Nataly

Sweetie, there are fat people in other countries. Have you ever traveled through Europe? I have and I can tell you that food is much more expensive. Have I been to Europe? No ... I was only born there ... and spent the first 24 years of my life. Sure there are "fat people" everywhere ... nowhere in the world to the extent we have here in the US ... and that's an undisputed fact. O I don't think the US beats the rest of the world when it comes to fat people. If the link doesn't work, just google fattest countries in the world. http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/obesity.html "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

You may be on to something there! He did get a little concerned last night when I told him that I have to move in the near future due to the house I'm renting being listed for sale. His response was, "well, don't go too far away" AHA!! So my theory *does* have some merit!! If you're going to break his heart, at least do it gently.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Are you part Persian? Nope.. I just don't see the sense in re-living a painful hearbreak. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I agree with that ... it makes perfect sense ... O I don't agree with that. Well, not completely. I'm sure its that way for some, but I've been in fwb situations where we were very up front about not wanting a full on relationship for what ever reason. It was great, we really were friends with benefits. Yes, but just because you were laid back about it, doesn't mean he didn't have a big crush on you!! You'll never really know, will you? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Umm.. Yeah.. Wow.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

A very interesting response.. I have mixed feelings about "sex with the ex"... And about maintaining friendship after a breakup... I've maintained friendships with a couple of exes - but only because for me it was always pretty platonic in the first place.. The ones I loved I still associate with hearbreak & I kinda want to keep it on that bitter-sweet level.. The guys I know who are friends with all their exes are serious slutts (and keep in touch mostly because they still consider the girls potential booty-calls..) But obviously the same can't be true for *everyone*... I've had sex with most of my exes after splitting up.. Sometimes it spelled BAD NEWS; in some cases it was better sex without any of the emotional upset of being in a bad relationship. Had sex a few times with the latest ex & it was lovely . But I decided in the new year that enough was enough.. It *was* stunting my emotional healing.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Funny - I thought the same thing when I read just the title.. Well put. IMO, if you're thinking of something else, you need to figure out whether you still want what you've got before exploring something new.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Hmm.. Easy to become fond of someone who makes you happy on a regular basis!! I have a theory that friends with benefits is usually a case of 1 person loves the other but settles for just sex as the other is not so interested.. I haven't ever tested this theory, though.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Ah ha ha!! Did you have an off-landing one too many times?! Edit: spelling "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

My mom doesn't see what the big deal is - she loves to tell people about her jump (she came with me on my first IAD jump and went just before me ). My friends either think it's cool, or think I'm a bit nuts, but everyone knows it makes me happy so they're all for it. The only person who gets upset about it is my ex's mom!! She loves me to pieces and thinks it's an unnecessary risk.. But then she thinks living in London is dangerous and worries about me in the "Big Smoke".. I would prefer it sometimes if she were a bit more laid back like my own mom, but she only worries out of love and concern so it's kinda sweet. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Took the words right out of my mouth!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY :) Sounds like you had a good one - hope you did at least a couple of things "normal" people would regret!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Awww!! Nice to see what you look like!

I can't disagree with you there. There are problems however you run things.. If you run a profit-making healthcare, it can mean the patient pays over the top for things he/she didn't necessarily need, which is obviously bad. If you run a not-for-profit healthcare, the budget is finite, so the whole system can turn into a cost-saving exercise, which can mean patients don't get procedures/drugs that they really do need. Now I know that the Brits among us will maybe say "that's why we have private *and* public healthcare".. But the truth is that healthcare will always be a hugely problematic area because the fact is that people who need it are vulnerable to begin with and there is no system that will suit *everybody*. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

+1

I'm like, "Why the hell are they wasting my time with this lame ass acting? Just get to the good stuff already!! Thank goodness for fast forward!!" Yep.. I skip through all the blah blah as well!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I didn't want to open this thread because I thought it would be some depressing story about how your best friend died 3 years ago.. But I'm glad I did - it really cheered me up to see someone so happy with his partner

That is awesome.. however, make the hospital work with you. They should be able to reduce the total bill by around half if you're actually paying on it. Tell them that you know the charges are elevated to compensate for contractual write offs for insurance companies. They know its fair and they'll do it. Every hospital has financial counselors. I can vouch for this being true... I thought my Canadian insurance covered me whilst abroad but it didn't. Long story short, after a fairly useless visit to the ER where they told me I *probably* wasn't suffering from heart failure, took 1 urine sample and asked me to lie down for half an hour, I got a bill for over $2,000. I subsequently considered selling my urine on ebay since it was clearly extremely valuable stuff!! When I explained my insurance didn't cover it and asked for an itemised bill, I was rather shocked by what they sent.. They had charged me for a box of kleenex, a box of q-tips, a box of medical gloves, et cetera, et cetera. I disputed it and the bill went down to a "mere" $400. I was still furious, but it was a LOT better than $2,000+. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Now go back up & read the very first sentence in this post again. What was it about the first sentence that made you go ""?! Was it the spelling mistakes.. Was that shocking to you? Hmm.. I'm, wondering about you dude..! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

The thing is that everyone gets turned on by different things.. Personally, I can't *stand* porn that tries to have a story-line, as most of the time the acting is REALLY bad, or the story is soooo corny it's actually a turn-off. But that's just me. For me, it has to look aesthetically pleasing so it's important for the *guy* to look attractive, as well as the woman.. Nothing more gross than watching a beautiful woman get porked by a fat, old, harry, sweaty man.. Ewww.. A lot of guys may not care, or even think about this point. Try selecting something together. You might be surprised by what she finds appealing - ask her what it is about it that she thinks she might find sexy.. If she picks something she ends up not liking, at least she won't be sitting there thinking *you're* a big perv!!! Edit spelling.. Damn spelling.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Too bad for him & you it was a glass office. Well, the glass is frosted, so you can't quite see.. But you can sure as hell hear everything GOOD THING it was me we're talking about.. Everyone *knew* I'm so boring it somehow had to relate to accounting, but they all had a good laugh. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Not my most embarrassing, but one I can share.. We got a new boss for the division.. This sexy womaniser who used to flirt with *all* the gorgeous women (so obviously he never even noticed me, the geeky accountant).. Anyway, I walked into his office on his 3rd day, and asked him in a panic: "Have you seen the pile of paperwork that your PA was supposed to give you?" (It was 2 days past the deadline.) He casually pointed to his desk and said "yeah, that pile over there?" And I shouted (loud enough for the entire floor to hear) "OH MY GOD - GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" I turned bright red and said "the paperwork, I mean"... And he answered in a really sly way "of course you did". I don't easily get embarrassed, but at that moment I wanted to crawl under the rug and die.. When I stepped out of his (glass) office, I got a standing ovation from the entire department. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

This girl has lost *all* her credibility.. What an *idiot*!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

If you push hard enough anyone can become colourful "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

That's just silly!! Name one rule that *always* applies!! Learning English as a second language, I found this one particularly useful.. *sigh*.. Oh well.. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss