anonemouse

I usually try to find a nice classic rock station or listen to CDs. I really want to get satellite radio, but I have been to ceap to get it yet. Maybe that's what I should ask for for Christmas, have my family go in together on that instead of getting me a couple of smaller gifts. I am SO looking forward to a break. Not that it will be much of one, since I have to get started on my thesis and prepare a presentation for the beginning of February.

This is getting ridiculous. We've gotten several bits of XXX spam in the last several minutes.

There is no need to isolate yourselves over an opinion. It would be really tiring to only be friends with people who totally agree with you, wouldn't it? Differing opinions is what makes the world go 'round.

Wow, you look great! Also, I just figured out that the little smiley at the bottom of your posts has a whip. My mind went somewhere else when I saw it, especially when it says, "25 grams of Protein in less than 3 ounces.":o

They got 'em, finally. Hopefully they will be complete, this time. I am hoping they will take the Phentermine program I did all last year. If they do, I just have to get an appointment to have a pulmonology exam and then they can send everything to insurance. I am still hoping to have surgery before the end of the year. I know it is a long shot (long, long, looooong), but I am keeping my fingers crossed.

To be honest, vanity is a major reason for me. I want to be slender for once in my life. I want to shop in the regular store and find clothing that actually accentuates my body instead of hiding it. I want to wear a swimsuit without a skirt or a cover-up. I want to be asked out on dates. I'm 23 and never been asked out. But there are some health reasons I am doing it, too. I am a field biologist. I want to be able to go out and work anywhere in the world without worrying that the land is too steep for me to walk anywhere. I want to keep up with my coworkers and friends when we are working without feeling like I am going to have an asthma attack. I don't want to get turned down for jobs simply because I am fatter than the other applicants. If I get ready to have kids, I want to be able to conceive (I have PCOS). I don't want to have diabetes and heart disease (both heavy in my family) or have both knees replaced like my mom.

That's what I am hoping for. I REALLY want to try to get it done before the end of the year, but I know that's a long shot. It all depends on insurance, I guess, if I can have all my appointments soon.

Hole too short

Keep prodding the moderator, why don't you? That's a fast track to getting banned.:deadhorse: GeezerSue wasn't the only person making inappropriate remarks, so it really burns me when people start pretending like there is only one person in a fight. To have a fight, there are ALWAYS at least two people participating. Like Sue said, if you hate her remarks so much, put her on ignore. It isn't hard. If you don't know how, ask. There will be plenty of people to tell you how. And I'll speak for the people who actually like having Sue around. It is nice to get more than one opinion on something. I like having the people around who had to get their bands removed. If there were only people who had working bands, this wouldn't be much of a support forum for the people having problems, would it? And yeah, you should hear worst-case scenarios before you go to have surgery. Smart people weigh the risks before having major surgery. And whether you like it or not, Sue's experience is a risk that people should take into account. I haven't been banded yet, but when I am, I will know that this takes effort. You can't just expect your band to do all the work. And, thanks to Sue and people like her, I'll know what to be looking for if something does go wrong.

Just got a voicemail from the pulmonologist's office. They have appointments available next week, which is a LOT sooner than I thought I could get one. I thought this would take the longest, since I just found out about the requirement right before Thanksgiving and had to get a referral from my PCP. So now, all I am hoping for is that my insurance will take my Phentermine program. I was on it for an entire year, ending last December. Usually, my insurance requires people to have been on a three-month-long MD supervised diet program that ended within 6 months of applying for surgery. I am hoping against hope that they will decide that my year-long program shows that I am serious about this and not doing it on a whim. If not, my surgery will have to be put off until May, since I won't have time to have it during the college semester.

Let me try to explain: Coal, gas, all those "fossil fuels" we all learned about in school are not being renewed. Once we use them, they're gone. Period. When we talk about dwindling natural resources, it doesn't just mean land available for people to live on. It means land for growing crops, land for oxygen-producing plants, land for growing timber for houses and heat, land for cattle and other animals, etc. And as a biology graduate student who has to learn about this stuff to get a degree, I can tell you that all land is not equal. One acre of scrub pine forest in Florida doesn't even come close to equaling an acre of rain forest in Brazil, in terms of diversity of animals, diversity of plants, or in terms of the opportunity to find new medicines. Just because you can see something every day doesn't mean that it isn't disappearing. For example: We all know what African violets look like and many of us have tried to grow them or know people who have. That species is extinct in the wild. The only place you will ever see it is in cultivation. And speaking of China (I know someone mentioned it, not sure who), if you lined up every person in that country and had them file past you in a single line, it would never end. They are multiplying that quickly. They could probably send their 12 year-olds over here and conquer us by sheer numbers.

Talking Heads

Korn too short again

Eminem too short again

Nine Inch Nails

Jewel? again too short

Blondie message too short

If they're nice, I'm nice. I usually stick to the ol' nod-n-smile routine, but if they start trying to tell me what I believe in, or try and tell me lies about evolutionary theory, then I will start arguing.

The BeeGees

That's not to say that I am rude to them, though. I was raised to be nice and polite to everyone, no matter how much you disagree with them. I just don't budge from my beliefs, and you can bet I will be straightening out any misconceptions that they might have about atheists or evolution. I do have to say that the last group that knocked on my door were nicer than most, though. It was an older guy and a teenaged boy. They invited me to their church and asked if I was saved. I told them that I had gone to church every Sunday for 18 years and that I was now an atheist. All nice as you please. The boy was about to start arguing with me, but the older guy cut him off and thanked me for speaking with them. I don't mind people like that, who obviously realize that you attract more flies with honey than vinegar. There aren't too many people out there that will consider visiting your church if you start telling them their beliefs are wrong. I would be a lot more likely to visit their church than one of someone that told me I was going to hell.

I generally prefer classic rock. Although, some good country isn't out of the question, just not the new stuff. Classic Alabama, Statler Brothers, Garth Brooks, that kind of stuff. Most of the newer country is too whiny for me. I also like some newer music, like Justin Timberlake. I will stab my eardrums out before I listen to Britney Spears willingly, though.

You're right. I don't like fundamentalists, mainly because I have had very bad experiences with them. But I still didn't write "fundie" in a derogatory way. I don't know about you, but I get tired of typing. "Fundie" is much shorter than "fundamentalist." It isn't any different than saying "Dem" instead of "Democrat." If it makes you feel better, I'll rewrite it: And before you ask, yes, I like screwing with fundamentalists' heads. There isn't much better than having a rousing debate over evolution when one comes to the door, watching their faces turn red, and then watching them give up and stomp away. It's fun. I figure, it's what they are asking for by disturbing my privacy.

First, "fundie" isn't derogatory. It is a shortened form of fundamentalist, which is an accepted term. Second, "breeder" isn't a derogatory term for Christians. It refers to people who have had children (i.e. they breed). It is debatable whether it is derogatory or not. Personally, I think people should be able to choose how many children they have. But I also wonder how people with 15-20 children can sleep at night, since (in most cases) those kids have been essentially farmed out, whether it is to grandparents or to the older kids.

Oh, I love it. I love going to all my classes and (most of the time) teaching my labs. I just wish I knew how to be more organized. Sometimes I will start out with a system, but it usually breaks down fairly quickly. Fortunately, I tend to work well under stress. I have everything I need to do all of my papers and start on my thesis, I just need to actually do it. Unfortunately, my advisor isn't the most help. I usually work in spurts. I get to a point on my proposal or thesis where I need to get his opinion on something, email him, and then wait for a couple of days to get his reply. By the time he gets back to me, I am no longer in the mood to actually work on it. And it doesn't help to nag him about it. If I try to ask him questions in his office, he'll generally say, "Well, I don't know. Let me think about it and I'll get back to you." Think of the stereotypical hippie bird-watcher, and you'll have him to a "T". I went to ask him for the identification list of all the birds that were identified over the last few field seasons. My thesis is on a certain species and I am trying to find out if the males feed chicks more often or if the females feed more often, and I kinda need to know which bird I'm looking at in order to fill out my data sheets (we videotaped the nests). It was a month before he got it to me.

Must. Get. Through. Next. Two. Weeks. I have a week of classes and then a week of finals. Luckily, we gave the final in our labs last week, so I don't have to worry about doing that. I have a 20-30+ page paper due on Wednesday that I have only written about 1 1/2 pages for so far. I have been at my computer all day, doing everything but what I should be doing. I will be getting two take-home exams this week that will SUCK royally. I have to do a chapter in my experimental design class on my own and turn it in with the final for that class. I have to proctor the final for one of my professor's classes, too. Watch me. I'll put everything off and then be up until 4 AM the day everything is due, finishing up. Not to mention that I REALLY need to get started on my proposal and thesis, since I have committed to presenting a poster about it the first weekend in February. Have I done anything for it yet? Uh, not so much.