I hate the taste of beer. lol. I have to be having a particularly nasty case of stomach cramps before I'll resort to drinking one, and even then, only if there's nothing else available AND you hold a loaded gun to my head. Hate that stuff. Tastes like someone's been soaking their socks in it. rofl

My old German grandparents used to think beer cured hiccups. I remember as young as four having beer forced down my throat. After that, whenever I'd get the hiccups I'd go hide in a closet.

I can't believe people would drink that stuff voluntarily. I hate the taste too.

Beer...I can't even get it under my nose, not only does it taste bad but the smell of that stuff brewing is enough to make you think of dead, bloated animals.

Well, the Germans DO love their beer. But, that's terrible havign it forced down your throat!

-Chik/Jenny

I am so glad to read that a lot of other people hate beer as much as I do. Hate the stuff. I have never found a beer I can tolerate. And I can't drink wine because most wines will give me a migraine. So I just drink the hard stuff.

I don't like the taste of wine either--I once tried to improve the taste by adding a little koolaid. Worse. rofl. I like wine coolers, so apparently the whole carbonated fizzy thing works where the koolaid didn't. I don't like champagne either. I guess I just don't have a taste for alcohol. Wine coolers and Mike's hard lemonade are more like slightly alcoholic soda to me. Even with liking them, about 2 per year is all I can take.

Right. So I need to make some copies of my 3 Julies script for people on the forum here and I've been stalling all week. So I took my script and went to the next town over - where they have a kinko's copies.

And it's gone.

In it's place was a store called All About Puppies - and they had all sorts of cool stuff, and several small, wriggly, wormy little puppies who broke my heart because they needed homes...

So I decided to got to the office supply place, because they have a copy center. So I went in and told the guy it was a special script, and I wanted to do it myself. But they only had one working copier and you have to feed the whole script through a auto-feeder to make the copies - and while he's explaining it to me - there's a paper jam that ruins what they were copying.

I was actully walking so fast as to be running by the time I hit the front door. Clearly, someone was after my lucky charms! Or something like that.

So I'll try again tomorrow somewhere else. But jeesh! It's like being Indiana Jones or something!

-M

That sounds terrible...I hope you find a place that can copy your script...

Now..I would like to vent...well just speak out loud....

I had to work today. I had a patient that came in and she had to have a blood specimen taken. She is a wonderful lady who is going through chemo. She was upset once she walked in and I escorted her back really fast. She is on a new chemo right now. She is unconfortable and having a bad time with insomnia. She was crying out of control after I took her blood because she is really frustrated. I just gave her a hug to let her know that I understand how frustrating that this process is for one thing...I've seen it a lot with my job, and that the easy thing is just a diagnosis for some but the treatment is the worst. We spent a good ten minutes crying..I just couldnt think of much else to say to her. She makes me feel like I am with my mom and it's her going through this mess. She gave me another hug and said that I was the best person who she currently knows and appeciated that I let her vent herself. I told her to come back anytime and we can have a crying session. Some days when I see a patient who is so much on the edge I wished I could do more for them. I guess I have a special spot for those who are suffering from cancer..I just hope that if I ever have something of this nature that I have to deal with, I would love to have a simular compasionate person on my side. Somedays I wish I could just hold a wand over someone and make this condition go away forever! Can real wishes ever come true???

I am just so sad..I want to hug everyone I see...My husband is wondering if something is up but I have been downplaying it all afternoon. I just hope that she gets what she really wants and that is remission! I'll throw in an extra prayer for her!

I will get down now and let someone else vent away...Hey bartender can I get a tall glass of Wine!

I hope your patient does go into remission. Cancer's a very scary thing.

I'm going to vent on something that is of far less importance than your vent--in fact it's of no importance whatsoever. It's a peeve.


Why do men and women give directions differently? I hate asking for directions. Men--why do they give you north, south, east, west directions? I can see doing that when you're talking about highways--they're marked like that. Tell me to get on 80 West and I know what you're talking about. No, men give you north, south, east, west directions on every single street. "Go east on Oak drive." It's like they think everyone's carrying a boy scout compass. I don't have a compass. I also don't have microfilm, a secret decoder pen, or a shoe phone. Normal people don't carry compasses. What the hell?

Women--we'll tell you just what you need to know when you reach an intersection: right, left, straight. Problem is, we don't always get those right. I've gotten "right" when they should have said "left," "left" when they should have said "straight," and "straight" when they should have said "right." Good luck getting to your destination. And then there's all kinds of extraneous information--"You're going to pass a pink house on the left. My sister lives there. She's leaving her husband. Boy you should see her house--it's a mess!" There's cars behind you, honking, swearing, showing you that special finger. I've seen the most intelligent women I've ever known turn into Gracie Allen when someone asks them how to get to the mall. And what's the story on this one: "you're going to come to a fork in the road--turn right." Turn? If you turn at a fork in the road, don't you usually end up in a ditch or someone's front yard?

