nbblood

Figure skate blades (and hockey skates for that matter) are not sharpened to a point like a knife blade, per se. Rather they are a thin flat surface and the edges are sharp. So direct downward pressure wouldn't necessarily cut. Sliding the blade forward may though, as the edges are sharpened. There have been many accidents with people being seriously cut with skate blades, but they usually occur with a slicing motion and not just downward pressure. Those short-track speed skating blades, I would imagine, have got to be sharpened more though to hold in those curves. But that's just me guessing. I don't know much at all about speed skating skates. I just can't imagine holding those turns at those speeds at those angle pitches without something pretty dang sharp.

Cat Bathing As A Martial Art A. Know that although the cat has the advantage of quickness and lack of concern for human life, you have the advantage of strength. Capitalize on that advantage by selecting the battlefield. Don't try to bathe him in an open area where he can force you to chase him. Pick a very small bathroom. If your bathroom is more than four feet square, I recommend that you get in the tub with the cat and close the sliding-glass doors as if you were about to take a shower. (A simple shower curtain will not do. A berserk cat can shred a three-ply rubber shower curtain quicker than a politician can shift positions.) B. Know that a cat has claws and will not hesitate to remove all the skin from your body. Your advantage here is that you are smart and know how to dress to protect yourself. I recommend canvas overalls tucked into high-top construction boots, a pair of steel-mesh gloves, an army helmet, a hockey face-mask, and a long-sleeved flak jacket. C. Use the element of surprise. Pick up your cat nonchalantly, as if to simply carry him to his supper dish. (Cats will not usually notice your strange attire. They have little or no interest in fashion as a rule.) D. Once you are inside the bathroom, speed is essential to survival. In a single liquid motion, shut the bathroom door, step into the tub enclosure, slide the glass door shut, dip the cat in the water and squirt him with shampoo. You have begun one of the wildest 45 seconds of your life. E. Cats have no handles. Add the fact that he now has soapy fur, and the problem is radically compounded. Do not expect to hold on to him for more than two or three seconds at a time. When you have him, however, you must remember to give him another squirt of shampoo and rub like crazy. He'll then spring free and fall back into the water, thereby rinsing himself off. (The national record for cats is three latherings, so don't expect too much.) F. Next, the cat must be dried. Novice cat bathers always assume this part will be the most difficult, for humans generally are worn out at this point and the cat is just getting really determined. In fact, the drying is simple compared with what you have just been through. That's because by now the cat is semi-permanently affixed to your right leg. You simply pop the drain plug with your foot, reach for your towel and wait. (Occasionally, however, the cat will end up clinging to the top of your army helmet. If this happens, the best thing you can do is to shake him loose and to encourage him toward your leg.) After all the water is drained from the tub, it is a simple matter to just reach down and dry the cat. In a few days the cat will relax enough to be removed from your leg. He will usually have nothing to say for about three weeks and will spend a lot of time sitting with his back to you. He might even become psychoceramic and develop the fixed stare of a plaster figurine. You will be tempted to assume he is angry. This isn't usually the case. As a rule he is simply plotting ways to get through your defenses and injure you for life the next time you decide to give him a bath. But at least now he smells a lot better.

**SPOILER****SPOILER****SPOILER****SPOILER****SPOILER****SPOILER****SPOILER** In case you don't want to wait for NBC's coverage, Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso from the U.S. went 1, 2, respectively, in the Women's Downhill event.

Yep. I understand all that. I'd still be willing to entertain that challenge. Bring it on!

Give me that problem. I think I can handle it.

Yeah, but I entered 150 of my closest (little did they know) friends!

Will the GMC Terrain and the $500K influence your decision? Oh, and sorry, I just entered so now I'm gonna win!

