Thread Drift

[winddance]

I'm planning my first ride in 5 weeks for next weekend. I've been sick for the past month. Cold, flu, sinus infection...

[Trek420]

winndance, hope you feel better soon.

what does "matchy matchy" mean? is that because your socks, match the bike, matches the valve caps, matches....

knot, too late, ice is on the table.

[Bikingmomof3]

kelownagirl -cool terrarium.

Fredwina- As much as I enjoyed Hugh Laurie in the Black Adder series, I preferred him as Bertie Wooster.

Salsa- The wedding Kimono has such a brilliant history. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Lise- How was dinner? I think your email was very well written. Do let us know how the Chicago marathon was.

Knot-you men I missed a controversial sig line. Drat!

Trek-I am sorry about your toe, I hope the ice is helping the table feel better.

Winddance-feel better soon.

I am going to cuddle up under a quilt and nap with my cat, then go for a run. I feel a cold coming on and hope the extra sleep will help.

[Trek420]

snap, Chloe is a brave dog! Watch her conquer fear of scary shadows and bridge.

Bikingmomof3, thanks for the detailed wrap of of TE TD. Yes you missed TE TD controvery, I'm sure Kit knows what page it was, the sig line is gone. The table feels much better now.

Kit, add this to the TE TD TOC

kelownagirl-cool terrarium. so far there are no toads in my toad house, maybe they want something more elaborate.

Salsa- Love the wedding Kimono story "both of you, figure it out I'm off to Japan"

Winddance & BMO3 both-feel better soon. If not extra sleep the cat nap will help you and maybe the cat.

[Fredwina]

.
Fredwina- As much as I enjoyed Hugh Laurie in the Black Adder series, I preferred him as Bertie Wooster.

Oh No! another BBC series to check out! Would have checked in earlier , but spent yesterday fighting off a sinus infection. I'm back at the looney bin know as Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. Oh joy!

[Brina]

I have a problem with people who say, "If you can't have kids you should adopt, there are so many children available in foster care."

First, children in foster care are not the sole responsiblity of those who cannot conceive the good old fashioned way. Anybody can choose to adopt one of these children. I remember having this conversation with somebody no longer in my life. She learned we were pursuing treatment to conceive and she told me we should adopt. I asked her why she and herr dh were not adopting and her response was, "well we can have our own". Like that somehow exempted them from responsiblity.

Second, the foster care system in the United States has as its stated mission that the ideal resolution for a child in foster care is reunification with a parent or member of the his/her biological family. That is directly at odds with my goals - a child, a family, a permenant relationship. I have seen many, many situations where the biological mother is given chance after chance to prove that she has cleaned up her act, often dragging on for years and through second, third and forth chances. The foster parents hang in their, loving and providing for the child and praying for the day that parental rights are terminated and they can legalize the family that they have built, but then the bio mother manages to convince a judge and a social worker that this time she really is clean for good and the child gets "returned" (in quotes, since the child often has never spent significant time with the bio parent) to the "rightful" "parent" - As opposed to the people who have loved, supported, educated and card for the child.

Third, infertility is the only medical condition that people seem to judge others for pursuing. Insurance rarely covers it, which most fertile people seem to think is good as they worry about the effect on inurance rates. Family members will remark upon the waste of money and the small chance of success. Fertility patients are told, "it is just meant to be" or "perhaps God did not intend you to have children." Could you imagine if similar criteria were applied to other illnesses or disabilities? My sil had stage 4 metatastic breast cancer and continued to pursue treatment after treatment even though the chance of a cure was <2%. Insurance covered it all and nobody complained about the effect on their insurance rates. Nobody told her, "it is just meant to be," or "perhaps God just wants you to die." Nobody would dare to say to the scientists who research spinal cord injuries that they should pursue more "worthy" illnesses and that some people were just no meant to walk. Just as those suffering from other illnesses should not be condemned for seeking medical treatment, the infertile have a right to adress their disability.

[Trek420]

Brina "I remember having this conversation with somebody no longer in my life. She learned we were pursuing treatment to conceive and she told me we should adopt. I asked her why she and herr dh were not adopting and her response was, "well we can have our own" Like that somehow exempted them from responsiblity."

owwwww, besides being insensitive I agree it also smacks of somehow that adopted kids are "not your own"

".....I have seen many, many situations where the biological mother is given chance after chance to prove that she has cleaned up her act.....then the bio mother manages to convince a judge and a social worker that this time she really is clean for good and the child gets "returned""

I agree again, I think more would adopt if it was easier here and if they did not fear that the adoption could be reversed, delayed...a good friend adopted and orphan from China and no, I don't know if fertility conditions had anything to do with it.

Their daughter is the light of their life. Part of his decision was that they could do so easier than one from here with less of a wait.

My concern is more just getting kids out of foster care system.

After a tour of this good organisation I learned it's a huge problem.

http://www.lincolncc.org

Many foster care parents do a great job, some of these kids do get adopted but then at 18 ... when foster care no longer pays these kids are basicly turned loose.

By this point they may have been in the system for years, the situation that got them there has not been resolved, they may have been passed from house to house.

I had great parents, loving supportive educated family and how hard was being 18??

Imagine how it is for those kids? what happens to them? Well, many end up in jail for one thing.

I don't think we each have to take a kid or even each have to adopt a dog from the pound I hope you are able to have your child the way you want and/or find a way to use and express the nurturing energy you have in other ways.

But as a society we have to care and think about what is the solution?

Ultimately these are all our kids.

[Nanci]

I don't think Knot's "controversial" sig had anything to do with TD. I don't remember thinking it was particularly offensive or controversial, either.

My hand smells weird. I wonder if it has somehting to do with the lunch stop...Only my left hand.

I just went grocery shopping for snakes, at Snakes.

The toads love the water dish/soaking pool. They are funny.

Working the lunch stop was fun. I cut up tons of fruit, made a bunch of pimento cheese sandwiches (we also had PBJ and hummus) and then made gallons of Gatorade.

Now I'm ready for a nap.

Oh, Snap, I used to have a horse who would jump over those white chalk lines on baseball fields. I think you can even fence in cattle with painted cattle grates- you don't even need the real thing. So Chloe is not alone in her thinking.

Hey, wait- gardening experts- I have a mini rose. Am I supposed to remove the deadheads, or leave them alone? And, does anyone know of a reason I should _not_ allow the bitter orange rootstock from my frozen tangelo to turn into a tree in its own right?

[Quillfred]

Duckin' in for some drift....

Lise: This is a memorable line worthy of a novel. I missed him a bit...but I missed him while we were dating! So no big loss. People are funny. I shake my head all the time in bewilderment.

Snap: One very cute dog. Mitzi, an English Bulldog I once had, would absolutely FREAK when we drove over bridges or got on ferries. She was such a neurotic little thug.

Trek 420: They are occasionally showing parts of Aidscycle #4 on the LOGO channel. Was that you I caught a glimpse of once or twice?!?

Salsabike: I agree with the Kimono story being especially fine. Kudos for climbing Fuji--alone

Nanci: Deadheading encourages more blooming. If it's a miniture miniture, just use care to snip and not fingernail-prune it like I do to standard teas. Rootstocks are often sturdy healthy roots from a not necessarily ornamental plant.

I love animal rescue work. I volunteered one spring north of us to care for the wildlife section. Just in time for lots of baby birds, squirrels and Opossums. I wish there was a rescue in Seattle.

Quillfred

[Trek420]

toad question: I would like to place a pie tin of beer (very cheap generic beer) in the front yard to kill (in a humanely pleasantly drunk way) the slugs.

Will this harm toads? I haven't seen any toads but would like to attract toads to the area. Do toads like to drink or will they be put off by cheap beer.

Many places paint the cattle grates, much cheaper, don't have to run drainage under the road and must be just as effective. Very confusing to cyclists, I have been on rides where "gra....oh never mind it's painted" has been called out.

I'm not a gardening expert, and don't play one on TV. I learned from my Mom that it depends on what you want.

Deadheading the plant may get you a second round of blooms because the plant thinks "wait, wait I forgot to bloom, better do that now". Plants are as dumb as cows :::runs away now from cow fans :::::

I know I should snip the deadheads with special deadhead snipping pruners approved by the Queen of Englands cottage gardeners, if I'm out there, see deadheading to do ... I just gently do that by hand, just don't damage the stems.

Since me folks always did the same I figure it's ok.

All I know about roses is I'm supposed to prune back in February and feed them a lot

On the other hand if you want the plant to put energy into root and other growth leave it alone.

I kept buying nursey plants based on their blooms. OOoOH this one's pretty. But they were putting all their energy into the blooms and the plants never got established.

I don't know if this is correct but now even if the whole nursery stock is in bloom... I look for the ones without flowers.

Much more better plant survival rate now.

As for the rootstock, grafting plants I really don't know about but if you want I can ask my Mom, bet she'd know if it's a good idea or not.

Off to lunch with Mom....

[Kitsune06]

Trek- Oh, no polarizing here. Don't worry. FTR, I actually don't have a number for Knot's sig line controversy. Also, I don't think the beer would hurt the toads in your yard. I'm thinking it'd taste like hoppy, rotten grain water to them and they would be far more interested in a fresher supply.

Brina- I agree. There are so many children out there who need parents who will love them. Just because you *can* make your own, doesn't mean... wait wait, wait. I said that in another thread. Back to my "no polarizing here" statement... I think one of the things that can be most prohibitive of adoption is just not knowing the genes going into this child, whether or not drug use was a factor during the pregnancy, etc. when you make your own, you at least have a decent idea of genetic faults/abnormalities/traits present (mom and dad are both bipolar, Dad's diabetic and....) (not me, but you know where I'm going) it'd be a very scary unknown.

I think I *saw* Knot's sig at one point, somewhere, and didn't think it was that offensive...

[snapdragen]

There are good and bad parents in both camps - let's not polarize TD with this discussion and get it shut down - m'kay?

Chloe and I took a 1.5 mile walk today. She is truly an insane dog. Walking across a wooden foot bridge scares her. So, we come to a part of the sidewalk, where an iron fence is making shadows on the cement. She doesn't want to walk there. Then I realize, she thinks the shadow lines are wooden slats, like on the bridge. She's pretty, but kinda dumb in some ways.

Scary shadows!!


Scary bridge!!

[Bikingmomof3]

Chloe and I took a 1.5 mile walk today. She is truly an insane dog. Walking across a wooden foot bridge scares her. So, we come to a part of the sidewalk, where an iron fence is making shadows on the cement. She doesn't want to walk there. Then I realize, she thinks the shadow lines are wooden slats, like on the bridge. She's pretty, but kinda dumb in some ways.

I am a lot like Chloe. I am not fond of any bridges, let alone those I can see through. I am terrified of heights!