It is all relative you know. The ones I buy are indeed cheaper than most, but the cheapest one I have is $125.00 and my work kilts are pushing $200.00 each so....
I posted back to Charles and gave him the info.
I guess everyone is expecting me to come in here and have a hissy fit and tell Bob how sexist that is and go PMS on all of you for being alive. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, sexist, that is. I don't know.
Does every woman get that way when she is old? I doubt it. How about you guys? What happens to your parts prone to the effects of gravity? I suppose with the guy parts getting pulled down y'all just think, "Whoa! I'm getting bigger and better with age!"
Think of it this way guys...with granny's ninnies going south like that, grampy doesn't have to straighten his old crooked back out to get a little play goin on. They are right there where he is. It's all relative, right?
Yes, always interesting topics abound here at the Potpourri, this is true. I have read them all and I guess I just didn't know what to contribute...
...on the subject of cell phones possibly changing brain activity and what that might mean, I didn't reply because we use pay as you go type phones for business and emergency purposes, as we do not agree with the idea that one should have to sign a contract for services that we may find later that we don't like. So we don't use the phones long enough at any given moment to worry that we might be doing damage to ourselves because we don't want to use up all our minutes. I guess that would have been an interesting contribution now that I wrote it out. Hmmm.
...on the subject of pennies...we always end up with coffee cans full of them on the dresser top. They are fun to roll up and see how many we have collected, or just take the can in to the bank since they really don't like it when you roll your own, so to speak. They are great for a rainy day treat. I like them, and think we should always keep them around. I saw a story once about a young man, a boy really, who always picked up pennies when he saw them in the street. He saved so many that he had some extravigant vacation, or some such, I can't remember now. But then he was killed, or died, and his family kept finding pennies in strange places, like their shoes, or whatever. They figured it was their son talking to them. I always pick up pennies in the street or stores. That is an interesting thing I could have written about too.
...on the subject of Internet Explorer...I have no comment...blah...
Most cell phone companies will let you have a short trial period to be sure they have adequate signal in places where you go- especially important for someone out in the boonies.
That kid was probably run over while picking up a penny in the street.
I was looking for your input on the IE thing because we consider you our resident bike and computer expert here.
Bike expert, yes, maybe...computer...I don't know...still learning about all that. Since we are in the boonies we have a bit of a handicap where phone, internet and cell phone are concerned. I know I have told you before, but we connect at 24 kbps. That is the fastest we can get with our old phone lines. They haven't run cable anywhere near here yet, so no DSL, and we are considering satellite in the near future for our own sanity. We'd like to join the 20th century...oh! wait...it's the 21st century now isn't it? Oy! Plus, I'd like to be able to watch the Tour de France one of these years!
Yes, a broadband connection is practically a necessity these days because most websites are loaded with graphics that take forever to load with dail-up. Infact, NW54 is one of the few websites that are still mostly text-based and lo-bandwidth (another good reason for you to hang out here!) And then there are lots of new things like music and podcasts and videos that you need hi-speed for. It's pretty amazing now that I can sit here and watch local TV newscasts from all over the country. And it will soon be possible to download any movie or TV show (even old ones) to watch anytime you want.
Once the change over to digital TV is complete there will be new frequencies available and one of the things planned is wide-area Wi-Fi systems to cover people like you in the boonies. And cell-phones systems are also moving toward carrying hi-speed data. So there's hope on the horizon.
Yeah, the crazy thing is we have new computers that will go as fast as we want and have so much space they can do anything, and we have these nifty little phones, communicators, I call them...and here we are with nothing to run them with.
We asked Zeecon wireless to come out for a sight inspection to see if we could use it here. They never even answered our emails or phone calls. Guess they didn't want to come out here. They are down the road about three miles.
We will just have to bite the bullet one of these days and get satellite maybe.
Well satellite internet is pretty much the last resort- no one I know who has had it has been happy. It's expensive, has high latency and is not really that fast- especially on uplink. But I certainly understand your frustration. For years I lived with crappy dial-up- the best I could do was 28.8 if I could even stay conected. Worse then being slow it was noisey and was constantly crashing the modem. Finally the phone guy admitted to me that all the lines in my area were multiplexed and had crap bandpass and that I'd be dead by the time they got DSL out here. I was in total despair until Comcast put line through here a couple years ago. It's not cheap at $45/mo but after years of struggling with crappy dial-up, 3-Mbs is like heaven.
