Our coöp had a garage sale recently and I scored a Braun for $2.00. No attachments, and it is plastic (which concerned me as far as going into hot pots of soup) but I can say I'm pleased as punch. I did learn the hard way that these should be placed firmly on the bottom of the pots, creating a big vortex of liquid/puree to move around on its own, as opposed to waving the wand around inside a hot pot and thereby sending scalding-hot liquid flying around. Ouch! After a few times doing it the wrong way, I finally learned :D Bill

It's the opining of the urethra...don't make me say more :D

The one obvious omission (in what looks like a rich life) is involvement in a competitive team sport. Some parents deliberately avoid the type of "socialization" and testing of young man-hood that comes with team sports. And perhaps time is better spent learning French or playing piano. And some boys have no interest, and ought not be forced. But in our often "jockular" culture boys who aren't involved with a team don't usually pick up the camaraderie/competitive skills that boys who play ball do, and this can sometimes mark them as "outsiders" in male society. I'm not saying there aren't all kinds of paths, for all kinds of kids. Just food for thought from a man who played football (and wishes he knew how to play piano). My French is pretty marginal too :D Bill

Meatus. I'd never heard of Meatus. :001_huh: Bill

Paneer. That's Indian-style fresh cheese. Heat the milk stir in a little lemon juice (vinegar in a pinch) stir as curds form. Let sit a bit. Pour through muslin. Refrigerate. Yum.

Not to mention that at Dunkirk the evacuees were fleeing Nazis, so this "pastor" is implicitly linking school teachers with the Third Reich. Nasty business. Bill (son of a dedicated public school teacher)

My wife and I are both "readers".

I love that The New Yorker (that national treasure of a magazine :D) uses an umlaut when spelling words such as coöperate and coöp. Bill

Funny, but recently my father, wife and I gathered around while I read from the late great H.W. Fowler's Modern English Usage entry on the proper (in his highly opinionated mind) use of the hyphen. I found it incredibly amusing. But it did set off a family dispute as my wife (the American Lit./English major) and my father are both of the hyphenate only when necessary school of thought, and I'm of the hyphenate-whenever-possible bent. If you've never read Modern English Usage I can recommend it as either one of the most boring books ever written, or an absolute joy! Needless-to-say I'd go for swearing-in, but I'm a crusty old pendant :D Bill

We bought our son a "Mighty Mind" puzzle set for Christmas, and its been a lot of fun. He's 4.5 and I wished I'd purchased it when he was younger because he whipped through the first dozen puzzles in one sitting. But they do get harder, and there are follow-up sets that I'm already looking at buying. Then there are "Tangrams", ancient (I believe) Chinese patterns based on a limited set of pieces that can be turned into all sorts of objects and shapes. One can make Tangram pieces oneself out of paper (or other materials) or purchase sets. An internet search will supply you with many sites devoted to Tangrams. Bill

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

There is a risk factor many are not aware of, of having a form of LDL known as B Pattern Cholesterol. This smaller (than normal A-type LDL) B form does is not identified by an ordinary "cholesterol" test. The problem is you could get good "scores" (assuming you had the A type) but you might have B Pattern, and the B form is evidently much sticker and liable to form plaque (and therefore cause heart-attacks) in folks who think their "numbers" are good.

Compost pile? :D

Hey...what do you think I'm doing? :tongue_smilie: What do we want? Bigger boxes! When do we want 'em? Now! Bill (Berkeley Grad :D)

OK I used one of these options once (I forget which...but I'd guess "text") and it did save the files in a big unsearchable and mostly un-helpful archive that I'll never look at again. Me, I just love looking at all the nice notes people have sent my way (and even a few of the...uh, opportunities people have taken to "dialogue" when they've had differences whith things I've posted) so I like having the PMs at hand. Not deleting them. Not downloading them to some mass text file archive (tomb). Is XML any cooler? Bill (who's now 100% filled)

My strategy is to save the last one where the "quoting" has preserved the whole exchanges if its been a multi-part discourse. Sometime that's Sent PMs and other times it's Incoming PMs. But the whole thing is making me nuts :D I want a bigger box. There I said it :tongue_smilie: Bill

My Private Message Box is always 96% full (or more). I hate deleting PMs but I feel forced to in order to be "active". Does anyone download them to a folder? Are there any neat tricks for keeping them in a fashion you could review them as handily as in the in and out boxes? I need a bigger box!!! Bill

Nearly spewed water on my monitor :lol::lol::lol:

OK, I'm curious. What philosophy does the book espouse?

I'm rather embarrassed to admit I had no idea what a "meatus" was, and figured it must be one of those euphemisms you ladies are so good at creating :lol: Bill (D'oh)

Seriously?????? Green with envy :D Bill

Kris, we don't have a subscription but we do have many (many) volumes in the Library of America series. My wife (the American lit. major) and I consider these a treasure. The construction of these books makes them very compact, and in my opinion easy to read. They have real sewn bindings (so they lie flat when open) and will last for generations, and the paper is acid-free, so unlike typical books printed on pulp paper that yellow and disintegrate with time these are books that could potentially be read by our children's children's children. The paper is thin. It is an "onion skin" somewhat like what's used in some Bibles. But it seems to be somewhat more opaque than a typical Bible, and the fonts are not so small. All I can say is I do not relish reading most "onion skin" Bibles due to the paper, but I have not such problems with the Library of America books. i enjoy reading them. You might feel other-wise, as there is an ever-so slight amount of bleed from the reverse pages. ETA: I just pulled out my copy of a NIV Bible published by Zondervan. It is a "nice" edition (genuine cowhide, good size). The difference is paper quality is striking. The LoA paper is much (much) whiter and more opaque. The LoA paper while still "thin" is far more substantial than the NIV paper, and has a better feel in the hand. You don't get the feeling the paper will crease just turning the page. To me it seems like LoA struck the perfect compromise between being thin and having substance. We love all of our LoA books, and they do get read! Hope this helps you, Bill

Hey Kristina, i hope the Radian 80 works out well for you. Stacey is quite correct about these being "heavy". The seats are steel framed (not plastic like Britax) the upside is they are stronger and less bulky, the downsides include shipping costs. It might be worth a trip to a near-by city (even it's a bit of a haul). If you punch in your zip on the linked page you'll get the closest retailer. http://www.skjp.com/storelocator/ Good luck! Bill

I hope you feel better Sunshine. You didn't sound grumpy to me (but maybe I'm a poor judge :D). This "doctrine of election" does seem to pretty well rule out the idea that we choose God, correct? At least according to Dark Side theology. I wasn't wrong thinking this is the case, right? Anyway, you won't be mocked my me. Bill (who isn't religious but shrinks from being referred to [even in a collective sense] as "the unbeliever" :tongue_smilie: )

I'm not God either, but this formatting thing does give me a certain sense of power :D Don't ask me, I'm still trying to figure it out. Jesus seems to be saying it's OK to blaspheme his part of the triune god-head, but not the spirit part, but if they are all one then....it all seems like dangerous ground to me. What's the difference? Time issue? Breaking a oath to God seems like a bad one to me, but maybe I'm funny that way. Is this the fault of the theologians? You hit the nail on head here Peep :D I just never knew how wide the depurates were between the numerous streams of the faith, the WTM board has been a education for unschooled me. Always Peep, always. Bill