Recent Comments

1. almost 3 years ago on Edge City

   When I went to my 40th HS reunion, back in 2009, I was shocked to see how many old people were in attendance. Almost all the guys who had been jocks back then, were just fat old men. Some of the women who had been knockouts back then looked like they had been knocked out of life as we know it. Time had not been kind to most of them. There was one woman who had been rather plain looking then who was a knockout. I was shocked (in a good way) to see her. As I said, she was a knockout!

2. almost 3 years ago on Ripley's Believe It or Not

   Well, when you consider that one legal definition of battery is any unconsented to physical contact or touching, she is lucky she was only charged ten times the amount. Because, for a robot to even put its hand or finger on the person’s chest, well, that is battery. That being said, I am running down and feel powerless to continue.

3. almost 3 years ago on The Middletons

   Your life flashing before your eyes would be a relative thing; consider the lives of a mayfly versus a Galapagos tortoise.

4. almost 3 years ago on Drabble

   I had LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol) Rations and C-Rations. The LRRP’s were freeze dried, add hot water (if you had time to boil water in your canteen cup, a little chunk of C-4 in the Esbit pocket stove was perfect for that and didn’t take all that long.) and stir it in and you had a hot meal. They could be eaten cold and that was nothing to look forward to. There was an accessory pack with a 4 pack of smokes, matches, TP, gum, and probably something else I have forgotten about. The C-Rations were in cans and the best thing for me was the canned peaches and the pound cake. I would swap the smokes for either of those. Take out the cardboard liner of the pound cake, pour in the peach juice, heat that up and you could easily consider yourself in heaven while being in hell. Also, with the C-Rats, you could use the p-38 can opener to just pop the entrée can open enough to vent it, use the cardboard box it came in, light it up with the matches from the accessory pack and it could get it hot enough to make it tolerableI have heard some of those who served after me, complain about MRE’s. They are so far above what we had 50 years ago, it makes me crazy at what these young guys expect. We had more times than I care to admit where we could not eat it hot. A fire would have been a signal to anyone who might take a less than kindly look at our presence.

5. almost 3 years ago on Speed Bump

   Only 8 weeks? It sure seemed longer than that; in fact, it seemed years longer than that. I went into the Army weighing 115. When I got out of basic, I weighed 145 and could barely wear any of the clothes that I had before I went in. Had to buy a whole bunch of new things to wear. Sure seemed like longer than 8 weeks. Thirty pounds in 8 weeks… SMH

6. almost 3 years ago on Speed Bump

   What’s that? I can’t hear you! Drop down and give me 50…

7. almost 3 years ago on Shoe

   I do have discretion to turn it off and it stays off for more than twenty hours a day. We have Jeopardy! and then a replay of an older episode of Jeopardy! I will watch some of the local news and maybe one other show per night if that. Programs I do not like to miss are things like Death In Paradise (BBC mystery drama on PBS) America’s Test Kitchen, Ask This Old House, This Old House, The Woodsmith Shop. There are a couple of network crime shows, NCIS, and FBI that I watch just the first showing, seldom watch the repeats.

8. almost 3 years ago on Reality Check

   That is a butt ugly thought

9. almost 3 years ago on Drabble

   Coffee/caffeine is not as much of a diuretic as was once thought. A number of years ago, there was a study where caffeine was given to test subjects in pill form and the control group was given a placebo. There was no statistical difference in urinary output between either group. The reason that coffee and tea were considered to be diuretics was the main ingredient is water. Just drinking water will make you pee. That fact was ignored on several studies.

   There was also a study where different groups were given either coffee or tea and the control group was given an alternate liquid. There was no statistical difference in the urinary output of any of the groups. The conclusion of the study was that caffeine has little generalized diuretic effect. Water does.

   As far as the 64 oz of water per day, there is nothing in medical literature that I have seen to account for this number. It appears to have been pulled out of thin air, probably on the spur of the moment, more than 100 years ago. And it also appears that no studies were done to even verify that it is accurate. I have seen a number of reports that suggest that the amount of water needed varies from person to person, dependent on personal variables, such as BMI. But, there are still physicians, nurses, and even nutritionists who fall back on this outdated and possibly dangerous recommendation. Obviously a 6 foot 5 professional football player who weighs well over 300 lbs. is not going to have the same water replacement requirements of a 90 year old 85 lb little old lady. But there are those who make the same recommendation for both of them because that is what they learned years ago and cannot bring themselves to change that course or kill that sacred cow. That sacred cow needs to be sacrificed on the altar of reason and actual scientific study.

10. almost 3 years ago on Brevity

    I’m gonna go out on a limn here, but that is kinda sketchy.