Maybe we're all just getting a little senile and our filters are slipping like you see in very elderly people. (I've often wondered if half the people called "senile" just simply don't give a rat's behind whether people like what they say, or care enough to remember extraneous information... Because I feel like that fairly often myself.)

That would be the exact situation that caused me to stipulate to my husband that I would not put up with behavior from a family member that I would absolutely not tolerate from any other person. OKM - it seems you would be protecting the rest of the family's holiday joy by allowing him to make his own celebration elsewhere. That, or you can arm everyone else with their own box of wine and holiday themed taser. :)

I hear you. I worked in restaurants in highschool and after. I think I decided I was too old for that carp by the time I was 25. :lol:

Yep. Gonna need visuals on this one. :lol:

No. Whether you do it or not completely depends on the family dynamic and what the goal for doing so might be. But not wanting to spend the day with someone you can't stand seems perfectly normal. Disclaimer: I fail to accept that I have to put up with toxic, obnoxious, abrasive, rude behavior from people because they're family. Evidently, that is not a popular position. (In such cases, I'm perfectly happy being unpopular, though)

:iagree: That comparison doesn't work for me, either. The ability to practice law or medicine is a designation of licensure, not education. You can have the education and still not be able to practice because of failure to take or pass the licensing exams. That is not the case for a pastry chef.

Well, in our house, my husband and I could have been in either role, depending on who had done the ordering. I don't think either of us would have answered the last comment. It didn't require an answer.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I snort water when its dry, too. Which is another occasion to use previously boiled, and not currently boiling, water. Seriously this IS making me feel slightly paranoid... How big are these things? Can they float in steam? How hot does the water have to be to kill them? (not entirely certain I want dead brain eating amoebas in my nose, either, quite frankly) Oh my. It's past my bed time.

Well, no, there's just no good way at all. But neti pot killings ARE rare. Maybe we could make that the primary message and get the "low hum voice guy" who tells all about the various ways the drug in the commercial might kill you to talk about the brain eating amoebas. He makes liver failure seem fairly jolly... Brain eating amoebas. Not. Cool.

It's more that I see people all day who want the "magic bullet" without making actual changes in their life. I don't work all that hard, and I don't think - in the general scheme of things - I'm all that fit. It's mostly job and play. I do spend a good deal of time in cardio mode during the week, though. I've also seen changes in quads definition from biking to work. It's from using them a different way than the standard squats. But I've not seen any indicators of cardiovascular gain from my mile there and 2.5 back (I take the "long way" home). Still not running any marathons. of course... Actually doing marathon training would help there, wouldn't it? I guess that would be an example of making change to see change. If I actually wanted to run a marathon, I'd have to train for that. I don't, so that's not really part of my training plan. But I don't expect to have that ability without training.

That. And we would have fewer lessons where people "forget" how to read. I hate the days when they're being deliberately obtuse. :glare:

I'm sure I wouldn't see the strength gains you've experienced. I lift heavy, lift for endurance and do several hours of cardio at various pacing during the week. I'm a personal trainer and work out with clients, I teach and practice classes, and I have my own workout time. Delayed heart rate recovery after excercise is actually an individual predictor of cardiovascular disease. Your metabolism remains higher after exercise; your heart rate should recover within a few minutes.

VO2 max? Greatly increase as compared to what? Do you have sources? I am genuinely interested (no snark) in reading the studies. Everything I've read has HIIT as "performance" enhancement, not general (and not sedentary) fitness. I would also suggest that an intensity that keeps you from recovering a normal heart rate for 10 times longer than you exercise is probably categorically unsafe for sedentary people.

Yes, you probably can, if that 12 minutes is normally used for sitting on the couch. It's relative. If you are completely sedentary, 30 minutes of moderate walking 3 times a week is a fitness gain. It's not enough to achieve fitness; it just makes you relatively less unfit. I don't consider myself super fit, and 12 minutes a day (even a daily Tabata workout for 30 minutes) would not maintain my fitness level, let alone improve it. You'll have to forgive me. I have grown weary of hearing people go on about whatever new "magic" secret thing is going to drop weight/improve health/increase fitness without doing anything differently than one currently does in their overweight/unhealthy/unfit life, other than pop a pill/strap on an electrocution device/do 2 minutes of work/whatever. If people want to see change, they need to make changes.

I am not disputing that. I am disputing that "fitness" can be had in 2 minutes a day. It cannot. HIIT works by alternating between aerobic and anaerobic activity. It builds efficiency and endurance. (btw, you don't sprint instead of jog, you alternate short bursts of sprinting with regular jogging.) You also can improve muscle tone by causing contraction with electric current. You cannot achieve fitness with those absurd electrocution abs belts. Fitness requires work. I mean that in the literal, not snarky, sense. Muscles (including the heart) become fit through doing work.

You are resistance training a single muscle group on a daily basis and have created tone in those muscles. That is not fitness.

Right. If you give me a plant, I get to kill it myself. :lol:

Best, most treasured, happy making gifts I've ever received: a full set of Wusthof knives (over several years), the drill my husband got me for my birthday 14 years ago, an awesome Wahl clippers (which I clearly don't use for my personal grooming). I use and love the knives daily. The others are more occasional use, but are lovely tools I greatly appreciate when I need them. Other stuff is just "stuff".

We have a chair and a half recliner from La-Z-Boy. It is huge, hideous, and will.not.die. :glare: Seriously. We've had it for 11 years. It's the favorite chair of the husband and dog (him sideways, her stretched out on the back so she can see out the window). Sigh.

Ok, no. Just no. Tabata workouts are not 4 minutes. They are 4 minutes per exercise, usually 6-8 different exercises. They are incredibly intense - I've actually made myself sick... It was kind of cool :tongue_smilie: - but not a couple of minutes total. I know this is being perpetuated in several areas, but HIIT of any kind only works by alternating intensity over a normal workout period.

Let me just point out now that it would be wise to hold off on the edible ornament tree until your children are older. Like adults. But before grandchildren. Ask me how I know. ;) Wendy, I'm sorry. I am giggling hysterically. I think I would actually look just like :blink: if I found that stash.

:ack2: ok, so water treatment is not going to help. Boiling or nuking some distilled water til it's warm, then. Source: http://www.stanford.edu/group/parasites/ParaSites2010/Katherine_Fero/FeroNaegleriafowleri.htm

"Deaths from Neti pots are even more rare..." :lol: yes, I'm sure they are. So, is this well water or municipal water? Have there been any local stories specifying? Because you'd think the salt would kill a fresh water amoeba, right? So now I'm wondering what else they can withstand.

Pastry chef is your occupation if you work for a restaurant or other professional kitchen. It sets you apart from the chef de cuisine, etc. I don't think it implies any particular credential, just that one makes desserts and not entrees. In my experience, even my highly educated cake dude is a "baker" professionally. He runs a bakery. You could adopt "patissiere" since you make cakes and not bread. ;)

I don't consider it necessarily rude to address an envelope to one of you, but the thanks should have included your hospitality, whether it was a note to your husband or not. If it makes you feel better, MY mother addresses things to me as Angela Husband's Last Name. I kept my maiden name. She knows I kept my name. She just thinks Angela Husband's Last Name is a cute name. :001_huh: