I couldn't make stuff like this up.

Broadband Yes, Toilet No

...Toilets that flush, in this calculus, were deemed superfluous. A cheerily painted outhouse takes the place of an expensive septic system. Their waste, which is untreated, eventually degrades. Showers also didn’t make the cut; they take a weekly hourlong walk to town to wash their clothes and themselves. Though they would eventually like to have a wash house, they said that trekking has taught them to cope without everyday luxuries like hot showers.

With no dishwasher or running water, they sometimes enlist dogs — their family’s and those of the neighbors — to lick plates clean before scrubbing the dishes in hand-drawn well water,
which they said saves energy. For pragmatic reasons, Mr. Higman said, “We do have lower standards than a lot of people about how clean things have to be.” ...

man west virginia is just terrible

Gee, really???

I think that even 50 years ago, a lot of this would have been acceptable. Our standards have just changed.

By MP Dunleavey MSN Money

The January issue of Consumer Reports just came in the mail, and what I found on Page 8 shocked me. There were two bottles of Nivea body wash: one for men priced at $5.49 and one for women costing $7.49.

Why the 2-buck difference? Nivea's reason, according to Consumer Reports senior editor Tod Marks, is that the women's product is made with "skin-sensation technology," which makes it more expensive. I tried to imagine a bigger load of bunk. I failed.

Consumer Reports compared six products that come in his-and-hers versions (or a neutral edition and a feminine one): shaving cream, antiperspirant, pain reliever, eye cream, body wash and razors. The magazine found that products aimed specifically at women can cost more than 50% extra.

OK, you might say, is it really worth jumping up and down about the cost of soap and razors? Yes, because the body wash surcharge is just the latest in a long line of puzzling, outrageous gender-based price differences. Whether you're talking haircuts or health insurance, moisturizers or mortgages, women are typically charged more than men for the necessities of life.

Women have boobs. They need more body wash to cover them.

New picture...definitely my favorite one so far

Whisper,

She's absolutely adorable. What an angelic beautiful face.



TIS

You gotta a Angel there Whisp. Give her a big kiss for me.

Wow she's got a lot of hair! That's gotta be the 2nd cutest baby girl on these forums, Whisp.

Just read this on MSN about Facebook's Farmville which some criticize as a gross misrepresentation of farm life:

"In 2004, Eleanor Agnew wrote a memoir, Back From the Land, about her homesteading experience. After being lured by the idealism of living in nature and trying to live off the land, she eventually moved back to the city. Life in the country was tough. She spent an exorbitant amount of time making ketchup. Her marriage disintegrated. “Liking the idea was not enough,” she writes. Liking just the idea of farming has little potential to transform the world; Farmville’s online community of artificial soybean farmers won’t improve our food system. To do that we need real farming, and that's not a game. It’s time to support actual small farmers and stop playing around."

^You have got to be kidding me.

Spiro Agnew's wife made ketchup????

so she went to farming after play a game?....well then i just got done playing the new batman game, so i guess i should dress up in tights, jump of buildings with neat gadgets, and catch a villain in joker make-up.

She's inspired me to quit truck driving and start farming. Wait, who's going to haul the crops?

FarmTown is better.

For any Board members who are Irish:

I watched a program tonight wherein one of the characters that was raised in an Irish family claimed that although her parents always told her they loved her, she was never hugged. Another character stated he was Irish also and that hugging is not the Irish way, even with one's children. Any truth to that?

It's really stereotyping, but I can only speak from my personal experience ~ both of my wives were Irish and they both came from families in which affection was not physically demonstrated.

Then again, both of my parents' families had similar lineage/background (not Irish) and my mother's side was somewhat reserved in physical demonstrations of love and affection while my dad's side was overly demonstrative.

To answer your question, oli, I don't know.

That is sad if it is true. I hug my kids every day when they lived at home. And when we get to see them I hug them everyday and tell them I love them. I do the same with my 13 year old.

Oli, are you talking about a documentary or a movie? I know HBO every now and then has a movie about Irish brothers and from what I gather is about their family experiences. I don't know the title though. It seemed every time it was on, it was in the middle and I hate tuning in to a movie late.

As far as affection goes, I don't know either, but for some reason it surprises me. Yea, it is sad not to be hugged. Of course coming from a huggy family is the reason why. We hug everyone.

So far no Irish member has replied but we all give our 2 cents.


TIS

TIS, it was an episode of Law and Order.

Very interesting, olivant. I grew up in an Irish home. I always felt great affection from my parents, but I don't recall being hugged a lot by them. I always hug my mom today, but my father, whom I love dearly, only gets a handshake and a pat on the back. My cousins, most of whom are Irish, tend to be more demonstrative with affection.

I remember reading about sociological tests where northern and southern Europeans were placed together in rooms in a social setting. The Southern Europeans, it was thought, were more physical and touchy than their northern counterparts. Anyhow, the test showed that the northerners liked to maintain greater space between each other, and as they conversed the southerners, who were used to getting very close to people when they spoke, would move closer to the northerners, who would gradually back up, and this was done all over the rooms.

It was a cultural thing.

I can only speak from personal experience. My husband, who is mostly German and Austrian, found the constant physical contact by my family off-putting at first. Gradually, he's grown to accept it as the norm, but his family is definitely NOT as touchy-feely as mine.

My husband points to our wedding as the perfect example. When I danced with my father, I clung to him, crying my eyes out. When it was my husband's turn to dance with him mom, she maintained a wide physical distance, and when he tried to say things like, "This is the only time in our lives we'll ever dance like this," she would quickly change the subject to, "You're all packed for your honeymoon, right?"

My daughters have also noticed that their paternal grandmother will rarely say the words, "I love you." My oldest will purposely say it on the phone now before hanging up, but my MIL will usually answer by blowing kisses.

As Klyd said, it's definitely a cultural thing.

My neighborhood (The Throggs Neck/Country Club section of the Bronx) is still predominantly Irish and Italian. Now I'm Italian American, but I have a ton of Irish American neighbors and friends. And while I'm absolutely certain that they love their families as much as we do, they definitely seem less visceral or "touchy feely" than we do.

I mean, if I walk into one of the local Italian places it's not at all uncommon to be greeted with a hug, or even a kiss on the cheek, if it's a happy occasion. If I was to walk into one of the local Irish pubs and tried to give a guy a hug, it wouldn't go over so well. And if I tried to give one of my Irish buddies a kiss on the cheek, I'd get a punch in the mouth .

james von brunn has died in prision. he was the shooter at the holocaust museum last year. i sure hope he is getting rape in hell right now.

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs...tal-report.aspx

Yayyy I finally found an internet connection

Bogey!!!!

How are ya, kid?

I'm pretty good. Working, sleeping, drinking. Putting up with a bum boyfriend.. For now, anyway. How's my Lead?

Lead's fine, honey.

A bum husband to a bum boyfriend? Let me know if I have to come out to West Virginia and kick some hillbilly ass, Bronx Italian style .

Yeah, I can't blame it all on him though. I've tried dating 3 guys since the marriage break-up. I sort of get bored with them. "Getting bored" isn't exactly the right term, but I can't think of a better one right now.

But its totally all his fault that he's a bum

Hi Bogey!! Welcome back.

There are a lot of jerks out there. Take your time, be careful and enjoy your independence for a while. Sometimes relationships just happen when we least expect.

TIS

There are tons of jerks out there and as one of those single unemployed bums all I say is...at least I have a college degree...I'm an educated bum lol

Hang in there Bogz, the right one will come along.