MikeL

What a great attitude! Thanks for sharing, Jamie.

The job situation is more than enough trouble for anyone to struggle with. I hope you find the prostate problem is a minor thing and can be treated quickly and easily. I do want to offer you some assurance that prostate cancer, if that should prove to be your ailment, is curable and is survivable for a long time even if it is not cured. I was about your age when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Most men with prostate cancer will be cured. I have survived for thirteen years without being cured. There is much you can do to boost your immune system to fight the cancer and that is in addition to whatever tratment you receive from the doctors. If you get the diagnosis you don't want, please get in touch with me. I would be happy to share my experience with you and believe I can encourage you. I am familiar with the full array of treatments you may be offered and I am familiar with some of the work being done by the National Cancer Institute in researching new treatments. Most of all, I want you to know I will be praying for you to be spared the need for any such treatment. Let's hope for the best .

When gay marriage is fully legal throughout the US...and I think it will be sooner rather than later...it will change things for everyone. Gays will receive the greatest benefit, including some benefits many have not considered. Marriage will provide gays with a personal status they've not had before. I'm not talking about the legal staus and its attendant benefits. I'm talking about a whole new way to view their relationship. Many gay relationships are short-lived because there is no purpose to remaining together. Marriage will provide a purpose to keep a gay couple together. If they are sincere when making their marriage vows, they will build a partnership with their spouse where each of them complements the other. They will work together to reach their shared goals and aspirations. And they will be surprised to see just how much happiness they derive from those accomplishments. What I hope to see (and guess it will take too long to accumulate the statistics in my lifetime) is that gay marrieds have a lower divorce rate than heterosexuals. There's where all of society starts to benefit.

It goes without saying: It is what it is.

Happy Birthday, Rob!

You would be the ringleader, wouldn't you? Oh, I really liked the singing frog thing.

Many thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday in this forum and on my profile page. I really appreciate the sentiments. You do realize that 69 is an awkward age for a straight guy.

Cliff James has some very special cousins who hail from Tennessee. They are known as fainting goats. The Fainting Goat is actually a famous animal found almost exclusively in the state of Tennessee. These goats have a condition called myotonia congenita that causes their muscles to freeze for about 10 seconds when they are startled. This freezing causes them to fall over, giving the impression they have fainted. The actual "fainting" does not cause them pain or harm them in any way. Cliff James rarely sees these cousins because they necessarily avoid going near a cliff.

Cliff James has released Chapter 37 of Circumnavigation..."Cyprus". Cyprus is where Joel plans to leave Trevor and head home with a special gift for Lisa. Of course, Joel could always get stranded on a cliff in Cyprus. I checked...Cyprus does have cliffs.

Mick Jagger or Keith Richards Amazing thing is they are actually a few years younger than I.

Ottmar Liebert:

Great picture, Cammy. You've changed. You look grown up.

Chase, are you the Artful Dodger or the Dodgy Artist?

To the news media, trite and cliched phrases concerning death are more appealing than a person's name. They add more zing to the headline news. And being bored? That's probably the most genuine emotion displayed by any of those you mentioned. I wonder if their audience isn't just as bored with all the murder and mayhem depicted on the TV and in the newspapers. It's gotten to the point that the weather forecast is the most palatable segment of the nightly news, and the weather forecast is correct about half the time. My best wishes to you and your friend's family in dealing with this loss.

With all those questions, who needs cliffhangers?

Cliff James has released Chapter 36 of Circumnavigation, "Safety in Numbers".

All the manure left behind by the goats will only make the regrowth faster and more lush.

I can't see how it's ever possible to be too nice. I agree with you that the idea itself is absurd. Any attempt to argue that you can be too nice would be an example of a reductio ad absurdum.

Excellent beginning for a story. Very well done, West.

An update: All four of my sons now use cell phones exclusively. When we move to a new home(if we ever sell the old one), it's goodbye land line.

Happy Birthday, Good Buddy!

Happy Birthday, Anyta!

I think the Australian government has a good case. The yacht was obviously too close to the whale. I mean, do you like it when someone crowds your space?

Happy Birthday, Procyon! Still the brightest star in Canis Minor.