anonemouse

You beat me to it, Christine!

I have a confession. Kinda-sorta, anyway. Sometimes, I have a very strong urge to tell people to unwad their panties from their asscrack. Who knew people could get so pissed and/or offended over people making semi-joking posts about the lack of grammar skills on the website? It isn't that serious and you aren't being called a moron if you don't use proper spelling and grammar. Chill.

As long as I can figure out what people are trying to say, it doesn't really bother me too much. That said, there are some people's posts, though, that just make me want to smack them upside the head and send them back to school. Rightfully or not, I think people judge other people based on how they present themselves, whether online or in real life. First impressions, and all that. And since the way we converse on this site is through text, I would think that people would want to make their posts as easily read and understood as possible. I'm a speed reader, so all or first-letter capitalization, lack of punctuation, and really long paragraphs can really throw me off. I know it's not the nicest thing I could do, but if I run across a post that's difficult for me to read, I just skip it entirely and don't bother trying to decipher it.

Oh, I don't doubt it. I'm just a little irritated that I'm required to give quite a few special accomodations to a lot of kids that are really just not very well-equipped, mentally. Things like time and a half or double time on quizes and exams, etc. I just can't help but to wonder what these college kids are going to do when they get out into the work-force and are expected to have projects and stuff done on a strict deadline and their employers won't give them the extra time that they've gotten used to getting. I think many of them will have a very rude awakening, since they've never had to meet many of the same standards that other college kids have had to meet. I think that in certain circumstances, special accomodations are more of a handicap to the student than assistance. I wasn't really referring to ADD or ADHD, specifically, but rather generalized "learning disabilities." If it's authentic, that's great that the kid's getting help, but I think quite a bit of it is that there are parents out there that either can't accept that their little Johnny is just not quite as bright as his classmates, or they can't handle the kid's energy.

Dude, my grandparents used to leash my dad to the kitchen table to keep him from driving everyone crazy and to keep him out of the way (i.e., away from the oven) during holiday dinner preparations.

Oh, you don't want to get me started on so-called "learning disabilities," lol! I know there are a lot of people out there with legitimate learning problems, but unfortunately, many of the students I've had that have come to me with letters from the Office of Disabilities at my university have just been, well, not very bright, to put it nicely. I think that there are a lot of parents out there that just can't accept that little Johnny or Suzie isn't an exceptionally smart student that is being held back by a learning disability. They just don't want to accept the fact that their child might be simply average or below average, in terms of educational ability. Nope, there's gotta be something wrong with him, so let's throw a bunch of pills at him and tie his teacher's hands so that the entire curriculum is dumbed down. *sigh* Ugh, I could go on, but that's a rant for another thread, I think. :redface:

I wouldn't call off-topic posts garbage at all. We have off-topic forums for a reason. This isn't just a WLS support forum. Is that it's primary purpose? Of course, but we've also made friends here and it's always good to talk about things other than banding and to interact with people on a level other than just asking and answering pre- and post-op questions. Honestly, the off-topic forums are why many of the successful old-timers stick around, IMO. There's only so many newbie questions they can answer before they want to talk about something other than the band. That's the good thing about this board, IMO. You can take what you want and leave the rest, because nothing here is mandatory reading (as much as some of it should be, like the threads on the reasoning behind the post-op diet).

No, brown recluses are larger than whatever this was. It was about the size of a pin head. Whatever it was, though, it packed a heck of a wallop. I've still got a scar from where it bit me.

It was a little reddish brown dot. Couldn't figure out what it was.

I agree with you. A year or two ago, my 14 (almost 15) year-old cousin was killed in an ATV accident one night at midnight. He was out with friends and went riding with an 18 year-old girl that had been drinking. They hit a ditch or something at very high speed, sending both of them flying, my cousin into a porch (he was killed instantly). The girl, last time I heard, was still in a vegetative state. I feel so sorry for his mother because that was her baby, the youngest of three. At the same time, though, I think, "Well, that's what can happen when you let 14 year-olds stay out with their friends at all hours of the night, drinking and playing with large machinery." Sadly, it wasn't an unusual occurance to see my cousin and his brother flying down the road on their ATVs, in the dark with no lights on, no helmets on, and cutting off cars on the road.

I'm just amazed that civil disagreement is now "badgering." And that was coming from a mod, for Pete's sake! If someone doesn't like another person civilly (can't stress that enough) disagreeing with them, they shouldn't be sharing their opinions on the damn board in the first place. No offense meant to all you other mods here ('cause you guys are great!), but moderation should be saved for when it's actually needed.

Not sure. I'm not even sure I'll be getting commissions in the first place. Both of the retail jobs will be starting at $7.50 an hour, but I won't be getting very many hours at Dressbarn in the beginning, only about 10-12 a week until some of the other people leave (several college students going home for the summer, someone considering staying home with a new baby, etc.). I've never done retail before (heck, these are my first "real" jobs, other than teaching and my internship in 2004), so I may despise both of the retail jobs. The Dressbarn and the Linens n Things are literally next to each other in a strip mall, so I could probably arrange my schedules so that I could go directly from one to the other on the days that I have an entire day to work.

Speaking of insect bites, I went to Florida a couple of years ago during my fall break. Went out to look at the beach as soon as I got there (hadn't even gotten to the motel yet), and managed to get bitten by something on the 2 minute walk to the beach. It stung a bit, but I didn't think too much of it at the time. Well, by that night it had a tiny little fluid blister where the bite was. By the next morning, my entire foot had swollen up. Wonderful start to a vacation. I spent the next several days swollen and limping (not to mention severe itching at night because of the swelling).