That sounds so familar - I hate it when I get a call at work from a non-regular customer and they ask for directions on how to get to the store. We're not near anyplace most people would recognize so ask 'where you coming from' and proceed from there but if they are coming from the west side of town I have to turn it over to the guy I work with and he starts out, 'take hwy ? to blank, go through 3 stop lights and turn left after the second block past the ? then keep straight until you reach ?............aarg!

Madison is built on an isthmus and spreads out like an hour glass between two lakes, nothing, absolutly nothing runs north, south, east or west.

LOL, I live on the meander of a creek. Out of our front window, we look across the creek into the next county. Our house faces NE. The next county is the one south of ours. When we first moved in, because of it, my husband insisted that was south, until I pointed out where the sun was coming up one morning.

Our street stops and starts three times. About a mile from us, it abruptly changes names and ends.
A mile from us in the other direction, you have to make a left turn to stay on the same road, and there is no warning of this. (If you go straight- you're on a road that literally has no name)

There's a street with the same name as ours on the opposite side of the creek. It's been closed in the same spot for over three years. Both of these streets meet up with a major N/S route, and continue on the other side -- about a block away from where they ended, again, without warning.

There are three main bridges close to us that cross the creek. Two of them are closed.

Oh, and there are four distinct streets that share the same two names, that intersect our road in different places.

About once a month, confused people knock on our doors seeking directions. Getting anything delivered is a trick.

I always hope that anybody don´t ask me to advice, that where is that place or this street. I am the world´s worst adviser, I think. I don´t ever remember the names of any streets (except mine, of course) and can just say, that I don´t know exactly, where the street is. Or then I know the place, but it is a bit difficult for me to tell, how you exactly get there. I advise something like, please just go by this street, then turn left and then... and when the person is gone, I hope that he/she just get it. I just feel it difficult to tell how to get somewhere, even if I know, where it is and how I can go there.

I don´t also like to ask directions. I always try to find first to myself, how to find the place, before asking. It is a bit difficult to follow the direction advises ´first you go right, then turn left and then there is the big house where reads something, turn right after that..´and so on, and I have already forgot where to go at first.


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I know I don't want to be sitting at the intersection of Main Street and Willow Avenue holding a compass over the steering wheel and trying to triangulate my current position. And you never know if they're using north to mean straight and west to mean left, or are they actually talking about literal physical north, which can be a right turn someplaces, depending on which way you're facing at an intersection? I think they're trying to dazzle you, like you're going to be all impressed that they always know which way they're facing. I always ask, like okay, that's a regular street so it's not marked for east/west--do I go right or left there? If it's not a highway or route that is specifically marked that way, I don't want to be told north south east or west. I don't want to be given directions that require I carry a compass in order to have any hope in hell of getting there.


And do you know how many times I've been directed to go straight at an intersection and then I get to that intersection and it's a "T" ? If I go straight, I end up in a corn field.

I give out directions all day long...where are you located?? Some people are so insistant to speak to someone that they will hang up...even after listening to my answering machine that has a message of some very clear directions...and call back! My message is very detailed and I think that alot of people just zone it out...they figure that there must be a human there so I will keep calling until someone picks up the phone! This drives me nuts EVERY day!

When I give directions I usually ask where they are starting at so I have a good idea of what major buildings or businesses they will see. I do tend to use East, West alot so people will have an idea.

One time..may years ago I had this one lady call for directions. I asked her where she was...She said in a parking lot around XYZ business. I said go out the parking lot and head East for about 2 miles and indicated certain streets she will pass by and a very large high school. She chimed in with I don't know which way is east? I said, Well, head in the direction of the sun! That seemed to get through to her and she found my site with no other problems...She wasnt all that smart because she was coming to have a drug screen done and she couldn't follow all my directions on collecting the sample! I prayed for her employer!

Ack!! It's you! You're the guy! rofl! I hate to tell you but when someone's already lost and trying to remember directions they're given, they don't want to look for the sun when pulling out of a parking lot. lol. What do they do if it's noon and the sun is directly overhead? OMG--I hate that! I'd want to know if I'm pulling out of the parking lot to the right or the left. I can't go north south east west without making a right or left turn or going straight. I always figure that the person telling me north south east west is just trying to get all fancy and make me feel stupid. Like right and left are too "pedestrian" of terms for them and their blue blood. Are you male? You have to be male. Am I right? I hate to say it, but if your directions on your answering machine are riddled with north south east west with regards to roads that aren't marked north south east west, that's why people keep hanging up and calling back. Love ya death--you might want to "dumb down" your directions for people like me whose directional signals on our car only go left and right.