This is why we don't have satellite so far. To have it for TV means we are paying for something we would watch only if we are home with nothing better to do, usually a rainy day, or winter event, but what happens when it rains? Yep! The reception goes.
We almost got it once. We had the morning off work, and were waiting here for the installation guy to show up. We had been given the lecture over the phone that we needed to make sure we were there when he arrived or we would be charged for a service call and have to reschedule our install, and we were told about all the punishments for being late with payments. So we were supposed to make ourselves availible from eight to noon this day.
At ten minutes to twelve we get a call from the guy asking for directions to our place. we asked where he was so we'd have a start point...he was still in Austin! We asked him why he hadn't called earlier in the week to find out how to get here. At one minute past twelve we called the office and told them to cancel the order. They asked why. We said the guy was late and we wouldn't tolerate their lateness any more then they would tolerate ours if we were late with a payment or some such. We had an agreement and they broke it right out of the starting gate. They said but our guy is right down the road! We told them to tell him to turn around and that he had better not show up on our property.
I had satellite TV for years and if it's installed right (accurately aimed) it only goes out briefly in the heaviest rain. It wasn't that much problem even here in FL. And you can still get the old big-dish "C-band" satellite which is completely immune to rain fade. But understand that TV satellite and internet satellite are completely different. Having one doesn't give you the other.
I know. That was just my "almost brush with TV satellite" story. I am glad I didn't get it. I feel weird about having to pay for TV. I sort of feel like I would be obligated to watch it if I am having to pay for it. Ususally there isn't anything on that I am interested enough in to want to watch. Right now is the exception. I am missing the Tour de France, and that sucks, but I get to recap by reading about it on yahoo sports each day.
Well you can get stuff on satellite or cable that you can't get OTA ("over the air"). I like the more educational stuff you get on the Discovery channel or the History ch or TLC to the pedestrian dribble on OTA. However it seems to me that even these channels are not as good as they use to be. There seems to be a rule these days that TV must be aimed at a IQ of about 80. That's why I think the future is the internet. Like lately I've been watching Leo Laporte's video podcasts on computers and technology. Too geeky to ever be successful on regular TV, but it can be distributed cheaply over the internet to those who do want to see it.
We had dial-up until a little over three years ago. I had nothing to compare it to, so I just assumed surfing the net was going to be a slow process. Then, we added another computer and network (and then another -- no waiting for access!) and needed cable access to be on-line at the same time. How wonderful! It freed up the phone line, we could all get on-line at will, and the download times are really fast! The vid clips and other things that I used to pass on by became available to me. I would never go back to dial-up if I could avoid it.
Our cable internet also costs $45/mo. I've heard that DSL is a bit slower, but cheaper -- perhaps $30/mo. My sister and brother-in-law have a farm in a rural area, and they cannot get cable TV or internet. They aren't big TV watchers either, as they prefer to be outdoors, working with their horses, etc. But, they like nature shows, documentaries and movies (they don't care for sports, which is the biggest reason I watch TV). They got satellite TV and it seems to meet their needs. They also switched from dial-up to DSL (from phone company) and they really like it. Bro-in-law said he'd prefer the greater speed of cable internet, but the DSL is a big improvement over what they had.
We are considering some changes . . possible switch to DSL for money reasons (?) . . but not sure yet what we will do. If you could get DSL, I think that would satisfy you. I know that dial-up costs have come down (AOL users were paying $24/mo. for dial-up! OMG) . . . but $30/mo. for DSL isn't bad for all the advantages you get.
I'm sure Nat's knowledge of these things far out-strips mine. All I can say is that sis lives in a town so small that it doesn't really have a city street. There is a highway that passes through it, a few side streets (two-lane country roads), a carry-out, feed store, a church . . . really rural. She lives about 5 miles from a larger town, with a lake and recreation area separating the two. I would think there aren't enough folks in sis's town to support an expensive upgrade (the nearby town, yes, as it has a lot of antique stores, restaurants and some folks with higher incomes). It sounds like SHADOW's living situation is even more remote (though my sis is surrounded by hog farms! lol). I'm sure her local phone company knows what they can and cannot offer.
