Mr Info

I think concern may have been a better verb than worry. Obesity has a direct impact to everyone, That is not an opinion but based on analytics (see info from links below). All of us absorb the spiraling cost of medical care and the increase in obesity is driving up our expenses for employer health insurance and workers comp. There are direct costs those that result from outpatient and inpatient health services along with indirect costs such as higher insurance and lost work. The correlation with other conditions such as diabetes, osteoarthritis, cancer, etc. is strong. This is taken from https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-consequences/economic/ Moderately obese (BMI between 30 and 35) individuals are more than twice as likely as healthy weight individuals to be prescribed prescription pharmaceuticals to manage medical conditions.7 Costs for patients presenting at emergency rooms with chest pains are 41 percent higher for severely obese patients, 28 percent higher for obese patients and 22 percent higher for overweight patients than for healthy- weight patients.8 If the obesity problem in the US would be addressed, Out of the $16 billion, Medicare could save more than $5 billion and Medicaid could save more than $1.9 billion. This is from http://stateofobesity.org/healthcare-costs-obesity Obesity now costs Americans more in health care costs than smoking https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/04/30/obesity-now-costs-americans-more-in-healthcare-costs-than-smoking/#2e3d181953d7 I would use the analogy of smoking. Sure, it is your right to choose to smoke but then you have to bear the consequences and those may be higher costs for life insurance and medical coverage.

I can recite their '75 starting lineup without pause but will have to ponder a bit to relay what I had for lunch yesterday. I had a Run TMC t-shirt but can't locate it. Have a Dubs shirt from a game at Oracle Arena we attended a couple of years ago. I like Oracle arena even if it's the oldest in the NBA. Kinda like New Era in that regard.

I have been a Warriors fan since Rick Barry was my favorite player & on the team. Used to save my $ as a kid to get a seat at the Aud & watch him & Warriors. But lots of lean years between the 75 Chanpioship w him & Warriors & recent success. Very pleased the finals games at Oracle starting 8 or 9 EDT than typicsl 10:30. I do not enjoy watching half-court iso that a bunch of NBA teams use. Prefer the up-tempo passing game the Warriors & other teams utilize. Really enjoy watching the finals with my sons while drinking beers. When I feel a win is certain, I breakout a celebratory glass of good single malt. But completely understand if others are bored with NBA playoffs if not a Warriors or Cavs fan as they have been completely one-sided affairs. If KD decides to sign for less to keep Iggy & Shaun on the team then the dominance may continue. Warriors appear to be an unselfish team & guys enjoy playing together.

Have you considered bags/containers made from plant materials? But I am not clear on their pricing comparison but if paper/pulp keeps increasing perhaps this could be considered as an option. This is one of them but there are many others: http://www.worldcentric.org/ My wife uses them (or similar) for utensils, plates, take out containers, etc. for her mobile food trailer. It costs more than plastic but she uses "everything is compostable", "taste not waste", etc. in her marketing

Thanks for posting that. What I found interesting in that article is that most of the sources for stadium public funding do not typically impact the locals such as hotel & rental car tax increases.

Hey Paul, Yep, figured I'd have to address some smart a$$ comments from you. Ok, here goes. Completely agree with you on driving vs flying from RIC as when you figure the airport stop & layover to BUF from RIC then it's nearly equal in time. I drive to DCA or IAD and take a direct flight. I am north of RVA so either of those are 90 mins. away. Drive up Sat morning to airport and back Sun night during football season and no traffic in either direction. 1.5 hrs of driving vs. 8 hrs...I will gladly take the 1.5 hrs. Fortunate that I have lots of FF miles from biz trips so I use those. Actually, I am driving up to Buffalo in July with a big SUV to pick up a bunch of apartment components as my nephew's wife will be doing an internship at the Library of Congress and relocating to NoVA. TBH, if the Bills are in the hunt at the end of the season, I will drive there. I have already selected games to attend for for 2017 and redeemed FF miles to be sure to get those flights. But I hold onto my tix later in the season in hopes that the Bills will still be in it. If they are, then too late to redeem FF miles and too expensive to fly so I would drive. Unfortunately, the Bills have dashed that hope by Thanksgiving. Regarding Panthers game...maybe. I will be snooty again and will consider flying since RIC flies direct to CLT. The stadium is ~7 miles from the airport and either taxi, Uber, or Airport Sprinter will get you to the stadium relatively inexpensively and fairly quickly. 5 hrs of driving vs 1 hr flight. But I guess I would miss the banter of our conversation on the way there and back so not sure just yet. Do you have FF miles to burn?