Had the interview this morning. It seemed to go very well, so I may have four part-time jobs in a couple of days. I'm seriously considering not teaching this summer. It's not a hard offer yet, though, since the department has to give the position to an instructor with a PhD if there's one available. It'll only be open to grad students if there isn't a PhD that wants to teach it. If I do get offered the position, though, I feel almost obligated to take it, since doing something that's roughly in my field will look better on my professional resume than retail would. Plus, if I ever decide to try to get a lecturer position at a junior college or something (god, I hope it doesn't come to that), most of them require at least two semesters of lecture experience. This is my sixth semester teaching labs (granted, most of what I do is lecturing, but it still doesn't count), but I only have one semester of real lecture-class experience. I would prefer not to teach, but it might be better for my long-term career goals. I dunno. If I do get offered the Dressbarn job, I think I'll take it. I'm just not sure if I'll teach this summer or not. Of course, the conflict is moot unless I actually do get offered both the Dressbarn and teaching jobs.

Okay, so as most of you know, I've been teaching as part of my grad-school work. Well, that pays crappola, so I started applying for part-time jobs. I was hired as an office assistant two weeks ago, and do that on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10-4 and every other Friday afternoon (total of 12-16 hours a week). I also got a job as a part-time cashier at a Linens n Things, which I'll be starting on Monday. That will have me working evenings and weekends (not sure of the exact schedule yet), but no more than 20 hours a week. My teaching schedule right now is 8-10 and 3:30-5:30 on Thursdays and 9-11 on Fridays. In late April, that responsibility will end, and I'll have that time to work at other jobs, but I may be teaching in the mornings, Monday-Thursday, during the summer term, starting in June (if the department can't find an instructor with a PhD). Here's the issue: I have an interview at a Dressbarn tomorrow morning (scheduled the interview yesterday, got the confirmation call about the Linens n Things job this afternoon). Assuming that I'm offered the job, should I take it, considering every thing else I have going on? On one hand, I think, "Yes, I can do that, it's not that many hours. Plus, it'd be good insurance if I wind up hating one of the other jobs." On the other, I think, "Holy crap! :redface: WAY too many pans in the fire! What if I do get the summer teaching position? What'll I do, teach mornings, do the office thing in the afternoons, and then alternate nights and weekends for the other two?! And somehow get my thesis finished in the few hours I have left? You idiot!" I know it's a lot, but I'm bored off my ass, broke, and trying to save money for plastic surgery. Plus, I tend to work best under pressure and stress. I'm hoping this will motivate me to get my thesis finished. I've found out the hard way that if I don't have a lot to do, I tend to put off doing the stuff I DO need to do ('cause, you know, there's plenty of time), and nothing at all gets done.

So did I. I thought there was another Apple-hater around, and I wouldn't be alone anymore! Wah!

I think you can get a fairly good idea about whether or not a report is likely accurate, based on how common similar reports are. For example, if I see somone talking about the absolutely horrid experience they had with surgeon X, but can't find any other similar reports, it's a fair guess to say that either that person's experience was out of the norm for surgeon X or that the person was just trying to discredit that surgeon for some reason. If, on the other hand, I research the report and easily find multiple similar reports, it's fair to conclude that there is likiely some basis for the negative report. It's not unusual to see negative reports about Dr. Huacuz. I remember seeing many of them, both here and at ObesityHelp.com when I was a member there. One or two, sure, you could probably pass off as a patient coordinator for another doctor, trying to get rid of the competition. But to have many negative experience reports, that sends up a huge red flag for me.

When I was 10, I shaved half of one of my eyebrows off because they were were so thick. Why half, you ask? Well, I cut my self pretty badly and stopped. Now I've got a scar on one of them and the eyebrow doesn't grow right, making waxing it tricky.

It used to be under "edit options," I think, but I can't find it anymore.

You know, I have no idea. I'm certainly not yet at a "healthy" BMI, but even I can see that overweight is overweight is overweight. Is it healthier than "morbidly obese?" Sure. But it still isn't as healthy as "healthy," no two ways about it. It's why you get told by your doctor that you need to lose a few. It's why, all other things being equal (family disease history, smoking habits, etc.), an overweight person will pay more for health insurance than a person with BMI in the healthy range. It's 'cause overweight people are statistically not as healthy as people with a "normal" BMI! Why is it apparently so hard to recognize that and own it? Thinking you look best with a BMI of 28 is great, but it doesn't change the fact that those extra pounds are likely to carry with them a few extra health issues that a person with a BMI of, say, 23, isn't as likely to have.

Thanks! I don't want to scare you, but if you had restriction before you went for the fill, you should have more restriction now. With a sudden lack of restriction, I'd worry about a slip. Definitely call your doctor and have them check you out. They may have made a mistake when they were giving you the fill, but you definitely want to check and make sure that nothing else is going on.

I don't think Chickie and Jachut are implying that at all. The simple fact is that, statistically, someone with a BMI that places them in the "overweight" or "obese" range is much more likely to have health problems as a result of their excess weight. There is no way to get around that. Now, of course, BMI doesn't paint the whole picture. Yes, people with a "healthy" BMI can be unhealthy. Yes, "overweight" people can be healthy. And yes, BMI can be misleading, depending on how much muscle weight you carry (but honestly, unless you're a muscle-bound body-builder, it isn't grossly incorrect). But the plain likelihood is that an overweight person - whose excess weight is fat, not muscle - has a much higher chance of having health problems due to their weight. The girl is beautiful. But she is overweight. Not severely, but it is there. And at her age, like Jachut says, that's not a good indicator for her future weight. So, IMO, that's not something our children should be aiming for.

DO IT!

It's Huacuz. If you've seen his reputation, the whole damn thing makes SO much sense, unfortunately.

Christ. Hell, it's no freakin' wonder, considering who her surgeon is, though. The stupidity makes my head hurt.