We don't even live in the small town we are near. We are way out rural. There are a few long horns around...and some wild cats occasionally...but not enough people to warrant running cable out here. I will have to call Verizon again someday. Last time we asked about it they said it wasn't available. What I want to know is what is IT (DSL) and why if there are phone lines there isn't DSL. Is it an extra line of some kind? (am I starting to sound like a bumpkin?)
Well there's nothing like preparing a nice thesis on how something works- and have someone beat me to it!
But just in case you are still interested in my short layman's explanation-
DSL works by putting a high-frequency signal on the phone line and modulating it digitally. The problem is that conventional phone lines were designed to carry only voice frequencies (below 4-Khz) so this signal attenuates rapidly as it goes through the wire which is why you have to be close to the phone office exchange where the DSL equipt is or it becomes too weak to use.
Is like having a leaky garden hose- by the time you get to the end much of the water(signal) has been lost.
Yes, because cable companies use coaxial cable rather than twisted pair like phones. Coax is better suited for high frequencies. However cable companies use a different system then than DSL. Uplink is a digitally modulated RF carrier at around 30-Mhz and downlink is in the 600-Mhz range- which is like 10,000 times higher than DSL frequencies. This doesn't mean cable is 10,000 times faster then DSL- but it is faster- the speed being determined more by the cable' company's router and pipeline capacity which must be shared among all customers like a big ethernet so they cap your speeds so you don't hog bandwidth from others. (No, they are not going to let you run a movie server out of your house). Some will now give you up to 6-Mb/s or even more if you pay extra for it.
That's right. The internet signals are treated the same as the TV signals- and amplified periodically as they travel down the cable to compensate for attenuation. This is the way cable-TV has always worked so adding internet didn't require major changes in plant design- only replacing one-ways amps with bi-directional amps to handle the upstream. But phones systems were designed to handle only low-freq audio frequencies so adapting them carry digital data especially at high speeds has been a problem. In areas where phones systems are being completely rebuilt it is more along the lines of cable-TV systems with the audio is converted to a digital stream and combined into one pipeline. Someday phone and TV will merge into one system but it will take a long time to replaced the infrastructure thats in place now.
I would add to that to mention that often what you get is asymetric digital subscriber lines, or ADSL, which are slower for uploading than downloading - sometimes five times slower. Most people find this okay, because you download a lot more to look at web pages (images, etc.) than you'll ever upload.
The exception is P2P, or peer-to-peer file sharing or downloading, in which people who download files make them available to others for uploading at the same time, so there's a lot of two-way traffic.
As I understand it to get DSL you have to be within 2-3 line-miles from the phone company's local exchange.
Every foot of cable slows it down some. I'm about 5 miles so no chance for me.
What is the Local Exchange? There is a big box wrapped in a fence down the road that I always see Verizon at, but that is about four miles away from us. Maybe a little more.
DSL equipment is usually located at the main exchange (or 'switch' it's sometimes called) which is a building where all the lines in your area go to be connected to whomever you are calling. It's like a giant switchboard you see in old movies- but ofcourse now the switching is done electronically.
There is all sorts of auxiliary equipment- line extenders, multiplexers, equalizers and such out in the field that are house in boxes which are used basically to extend the distance that long lines work. Someday it may be possible to house DSL equipment out in the field like this to serve people in the boonies but I'm not aware that this is being done now, although I don't have any recent insight into phone technology.
I just learned that our 'local exchange' is clear the hell in town about twelve miles from here. I saw it everyday when I drove my bus. We are so far away from everything it is no wonder nothing works...but I like that we are out here. I can sacrifice a little TV and high speed internet for the really pretty place we are at. It is too nice out here to complain about technology woes.
If we had DSL we could get rid of some of our bills. We'd have our telephone and internet and possibly TV on one bill, better TV. And we get taxed out here the same as those closer in town who have all these amenities, and for what?! It would be nice to join the 21st century finally.
Well it's a shame you can't have both- a nice place in the boonies and technology.
Certainly TV is no problem since Dish and DirecTV are available and work well.
Good internet service seems to be the one amenity you can't get in the boonies but WiMax systems may eventually be the answer to that.
It's like WiFI on steroids. WiMax systems will be up on high towers so they can cover many miles instead of just a small area like WiFi does. They say when analog TV stations are turned off in a couple years some of those frequencies will be used for WiMax systems to serve people like you out in the boonies.
