[quote name="StaceyinLA" post="7881342" timestamp= ETA - I have owned Keurigs in the past, then regular brewers and/or french press, then superautomatic espresso maker, then back to french press and now I love a pour over, but sometimes I do wish I could just throw a pod in and be done with it - coffee snobbery be damned. Stacy, what went wrong with your Brera? I was thinking about asking for on for Christmas based on your very old coffee thread.

Please don't keep beans on hand. They go stale and taste like butt.

At first glance I thought you were talking about bra sizes. Carry on.

Here is the thing about bringing up abortion every time an IUD is mentioned. It's the idea that potential human life trumps all. No matter if a woman would be devastated to fall pregnant. That maybe her physical or mental health is compromised to the point that a pregnancy could have life threatening consequences. Or maybe the family is just financially overwhelmed. Another child is a huge and very real responsibility. An IUD is the number one most reliable birth control ahead of everything else except abstinence, which lets be real--doesn't work if someone decides to force himself on you. Half of all fertilized eggs naturally don't bother implanting anyway. On average one fertilized egg every 1-5 years according to the statistics upthread fails to implant. Now weight that against very real consequences to women and to families in the event of an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. I feel as strongly against sanctifying a cluster of cells over existing living, breathing human life.

It's only arbitrary if there is no reason for it :) People have reasons for drawing the line elsewhere. It seems to reason that if a blastocyst isn't yet receiving blood flow or nourishment and hasn't grown nerves, a heart or brain and is just as likely to naturally pass from the body as dig in for the long haul--there is a case to be made that the cluster of cells doesn't yet pass for life.

Oh, also if your pressure is low enough that it just rips you over I'd take it with a helping of salt. Guidelines are controversial and always shifting.

I was about the same age when my pressure went insane. My genes are similar to yours. My mom, dad, and brother are all on blood pressure meds. My dad's dad died of heart related stuff in his 40s. Heart disease is all over my mom's dad's side of the family too. I was able to keep it borderline between 40-45 taking magnesium, fish oil, hawthorn and garlic. But by the time I was 46 or so it wasn't working anymore. When your hormones shift, you no longer get the protective effects of estrogen. Despite a BMI that hovers around 20, and watching my diet and great bloodwork--my genes caught up to me. I was feeling awful and took my pressure and it had climbed into the 180s/110s. It's frustrating to do everything I'm supposed to do but still be on meds, but I'm happy I don't live 100 years ago when maybe I'd be dead by now. Do you have a cuff? You should take it once a month minimum if you're trying to control it with lifestyle changes only. It has a way of creeping up throughout perimenopause.

A friend of mine warned me to stay away from the French door fridges that have a wide door inside the French doors. She has to open both her French doors to pull out her meat and deli drawer and she hates it

When we move back into our house I've picked out a kitchenaid that I love. Haven't used it yet but it gets rave reviews. I fell in love with in the store. It is French door on top. The middle drawer is split into two exterior drawers for produce, yogurt, hummus, etc--quick items to grab without opening the stupid drawers all the time. The bottom freezer has three layers of storage. The shelves are all adjustable to fit taller items when necessary. It has measured fill (program a cup or a liter or whatever and push the button and walk away). It's this one: https://m.lowes.com/pd/KitchenAid-25-8-cu-ft-5-Door-French-Door-Refrigerator-with-Ice-Maker-Stainless-Steel/50413062

This is cracking me up. :lol:

How old are you?

Usually I say something like, "I would like to take this opportunity to point out that I am old and wise and I saw this coming. I will give you sympathy if you tell me I'm old and wise first. Tell me I'm old and wise. Tell me." Vindication is sweet :D

Whoa! That's the first I've heard of this. Thanks for posting it. At first I thought it said linked to an *increase* of cervical cancer. I never knew they were protective

If a blastocyst hasn't implanted there is no pregnancy. People draw the line in different places.

One daughter has a mirena, the other a copper. Each is happy with what she has. The mirena doesn't last as long and that is rather a pain. She doesn't get a period at all on it, but she used to be an athlete and still has a low body fat percentage. No side effects for either of them.

I was only addressing the implicit bias in your last statement. But sure, we can talk about your earlier question. Military-grade weapons including the AR-15 figure predominantly in the largest mass shootings in recent years. They are obviously the weapon of choice when one is looking to eliminate the largest number of people in the most efficient manner. Smaller more personal mass shootings are another matter entirely. You're probably right that they are largely comitted with handguns or rifles, which brings us to full circle. People who are convicted of any violent crime including domestic violence who are found in the possession of firearms should be subjected to mandatory minimum prison sentences.

There is difference between "refusing to do research" and "refusing to fund research." The first refers to science and the second to politics and money.

Same. Pumpkin spice body wash has severely damaged my love for pumpkin pie :(

My darling daughter just made a pumpkin spice and chocolate no-bake cheesecake. It was a weird combo of flavors. Even the baker was unimpressed.

:lol: I warned you. It starts off with a unicorn and progresses from there...

Also, we have them here. They don't have them there. We have to ask ourselves why? Because guns are so readily available

People around the world who have been trained in data analysis and statistics and sociology disagree with you. Overwhelmingly.

Fair enough, but. In the US, that black market generally consists of people crossing the border and buying cigarettes on cheaper places like North Carolina and then reselling them in more expensive places like New York. Again, enforcing different laws from state to state is difficult and any laws would have to be at the federal level. Also I'd like to repeat the statistic that smoking rates have been halved since I was in my teens.

It's not a belief. It's statistical evidence. The US as a country (because again, confounding factors render state by state comparisons meaningless) has a massive number of guns compared to our population. We also kill each other with those guns in record numbers. Yes, even former law abiding citizens. Even children.

Gun reduction and control efforts have to be at the federal level. Comparing states is meaningless because it's easy to cross the border into another state. SKL, in the article I linked, Switzerland was addressed: Which seems fairly meaningless given how many people are killed in mass shootings vs how many are in the population. Mass shootings, thankfully, remain relatively rare in the grand scheme. The article goes on to address this... How can you "not buy" an explanation when you haven't bothered to read the evidence for the explanation?