Area 51 You've heard of the Air Force's ultra-high-security, super-secret base in Nevada, known simply as "Area 51?" Well, late one afternoon, the Air Force folks out at Area 51 were surprised to see a Cessna landing at their "secret" base. They immediately impounded the aircraft and hauled the pilot into an interrogation room. The pilot's story was that he took off from Vegas, got lost, and spotted the Base just as he was about to run out of fuel. The Air Force started a full FBI background check on the pilot and held him overnight during the investigation. By the next day, they were finally convinced that the pilot really was lost and wasn't a spy. They gassed up his airplane, gave him a terrifying "you-did-not-see-a-base" briefing, complete with threats of spending the rest of his life in prison, told him Vegas was that-a-way on such-and-such a heading, and sent him on his way. The next day, to the total disbelief of the Air Force, the same Cessna showed up again. Once again, the MP's surrounded the plane... only this time there were two people in the plane. The same pilot jumped out and said, "Do anything you want to me, but my wife is in the plane and you have to tell her where I was last night!"

I just started thinking about what goes on in February. We have the Superbowl (1 day)and the Daytona 500 (4 days)*, the two largest spectator events in the U.S. On top of that, this year we have the Winter Olympics (16 days). Golf gets the 2010 season underway with the Accenture Match Play Championship (5 days), then the PGA tour season opener, Phoenix Open (4 days). I think the NBA had some little event in Dallas this year (1 day), but I'm still trying to figure out who cares about that one or what exactly it was. Additionally college basketball counts down to March Madness, the NBA (as if anybody cares) and NHL (except the Olympic break) seasons are in full swing, and the PGA and NASCAR circuits are in their early season schedules (ongoing throughout). All that and, perhaps most importantly, players start reporting for MLB Spring Training this month too! That's more days worth of sports than February has days to offer. I'm not calling in "sick" to work. I'm calling in "sports" to work! Do I get a credit for the excess sports for which February doesn't have enough days? * if you count the Gatorade Duels and the Nationwide race ** I don't hate basketball, I'm just not a fan of the individual "franchise" promotion entity that is the NBA, which takes a team sport and makes it an individual glamour promotion and in the process, promotes thuggery and egotism to it's max potential by overpaying it's athletes to proportions unbelievable, even in comparison to other major sports organizations, such as the NFL, MLB, or NHL. I'm not a fan of NBA basketball, did you get that along the way?

Q: What's the difference between a bad golfer and a bad skydiver? A: A bad golfer goes, "Whack"...."Oh, Crap!". A bad skydiver goes, "Oh, Crap!"......"Whack!"

You didn't read the post I made after that, did you? Sometimes continuing to read really helps you out.

You're simply not going to convince me that it is not even and I'm not going to convince you that it is, so we'll just have to agree to disagree. I'm ok with that. Two different perspectives for people to consider. Both with valid arguments. I'll leave it at that.

Aha....and that is the reason why I think poker doesn't meet in tune with what is right. It is simply trying to get the other person's money. You said it more eloquently than I could. I agree with what you've said here. This is why I ultimately gave up poker. Nobody can convince me it is "gambling", to me that is simply a game of chance, which poker most certainly is not. But it most certainly is not a "righteous activity" for the very reasons you point out. At least that's the way I see it. Anyway, I agree (mostly). Very well said.

lol....I agree. I was just stirring the pot.

This is not true. There are tournaments. It is a collection of many hands. You get nothing from hand to hand. You very much can look at it as a bunch of statistical data. Your argument is not valid in regard to tournaments. Prizes are awarded based on the place finished in the tournament, not averaged out and everybody gets a piece as you imply. I gave up poker because I don't think it's in tune with the gospel. But not for the reasons you state. When I did play poker I very much hoped for players with your understanding to sit at the table, because they very clearly did not understand the skill aspect. There's a reason why the same players are successful over and over and the same players are unsuccessful over and over. It's NOT because of luck. Anyway, we can agree to disagree. Again, I don't think poker is in tune with the Gospel. It is addictive and stimulates qualities such as greed, resentment, anger, etc. In fact it is a breeding ground for it. But it certainly is not gambling in my mind. It is a game of skill. That's all. I've probably given it more time and publicity than it deserves already.

