Buehl, please do! I was just trying to save something of use. I'd been checking the GW all night, turned my back for 15 minutes to watch the Health Care vote, and whammo! all the posts were gone. I kept refreshing, thinking, "This can't be!"

Dog Bowls: I was visiting with a bunch of young professionals involved in dog rescue, and they were discussing the fact (?) that plastic dog bowls can cause a dog's nose to turn pink. I would not have given this any credence except that they are engineers - rocket scientists to be exact - and tend to analyze things before repeating them. They claim it is a chemical reaction as the nose touches the bowl. My dog bowl system: I was experiencing wrist pain and realized how much wrist movement is involved in handwashing the dog's bowls. I bought a third bowl for the dog, and now I pop both his food and water bowls into the dishwasher at night. The dog gets a fresh clean bowl of water at night, the two used bowls come out of the dishwasher in the morning. One bowl is used for food and the clean bowl sits on the counter all day until evening when it is filled with water.

I LOVE MY CELL PHONE! It is my camera. Video camera. My own private little juke box! My phone and address book. My calender and reminder service! Even my alarm clock! It is my only phone also. Not my internet connection though. If I lost my service I wouldn't really care. I still love my little toy! I have captured moments with grand children that I would have missed, had it not been for my cell phone close. Those videos make me smile anytime I watch them! I tend towards texting more than calling. I can shoot a quick text and get an answer, whenever.... saving me the time of a phone call. But no, we are not tied to one another. I catch flak all the time from people who expect an immediate response to a text or a phone call answered. Because they are glued to theirs, they think everyone is. I am amazed by people addicted to theirs. I worked as a cashier for years, and noted that many people handicap themselves with their phones. One hand is just as well be in a sling. They can't use it, because it holds their cell phone. When I am face to face with people and my phone goes off I silence it. I do not acknowledge the phone until I am alone. I am shocked at how many people think I am RUDE by doing that. I explain I am with them, giving them attention. Do they really want me to ignore them? But they seem more concerned about the fact I might ignore them when they text or call... sometime in the future.... over paying attention to them now. It makes me chuckle... I just don't get it. What doesn't make me chuckle is parents with children, who ignore and neglect their children, for their phones. I am seeing this more and more, and it angers and saddens me. Of course, when you see this, you see children acting wild. Negative attention from their parents is the only attention they get, but it still attention. The kids do whatever they can to get mommy to remember they are there. Here is where I have the urges Caroline has.....!!!! Caroline... the body slam.... LOL.... phone rage...! LOL The stupid conversations don't bother me, as much as amuse me. How people can forget they are not one-on-one alone talking to that person, I can't fathom! They publicize things you would think they wouldn't want to share with the world! High 5 to the young man ditching Miss Verizon!!!! I agree with kfca37... people are afraid to be alone...

Think a bit more broadly, deb. In the US, cell carriers are in the process of stopping so called 3G transmissions. Some have already done so. Someone whose old phone works only with 3G will not have a working phone when their carrier stops supporting that signal. In my case, they're "forcing me" in a manner of speaking to get a new car. I have a car whose internet connectivity (like for current traffic info and other useful features) uses a 3G cellular signal. It's not changeable and not upgradeable and the signal ended about 2 months ago. I plan to buy this year's edition of the same car. I like it and would have kept it but for this issue.