BJean

Far out. You can tell I'm a novice at this internet stuff. I don't have a clue what a lot of things mean or stand for. Sometimes they let me out of my cage. :faint:

Bitter: I am not a teacher. I come from a long line of teachers and I have always thought I would love to teach college students. I am sure that will never happen. I believe I understand how you feel about your students and about teaching. Thank God there are people like you! I have a funny (I think) story about a teacher at Northeastern. I was a freshman and my much older BIL, who graduated from NSC with a minor in history, told me that I should take a history class from a certain teacher. I got into his class, which was large and held in a room with tiered seating. This teacher was very, very old. His course plan for the semester was that each student would be graded on their presentation of the material from a chapter of the textbook that he assigned to us. Plus we would have 3 tests that would make up the rest of our grade. This teacher proceeded to sleep through every class. He would usually go up to the top tier in an empty chair and fall asleep. The student with that days' presentation would get up and do their thing and all the other students slept, did homework for other classes, or did whatever they needed to get done in that hour, including chatting with each other. My first problem was that I was in with mostly Junior and Senior students. I was lost. I was far enough down on the alphabetical list of class members that there were no more chapters available and so I didn't get an assignment to present to the class (thank goodness!). When the first test came around, I felt I was completely prepared because I had studied the chapters the test was to cover, and had done all of the tests at the end of each chapter. There were 3 tests handed out. Each person you were sitting next to got a different test than you. The teacher proceeded to sit at his desk and fall asleep. The next thing I knew, tests were quickly being exchanged so that they could look at each others' tests and collaborate on the answers. I looked down at the test, couldn't believe my eyes, read through the entire thing and didn't know one answer. It was all about historical dates and events that had nothing to do with the chapters we were supposed to be tested on. I thought I was in the twilight zone. Needless to say, I got a "D" on the test and frankly, I don't know how I eked out a "D". After a few more weeks in the class I finally got up the nerve to talk to a girl I'd seen a lot in class and I asked her about the test and how everyone knew the answers and how they got away with switching tests. She said it was common knowledge that that was the way you got through his class and that a person could get copies of his tests from just about anyone. I freaked out and one day talked to the teacher after class. He took pity on me and gave me a "C" for the semester. I have no idea why. But later when I complained to my BIL, he laughed and said he thought I was smart enough to get with the program and that most people thought this teacher's class was a "gimme". I still don't know how I survived the experience. Did you ever know a Humanities teacher named Farnsworth? He was really cool. I learned so much from him and his dramatic way of lecturing. A 180 degree change from the history teacher.

T_O_M: Do you have a proposal of how to resolve the issue of "illegal" aliens? Do you think something should be done? Do you believe it is in the best interests of the United States and Mexico for the U.S. to have laws on the books that are not enforced? Do you believe that the laws as they now stand should be enforced on some kind of piece-meal basis? Do you think that the laws should be changed or amended with regard to illegal aliens? If not, do you believe that we should behave in a Christian manner by assuming that these "illegal" aliens are just coming to the U.S. because they are starving and automatically forgive the fact that they have broken the law? Do you even think that we have a problem with the numbers of illegal aliens entering the U.S. every day? Should we open our borders to whoever wants to live in the U.S.? Just saying that we should be compassionate, as Jesus was compassionate, doesn't solve anything. Compassion is important, but compassion is easy, if you are a decent human being. Resolving a legal issue that is causing people to feel hostile toward an entire class of people in this country, is important as well. We are a society of laws. Laws are necessary for the millions of people inhabiting our country to be able to live in peace. If the laws aren't working, don't you think they should be changed, before something erupts that would not be in the best interests of either Americans or illegal aliens?

Sorry I still don't understand how it is relevant in this discussion, how many homicides there are in NYC (or other non-war locales) to the deaths in war zones. I can't help it if I'm thick headed, but I would appreciate some enlightenment here. I just don't seem to be able to read between your lines.

Jack, did I miss some posts? Your point is?

I'm having another bad spell of port site pain. I can't make up my mind if it is from a muscle strain (lifting Christmas storage boxes) or from bloating from eating sugar stuff. Either way it is sheer punishment! Sometimes I have to keep my hand pressing on my port because it feels like it is going to pop right out of my skin. Tonight I resorted to pre-band behavior and I'm really disappointed in myself. It was because I had an argument with DH (or just H) and wanted comfort. Will this ridiculous behavior never end???

Wildin97: Please don't take your frustration out on the people here. Just because people didn't respond to your post doesn't mean they aren't interested in the possibility of stem cell regeneration. If you took a kinder approach and one that doesn't sound so condecending, perhaps you would get more responses. We are all glad that you are saved but just because you admit that you are not perfect doesn't make it okay for you to be hateful to people who don't respond to you. In fact, it makes you sound disengenuine. But keep up all your good work. I am sure it is very rewarding for you.

Drewslou: Don't feel too bad, we're supposed to get some ice. Sometimes a heavy coating of ice can wreak more havoc than a 3 ft. snowfall. I feel sorry for you all who have gotten snowed in and are tired of it though. This has been a freaky winter. Temps are in the 60s here today. Lots of sunshine. I'm not complaining.

