anonemouse

I'm glad that you are doing better, Carlene!

I'm pissed off for you. That's sickening behavior. Unless I get an amazing job or grad school offer, there is absolutely no way I will ever go live in Utah. Heck, that state may even be higher than Texas on my "no way in HELL" list.

I don't think they are completely certain whether my brother's girlfriend miscarried or not. They sent her home, which I am not sure they would if she had miscarried.

I hate saying this, but it may be for the best. My brother's girlfriend just started a new job the same day she found out she was pregnant. My brother's not at the best point in his career that he could be. He's trying to sell the house that he owns with his ex-girlfriend (he and the current one just met this January). He's also been interviewing for a better job.

Why should I be denied access to areas open to the public, just because I have asthma, something that is beyond my control? Like other people, I have no problem with places having closed-off smoking lounges, but I would like to go out and have fun with my friends and still be able to breathe (literally).

I personally don't think that strippers are lacking in the self-respect department. I mean, heck, if I had a wonderful body and could make lots of money off of it, I'd flaunt it, too. If that is what someone likes to do, who are we to tell them that they have no self-respect?

I want to get your opinions on something. How would you approach the topic of body odor with a smoker? I haven't had the experience of having a super-stinky smoking student in one of the classes I teach yet, but I know it is inevitable. When I was taking a class a few years ago, there was a super-stinky smoker it it. Even though I sat several rows away from her, I could still smell her the instant she walked in the room. I always felt so sorry for the people that sat around her. I don't want to inflict something like that on my own students. How would you guys approach the topic with someone like that? I wouldn't want to offend them, but I would have to think of myself and my other students.

But the thing is, you drinking has no affect on my health, unless you drink and drive.

To be honest, the only thing about the girl that bugs me is her reflection. If you look carefully at the blue stripe to the right of her, there is a faint reflection of her. It drives me bonkers. I can't even look at her. (Yes, I'm the type of person that has to straighten pictures if they're even 1/4 inch off-level.) Otherwise, I'm very happy with the skin.

In my opinion, I think you should try to find a surgeon with more experience. He's only done lap-bands for 6 months. To me, that just isn't long enough. I had the option of choosing a surgeon that was 2 1/2 hours away from me or one that was 8 hours away. I chose the one that was 8 hours away, just because she was much more experienced with lap-band surgery. I think even the manufacturer of the lap-band requires that surgeons perform more than 100 lap-band surgeries before they consider them to be "experts". After all, a surgeon only has to perform 3 lap-band surgeries to be certified. It's like with any surgery. You want the surgeon to be as experienced as possible when you are putting your life in his hands.

I did one before I even heard about the lap-band. A NP from my gynecologist's office runs a Phentermine program, so I signed up for it. I was on it for an entire year. Even though I didn't lose much weight with it, I am glad I did it, just because I was able to use it as my documented weight loss effort when I decided to have surgery. I would think that the insurance would accept anything, as long as it was documented by your doctor. That's the kicker, in most cases. I have heard of people being denied because they weren't weighed at their doctor's offices every month (and the weight being the reason for the appointment). Make sure that you know whether your insurance just requires documentation of your effort or whether they want documentation of a medically-supervised weight loss attempt.

Neither do I. Sharing opinions is what a message board is for, after all. No one is going to agree with everyone else 100% of the time. You were polite and you didn't bash anyone else's opinion, which is all that can be asked for.

Not a clue.

No, I wouldn't, because someone eating does not actually make someone sick. If someone has anorexia or bulimia, it is not the actions of fat people making them sick. They are already sick. A smoker, on the other hand, is putting the health of everyone they are around at risk. No one (and no law) is saying that a smoker can't go anywhere they wish. They can go anywhere, as long as they don't smoke. I really do think that smoking is akin to drunk driving, at least in terms of smoking bans. No one prevents you from drinking as much as you want to. The moment you sit behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, though, your actions have repercussions on the people around you. It's the same with smoking. You can smoke as much as you want to, but the moment you light up in public, your actions have repercussions on the people around you.

Go to your control panel (the link is at the top of the page, "UserCP"). There is a link called "Edit Signature" on the left side of your control panel. When you created your ticker, the site should have given you several different codes that you could use on different sites. Just enter one of those in the signature box. I think you may also be able to copy and paste your ticker, also, but I'm not sure.

Hey, we'll have to get together sometime! I am originally from Crossville, which is about two hours east of Nashville. I am living in Kentucky right now, but I do go back to the Nashville area every so often.

And you are still wrong, IMO. There isn't any comparison between obesity and smoking. You can't just choose not to eat. Like Kat said, you can't choose to smoke healthily.

Um, Bubble.... This is the first time I've posted in this thread.

I would never preach about what smoking will do to a smoker's health. I really don't care. I figure that smokers know full well what they are doing. If they want to kill themselves, they can feel free to do so without any preaching from me. Their effect on MY health, on the other hand, is fair game. My university enacted a smoking ban that started at the beginning of this past fall semester. Well, sort of. It banned smoking in front of buildings and on walkways. They built little glass huts all over campus for the smokers. I was SO happy. I could actually walk into a building without walking through clouds of smoke. (For the most part. There were still some asses that stood right next to the "No Smoking Within 25 Feet of Entrance" signs and lit up. My county recently passed a county-wide smoke ban for all public places. That, IMO, was incredible. I can't wait until the 2-month preparation period is over. I can finally go to a club or bar without spending the next few days hacking and coughing (I have asthma)!

Smoking is not like obesity. You eating Whoppers or Big Macs around other people every day will not make the people around you fat or give them heart disease. You smoking aroung them, on the other hand, can give them lung cancer. I am a firm supporter of smoking bans. If people want to go around and kill themselves, they can feel free. But their smoking in public doesn't just harm themselves. It harms the other patrons around them, it harms the servers or other workers, it harms everyone. People's rights (even though smoking isn't a right) end when they start to impact other people. That's why you can't drink and drive. It's perfectly legal to go out and get drunk, but once you make the decision to put others in danger, you are crossing the line. IMO, smoking bans are a matter of public safety.

I got an A on it! That means that I don't have to take the final exam for that class! This semester, I got a 4.0, which I hadn't been able to get in grad school so far!

Good luck!

I just found out this weekend that my brother's girlfriend is pregnant. It was a huge surprise. He'd just broken up with his girlfriend of a few years (they had even bought a house together) in December and started dating a new girl in January. So, I got to meet my future sister-in-law (they had talked about getting married before they found out, so decided to go ahead and do it) for the first time the night before I found out that she was pregnant. Apparently, she's due around the first of the year. Just call me Auntie Lauren!

They live in Memphis, which is about 7 hours away from me, so I won't be able to see them very often. (Which is actually a blessing, since I am not super-fond of kids. I get sick of them easily.)

I am doing this publicly because I feel like I deserve a little public humiliation at this point. I am apologizing to everyone that I sent an overly negative reputation message to. I can't excuse what I did, but I can explain why. I had recieved a message that I felt was particularly nasty. I was hurt and angry and I decided to "share the love", so to speak. In the clear light of day, after I've had time to cool down, I realize that what I did was in very poor judgement. So, feel free to berate me, scold me, bash me, whatever you feel is necessary. I sincerely apologize. I let my hurt and anger get the best of me. I may not agree with all of you, but I really do respect you as people.