UConn James

We too had a generator, and actually loaned another to our neighbor--- an old 200-pound workhorsehorse with an old Cummings(?) engine, but then again it probably runs better than and will outlast a lot of new ones... because that's the way stevestojan is built these days for our throwaway (vs. maintenance) society. Then, the generator we were using had a gas line problem and yet another generator that *we* borrowed --- this is getting complicated --- ran hot and fried our range's electronic panel ($150) and a few light bulbs and scared the stevestojan out of me. We did have power for periodic gaps, to run the water pump (we're on a well), juice to control the oil furnace, and do the chest freezer in the utility room and fridge/freezer. Took a bit of gas, which we were fortunate to have some in cans. So, ultimately, I suppose we were among the lucky ones in that scenario. But all around here were people who were completely lost without electricity. It really opens your eyes.

You can laugh, but it's there now. I don't know for sure whether it'll work, but it's going to be a little slap upside the head every time I get an urge for a hit of Coke.

The visual always just flashes back to a story out of Iraq several years ago of the prime minister Nouri al-Maliki handing out $50 bills (US Dollars) wherever he went to people who begged at his entourage. There was no recording system taking down names or whatever, no system of 'Muhammed Muhammed makes [$2] a day and has five children.' It was just essentially being like Jack Nickleson's Joker in the 1990 Batman movie, standing on a parade float and tossing out from black garbage bags full of cash. Now, in both cases, you can say that this is money going to people who need it. But it's a pretty damn effective way of buying a vote if you're like 'Hey, I've given you money that you didn't have to work for. The other guy is going to reduce the amount of free money you get.' Guess which one gets votes from enough interested people. Presidential elections today are won with ~44-46 million votes. How many people are on welfare, food stamps, etc. again??!? And there, all along, still sits the premonitious quote: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with a result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." Sir Alexander Fraser Tyler "Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic"

Not just calorically. I was kind of scared straight at the dentist. Terrible for the teeth, and when you get into that, it's not just 'Ooo, I gained some pounds and soda empty calories are a good part of it.' It's Dentist Bills in the hundreds of $ that is pretty directly related to the sugar acids eating away at your enamel and making it easier for cavities to form. I'm making a concerted effort to lay off the stuff other than like a once a week treat. In fact, I'm going to be making a tag for our remaining soda fridge pack that reads: "Unless it's dentist bills you seek, don't drink me but once a week!" Yeah... I'm doing that right now. I normally have really good willpower and temptation resistance, but the Coke habit is tough to break.

Amazing Race here we come!! I had been drinking soda quite a lot. I mean, you go to Sam's, get a whole case and you're like, welp, let's get crack in' and use this up. Used to drink a 20 oz. every day during college that was often my only calories of the day until ~ 4 p.m. I know. I know. Still eat like a bird during the daylight hours but have gotten a little pudge in the abs. (Then again, most people would still call me "Slim".) Metabolism has slowed down a bit, and I've probably been cooking too much of the comfort food for awhile... but scalloped potatoes are so friggin good! Am almost always moving tho. But yeah. Have cut way back on my Coke habit. More water, more juice especially cran which my uncle who had prostate cancer recommended because of what he was told/read. Also have the memories of Fundamentals of Nutrition class rumbling around in my head (most useful class ever). Otherwise, I do a garden every year ~ 8'x30' and get a good yield. So, you know, the fundamentals are there. Just need to practice more frequently and I need to start doing some sit-ups/crunches. We're moving a chair out of the finished basement and I think I'm going to do a little exercise area there. Have had a bit of a shock the past couple of weeks with my mum having stomach cancer. Small, operable. Her thing has always been sitting/resting/sleeping most of her time outside of work, sweets --- chocolate milk, midnight ice cream raids after she wouldn't eat the healthy food on her plate, candy.... History of diabetes on her side, too, and so it's like killing herself. And now, after this is done and it's outta her, it can go one of two ways. Either right back to it, or some wholesale change. A lot less red meat, pretty much cutting it out. More fruits/veg than we've been doing. Maybe auditing a nutrition class at the U so she can hear it from someone besides me that a 30 minute walk does not negate that cake and ice cream. Anyway, I've been rambling for awhile. Just kind of venting some thoughts here. Sorry.

GG, I'm surprised that you never heard of the term "mentally retarded." IIRC, that was the clinical terminology in use while I was in grade school....

It would be more cut'n'dried if language were static. But it isn't. There are any number of things for which ANY word that is used for it, even a purely clinical nonjudgmental descriptor quickly becomes a pejorative no matter how much those clinical people want to maintain it as a nonpejorative. Take words that describe human waste --- they ALL become off-color. Even when the so-called clinical terms are used, the person saying it almost always hesitates/pauses to non-verbally communicate that they're not using it crudely. Similarly, words for black/African-American/n-----/negro/etc. have changed back forth as to what's 'acceptable'/polite usage. Same with gay/homosexual/fag/queer/etc. 'Retarded' is currently in a state of flux, I'd say. Rude, but being used more and more and more colloquially as mentioned above. Describing people with Down's and other conditions, it's now pretty difficult to come out with the clinical word because that which is deemed offensive is changing and/or anything used to describe it can be deemed offensive by different people. Yes, I too frown on using "retarded" like this. But, realistically, you probably shouldn't get too upset. As David Gray sings, in "December": "Words don't bother me no more"....