Here is a old link to info on donating tix: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/148474-how-can-i-donate-season-tickets-electronically/ Here is another link to Boys & Girls Club of Buffalo: http://www.bgcbuffalo.org/donate

I re-upped. 20+ years for me. I live near Richmond, VA & get to 2-3 games/yr. Pass the games I cannot attend to family in WNY or friends or donate them. My sister lives on Sheldon Rd which is a 5 min walk to the stadium so very convenient for us going to games. I would not consider giving up my tix. Always have a great time at tailgate at Hammers lot prior to game, walking around lots observing/taking pics/laughing, & going to the game regardless of outcome. Plus, combine it with spending time w family & it's an all-around win.

Duck is good but also like Sugar Shack Donuts and WPA bakery. Mrs. Yoders Donuts kicks a$$ but they are mobile. These are local donut places which I assume is also true for Paula's. This is the Richmond, VA area. Not a chain guy for just about anything food & drink related. Always go with local restaurants no matter where I am which is why I enjoy returning to WNY as so many great independent eateries.

But this part is true, "And Poojer would..,"

Probably help my wife with her mobile food truck/catering biz. The objective is to run it just enough to pay for our fixed costs and use the 401k, pension, SS for fun.

I try to work in vacations by extending business trips. This year I am planning vacation extensions in Denmark, China, and Morocco and will have my wife join me for the vacation part of the trip. Some will occur in summer but 1-2 might be delayed to the fall.

Did you eat a big steak or siimilar food the day before your recent cholesterol test? That can have an impact on the value if that occurred. My cholesterol had always been in the normal range but one time it was quite a bit higher than normal & my doc asked what I had eaten the day before the test. I recalled ingesting a giant steak the night before that test which is atypical for me. He ordered a follow-up and I ate my typical diet the days prior to the test and it came back normal. Just stick with your normal diet before these kind of tests to make sure readings are normalized.

Good to see several active clinical studies evaluating both new components along with re-use of existing therapies for treatment of ALS: https://www.mda.org/research/clinical-studies-and-trials/amyotrophic-lateral-sclerosis Best to Mr. Clark and others afflicted with ALS.

I have three sisters. One sister is 2 yrs younger. One time while eating breakfast together (I was around 12), I ate a ripe banana with my mouth open the entire time. To this day, she does not eat bananas. Another sister is 8 years younger. I was home from college in the summer and she called me and asked if I would help her get back from a shoe store about two miles away. I hooked up my mom's old, rusty, fat wheel bike to my bike rack and dropped it off in front of the shoe store and sped off. My third sister is 12 years younger (same mother, God bless her) and I arrived late at night from college during winter break. She was sleeping so I walked to her room, pulled her out of her bed (she was wearing pajamas because she was 8), walked outside, and tossed her in the snowbank. We all get along great and all of them laughingly recounts these stories when together and/or in front of their kids.

Have you used these? Indicates up to 10' depth. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OY8G3NC/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

I disgree a bit as they both use bone conduction so they are similar. https://aftershokz.com/pages/general-faqs The sound is not as good as quality earbuds. But I find them to better than adequate. I will use headphones or nice earbuds for intense sound. But I find I use these a lot more as I usually want to be aware of my surroundings when I am exercising indoors & outdoors and when on the job.

I wanted to get away from buds in my ear (and sometimes falling out) as well as wires hanging around & that's why I like the Bluez2. Pic shows they use the jawbone for noise conduction. Similar technology used in cochlear implants.