Leaving XYZ business. Now let me see, moss only grows on the north side of a tree....

No...last time I checked I was a female...and no I do give out names of streets and MAJOR roads. I even go as far as giving the color of the building and a that a gas station is right next door to us!

I do dumb down my directions when speaking to someone...I am located on a major hospital campus so alot of people know where that is I just have to tell them which building to go into...

But like I said a lot of people get frustrated with answering machines and "zone out" anything that it does say...not just directions but hours of operation and stuff is in this message so why hang up and call back for me to tell you this! That gets old really fast!

And my example was pretty extreme because this person didnt know that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west! Guess she tans her body at the shop!

Yeah, some people hate answering machines. They think they're waging the noble war against the evilness of technology by hanging up on the occasional answering machine. There's nothing you can do with those waterheads. lol. I was just teasing you about the male thing. I always get directions like that from guys. lol.

I will say that it's a bad idea to tell someone to turn east out of a parking lot. Just a friendly suggestion--there's no way to go north south east or west without turning left or right or going straight, so when you tell them a global direction, they have to translate that to a physical direction to know what to do at what may be several intersections along the way. They have to figure out whether that's left, right, or straight--it just adds an extra step. When you're trying to remember directions and there's several intersections to pass through, it's easier to remember left and right.

I will say that the last time I took an IQ test, I came in at 189, so it's not a question of intelligence. It has to do with the way some people's brains are wired and how they process information. People remember left, right, and straight much easier, and there's nothing to translate that to, whereas we have to calculate north south east and west when we physically reach that particular intersection. By the time I've figured out which way is east out of a parking lot, I've forgotten the rest of the directions. I always drive down the road to the very next gas station and ask someone else, and I keep doing that until I get left, right, straight directions.

It's all good. It's just a question of doing things differently.

Oh I have soooooooooooo got to work this bit into my book! I can't stop laughing!

On a note close to the topic at hand, I took a very popular, widely available, IQ test. If you go to any bookstore in the mall that carries them (ask at the register) you would have a one in two chance of picking up the very test I am talking about. It's one of the most common ones available.

And I felt it scored me low because of one question.

It had a bunch of animals and asked me which one didnt belong in the group.

Well one of them was a burrow and I jumped on it. It's the only one that's a half-breed. Not a real species. A genetic dead end that cant breed with it's own kind to perpetuate it's species.

But, apearantly, the kangaroo only has two feet - and all the others had four - so I am officially 'dumber' than I thought.

Go figure.

On another topic, I want a pan galactic gargle blaster in an IV bag tonight.

I hope Raven is okay, I miss Meme's comforting 'lurk' and occasional post, and I just hope that things are going well for everyone out there tonight.

That's not too much to ask for is it?

<robobartender shrugs>

<Mandeville eyes the robot for a loooooooooong second>

Right. Just give me the drink.

Got any Romulan ale back there?

Sure do. It's a full bar. The Sci-Fi channel sends a lot of this stuff over in exchange for Monk cleaning up after thier monster movie marathons. It works out well. They trash thier channel once a week!

Plus Starfleet headquarters (Star Trek) is in San Fran too. Or it will be, in the future. So I'm sure some of this stuff just comes back in time from time to time.

lol. I took this IQ test about 20 years ago--can't remember who administered it or under what circumstances I took it, whether it was related to school or the army or what. I remember it took hours to do and there was a series of questions that had pictures to them. The pictures had random shapes inside a square box and you had to group the shapes according to specified parameters and some you had to pick which shape didn't go along with the others. Don't know why I remembered those questions and none of the rest of the test but it was years ago. I seem to remember one or two of those pictures almost looking like drawings of what you'd see looking at a bacteria slide under a microscope. I think most of the rest of the exam was a lot like an SAT...a bizarre version of the SAT. Between the army and going to two different colleges, I ended up taking the SAT three times over ten years. rofl.

Intelligence is much too complex a subject to boil down into one three digit number anyway. People end up making a lot of stupid decisions on a number that has no real meaning. There are many different kinds of intelligences, and not all are measurable.

I refused to allow my daughter to take an IQ test. She has the freedom to do anything she wants.

Got anything back there for bots? I have Tom Servo, Crow, Gypsy and Cambot with me...

Ask Bender. He delivers for Sci-Fi and just wont leave. He's over by the buffet tables.

I completely agree with you. It can be limiting where it doesn't need to be limiting, or it can fill you with a very false sense of confidence. I've met some of the biggest morons I've ever had the misfortune to know while working in an office, and I've met people I'd call geniuses who couldn't even spell--one couldn't even read. It's another pointless test that tells you nothing. I'm sure the older posters in here remember those tests they used to give in grade school that were supposed to accurately project what career or vocation you were best suited to. I remember taking them in fifth and six grades. They were ridiculous.

