gadgetlady

Extrapolation from personal friends, acquaintances, etc. Plenty have. Many of them are public about it. I also know people who have overcome being attracted sexually to anybody (people who had had relationships earlier in their lives, whether hetero- or homosexual, who later chose a different path for their lives that included no sexual relationships). We are not animals defined by our desires. Otherwise we could not speak out against pedophiles, serial killers, or those involved in beastiality -- as it could easily be argued that their actions are simply the result of their uncontrollable desires. Don't put words in my mouth again here. I am not comparing homosexuals to any of these other categories; I'm simply saying we are not the sum of our desires but rather the sum of our choices. Before I was married, I was attracted to many men. Since I've been married, I have overcome being attracted to any man except my husband. I am now only physically attracted to my husband. Honestly. Without exception. So I believe the answer is yes.

I never said I wanted to deny anybody anything, that I thought homosexuality was contagious, that I thought gays should be arrested or denied the ability to book a hotel room, or any other of your inflammatory accusations. I simply said that people with homosexual feelings can choose to act on them or not act on them. Don't put words in my mouth. There is a difference between not supporting gay marriage and believing that people who choose homosexuality should be demeaned, condemned, or otherwise mistreated. Don't equate adversity towards redefining marriage with a hatred of homosexuals or homosexuality. To those of you on this board who are gay, please know that you are not hated, at least not by me. While we may find ourselves on opposite ends of the gay marriage issue (or we may not!), please know that I don't judge you or believe that it's OK to force you to live your life differently.

I beg to differ, Carlene. There are plenty of individuals who are attracted to members of the same gender and choose not to become sexually involved with them. We all make choices every day. Countless married people make choices not to become sexually involved with persons other than their spouse, no matter how attracted they are. Granted, the attraction in some individuals is stronger than others -- just like some individuals are more predisposed to have addictive personalities or become alcoholics -- but the choice to have sex, take drugs, drink alcohol or any number of other things is, nevertheless, a choice. You may believe it is a propensity that cannot be overcome; I believe otherwise. And I know people who have both chosen to succumb to it and who have chosen to overcome it.

ROFLOL!!!!! I haven't laughed that hard in a while. Good one :clap2:

Calling kmillsap! You were on my mind this morning. How are you doing? I've been praying for you and your baby. Please update us!

Yeah, and what about Teddy murdering his pregnant girlfriend, trying to cover it up (*yawn, stretch, what time is it; I was asleep*), and they paying off the girl's family to not do an autopsy? And yet he gets re-elected every time. Go figure.

I hope you know I know that. I sincerely hope so, too. But I don't think that's the case. I think people are easily swayed by the opinions of others and of mud-slinging -- hence the proliferation of negative ads these days. There are good and bad politicians on both sides of the aisle. Too often people vote down party lines without looking at the actual politicians involved. I was explaining name recognition to my 9YO daughter the other day when she asked why there were a ton of signs in the grass in front of the supermarket. When I told her some people vote for someone just because they recognize the name, even if they don't know what that person stands for, she announced that that was a stupid way to decide who to vote for. And it is. I'd rather people not vote than vote without understanding the issues.

Are you all so afraid of the outcome of the upcoming elections that you have to fill up this board with worthless drivel in the hopes of influencing any undecided voters out there? Because if I were an undecided voter, your caustic, hateful remarks and off-topic opinions would sway me the other way.

I've always been amazed the polygamy is illegal when having an affair is not. After all, the men who have 5, 10, 15, 20 wives have made a commitment, albeit not legal, but still a commitment to those wives. At least when those wives have babies, they're not being dumped to deal with it themselves. When a married man has an affair and gets his girlfriend pregnant, there's often no commitment to her (and the baby) whatsoever. That's not to say I'm in favor of it -- I'm holding my tongue on this one -- but I've always been interested in the dichotomous nature of the law. IMO there is no such this as a fair law. I'm just curious to see if there is any consistency in people who think the definition of marriage should be expanded to include same-sex couples, also think it should be expanded to include polygamy.

How does everyone feel about polygamy? Should it be legal?

Just a clarification here on the cruise - there is still space, but only 1-2 rooms at the heavily discounted rate as quoted in the thread. There is plenty of space still available on the ship, though. NOT that I want to take away from this trip; just want to make sure everyone understands!

Sickness, injury, death of yourslf or traveling companion or members of immediate family, involvement in a traffic accident en route to departure, natural disaster making your home uninhabitable, called into active duty by the military, subpeona or jury duty, quarantine -- stuff like that. It also covers airfare, baggage protection, and medical coverage (like if you're injured on the cruise and have to be transported home). If you cancel for an uncovered reason (i.e. business reasons, etc.), they will provide you with a cruise credit of 75% of the non-refundable value of your cruise towards the use of a future cruise. Melissa, I do have your email address (you're one of the few) so I will email you a copy of the terms so you can review it.

Hey kmillsap - you out there? How are you doing?

Insurance information has finally arrived! The rate is $59 per person (by check) or $64 per person (by credit card) for any of the rooms types we currently have reserved. I would like to send the protection plan out via email so interested parties can review it, but I don't have most peoples' email addresses. Please email me at elisa@gondola.com if you're interested and I will respond with the policy. The insurance can be purchased between now and 60 days prior to sailing. There are specific allowable reasons for cancelation, so please review the documentation to make sure you understand what's covered and what isn't. One nice bonus is that it does cover independently booked air, accident and sickness medical benefits, baggage protection, etc. -- so not just the cruise itself. Please email, post, or PM with any questions!