TommyO: I'll bite. What did Zeus think about stem cell research? By the way, I sure appreciate you sharing your beliefs here. Very interesting approach to Biblical interpretation. I tend to agree with a lot of what you said. gadgetlady: Don't you think that many passages in the Bible are metaphorical? I mean if you use an exerpt like "the baby leaped in her womb" you can't really believe that the baby actually leaped. Kicked or moved perhaps, but leaping for an unborn baby is impossible. Victoriana: Do you really think that T_O_M's earlier post means that he doesn't think that God values unborn babies? I didn't read it that way at all. I didn't think that he was plagiarizing either, but perhaps he interpreted a passage differently than you. Since the Bible has been reprinted and changed so many times over the ages, it seems that you could allow a person some slack in how they choose to interpret any passage in the Bible, particularly since this is an open forum.

stacyrtl: Yeah, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. By the way, congratulations on getting your surgery scheduled. You'll enjoy this website and it can help you a lot. Is that a picture of you?? Man, you need some plastic surgery. That is sarcasm. You are one gorgeous babe!

Too frightening for words.

I don't know about WWIII, but we've indeed been sold down the river in more ways than the war.

Not to worry. Bush was able to justify it just fine the first time around. He'll think of something.

No change for me either. I had a good NSV last Thursday though. The exercise physiologist measured me for the first time since before the band and she told me that I had lost 35 inches and with the weight I've lost, it is like I lost a toddler. I got to thinking about the darling 4 yr. old in my life and she weighs 33 lbs. and is about 36 inches tall. My gosh... I was carrying around a small child all the time. No wonder my knees are shot!

Green: Good song, "Boot Scootin' Boogie" Do you ever at least wear jeans? They're my uniform. Your boots sound tres' chic!

JMO: I definitely agree that you disagree. Congratulations on your weight loss! And don't worry, sometimes we all come here in a bad mood and flame somebody. It's better than flaming someone you're living with!

Green: The only time I dress up is when I have to go to a function w/ my DH. And even then I don't wear dresses. When I worked I preferred pants and jackets to skirts of any kind. Now if I could just figure out a way to get rid of a purse! Purses are fun though, skirts are an encumbrance. Does Green wear cowboy boots? You could fit right in here in Texas. Except you'd have to leave Norton at home. He'd shed his fur here. The coat, not the cat. You can bring the cat. He'll shed his fur too, but no so's you'd notice.

Itsgottago: I weight less up north than I do down south too. Unfortunately that's the plight of many women - especially those without implants. :-)

Gadgetlady: Interesting article. Thanks.

Green: Awesome. You name your coats. How about your frocks? Or do you seldome wear frocks? Like me. Drewslou: Thanks! Appreciate your genorosity! Bet you wouldn't mind if we decided to truck some home with us. We could put a nice layer of Coors Lite on the bottom.

Green: Sounds good to me! Are your coats lined with sheepskin or sheepskin on the outer part? When my sis lived in La Junta, CO, her husband bought a sheepskin lined suede coat in Taos, N.Mex. Said it was totally awesome. He looked like the Marlboro man in it. I miss the Marlboro man, come to think of it.

sweethot: I don't understand exactly. You would lose total respect for a friend who was raped and/or under extreme mental distress from an unwanted pregnancy, who then chose to abort the fetus so that she might regain her sanity and health? Would you be able to respect a good friend, who was distressed because her daughter had an abortion, and in such extreme anguish that she felt driven to do all of society a favor by putting the neighborhood abortion clinic out of business by burning it down? Life isn't simple. Circumstances are not always textbook simple. For instance, one might say that if their husband ever cheated on them, they could never forgive him. Then one day that person learns that her husband did cheat on her. Not only that, but she learns that his girlfriend is pregnant with his baby. The girlfriend is in such poor mental health over it that either the fetus will need to be aborted or the baby will need to be moved into her and her cheating husband's home. I guess most people would just throw the bum out and wash their hands of the entire matter. But then that complicates things a bit because maybe that wife cannot support herself and her children. She wants the cheating husband to continue to take care of her, but he doesn't really make enough money to be able to sustain two households, get the girlfriend psychiatric help and support a new baby. This means her own children will suffer. Things are not simple. You can lead a simple, pure, by-the-Book-of-Morman life, but most people find that difficult. As long as you don't have to make really hard, mind shattering decisions, it's easy to say what you'd do and what you expect your friends to do in an gut and mind wrenching situation. Judge not lest ye be judged. Separation of church and state!!!

Can we even begin to imagine how the parents and spouses of the people who were killed and received those letters, must feel? I'm Indian, I'd want to go on the warpath! But where do you start?

MissyC: I live in Texas too for the same reasons you do. Although I will probably never really call it "home". But it is so much better than Central Florida!!! I dream about being able to go outside and make angels in the snow. If I can get all this weight off (what do I mean IF??) when I get this weight off, I want to head to Colorado or northern California or Utah and go skiing again. I have an all weather coat that I got in Montreal that is lined with fur (it's reversable) and it can keep even the coldest natured person warm. I just wish I had a chance to use it here! But I'm not just wanting cold weather, I'm wanting snow to look at and play in. My bro lives in Colorado Springs and they've actually had lots of snow this year and even a couple of blizzards. They totally don't feel sorry for me, and I guess I don't blame them. It's about time for me to pay them a visit. My sister used to live in La Junta and do business in Pueblo... the big city. Ha!

Hi ya'll! Sorry I've been out of the loop all week. My MIL had a stroke and we've been at the hospital. She's doing well, all things considered. They have pretty much decided that she had it because she doesn't get any exercise. She's very slender but sedentary. I have a starting weight of 181. And believe it or not, I actually have signed up for a water aerobics class beginning on Monday. It meets 3 times per week, so it should do the trick. I never thought I'd get the nerve to show up someplace public in a swimsuit, but everyone tells me that there will be older and fatter people there. I'd rather be in a class with young guys with six packs, but that's just me. LOL. Oh well, I wouldn't want to frighten the little dears, or would I? BJean