Would you mind. Bender and I are not on speaking terms since he violated my laptop.

LOL! I took one of those vocational tests. You answer all these questions and they give you the coordinates for a point on a big chart. I looked at the chart, and there was absolutely nothing close to that point. There was this big blank space LOL! The closest thing was zookeeper, if you can believe that.

rofl!! And you've been taming lions ever since!

My father was big on those stupid tests. And take any of those tests three times with different questions each time and I'll be damned if you don't get three different scores nowhere near each other! He was in mensa back in the '70s, big on crossword puzzles, and he was a factory worker--BF Goodrich. Before that, he was a tool and die maker. Would only listen to classical and big band because everything else was noise for idiots. Go figure. Intelligent but not smart, and he never did figure out people. Neither have I. What does that tell you? Yeah, those tests are pointless.

Maybe the test was right? Maybe there is no good career for me...

Oh well, I make an awesome retiree.

Just rambling now, I'm close to becoming an "over-achiever." I just need a few more posts.

Watcha' drinkin' Yvette?

Sounds like him. I cant even tell you what he did to my cordless phone. Lets just say he called it 'robbing the cradel'.

Just send the bots over. I'm sure it will be fine.

Diet soda! Wait....where are you going? Come back.....

Hey, do we have a pool table in here anywhere? Amenities. I want amenities!

Wow...Bender kept telling me that my computer wanted to upload..."Robbing the crade." That's cold, baby.

Okay. Keep an eye on Crow he's a bit of a handful.

Hey Yette, I'll play a game of pool with ya then we can retire to that quiet corner over there and finish our drinks while I beat your butt in a romping game of Scrabble. I'll see your 'Q' and raise you a "X." Anybody want to join in on our game of Scrabble?

I took my last IQ test through Vocational Rehab...they said the same thing I heard all my life in school. You have such a high IQ, why haven't you done more with your potential? Well it's my potential and if I want to waste it that's my choice...the only thing good about my IQ is I passed it on to my kids...along with that not living up to your potential with the first two. I don't know what happened to the last kid, she broke out of the mold and actually used her potential to become someone. Even earned her Masters, sheech, she's such a nonconformist.

I love scrabble!! Any time you wanna meet in Yahoo Literati, let me know!

Just send me an invitation - my email addy is in my profile.

Sounds fantastic--I love that game! The tables aren't opening up on this pc so let me figure that out first--I was just in about every settings panel on here about an hour ago--I'll get it working some time late tomorrow or on Tuesday. It has to be a java setting because I don't have the pop-up blocker on on that site. I haven't played in a long time. I'm so excited! BTW, Yahoo has billiards too. he he he Do you play Backgammon at all?

Bartender -- give me what the Big Lots butterfly's been drinking, huh?

LMAO! And make it a double for me. This day has completely sucked.

I would like to taste butterflies´ drinks too. Maybe I could join you?


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Is it okay for a grandma to pull out some baby pictures? I've got some cuties.
And I'd like what Bflogal's got.

Baby pics - gather round. I'll show you mine if you show me yours!

Emily and Abigail

I should call this, "head-buttin' babies". I am pretty sure that when Abigail puts her face on Emily's arm she is trying to bite her. LOL.

Go right ahead. I'd heard that it's actually dangerous to try to stop grandmothers from showing pictures -- not that I'd try to stop you anyway. You've got some cuties.

Better to look at than that butterfly. YOu know if you stare at him long enough, you can train your eyes to see his top wings go in different directions. They can either look like they are coming out of the screen toward you -- or down into the screen away from you.

But if you do that too long, you get an afterimage of 4 verical lines across your computer screen.

I think it's some form of subliminal advertising.

LOL. I couldn't wait. I think Mandeville is a dangerous influence on us. Look at what poor Adrianna is going through in Finland, and now you in New York. Next thing you know MJ will be staring at butterflies. Its spreading. Stop looking at the butterflies,

Stop, I say!

Step away from the computer!

Too late...

Could I blame my typos on the butterflies?

They are adorable -- they must be a handful. I love their laughs.

Shucks, thanks. (Grandma beams).

They are so gute! So lovely... They are twins, aren´t they? Little babies are always such heartbreakers. You have really sweet grandchildren, Monkophile1!








Oh, no, now I see it again. It really don´t fly right. Something is wrong. It is really disturbing. How will butterfly drinks influence on humans...


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You know, that is really something we should have thought about ahead of time. <belch>

Quick someone, chain me to a tractor...

<hicks> I have a strange feeling. And this was just second... wait... third...

(I began to think, maybe I used my 200. post on this butterfly topic... I can´t be sure.)

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They're adorable!!!