Lisa99 just joined the group, for those of you who are keeping track :-) Also, I just received an email about passport requirements (from another cruise line but the law is the same), so this is a cut and paste of the pertinent parts: The U.S. Department of State recently announced an extension of the proposed implementation timeline for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. When enacted, travelers to and from a foreign country (including the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada) must have a valid passport or other secure, accepted document* to enter or re-enter the U.S. The revised proposed timeline is as follows: January 8, 2007 – Valid passport or other accepted document* required for all air travel to or from the U.S. June 1, 2009 – Valid passport or other accepted document* required for all travel to or from the U.S. (air, sea or land) Although the requirement to possess a valid passport for sea and land border crossings has been extended to June 1, 2009, the government can accelerate this date based on meeting certain criteria. Please note that effective January 8, 2007, all cruise guests entering or re-entering the United States by air are required to have valid passports. U.S. cruise guests who travel by air to embark in Vancouver for Alaska cruises and Canadian cruise guests who travel by air to embark in U.S. ports are required to have valid passports for all cruises terminating on or after January 8, 2007. Foreign nationals should contact their respective governments to obtain details regarding current passport requirements. All cruise guests must present the required documentation at embarkation. Cruise guests without required documentation will be denied boarding and no refund will be issued. *The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not yet made a final determination as to which forms of documentation may serve as a valid alternative to a passport. For more information, please visit www.travel.state.gov/passport or call the National Passport Information Center toll free at 1-877-487-2778 or TDD/TYY at 1-888-874-7793.

We'd love to have you join! Let me know and I'll get you all the info.

Did you do a search for your name and came up with this thread? If you did, it's highlighting it's "find" and that's why it's in bold red. It's not in bold red on my computer.

I think you guys missed what she was saying. She was pregnant BEFORE the surgery, not that she got pregnant afterwards. So the question is what did the anesthesia during surgery do to the developing baby? kmillsap, I haven't heard of this happening to anyone else, at least on these boards. I would think your doctor should have had blood drawn before the surgery and had tests done, unless you were so early in the pregnancy that it was too soon to show up in the blood tests. I'm no expert, but if that's the case I think it's actually good news, because it's not a critical organ-development time for the baby. But I'm not completely sure; I think you need to talk to your ob/gyn about it. You can rest assured, however, that there are plenty of women who have undergone other surgeries while pregnant and, while it's not the ideal situation, have had perfectly healthy babies. You and your precious baby will be in our family's prayers.

OK guys, here's the info! We have a total of 8 rooms confirmed, and I do have a few people who have indicated an interest in joining the group, so we're still growing. We currently have 4 rooms left in our "inventory" - 2 outside, 1 inside, and 1 verandah. This inventory will be released on December 1st. The rates on all of these rooms (outside of our inventory) have increased substantially, so if you're interested in joining the group please do so ASAP to take advantage of our lower rates. In addition, we have the entire group set up for main dining, but there are only 3 empty seats left (they're on hold for us) with the main dining. They do not yet have established a waitlist so hopefully we can get more if more people sign up. As to insurance, I have officially requested the quote and should have it "within 72 hours". I will get that information out when I have it in my hands. The insurance needs to be paid no later than 60 days before the cruise. As for the LBT cruisers, here they are (in no particular order): Mystyblu Princess_n_thep Those_eyes2004 Xelapaul lizzilo AnotherMe Sallyjo Mystjin clarityseeker A1ikou jucyc escudero012004 I think that's everyone for now. Some of the group are bringing spouses and/or friends, making up the total of 16 ppl. And the exciting part is some of the group are 1st time cruisers! What a blast they're in for!

Hi - welcome! I used to live in Torrance (grew up in PV and now I live in OC). I'm sure there are a ton of doctors in the South Bay who do this surgery, but I love my group in Newport Beach if you don't find someone who you like. PM me if you'd like! Good luck on your journey.

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been incommunicado for a while; I was on a month long vacation (almost 2 weeks in Italy and then a 17-day transatlantic cruise) -- and I only gained 0.4 lbs! As you can imagine, my to-do list is a BIT overwhelming! As soon as I get my head above water (read: a few days), I will be getting with RCCL to compile the insurance rates. I did get a vm from them while I was gone that they've extended the availability of the group to sometime in December (!) but I haven't been able to confirm that with them yet or get any details. So if there's anyone who still wants to join, I think we can make it work! I will post the travellers as soon as I can find the "LBT Cruisers" file on my heaped-up desk.

Yup, happened to me. Delayed for a month. It sucked. But in the grand scheme of things, it's better to be delayed than have additional surgical risks.

I have a ton of hair and I've always lost a ton of hair. It comes out in the shower, probably about 50 strands a day, and then of course every time I brush it, etc. I haven't noticed a difference w/ the surgery

Mine, too, next to where I live

I was going to come on here tonight and ask opinions on whether I should get a slight unfill or not, because for the last 3 days I've been getting stuck on everything I eat. I don't understand why, because since I was filled on 8/29 and a few days ago, it was the PERFECT fill level. How/why does the tightness change 2 weeks AFTER the fill? Anyway, I'm going on vacation on Sunday and I'll be in Venice and then Naples. I was going to ask if anyone knew where I might get an unfill in, perhaps, Rome, if I desperately needed it. Then tonight, I PB'd. On ICE CREAM. Yeah, uh, it's definitely time for an unfill. I'll be calling in for one tomorrow. But I could still use some advice on places I might go in Italy for an unfill if required.