MikeL

Here is Chubi's display name history: https://www.gayauthors.org/forums/index.php...mes&id=6022 That's 15 names in all! I still think of her as Monkey.

It is a bit confusing. I know the member profile shows a display name history, but I wouldn't necessarily be prompted to check that.

Happy Birthday, Buddha Buddy!

Here's the car I really want... It's a Bugatti Veyron 16.4...16 cylinder, 1,001 hp... Unfortunately, the MSRP for the base model is $1.2 million, so I'm sticking with the old Chrysler for now.

Chrysler Concorde.

As I said...let's party! I've had a little experience with the International Date Line. Let's party!

Just wanted to commend you for using stuffed and mounted in that order.

College Chemistry is the reason I became an accountant.

Here is an interesting article about tsunami facts, which includes the following: Here are a few pictures.

Happy Birthday, David!

Actually, Robbie's birthday is tomorrow. But if there's a party involved, I don't mind starting early. Happy Birthday, Robbie!

Doesn't that mean you have a protected left turn with the left turn arrow, but can also make a left turn on a green light if there is no oncoming traffic? That would be different from "Left turn on arrow only". I know...ask a policeman what it means.

Cliff James has released Chapter 22 of Changing Lanes; the chapter title is "Prelude to Ragnar

Welcome, Silesia, from another old timer. I agree that we experienced members have much to offer. Getting the young folks to pay attention to us is quite another matter. I am not so old that I don't remember the seemingly dubious advice I received in my youth, much of which makes more sense now. "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." ~ Mark Twain

James, why don't you tell us how you really feel?

Not I.

Dom, I missed the emergency room visit if that was in your blog. You are an accomplished babysitter if you practice the sugar feast. Just before the parents pick them up is a good time; the kids will drive the parents nuts by bouncing off the walls when they get home and taking hours to fall asleep. But the kids will love you. There's one group that gets more out of the sugar high than the typical babysitter. They get even with the parents by giving them a dose of their own medicine. They are grandparents. Being a grandparent is better than being a parent: You have fun with the grandchildren and then you get to send them home.

My wife is a retired high school English teacher. She was forever complaining about how ill prepared 9th graders were for writing coherent papers and comprehensible test answers. She spent an inordinate amount of time teaching grammar rules at the expense of exploring the vast world of literature. The teachers of other high school subjects felt that grammar is the English teachers' responsibility and that they could accept anything on papers and test answers in their classes. I wonder how many students lost points in History or Science when they knew the material but couldn't express themselves. Fortunately, the school had a good English department and many students went on to score 4 or 5 on AP tests or sufficient scores on CLEP tests to exempt them from one or two years of college English courses. In the matter of insure vs. ensure:

Those spell checkers make a lot of mistakes. Sometimes they do no more than insure that the wrong word is spelled correctly (e.g., "loose" vs. "lose").

Great chapter, Cliff! Thanks. You really eased off the cliffhangers this time. Are you taking the hint from your most vociferous readers or are you beginning to feel the vertigo that comes from such a long time on the edge of the precipice? If that volcano wasn't still with us, I would be tempted to issue a you-know-what. Three cheers for Cliff James everybody!

Cliff, one of my very distant cousins thinks he has found the answer to your chemistry question. There is one problem: the answer is written on the face of a cliff about 200 feet below the top of the 1,000 foot precipice. Happy landings!

There's another side to this issue. If you really love someone or really want to develop a closer relationship with someone, you might try dropping the bad habit even if he has not yet raised the subject. What better way is there to demonstrate your love for him than to sacrifice your personal comfort for his. I've been there and have done that. It worked for me. I get much more pleasure out of sex than I ever got from a cigarette. There's a bonus: I've outlived most of my friends who didn't give up smoking. I agree with you completely on one thing. Others should either deal with your smoking or move on and not force or "guilt" you into quitting. In this day and time, I suspect most will move on.

CJ makes most of his errors due to nervousness brought on by peering over the next cliff. For many authors, the errors arise from a lack of attention to their work. Most of them know the grammar rules, spelling, etc., but don't take the time to review. Most of us readers, tend to insert the correct word, spelling, or punctuation and never notice the error; we know subconsciously what the author intended to say. Our education system bears a lot of the blame by not emphasizing the grammar rules. Teachers want students to express their thoughts and emotions and overlook the fact that what is put down on paper may be incomprehensible. Insisting that students comply with all the rules may injure their precious little psyches. Schools, at least in the US, should institute an EFL curriculum. That's English as a first language. As for the bonus points, all I can see is that BlueSox may have intentionally used "in" rather than "or"; the description should read "Do they speak English or What?"