Remember to get out and vote today and... For Texas residents I *STRONGLY* urge you to vote *AGAINST* Proposition 2 : Defining marriage as between one man and one woman, and prohibiting the state, cities and counties from recognizing any other legal status similar to marriage. Hugs,

I thought some of you might be interested in the Katrina recovery process. Unfortunately, we're going to be intimately acquainted with the steps taken so we're planning on documenting the entire recovery. Here are pictures that show the first steps my daughter and son-in-law are taking of this...

Tamales, anyone?

In another NG I subscribe to (ARWM), someone posted a link to RFC's unoffical website, which has a photo gallery on it. Perhaps I shouldn't have really been surprised at the number of familiar names on it. Now I'm wondering whether there is some casual link between cats, food and Wicca, or...

I'm not even sure this could be considered off-topic. :) http://home.sonic.net/~jwermont/misc/LOW_score.jpg -- Joyce To email me, remove the triple-X from my user name. ^..^

OK, I know everyone would like the chance to go back and do some things differently, knowing what we know now. My question is, how far back would you go? What pivotal point in your life would you like to start from? For me it would be the fifth grade and I would change everything I did from that...

Music legend Ray Charles died today (Thursday) at home in California, "surrounded by friends and family". He was 73. http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/10/obit.ray.charles.ap/index.html Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

I saw this on CNN.com, and thought it amazing - why would someone mail an absentee ballot using a 1918 postage stamp? And what does it say about the US Postal Service that it was delivered?! Of course, they don't know for *certain* that it's the famous "inverted Jenny" stamp (worth an estimated...

I am appalled and outraged. I went to the post office to send the Joe Grey Mystery books I had to on of our our favourite lurkers, and thought I'd slip in a couple of packets of tim-tams in since i've already got to pay for the postage anyway. Once there, not only was I charged an already quite...

Make note first, that yesterday the temperature in Houston was in the 90s. Our electricity provider is TXU. We've been having problems with them ever since we switched from HL&P (Houston Power & Light - or "Reliant"), but we've kept them because they do offer us a savings over what we were...

First was the severe back pain. Next was Aleve caused appetite loss. Then was the bricked PC. Now I have third Aleve-caused case of the hiccups today Apparently a spoonful of peanut butter is only good for one hour. And each spasm HURTS! I have NEVER been this miserable before. Little Boy did...

My computer has been hijacked! Thankfully DH and I are computer savvy enough to handle the problem, but it's been a *HUGE* PITA! What this particular virus does is flood your computer with ads, pop-ups, and hijacks your browser so that is pops open every 2 minutes to different SPAM sites. I'm...

I'm *SO* ashamed of the city in which I was born, New Orleans. I cringe every time I hear of another crime committed by a Katrina evacuee here in my adopted city of Houston. In one instance a woman here had taken in two evacuees to live with her. She fed them, bought them clothes, and opened her...

This question is especially for people who take generic anti-depressants, because I'm interested in the effect on mood. But if someone has a relevant story about a different kind of drug, please chime in! I've been on generic Effexor for a few years, while I was a member of Kaiser HMO. Then I left...

Hi all, I could use some dental advice. One of my molars has become very sensitive to cold over the past several months. Heat also bothers it somewhat, so I've been chewing mostly on the other side for most of that time. It's gotten bad enough that I have to use warm water to rinse my mouth out...

Well, the doctor diagnosed me, right? So I continue to live up to the diagnosis - hehe. I managed to somehow do the unthinkable. Anyone remember Saturday Night Live (in the very early days) and their sketch "The Pepsi Syndrome"? It wasn't Pepsi, but Sierra Mist. And I spilled it on my...

Had a race between hard drive of old puter dying (it was making a horrible noise) and me being able to back the photos up. The photos won, but I didn't get a chance to back much else up before it died. I got a new puter (new to me, that is). Bonus: A hard drive free from the electronic clutter...

The Yolet goes into hospital to have grommets inserted in his ears in th early hours of tomorrow. Its not a major operation, and should stop the almost permanent round of ear infections and subsequent grumpiness, as well as possibly improving his balance and speech devlopment, but I', his mother,...

Don't know if you folks know, but terrorists in Russia are keeping over 300 people as hostages in a school, a fair percentage of those children on their first day. Its been going on for 3 days now, and the terrorists still haven't allowed food into the site. Besides cursing these cowards with...

Here's a photo of a puppy being pulled from a destroyed house in Chile. I sure hope the baby ends up with either its humans or a new home. http://sonic.net/~jwermont/misc/animals/dog_rescue_chile.jpg Joyce -- Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful