Alaskagain

The simpler the better, in my opinion. It is one of my peeves that in order to fill out a government required form, most people have to hire someone else to do it for them. A flat tax would be better than all the rules and regs we have now - but it is still based on income.

Elphaba, I am ROLLING on the Floor! You are a stitch! Berry, I have always heard Cranberry Juice; that recipe is a new one to me! But shoot, I'd certainly give it a try. I would also request a blessing -- but do that BEFORE you drink the 6 pack.

I agree.

Doug, how wonderful! Your description of the events took me back to my own baptism and all the feelings of that day. What a grand spirit you have!

SF, will you share your recipe for that homemade chicken noodle soup? Did you make your own noodles? Noodles are SO easy! Egg Noodles: 2 cups all purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 beaten large eggs, 1/3 cup water, 1 teaspoon olive oil (or veggie cooking oil) Reserve 1/4 cup of the flour; sift together remaining flour and salt in a bowl, make a well in the middle; In another bowl combine eggs and water and oil, stir; pour egg mixture into flour mixture and mix well. Sprinkle reserved flour on flat surface and turn out dough onto it. Knead until smooth and elastic (8 to 10 minutes) Cover dough with clean cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. (You can rest too). Then divide dough into four equal portions. Roll out each portion into 12 inch square, (about 1/16 inch thick) then loosely roll up the square (like a jelly-roll). Cut slices about 1/4 inch wide. Gently shake the slices open, and cut them to desired length (we like them long, but some like 3" lengths). Spread them out on wire cooling rack, or flat on wax paper (you have to turn them over once to dry completely if you do this) Let dry 4 to 6 hours, or overnight, depends on your humidity level, or arrange on dehydrator shelves. Once dry, store in airtight back in fridge up to 3 days, or you can freeze for 8 months. (If you only want to make a small batch, you can store the unused 3 portions of dough in fridge for 3 days, but you need to let it come to room temperature to roll it out. Each portion makes about 1/4 pound of pasta.) To cook, put in hot water or broth for 2 minutes. (Add to chicken soup when it is through simmering, as the very last ingredient.) It sounds harder than it is, and so much more delicious than store bought packaged noodles. Does anyone know how to make a flan?

blame it on President Bush......... ..... But didn't Al Gore INVENT it? Maybe it is Clinton's fault (Either one, take your pick!)

1. The company presented the plan to the line staff; the line staff agreed to the change. 2. The line staff did not understand that the plan would cause a decrease in their pay. They would not have agreed to it if they had known. Now, did the supervisor present the plan to the line staff, or did another company spokesman present the plan? If another company spokesman did, then the supervisor is not responsible for how it was presented (i.e. omitting the outcome of less pay) If the supervisor personally presented the plan, and he did so in such a way that the line staff made their decision without all of the facts, then yes, he could be considered at fault, because he knew that it would adversely affect the workers. Even if a company representative is the one who presented the plan, if the supervisor was present during discussion, he could have at any time said, "This is what will happen. You will spend less time in traffic getting to and from work. You may save money on gas. You may be less stressed because of not dealing with heavy traffic. You will have 30 minutes more with your loving families in the afternoons. You will lose time-differential pay. Is it worth it?" I suppose that would have been the totally Christian presentation. That having been said, however, the line staff should have been intelligent enough to realize they were receiving time-differential based pay. It is rare that people getting paid a differential or piecework rate, aren't on the lookout for any change that will take money out of their paychecks. They do share in the responsibility of the outcome. They can accept that, or they can look with scorn upon the supervisor, because he sneakily and un-Christianly hid the facts during the presentation or in the discussion that followed. I can see that the supervisor is in a tough place, especially if he came up to the supervisory position through the line. Now, the supervisor can tell the line staff, "I'm sorry I hid these facts from you while you were debating the issue, please forgive me, I feel terrible about it. I got a bonus for doing that, and I'm willing to split it with all of you." Which will probably get him fired. Or, he can tell them "I was doing my job. Why do you say I'm not a good Christian because I am trying to do a good job for the company. When the company makes money, it means job security for a lot of you. When the union contract comes up, and you guys want a 12% raise, does that make you not a good Christian, because you want to take more of the company money and will go on strike to get it?" Or, he can consider the episode closed, suffer through the personal repercussions with grace, and life goes on. There are probably some other alternatives out there, these are just my thoughts.

There's nothing said so far that I don't agree with. Since you as a couple have paid tithing at the end of the year in the past, I can understand that your husband wants to continue doing the same thing this year. If your savings account is dwindling because of financial woes this year, I can understand your concern. A suggestion: Resolve together to not withdraw any more money from savings for the rest of the year (of which, there's not much left!), and from this point forward, deposit what would be your tithing from each of your paychecks into the savings account, specifically dedicating that money for that purpose. It shouldn't take any more discipline and sacrifice not to touch the savings, than it would to pay it direct to the bishop every week.

Family History Centers have only a limited access to Ancestry.com these days, but FamilySearch is continually expanding - free access to sites like Godfrey Memorial Library and others, and more to come. Godfrey is a good source and a whole lot less to subsribe yearly than Ancestry. A great free resource: USGenWeb The content varies county by county, but every county in US has a website, and there is uk genweb too. Some county volunteers have posted years' worth of obits, census, marriage records etc for their counties; other counties only have where to write to the county clerk for a copy of a record.

Pal, I'm going to jump right in here. I haven't reviewed all of your previous posts, just going by what I remember, which may be incorrect. So feel free to correct me. It hasn't been that long since you joined the church - maybe within the past year? For some reason - any reason - you stopped going to church. Now, you want to return to church, but you are living in a state of fear, and this is keeping you from returning to church. Whatever it is you have done, or whatever sin you think or know you have committed, please don't be afraid. Know that you can call and make an appointment with your Bishop or Branch President, and talk to him. He will not parade you up to the pulpit on the following Sunday and say "Look! See what this sinner Paladingirl has done!! Paladingirl is now disfellowshipped." Whatever you tell him will be held in confidence. There are consequences for sin, but he (and others) will help you through them. He is the only one who will be able to tell you whether what you have done is serious enough for disfellowship. The only way to stop being afraid is to make the appointment and keep it. So Go Do It! My prayers are with you!

I started to ask, do they have a union? :) No, the supervisor was not wrong. It is part of his job to help keep costs down. He may even receive a bonus based on a percentage of company savings. What is wrong with that? The employees have no room to complain here - they were presented with the plan beforehand and they agreed it would be a good idea. If they are commuting a half-hour earlier and are no longer sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway, they are probably saving $300 a month in gas, and what is the value of the diminished traffic time and stress? If someone is saying the guy is not a true Christian because of this, they are way out of line, IMO. The union will probably file a grievance and get the whole thing rescinded anyway. And the company will have to retropay what would have been earned in time-differential, and there goes the supervisor's bonus, increased shareholder dividends, and better stock-options for the line crew. (I am not ANTI-union, by the way - I am a capitalist; but my favorite way of doing business is worker-owned shareholding - it is the fairest form of capitalism, IMO)

As Pale would say, LOL!

It's not garbage, Shan. And we can tell when you're being sarcastic. I don't have any clinical studies to back it up, but I FEEL better when I help someone else. (That is NOT to say that anyone suffers from depression because they aren't treating other people well.) Maybe doing certain things (like eating right, exercising, and showing concern for others) produces desired brain chemicals and helps level off the imbalance. Just like doing other things (like drinking alcohol, being alone for extended periods, or being self-deprecating) can increase the level of depression. That is not saying there isn't a basic chemical imbalance to begin with. It is true that some actions help, and others make it worse. (edited to add emoticon)

I'm not a-train, but . . . If a GA came to me and asked for the hand of my 14 yr old daughter, I would probably tell him of my firm testimony of the church, and that I would like to fast and pray about it first. Then I would fast and pray . . . for at least 4 years.

TMI (Congrats on the wedding though! )

I have had a diagnosis of "clinical depression" for many years. It's great that you have found a medication that helps. In some cases, it takes a while to find the right prescription and the right dosage. It took years for me, and now I only take meds over the winter months, when it seems to get worse. (Seasonal Adjustment Disorder or maybe just Post-Christmas let down? :) ) It is nothing to be ashamed of; if you want to tell your friends, just tell them - maybe start with your visiting teacher or your closest friend? If you want to form a support group, just let a few people know - it may surprise you who else has the same diagnosis. One day in the church kitchen on activity night, I said, "Oh, I can't forget to stop at the pharmacy on the way home to pick up my prescription of xxxbrand name" and 3 (out of 8) other ladies turned around and said "That works really well." One of the biggest problems I have is, sometimes I am unhappy about a particular situation, and then I blame it on depression instead of taking care of the problem. When I realize the problem is being compounded because of it, I just slap my forehead and go DUH, and get to work on it. Another problem is, sometimes medication keeps me from feeling promptings of the HS, and on the other hand, sometimes depression does the same thing. I have to work at being sensitive and receptive. I also work at being happy, and having positive influences around me, and staying close to the gospel. Compassionate service for others also helps a lot - there is nothing to buoy up my mental state as much as doing something nice or being helpful to another person. I hope my comments have helped. Good luck!

You were JOKING?!!!

Thank you, thank you. I have something I have been struggling with. This helps me a lot. Makes me feel better just reading it. I am cutting and pasting it to my notebook, if that is okay with you all. Thank you. Thank you.

Both, Penlady and Elphaba -- Very Well Put!

I don't expect to see on this forum a full fledged National Forensic League approved thread. When some are talking about "debate" here, that is what they want, a formal debate, point for point. I'm generally not very interested in that, and I don't think that's why this forum exists. Not that I don't like to think, I try to do that a couple of times a day. :) (If I want to read debate, I'll go to MADB.) I prefer friendly discussions of ideas, articles, etc., with a link to appropriate articles that I can go to if I desire. I don't want to have to wade through lengthy cut-and-pastes. If you have a point, get to it. If you have a personal opinion you want to make public, it's certainly ok to do it - but don't complain about it if it evokes an emotional response from someone else. I like learning more about church history, the development of doctrine, etc., and appreciate the sharing of knowledge in a variety of areas, as long as the ultimate goal is not to tear down, but to uplift.

But, but, but, but, but we NEED more SCIENCE stuff! I especially like another article linked at the bottom of the page, re: injured Bills player Kevin Everett, the x-ray is fab-u- lous dah-ling!

I am sad for you, with you.

LOVE it!

DERAILING - Just an aside --- about the title "20,000 New Yorkers In Manhattan". . . Aren't there at least 20,000 New Yorkers in Manhattan every day? I know, I'm just being a smart alec -- take it the fun spirit it is meant and go on -----:)

Winnie, Oh my! It is perfectly OK for you to take a "time out". Of course, you are depressed - who wouldn't be? You've had a LOT of turmoil in the past year, and you have given so much of yourself. Now that things are settling down, permit yourself to fall apart a bit. Give yourself time to grieve -- and ask for help to get that wonderful new house (that you are finally in) unpacked and put straight! It is hard for me to imagine that your Bishop will not release you, but if you decide you can't 'gracefully' ask for that - then ask your husband to help you with that calling and have him go to the pack meetings with you. And finding someone else for a talk should be no problem, just don't wait till Saturday night to let them know! I hope you feel better soon!