You know, when you divorce yourself from the situation, it is easy to fall into the comment I made above. It kind of turns into an abstract. And that may be exactly what Obama was talking about --- in the abstract. But as President, in a situation like this, you can't deal in abstracts when talking about dead people, especially dead people who are dead because of a failing of the bureaucracy you head. That is an actual person who died, and their family is entitled to be pissed, especially in a sleight (however small or unintentional) like this. I can pardon it as stupid word choice. But the family is the one feeling this and their opinions matter most.

A graphic from the *real* Romney campaign today. https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/534661_10151115364076121_257704972_n.jpg?dl=1 But... Romney's not offering ANY specifics. Ask Obama or the nearest liberal --- he'll tell you.

Chris Kelsay (bruised ego) Stephon Gilmore (mange-y dreadlocks) Terrance McGee (age) Jarius Byrd (interception sting) Chad Rhinehart (German heritage guilt)

Belichick had Brady on the list with"([throwing] shoulder)" every week of the season when he broke the TD and passing records. It's a !@#$ing farce. As a smartass protest, Chan / Nix ought to deliver a list with every player on the team: Eric Wood (lost an eyelash hair) Shawne Merriman (Tila Tequila nightmares) Kyle Williams (high motor went TOO high) Kelvin Shepphard (invisible) Andy Levitre (priapism) Stevie Johnson (Sharpie fume exhaustion) Marcel Dareus (lawn mower debris) Bryan Scott (undersized) Scott Chandler (overpowered by own awesomeness)

It's against the Terms of Service to post links like that. Delete the post, or a mod will and you'll get warned/suspended.

Obama Girl soured on Obama. She said earlier this summer that she would not endorse him. http://dailycaller.com/2012/06/08/obama-girl-is-not-as-excited-about-2012-wont-endorse-obama/ Ouch!

Uhmmm... I'm going to guess that she stopped schtupping him. And yes, MDH, I don't see how this helps in his future amorous pursuits.

Wanna talk scared? Fourteen days without power on last year's Halloween Suprise snowstorm. Heavy snow + tree branches with leaves still on = SNAP CRACKLE POP. I can't do that again. Two weeks of people without a shower was too frightening.

Should still pick up a G in mid rounds, and a tackle late in the next draft. You really cannot take a break in shoring it up. Belichick usually takes two or three OL every draft, even when they were solid. That's because it's that important.

This is why Belichick has pretty much taken to loading up his injury report with stuff tantamount to 'Deion Branch (cold sore), Tom Brady (stubbed toe).' League mandates that guys have to list what their weak/injured areas are, physically?! It's stupid. I don't really care what their rationale is. It's stupid.

For a guy known for his results rather than his oratory, Romney had really good comedic timing there. Obama... wow. I'm not saying this just to be contrarian to everything O and this has no bearing on the election, but Obama's delivery was way off and overall just a slow gait. He really looks tired.

She's not that hot? Where the $)/& do you live? Brazil?

Fez, my little boy isn't a kissy-face either. But... are you actually suggesting that dogs are more high-maintenance than cats? Sacrilege! As long as we're sharing pictures of 'em.... https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/312313_1975110221887_1395110003_n.jpg?dl=1

The time to switch QB or draft a talented rookie is when you have a good OL. And as much as some people argue that Fitz makes the line good, by and large I think that's specious and still not a good argument to keep a guy who can't throw for stevestojan even behind this Best OL. What profit a team to have big nasties like this if the QB can't deliver the ball?

That small a sample size and wide infection % margins leave a lot to be desired, scientifically speaking. It's also limited to Japan. Not saying there's nothing to it, but... stevestojan! you gotta live your life. And for me, a life without a dog is soulless. Literally. I took a 3-year break after our last died of the C-word in 2008 and it was a mostly joyless time, looking back. Kinda like "Doctor Who" with a hot female companion, I've learned that for my mental health, I should not be without a canine best buddy. Come with it what it may....

Meh... I don't really care about the word choice. What I do care about is that this administration is now lashing out at the very same line that they used on Bush and 9/11 --- that the 6 August PDB was the warning that they 'ignored' with tragedy resulting. Here, we had 48 hours notice of a request for more security, per today's story Hillary Clinton actually approved the increase, and for some reason, which reeks of this White House kitty-footing the Arab world, it never went through. What I care about is less about how the aftermath was handled and who said what and blamed whom. What I care about is four dead Americans that didn't have to be dead, but are because Obama and the mindset he's put into the executive branch is one of pure marketing and appearances' sake.

Add in *recent* polling and where it's now all but a lost cause for Obama post-(two)-debates (Florida and Virginia) and a likely win for Obama just based on history, it's Romney 257, Obama 221 with 60 as toss-up. That's where it seems to get tough going for Romney based on the other numbers out there and especially with a clincher in Ohio that's been very hard to gauge. But it could actually be a 269 stalemate if Romney wins Iowa and Nevada from that 257. This one's probably going to be close.

As Rove is saying, no candidate who's polled higher than 50% in Gallup (even with their Obama-skewed methodology) in mid-October has ever lost the presidential election.