Oh Crikey, here we go again Sports  BAD. Competition  BAD. Humans in Texas, living naked in and under trees, having minus 3.2 children per pregnancy, foraging barefoot for dandelion leaves, sea oats, muscadine grapes and mayhaws, alligator eggs, and Africanized bees honey  good, yea, PRICELESS. Forget playing bridge. Forget "playing" anything. Jeez, we wouldnÂt want anyone to go so far out of line to suggest a game of Wildflower and Native Grasses Monopoly, would we? The heresy! "Do not pass pee in wetlands, do not collect unfallen pecans." The sentence for sneaking so insidious a reward as Drip Line or Root Zone of the Month? Twelve months exposure to mosquitoes - NO mud packs, NO grass skirts! The Thousand-Hour Reign of the Tejasexican Tree Tyrants would peak its power at its erasure of all vestiges of what used to be called Homeowners Associations. This would occur by spontaneous and simultaneous universal enlightenment of The Moral Code. All peoples would recognize and voluntarily, without exception, avoid trespassing in the forbidden territories and edifices of the Sprawlurban Reliclands, where the Unwise Ancients once practiced all manner of evil - including beisbol, futbol, and plant swaps - on BERMUDA GRASS! Every stray stem and stolon of Demon Augustine would be stripped out of Mother Earth and sacrificed on the Great Compost Pile of Penitence. Inevitably, inexorably, extinction of The Proud Race would occur. But of course, not because of any competition with or by any other species. The next re-writers of history would likely return to the Reliclands, collect and smoke crushed oak acorns in re-utilized sprinkler-pipes, kick baseballs and slobber all over soccer balls before throwing them, and pen the epitaph of the TTTs thus: "They had so many Strayhorns stuck in so many of the wrong places, they couldnÂt even think, let alone think clearly. Alas! In the end, they fared no better than the Bush Tribes." "Courage," ye Kinky whoÂd Rather be saved by the Bell. ------------------------------------------------------ Rant on, PJ! You might enjoy the article at the link as much as I did. Sally, I go largely with what you say. I think the problem is deeper than sports. It stems from a per capita coarsening of culture that results from excessive emphasis on leisure and "self-fulfillment" over kind, liberal and mutually beneficial other-interestedness, including the art of compromise. Basically, itÂs a reflection of (I dread) a possibly irreversible degradation of a societyÂs educational support system, where ignorance is celebrated, passion alone is the measure of credibility, and willful ignorance (blindly hateful bigotry, by any other name) is idolized as the ultimate "integrity." IÂm Rap, and IÂm one tough environmentalist grandpa. Here is a link that might be useful: Daily Mail - One Tough Grandpa

chantel, we are not on any exercise plan now, we walk a mile 2 or 3 times a week we just started that, did the weight loss over a yr and a half by changing our diets, we cut out all red meat, and all fatty snacks candy bars cupcakes tweenkies etc, we eat only chicken,fish,cooked and raw veggies, alot of grains. for example my old breakfast was 3 or 4 frozen waffles,6 small sausage links,a cinnimon roll, and 2 glasses of choc. milk. my new breakfast- a small bowl of honey nut cheerios and a small glass of 1% milk. my old lunch big mac,fries, coke and apple pie. my new lunch- lite turkey on wheat, and a glass of tea. my old snack king dons or twinkies new snack granola bar or apple if any snack. old dinner steak,mashed potatoes and gravy and a slice of pie. new dinner baked fish or chicken and a green veg. and some rice. maybe a yogurt for desert. funny thing is i dont miss any of the old food, well maybe the baby ruth candy bars a little. a yr and a half ago my doctor told me if i didnt do something about my weight and blood pres. i prob wouldnt live to see 50 that woke me up! my last physical a month ago my b.p. was norm. without using medicine. i dont sweat anymore bending over to tie my shoes. and i am not going back! at this point we both have our weight down and we are walking but want to take it up a notch. so any advice will be appreciated thanks.----bill

I had an experience in recent months where I offered to help my friends do some work on their house. After a visit one evening where we discussed dreams they had for their house, I offered to come help them work on a project. They were initially surprised and thought I might be just talking, but I maintained I was serious. We spent a week working on their house and they were really pleased with the results. I'm so happy we did that, because it turns out it was just the thing that inspired them to start working on other projects. And they're really happy and feeling good about it. So, I like to think that being a little pushy can be helpful, but I would only do it if I knew someone very well. I've had friends and neighbors over who tell me our place looks nice and how organized I am. They ask if I would help them do this or that, and I tell them I'd be glad to do it and to just call me and make plans. It's come up more than once with some, and I've repeated my willingness to help. But I leave it at that, because it's not my job to make their project a priority. This last experience annoyed me. I had someone, more of an acquaintance, ask for help with selecting something for their home. They were at a loss for ideas and asked me what I thought. I made a couple of suggestions, and the person actually responded with "ew". Yes, ew. Not, "I don't think I'd care for that" or something polite in response. I decided I didn't need to knock myself out for "ew". Tina

mazer: yes, this Lab also hates the dog house but loves jumping in the back of the SUV & going places but refuses to even get a treat if it is in one of the big dog houses. Pulls out all the blankets & then lays on them on the cold patio & wants his Corgi mix girlfriend to do the same & pulls out her blankets too! So cute though to see them sleeping all cuddled together. He will sleep indoors in the house at night (they are not restricted anywhere indoors) on his pillow on the floor for awhile but then wants outdoors again; he is not destructive in the house at all. He can -& will- jump the 6 ft. block wall around the property & either jump back in or wait by the front door for son & wife to come home x work but has never run away. Wants assurance that 'mom' & 'dad' will come home & he not abandoned again. Oddly, he doesn't like to go on walks by the river & has to be pushed into the water & doesn't seem to like the water! A big walled in back yard with only a small garden part with buried 'invisable fence' battery lines that both dogs have the collars to. He is the one that knows he gets 'zapped' if he goes in the area protected but he just closes his eyes, 'smiles' & jumps over anyway & says: 'it only hurts for a little bit'!! So funny to see this... but not so funny the holes he digs on the protected side! Oh what tales we will tell him as he (hopefully!)matures!!! At the Shelter (they name all the animals brought in there & soon run out of new names!)'Marquez' kept coming to the front of his cage whenever our son would go day after day to chec out the other dogs there & soon seemed to recognize him each time he came so it was a ? as to who chose who?! When the dogs come to our place to visit & we 'dog-sit'them, our mellow,reserved German Shepherd (she is our 7th full GSD!) just sits & stares at her 'wild cousin' & refuses to play his games & our three Min-Pins look for a place to hide from this huge guy!! The Lab doesn't want his mellow Corgi mix girlfriend to socialize with them either. What a circus when all 6 dogs are in the back yard! Our City Shelters are so good about trying to have a 'no euthanasia' policy & adopt all the pets out ... even have a store in a big shopping center for more exposure. Adoption, neutering,microchipped, all vaccinations & one free follow-up vet appt. for less than $50... what a bargain for a bundle of love!