J Galt

I find it a fascinating contradicition, in that when I take part in the hobby that brought us all here, I spend an amazing, and very intimate, period of time with an intelligent, fun, beautiful woman, but I'm not allowed to leave the encounter with any feelings for her whatsoever, nor expect her to have any for me. Then we come here, to a completely anonymous neutral ground, and suddenly we're supposed to be a kind, caring, compassionate "family," towards people whom we'll never meet. We're expected(in the sense that we're dicks if we don't) to genuinely care about things we would never be allowed to ask our SP about, even though she might be the only person in this community we'll ever meet in person, let alone do "personal" things with. Pretty much the definition of irony.

I don't mind patient, because even though I wasn't sick when I arrived, there was definitely some healing going on. So no Jack Donaghy fans here, who view sex as a competition, and refer to their date/companion/etc. as an opponent?

These people make me wonder what they could possibly be "talking"(texting) about, since they never look up from the damn phone. I thought you'd have to actually do something to have something to talk about.

I was hoping for something involving blood.

I've hated windows 7 sice day one. I keep procrastinating about the inevitable - the switch to linux. windows 7 is a joke of an operating system.

On the one hand, I'll always support everyone's right to free speech, even when I don't agree with what they're saying(the real test of whether you believe in freedom or not). On the other hand, the hobby that brought us all here relies heavily on a certain level of discretion. When people start getting too personal, they may not be paying enough heed to that fact. A certain amount of privacy is necessary to maintain discretion, and if that means keeping an impersonal distance, so be it. I'll talk about my dogs or my canoe, but I'm not going to tell anybody my medical history(nothing contagious).

Why should the government pay, using taxpayers' money, for "regime change" in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Iran, etc. Shouldn't that be their responsibility? I'll take health care over war any day.

I don't get sick very often, and consider it a personal failure when I do, but in addition to Sensual Erin's excellent advice, I want to add that hot and sour soup can cure anything.

Damn, it would be.

Not all cards will give you air miles with a cash advance.

Funny thing about internet communities, one of could drop dead tomorrow and the rest of us would never know it. That person would just vanish without a trace.

It was a nice story, but it reminded me of this time a couple of years ago, when I went to buy a new bird feeder. I picked out a nice one, took it home, and when I went to put it up, I saw a little sticker on it that said something to the effect of "this bird feeder was made my a mentally challenged individual." At first I thought that was nice, then I realized the mentally challenged are better at woodworking than I am.

Burke got a lot of credit for other people's work in his last two jobs. Now we see what he's really got, and so far I'm not impressed, except for the fact that I hate the Leafs more than life itself and want them to lose every game forever.

That's so cool that you were even that close to a lion! I petted a cheetah once, but a cheetah isn't king of the jungle(why an animal who lives on the savannah is called king of the jungle I don't know). Either way, cats rule. Literally. They are our rulers.

You've reached a point where you're capable of direct and mature communication; she hasn't. You win.

While I wish you all the best in finding whatever it is you're looking for, don't get yourself trapped in a long-term relationship over what could be just a midlife crisis.

I concur fully with unplugging, and do it all the time. I didn't even own a cell phone 'til I started this hobby, and now I leave it turned off and in the car. I walk my dogs in the country over an hour a day(sometimes several hours) and when I'm in the canoe nobody could bother me if they tried. I highly recommend this, to those who need it, and to those who don't yet know how much they need it. And when summer's back, there'll be a lot more outdoor reading. And no e-reader/kindle/laptop stuff either. Actual books.

Honestly, if I were to arrange an overnight date, I wouldn't want it to be a sleepover so much as one of those amazing first dates where you stay up all night talking and don't even realize it 'til the sun comes up. Of course, that'd be nearly impossible to plan for, but it would work better with a couple who know each other just well enough to know it's worth trying, but not so well that they wouldn't have lots to talk about.

I'd be generous to an extent, but I'd wait a bit just to see whether the gifter starts making demands. If they do, they'll get less. I've always said that if I win the lottery, anybody who asks for something will get nothing. Besides, I'll need every dollar I can get to build the animal sanctuary.

That video is so awesome, especially when you consider that both of those animals are predators by nature.

Obviously I can't speak for what the ladies here like, but in other contexts, I've given charity gift cards a lot and they seem to go over well. http://www.canadahelps.org/GiftCards/CharityGiftCard.aspx

Fine, you give me N twice in a row, here you go. Napalm Death - Twist the Knife(slowly)

Godflesh - Defeated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-czXGSLpado It takes 'til 1:51 for one of the greatest riffs of all time to kick in, but it's worth the wait.

Anytime, Emily. BTW, too late to wish for no flooding.