+++Use their Bluez 2S for everything...workouts, biz telecons/webex. Bluetooth & use bone conduction technology so nothing in ear. Allows you to be aware of surroundings while listening. This is a Syracuse based company.

Certainly. It's nice if they win but we always have a graat time at a home Biils game. Season ticket holder from Richmond VA area.

Augie Doggie, I was using my GIs cruise decision as an example. The same decision process (small craft vs large, unlimited food/drink, gambling, rapid logisitcs, etc.) would be applicable to any cruise. You want your cruise/vacation to be as perfect as possible to avoid the unfortunate cruise experiences posted in a few comments in this thread by TBD members. Good luck with your cruise evaluation and selection and have a great time.

I will describe my approach but give a little background first. I am not a cruise person because I like to do things when in another country and want to get there asap to do those activities. But I understand that some visits require a cruise to accommodate visiting several places in one trip. Or you may enjoy taking a leisurely approach to vacationing and a cruise suits you. You may enjoy the different opportunities available when a large # of people are on a cruise. My first suggestion is to determine what do you want your cruise experience to include. I will give an example as we just returned from a cruise in the Galapagos Islands. This is what we collectively determined: we did not require unlimited food or drink or gambling but wanted good food: freshly prepared healthy meals & three meals a day. We wanted lots of activities (hiking, snorkeling, etc.) but wanted to be certain that others on the cruise were just as active as we are. We did not want to be with retirees who wanted more leisurely activities. At some point that is what I might prefer but not now. We wanted English speaking guides but not have the cruise be bi-lingual. We would prefer if one of the guides was a marine biologist. We did not want a large cruise ship as that requires a lot more logistics in transporting people. We wanted the limit to be 20-30 people/boat. I do not want to waste time when I am on vacation. After we determined our requirements, we had to find a company that could address these. We used AdventureSmith Explorations https://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/ They use small boats/yachts and will try to tailor to your requirements. You are assigned a representative who will deal with you personally and directly. You will probably not find them on cruise critic because they are not a cruise line but deal with small, specialty charters all over the world. Sure, they can be expensive but they were outstanding. There were 20 people on our boat and two guides (one of which was a marine biologist). There was a crew including a chef and bartender and they had two small skiffs that would transport 10 of us at a time so logistics were quick and simple. Lots of activities, some fairly robust, but were willing to adjust if passengers wanted to change. For example, a longer or more difficult hike or forego a hike for more snorkeling. Very organized as they kept in contact leading up to the cruise and had someone meet us at the airport. It helps with planning if you determine what is important to you on a cruise and then find out if a company can meet that within your budget. There is some flexibility with companies like AdventureSmith. For example, you can select more moderate cabins to reduce expenses. My wife and I had a nice cabin but our boys had a moderate cabin.

Paul - thanks for the ideas for a NYC NYE. This year, I brought the whole family with me to Ecuador & we will spending NYE in Quito. NYE is a blast in Quito & other cities in Ecuador. At midnight there is the burning of effigies of people with bad vibes from the previous year (Viejos). And then there is there is the Viudas, who are the 'widows' of the Viejos. http://www.life-in-ecuador.com/ecuador-new-years.html We are all at a bar right now in Quito near where the Viejos will be burned at midnight. 2/1 all mixed drinks and $5 1 liter beers. Btw, highly recommend a trip here. There is something for everyone between Quito, the beaches, mountains, Amazon rain forest, and the Galapagos islands. They use the US $ for currency & good amount of US ex-pats. Send me a PM if you want more info. Married, 2 boys in college, 59.

rdb, So depressing to read your sig but thanks for putting it there. Gives a quick perspective of the last 17 years. Bills Coaches since Wade: Rex Ryan[/vb] .483 Perry Fewell .428 Chan Gailey .333 Doug Marrone .469 Dick Jauron .421 Mike Mularkey .438 Gregg Williams .354