Nope, of course not. Well, we'll figure it all out when we get home. I forgot, again, to pull something out for dinner as well. But, I did remember to e-mail his JROTC teacher about the kinds of guns they use in marksmanship. That's something anyway.

Eh, just get anything you need done together, I can throw some stuff in with mine. I can do the chairs while you're gone. The only thing I can't do is get everything down at once and I hate to keep running up and down the steps. Too much, and it bothers my knee, still. Boo can help me with that.

My theory is, in the absence of peace anywhere in this world, there were no other likely candidates. But I agree, he didn't make the decision, "they" did. I'm sure they had their reasons.

Yeah, but I'm broke til next week. Or close enough anyway. I just need to not be so lazy

No, I was just kidding. I have to do laundry tonight, if someone will help me get everything downstairs, I'll scrub them when I'm doing that.

Chairs. Might be a good idea except mine are FILTHY! They've been sitting on my balcony for 3 years completely untouched. Probably be easier just to buy new ones

Huh, I didn't know that about the dynamite. Kind of ironic, no?

Oh, pretty good, just waiting for the day to end. Get to go home and help boo get his uniform ready for tomorrow's parade. He has to be there at something like 8:30 and I know we won't have time in the morning. Supposed to be 86 here today but tomorrow, low 60's and rain woo hoo!

Morning ((((Pam))))

How's everything today?

Yes, I'm intelligent enough to get your point. I just happen to disagree with it. I'm not saying you need to agree with me, but intelligent people can often look at other perspectives and realize that there may be truth there as well. Ignorant people get stuck in the rut of their own ignorance.

Get MY point.

I've been thinking of giving that a try. Question, when you're cooking with it, does it "behave" differently in a recipe? Or is it really and truly interchangeable?

I wonder, especially in baking, as butter behaves slightly different than margarine, different sugars behave differently, etc.

Thanks!

I like President Obama. That being said, I can think of other people who were just as deserving, and probably more so. I was really rather surprised at the announcement. I think that talk is cheap. Anyone can talk the talk, but it takes time to prove you can walk it as well. While I believe he will probably be deserving some day, I am not sure that now is that "some day."

I hate to speak a painful truth here, and what I am about to say is in no way denigrating to your friend and what she is experiencing. But, unfortunately, those are the side effects of the treatments and right now, the treatment she had is the best available.

You say she is in more pain now than she was before? Yes, this is very likely true. But, and until you've watched someone you love die from end-stage cancer, you have no idea what pain and suffering is. Without treatment, she would be in far worse shape and most likely, dead.

I know you don't want to believe it, but the doctors and researchers KNOW what the treatments are like and there are treatments being researched every day that will help eradicate these issues. I know this as I am on one of the few successful drugs of this type, called "smart drugs." I know that there are several types of these drugs in development now for treating breast cancer (as well as other types of cancers). It takes at minimum 10 years to bring a drug to the clinical trial stage, it takes on average another 2-3 years of trials on humans, then it takes on average another 2-3 years to get them approved. And that's only if there are no setbacks along the way. Many of these drugs never make it past the development stage. And many more never make it through stage 1 clinical trials. Smart drugs really just came into the forefront of research about 15 years ago. Some are just now reaching the trial stage. Maybe in 5 years or so, they will be available to the general public and will help eradicate not only the disease but the suffering that goes along with treatment. We can only have hope because without hope, we die.

Why bother? Just chalk it up to some people just don't have a clue and couldn't buy one if they were the richest person in the world

Well, I'm sorry for your friend. But she did have choices. She could have opted for no treatment, many do. She could have opted to go out of the states for alternative therapies as many do. She could have opted for masectomies, as many do. I've been on daily chemo shots or pills for the past 12 1/2 years, I live the problems your friend is dealing with every damn day. But you know what, it beats the alternative, IMO.

Unfortunately, there is no cure right now, but we are far further along than we were 20 years ago when treatment was MUCH worse or 30 years ago when there was no treatment at all. Treatment then was as likely to kill you as the disease was.

Frankly, I get tired of people bashing the pharmaceutical companies. They have no idea the billions of dollars that are spent in research every year, only to find out that it didn't work. The billions of dollars in research to try to make what treatments they do have not as painful or lethal. So, yes, when the drug companies do find something that works, or works better, or works with fewer side effects, it IS expensive. And you know what, they DO need to recoup their costs because the money they recoup goes into even MORE research to try to find ways of making things better. Yes, these companies make a LOT of money (some of them) but the SPEND a lot of money as well. I, for one, do not begrudge them any profit that they earn, because any life they save or make better is worth it.

And, BTW, the major drug companies DO donate billions of dollars in drugs every year, to developing countries and the under or uninsured in the U.S.

I do not work for a drug company. But, unfortunately, I DO have a lot of experience in dealing with them as a leukemia patient who was involved in a clinical trial of a drug without which I wouldn't be here right now. Let me tell you something, I've spoken with the doctors, I've spoken with the heads of the drug companies, I've spoken with the researchers. There isn't ONE who doesn't wish they were unemployed. Because that would mean they had done their job.

Yikes, that blows ((((Cap))))

Hope today's a better day

Personally, I liked your profile, I think it says a lot about you and your personality. It also screams that you're intelligent and articulate, intimidating qualities for some For those who don't get it, oh well.

(((((((((((Erin)))))))))))))

Happy Birthday sweets!