trinacriabob

Easy on a hasty Intermountain West migration. I don't know if ocnblu is just joking. The West is beautiful, particularly the unpopulated parts, but what you gain in scenery, you may lose in other things. My experience is that the people who have the toughest time adjusting to the (North)west are the Southern Californians and the Northeasterners. Partly, it's that the locals wished those folks never moved in. The other part is that the transplants speak their minds and the locals are passive-aggressive, typical of the "indigenous" population. There are so many other beautiful areas of our country that offer more peace and quiet without the shock to one's system.....the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Smokies, the Santa Fe area of New Mexico (though TOO dry), to name a few. There are a lot of people out there who suck, that's for sure.

....but in an unplanned/no ulterior motive kind of way. I didn't even have a CHANCE to say no. She just called me up and told me about someone coming to the next meeting....it's wasn't cool.

LMAO. Agreed. The car commercials are either in that tunnel....or on Flower or Figureoa in the Financial District. Never fails. In fact, in one truly disgusting violent movie ("Seven"), it was supposed to be in an Eastern city and then, in the end, when "the box" is delivered, they are in the desert outskirts of Los Angeles. Now, come on, if you can afford Kevin Spacey and Brad Pitt, then you can afford NOT to make such a blunder that any reasonably well-traveled person would identify.

ONLY is the operative word here. But it depends on HOW young and how that relates to your age. However, I think that, for people who do it this way ALL the time, it's about coveting youth and the need for affirmation. Sidestepping the DATING issue, most people hang around people their own age, +/- 5 years. I think that's pretty standard. You went through the same phases at the same time and in the same decade. There are people at work in different age brackets that come by to "visit" or want to go to lunch. This one lady, early 60s, from New York and is who is sitcom-Italian bought me lunch 2 weeks ago. This one guy who is in his mid-20s and went to UCLA always comes by to "visit" or wants to go to lunch - well, he loves to talk about LA and he loves to complain...is it any wonder? And single moms? Arrrgh. Who wants someone else's problems? Not PC...but WTF. I've only spent $ 2 on one...in my life! Our receptionist at the last firm I worked for wanted to go to dinner one Saturday and she brought her daughter. The only reason I spent $ 2 is because, when the bill came, I put down a $ 20 when my tab, with 15 % tip, would have been about $ 18. But, yeah, if it's ALWAYS younger, then that's about "something else."

There are lots of annoying old bags you run into in public places. If they're out of bounds, then I feel they are NOT entitled to respect. But maybe for non-PC reasons, the N.E. tends to have more of them. If not annoying, they can be salt of the earth....so some are cool, like this lady from Queens who works down the hall from me. Similar story - had a co-worker out West who hailed from Long Island. Some diner was doing a $ 1.99 breakfast. This witch of a (somewhat well-off) matron started going off on this poor Puerto Rican waitress who could barely speak English: "My eggs are runny, my meat isn't done correctly, my toast is cold." My co-worker, who is normally really laid-back, overheard this whole scene and ripped into her. His wife was surprised. But he verbally went for this lady's throat, which she wasn't expecting and this witch was dumbfounded. Yeah, I take it you're in the outer reaches of metro Philly...I could see the "spillover" effect. What the heck is a Wawa?

I have a couple of meetings/classes/hobbies I go to in the evenings in my spare time after work. This lady runs one of them. She's pretty cool. However, she just called me to tell me about this chick she wants to invite to the next one and part of the thing is that she would like this chick to meet me. Un-f*cking-believable. It's too late. I'm sure this chick will come to the next meeting. This is MY time to unwind and I don't go to "mind expanding" events to meet people, other than on a platonic level. This changes the complexion of this event for me. Have you guys experienced this? This ridiculous need to matchmake. Not only that, what I have found every time is that a woman always tries to help out another woman rather than process this from what might be on YOUR "check-list." It's a "boundary" problem. Do you agree?

my response to thread: madame Hey, ZL, it's also "figlio di puttana" (sounds just like filho)

sermon

Only one movie comes to mind for an error and I can't believe I watched the whole thing: "A League of their Own" which had Geena Davis as one of the ball players. Her fiance, Bob from Oregon, is going to bring her back home where they will get married. First, there are few Geena Davis-alikes in Oregon. Next, the terrain and deciduous vegetation on Bob's family's farm was not at all like the area. There were no hemlock or fir, no grade change and no gray skies to be seen.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

How's the rust factor on any of these cars considering where you live?

The HOLLYWOOD Sign (right below the Griffith Park Observatory)

gastronomy

I'm not answering to your specific quote but to the Slick Willy days. Slick Willy inherited the reins after a recession (1990-1991) and gave them up before another recession (2001-2002). The business cycle runs about every 8 to 10 years. This time it's a little early. You can almost set your clock to it. Check the first couple of chapters of any Macroeconomics introductory college text. Slick Willy's "great" Presidency was, in some part, circumstantial. Also, he raised taxes, though not in a pronounced manner, to help fill the coffers. The combo of higher taxes and an expansion mode in the economy boded well for the overall picture. As a person, I thought Slick Willy was repulsive. So was his wife. Both of them are very intelligent and, of course, overly ambitious. No, I am not partisan - I am an Independent and I vote for the candidate.

Limburger cheese

Yes, Independent means thinking for oneself, Yes, who would have thought we would see another Enron in less than 7 years?

Canada

I'm on the way to work today and one sees headlines on the paper, the MSN home page and all kinds of crap. And then you can't help but think: Aren't both Presidential tickets lacking? At the time we need good leadership the most, we have (1) a reasonably likable but 72 y.o. Arizona Republican who picks a woman who just had a baby within the last 6 months and whose (national and) international political savvy is thoroughly questionable, and (2) a well-educated but almost completely inexperienced Illinois Democrat who delivers all this unsubstantiated rhetoric and sounds like a Bible church preacher if you're listening to him from the other room. Out of 302 million people living here, is this all there is? To the smart people out there, and I think that's almost everyone here: (1) doesn't it scare you that this small-town Idaho newscaster who went to a handful of colleges to get ONE degree... and winks.... could be your Commander in Chief? and (2) don't you realize that this man who is thought to be charismatic and articulate will hardly solve all of our problems and that the stripes of US flag as a fading inset within a large "O," as if it was a "field of dreams," is just a "pipe dream?" Seriously...it's a Presidential election, not a judging call at a Toastmasters meeting. Yes, both Presidential tickets are lacking. Chime in...but try to keep it civil.

driver

Layin' low, Joe? Rise to the occasion* and celebrate your birthday! Have a great birthday! *shucks, I guess that can be interpreted several ways.

Asking or telling us? At $4, what's to wait? I have seen some dorky company gyms with minimal equipment, but some company gyms are actually top notch, with towels, shaving cream/razors, quality shampoos. Sometimes, I don't think I'd want to belong to a company gym because who wants to work out with co-workers? Do you have a chain like Bally's or 24 Hour Fitness you can belong to? That's what I'd do.

tattoo (NOT)

tribe

12 Steps

trapezoid