I being influenced by Satan? And you probably aren't going to believe this anyway, but what you consider "digs" I consider - showing how predictable you are. When we respond (in a way other than what you'd prefer) to our comments, it's happening because Jesus prophesized it. When ou're backed into a corner, all of a sudden we're attacking your faith. It's been that wa since... oh, probably page 3 or 4 of this thread.. but I'd have to go back and check to be sure. It's simply a matter of making a much better window than a door.

No one is advocating for people to not have stickers. They're just so gosh darned ironic sometimes.

Sure I have the capacity. But your logic follows the same lines of the Salem witch trials. Admit you have disdain, even if you don't have it, and be labeled as a "disdainer". Deny that you have disdain, which you don't have, and be labeled as "unable to tell the truth". So which is the best route to take? You've already made up your mind, and either I'm disdainful, or I'm lying. So per your own logic, is there a door #3? Becuse you're only presenting two possible outcomes.

Is "atheists can't have disdain for god because they don't believe in god" more of a cop out than "that doesn't even deserve a reply !!"?

Let me ask again, for the second time: You said atheists hate god, then back tracked and said atheists hate christians, then back tracked again and said "should have said" atheists abhor christians, and are now saying that, generically, atheists display disain for god and christians. Is that "twisting" what you've said, or is that pretty accurate? (BTW,, not picking it apart, you're words are there. And if they aren't, correct me. That's why I'm asking the question...)

Here are some other fads I've heard of or been involved with: Chromium picolinate. Take two caps for breakfast, two for lunch, and eat a regular dinner (and in fine print, you will note that a "regular dinner" is defined in the enclosed diet program). So let me get this right. Taking these pills is supposed to make me lose weight, but I'm only allowed to eat one meal a day, and it's under a strict diet? Couldn't I take... oh... air, which is free, and get the same results? Couldn't I swallow a bug and lose the same amount of weight? Or a piece of banana rind? Here's a whole list of foods, and eating only these foods you can have as much as you want because they take more calories to chew than they have. I'm sorry, they're were healthy foods, but eating 10 lbs of anything is going to make you fat. Sex burns a lot of calories, so have sex every day when you're dieting. Ok, so it's a good rule, but don't do it for the caloric burn because you just don't burn all that much.

I've told everyone, and I've never heard anything remotely like "that's the easy way." Thankfully, because we'd have some words if I did. But here's what I do hear: Oh, I've heard of that! Oh, I've seen that on TV! I saw a show about that, do you know that girl that was on the show? How much have you lost? Do you feel better? ...anda host of others. And sorry, I diverged, I know. But the "Oh, I've heard of that" cracks me up.

Hubby has a "I ♥ MY WIFE" sticker. THAT started as a joke - I gave it to him along with a t-shirt that said, "Yes dear..." on it for a sort of white elephant anniversary present, and he liked it and put it on his truck. Now on the rare occasion that I drive his truck - wow, do I get some weird looks. I agree about the fat men/women thing. And it's also a little different (or so it seems) for short women. E.g. a short "petite" woman who looks, say, 60 lbs overweight seems to be more "ok" than a 5'10 women who looks 60 lbs overweight. I'm an Amazon woman, and I used to really and truly believe that if I'd been bortn shorter, it would have been ok weight-wise, because then I would be "cute". lol Boo Boo, do you have one of the new model bugs, or the classic? And yes, I remember going around without a seatbelt, and in the front seat. One time dad got cut off, had to brake suddenly, and my face went right into the dash. Fortunately it was relatively low speed, but I had a tooth (that was loose anyway, thankfully) get knocked out and pushed up into the soft palette, bloody lip, etc. What were they thinking, indeed. I think they just didn't "get" the importance of it back then.

My first PB was on cheese, so it was a LONG time before I'd eat it again. If you can have yogurt & such, then go after some things (IMO) with some nutritional value, not cool whip. Cool hip is like eating airy plastic. Get some soups (Bear Creek makes very good ones), "cream of" soups with the chunks removed or blended. If you like hummus, just add tahini until it's a soupy consistency. If you're needing a change, try some refried Beans with your choice of sour cream/tobasco/red sauce/chili verde/ etc. mixed in, just watch out for the skins. All adds a LOT of flavor, while making it even more liquidy than the base mushy state.