Well, I lost ALL of the money I invested in Delta Airlines and 99% of the money I invested in GM. I guess, by this definition, my stock investments were indeed gambling.

I understand what you're saying, but I don't necessarily agree. Over the course of a poker tournament, for instance, any given player will have the same probability of having the same number of good hands. In other words, over the long term it IS even. It's how you play the hands that matters. Being able to win without a good hand, for instance. Don't get me wrong. I'm NOT arguing that playing poker is acceptable (or not for that matter). I'm just pointing out an interesting conundrum. You're argument is valid for any single hand dealt, but not over a long term. Over the long term, things are very much even.

Ok, what about entering a golf tournament with the potential to win a prize? How is this different, say, from entering a poker tournament? Do we disqualify all sporting events that charge an entry fee for the opportunity to win a prize? Poker is very much a game of skill, not chance. Sure there is an element of chance, but skill prevails. Anybody that doesn't believe that doesn't really know poker. How is this different from other events of skill?

Sometimes I am appalled at the way we feel we need to express our opinions. This is one of those times. I really try not to be judgmental, so I realize the irony of this post, but I just think we should be able to treat each other with a lot more dignity and respect than this, whether we agree or disagree. Between this and the BrotherBear post today, I'm quite discouraged at the way we, as a community, sometimes treat each other. Oh, and I'm not claiming innocence, for the record. I have made posts I wish I hadn't, in retrospect, too. But I just don't think this is in the spirit of church teachings and is demeaning. There, that's my opinion. For what it's worth.

Smart Mom A mother was walking with her four year old daughter one day when the daughter picked up something off the ground and started to put it into her mouth. The mother stopped her and said she shouldn't do that. "Why," asked the little girl. "Because it’s dirty. It's been on the ground. You don't know where it's been. It probably has germs." The little girl looked up at her mom with admiration and asked, "How do you know so much?" Thinking quickly, the mother said, "All moms know so much. We have to. It's on the Mommy Test. If you don't know it, you don't get to be a mommy." The little girl pondered this for a few minutes, then her face brightened. "I get it!" she said. "If you don't pass the test, you get to be a daddy!" "Yup," said the mom.

Differences Between Men and Women Names If Mary, Susan, Claire and Barbara go out for lunch, they will call each other Mary, Susan, Claire and Barbara. If John, Brad, Tony and Daniel go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Bruno, Scrappy, Peanut-Head and Godzilla. Eating Out When the bill arrives, John, Brad, Tony and Daniel will each throw in $20, even though the total is only $34.25. None of them will have any smaller bills and none will admit they want change back. When Mary, Susan, Claire and Barbara get their bill, out come the pocket calculators. Money A man will pay $10 for a $5 item he needs. A woman will pay $5 for a $10 item that she doesn't need, because it's on sale. Bathrooms A man has five items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, razor, shaving cream, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Motel 6. The average number of items in a woman's bathroom is 328. The average man would not be able to identify most of them. Arguments Women always have the last word in an argument. Anything a man adds after that is the beginning of a new argument. Cats Women love cats. Men may say they love cats, but when women are not looking, men kick cats. Future A woman worries about the future -- until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future -- until he gets a wife. Success A successful man is one who makes more money than can be spent by his wife. A successful woman is one who can find that a man. Marriage A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does. Dressing Up A woman will dress up when she goes shopping, empties the garbage, answers the phone, waters the plants, gets the mail and reads a book. A man will dress up for weddings and funerals. Natural Men wake up looking as good as when they went to bed. Women will somehow deteriorate during the night. Children A woman knows all about her children. She knows about their best friends, romances, secret hopes and dreams, favorite foods, fears and dental appointments. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house. Thought for the Day Married men should forget their mistakes. There is no need for two people to remember the same thing.

Nah, blood doesn't bother me, it's like it's part of my name.

Pam- When making gingerbread men, do you spray the cookie sheet with PAM or do you use Crisco?

lol....you didn't read the whole thread, did ya?....just giving you grief.....lol