BrDevon

Don't worry about us - take care of yourself and your kids. You and they are the priority. Ed and Mark can take the wheelhouse for a while. This isn't Deadliest Catch, and they sure drive better than the guy on Elliot's ship that ran them into the ice floes on the episode that aired last week. (whoops!). Keeping good thoughts for all y'all.

I am reminded of something my Grandmother once said to me as she was baking bread: she mentioned that the yeast she was adding to the dough was what made it rise and lighten the loaf. She then said that the smallest and largest things in the world all have their purpose that the Almighty gave them. I don't think size is as important as whether one lives for self or with others. Notice the wording: I did not say "for others," as that implies a sacrifice to self (which is fine if that is the choice one wants to make), where "with others" suggests more of an awareness and interaction that benefits all involved.

Oh yeah... I forgot about them. I want one! Finally transportation I can afford! (And now that I live only 4.5 miles from the nursing home, I should be able to make it on a single charge. Only thing is parking a scooter in that place, trying to find my wheels would be like looking for a car in a mall parking lot during the holiday season!

From what I see here, most of you were near 50 before the AARP buzzard started circling. They keep after me, but I still have a few years left unless they know someting I don't. I'll take it when I can get it, though. I'll accept any honest discount for anything I was going to buy anyway. I need all the money I can get.

Or as Charlie Brown said it, "The more I learn the more I learn how much I have to learn."

Tough, tough questions. Is knowing and not doing better or worse than doing and not knowing? Some have said knowing and not doing. In most cases, I would go with that, but sometimes doing and not knowing is even more dangerous - for example, at one of my jobs, I deal with serving meals to persons with dementia and Alzheimer's. There are certain medications that preclude serving certain foods. It is my job to be certain that I am not serving something that can potentially kill a resident, so if I either do not know and guess or elect not to ascertain the presence or lack of a dietary restriction, I could find myself guilty of manslaughter. That would far outweigh knowing and not doing in the sense of knowing there is an interaction and not doing by virtue of not giving the food that would be restricted/prohibited. Is it worse to notice the need and ignore it or provide the necessary assistance - but only if you someone ASKS you first Growing up with friends (and self) and disabilities hand in hand, before and after the ADA was passed, I wrestle with this question a lot. There is a question that we used to ask a lot when I worked at a college and we discussed how to work with students with disabilities. Was it okay to see a need and not address it? Should we provide assistance, but only if the student asks for it? One of the best questions for this test was what if a student was blind and about to walk into an open manhole (which obviously the student is unaware is open). Should one have to wait to be asked for assistance, or are there times where it is appropriate to speak out? Generally, I find if possible, it is best to offer assistance and allow the party offered to decide whether or not they wish to accept. If someone is in immediate danger, such as the open manhole example, there are ways to handle that and still afford the other person dignity, such as phrasing it "just making sure you know, there is an open hole in front of you in about x steps." In my experience, that is usually received with a "thank you" and either an acknowledgement that the person was aware, or complete surprise and a change of course, or a request for directions. Either way, it was nicer than "there's a hole in front of you," which automatically makes the assumption that the other person did not know. It seems a small thing, but I have a friend who is blind and does very well who truly resents people assuming he is unaware of his surroundings simply because he can not see them. Obviously, if someone is in imminent danger, like the hole is two steps away, then I would speak out and have to accept it if someone was angry with me for wanting to prevent them from being injured. When faced with a need knowing you have ability to render assistance would you tend towards careful consideration of what will happen to you first before you act or does that response fall far short of the example of the Good Samaritan who acted without hesitation believing if I don't/ who will? Ooooh.... This is still a sore point for me, because I once lost a job because of this situation. I worked in a bakery and the commercial oven has a steam injector. Steam under pressure behaves differently than steam that is not under pressure. This oven was basically a pressure cooker at a certain point in the cycle. I had just injected the steam, which can not be seen when under pressure (once you release the pressure, you see the moisture condensing on the oven walls until it bakes off). A coworker, who I know was unaware I had injected the steam, was about to open the oven, thinking the cycle was done. I yelled out not to touch the door because she would be severely burnt. She got angry for "telling her what to do" and I was fired. Would I do it again in the same situation? Heck yeah. I don't want to think about the possibility of someone being injured or possibly killed because I chose to shut up. Is it more harmful to hit another with your fist or with your tongue? I would say tongue. Emotional scars can often do more damage than physical ones. What is the difference between a miracle, Karma and good luck that remarkably beat the odds? I've had miracles: surving multiple cancers, having hearing return when medical science says I should have been totally deaf, making a complete recovery from a stroke... I have had good luck that beat the odds: having a place to bathe and sources of food when homeless, and ultimately having a place to live. I can not speak for Karma. If I have experienced it, I don't know it by name. Is it more desirable to have unquestioning faith, blind tolerance , or unconditional kindness? Let me take the kindness. I have never been a fan of unquestioning faith. There is a difference between questioning and challenging. The former seeks to better understand, the latter assumes a full underitstanding, or at least full enough to offer rebuttal. Blind tolerance is just as dangerous, because it allows one to simply disregard that which is dangerous simply by choosing not to have an understanding that offers insight.

It might have been someone she knew

That's pretty much where I want to live. On the giant playground of life, there will be other kids who don't want to play with me. Fine. I'll play over here and they can find their own friends. Just let my friends and me play in peace.

The day they tell me I can't have coffee, they better be ready to give me the big blue shot.

Even speaking as one who a Klansman would want nothing to do with, I support their rights to be who they are - at least to a point. I obviously do not condone acts of terror or anything that would injure another person bodily or by means of destruction of property. That being said, no one should be forced to like me or associate with me. If someone chooses not to wish to associate with me due to factors completely beyond my control, that is their choice and their right. They are not hurting me, they are not wishing me harm, they simply wish to not associate with people of my particular demographic/heritage/race/.... It may come as a shock to some that I have no problem with someone not wanting to associate with people outside of whatever group they wish to identify with. I personally think they are losing out on a lot of potential friendships and association with some great people, but that is their choice and right. I wish to know others. My right. I won't try to convert the Klan or wish them harm, I hope they would afford me the same rights. I am not naive and I know there are those who call themselves members of the Klan who would as soon lynch me in the midst of the highway as allow me to live, but those people are extremists and they exist in every walk of life, not just in the KKK. It is sad that most can only see one negative and apply that broad brush to all. It is no better to assume all Klansman would wish me dead than to think of any group in a generalized stereotypic way. Beyond not wanting to associate with me or persons like me, I can be fairly certain there are Klansmen that have many redeeming qualities. I would not know from personal experience, since it is kind of a given that I would not be welcome to associate with members of the Klan. I still am willing to hold out hope that the majority of Klansmen are actually decent people. One might say it's a character fault of mine. I am willing to consider anyone decent until they have proven to be otherwise.

I would love to have a lobster for dinner, unfortunately, I do not have a tank or chum to feed one. I enjoy lobster, and most seafood, but my income is so low, I can barely afford air.

Take an example from my vacuum cleaner: the messier life gets around it, the more it sucks it up and deals with it. - My grandmother. The bread needs the yeast to rise. Even the smallest creatures make things better when they do the work God put them here for. - Another from Grandmom. Your clothes won't care who washed them, the lawn won't care who mowed it, the furniture won't care who dusted it, and the silver won't care who polished it. If it needs doing, do it. You live in this house, you work to make it better - my parents. When you finish your work, help your family finish theirs. There is always something you can do to help in this house. - My parents There is no such thing as saying "thank you" too often - Me, after being written up by a manager for thanking my staff "too often."

I'm a little verklempt! Finally, a graduation speech that speaks reality. I love this kid!

When I worked at BK, I was every dog's best friend because I came home reeking of their products. Oddly enough, I still enjoy the occasional Whopper, as long as they take off about a cup of the mayonnaise (a regulation Whopper has more than a half cup of mayo on it... blehhhhh).

Or maybe you just smell like doggie treats.

The serpent was in sales. It's not his fault if he was good at his job. And the fact that people talk about it after all these years, I think he *really* got skipped for employee of the year.

Unknown, yet despised hated just for being me yet we never met reject in your eyes standards you call purity imposed on those you choose killed before I lived at least within a mind closed down to offers of friendship you say you do not kill worse: you only wish me dead unfit by your rules.

Don't sweat on the couple. That's just poor etiquette.

That's not as bad as having a cold and having a coughing fit as you are saying the part about "if anyone has just cause for this couple to not be married let them speak now or forever hold their peace...." Back in my days working the altar as an acolyte, I will never forget the rector who loudly broke a long cloud of wind in the middle of a ceremony. We literally had to evacuate the church and finish in the yard. That'll teach couples to never have chili for the rehearsal dinner! (Or was it beans at breakfast? Either way....)

It took me a while to get through this thread. Since I left AT&T, I no longer have access to OP-TAB, TDAB, or TDAB2, which left me wondering WTD (or QQ QQ) some of those acronyms were. Yeah, I know I'm going deaf, but my interpreter only handles English to Sign and back. I almost miss AT&T. Those people had (almost) as many acronyms as a love child of the government and a teenager texting.

Yup, they do. Actually, even though I don't have ink, I find I am taken more seriously at a hospital visit in long sleeves than in short, when that is the only variable on my collared shirt. I guess that is just what they are more used to seeing.

As long as the ink is not in contradiction to the collar (I would question an image of satan on someone wearing a collar for the more or less obvious reason), the bias is on the other person. For me, depending on the size and image, it might be distracting, but I would not judge your credibility as clergy based on it unless it was something that killed your credibility. Even then, I would probably give you benefit of doubt, because otherwise I would not allow you the possibility that your life changed since the tattoo was placed.

Well since you seem to want to speak for me, I shall speak for myself. You have one mighty hell of a nerve saying what any of us would do. Have I been poor? You're damned right I have. I have eaten food out of dumpsters, washed clothes in a stream, shaved in public restrooms, and slept outdoors. I did it for four months, and still reported to job interviews three or more times a week, until I finally found enough work to pay my past debts and put a roof back over my head, so don't you DARE presume to say for one second that I would cheat anyone or steal. You think you know all the answers, but don't you EVER paint me with your brush. And before you have the audacity to say my lack of work is a result of choices I made, think twice. I survived two strokes and had to pay for the medical expenses myself when my employer fired me rather than keep me on and pay for my benefits. But somehow, you would probably blame me for not being able to afford to leave the state (as if the job prospects are better elsewhere), and make it my fault that I live in an at will state where it is legal for an employer to release an employee at will. Bottom line, Dan, sometimes you shoot off your mouth without thinking who you might be hurting. Sometimes I wish you would think more carefully before you post.

I once saw a rainbow bumper sticker that read "the secret to successful marriage would be to let us have them." Makes sense to me.

You got them. Still one left from above if anyone wants to have a go at it.