On the one hand, they have to build transmitters. On the other, they don't have to lay and maintain cables. I'd say it'll be cheaper than cell phone service (eventually - it has higher capacity than cell phone service, I think, and the transmitters should be cheaper), but more expensive than phone service.
Everyone has their zenith, when they look and feel their best, and get the most attention. The large-breasted girls get the attention when they are young and firm. Then, as they age, their assets might start to droop and drop . . . at which time the small-breasted girls start getting more attention. As we all tend to gain a bit of weight as we age, one would presume that lil hooters might benefit from the weight gain and yet still slump less than the larger variety. Female co-workers tell me that their genitals go through a similar process -- their labia droop and lengthen, and their natural lube dries up and can make walking painful (good thing there is lube in a tube, huh?)
And, yes, it works for men too. Remember all of those muscled male athletes you went to school with? Now, you go to a class reunion and they have gotten fat, or their once-proud muscles are showing obvious atrophy. Same with the genitalia. Yes, the scrotum tends might droop lower with age, but the business end of things -- the penis -- tends to shrink. Its like two elevators going opposite directions -- when you were young, the penis was longer; now as you age, the scrotum hangs lower. Then, there is the business of hormones drying up and erectile difficulties (but at least there is medication for that now). Women can have sex if they're dead, but a man who can't perform is pretty obvious. And then, we men die sooner than women too . . but I'm starting to think we got granted a little mercy there!
So, overall, I don't think women have it so bad. Aging is hell on all of us! Definitely not for wimps!!
Maybe we should have an Olympic-style competition for older folks. Just consider the possibilities:
GAMES FOR WHEN WE ARE OLDER
1. Sag, you're It.
2. Hide and go pee.
3 .. 20 questions shouted into your good ear.
4. Kick the bucket
5. Red Rover, Red Rover, the nurse says Bend Over.
6 Musical recliners.
7. Simon says something incoherent.
8. Pin the Toupee on the bald guy
SIGNS OF MENOPAUSE:
1. You sell your home heating system at a yard sale.
2. You have to write post-it notes with your kids' names on them.
3. You change your underwear after a sneeze.
OLD IS WHEN:
1. Going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
2. You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.
3. Getting a little action means I don't need fiber today.
4. Getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.
5. An all-nighter means not getting up to pee!
Thoughts for the weekend
Wouldn't it be nice if whenever we messed up our life we could simply press 'Ctr Alt Delete' and start all over?
Just remember...if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.
If raising children was going to be easy, it never would have started with something called labor!
Brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.
All I can think to say to this is what the hell kind of female co-workers sit around and talk to you about the condition of their labia? And they make EO complaints about sexual harassment? Good gawd!
My female co-workers can say anything THEY want to . . . . . . but let me, or another male employee say it . . even if it refers to something the women said or did . . . . its hell to pay for us guys!! (That, and there are a few women that will say anything to me, and I can say anything to me, and its cool). `
The lowdown on labial areas isn't just for the office environment. My modeling madamoiselles discuss theirs, and being nude, they're out there to see, in their bushy, unconcealed glory. Those ladies who shave, make them even plainer.
I think the mons veneris, and what's beneath, is a female's crowning glory, equalled only by their breasts. My fellow models aren't the least bit skittish or reticent talking about their nether regions as freely as one would hair or nails.
I get to feel and otherwise come in contact with those erogenous zones during those sessions, and the ladies unabashedly comment on the male cock, along with the fellas they're attached to, with some of the dialogue witheringly disparaging, yet other times, very complimentary, with all contributing to conversations.
Americans may've reverted back to 1950's prudery in most venues, but at least dialogues still exist.It's not unusual to hear the girls comparing each other's vaginas and clitorises when together, and guys' dicks aren't left out of the discourse, either.
I've still have yet to draw a blush when such rapport is underway, and females of all orientations are amongst the group,too.
I remember in eighth grade, up in the bedroom I shared with my older sister, my girlfriends and I disrobed to relax. Finding a copy of Hustler,we imitated the spread-legged models parting their labial lips as wide as they could, then we compared our pussies with each other.
Of the four of us, I ended up having the longest,fattest clitoris, and sensitive,too,as finger rubbing proved. I wiggled enough that I fell on the floor backwards.
My burlesque dancer mother kept her pubic bush shaved during her 15 years(and afterwards as well)saying it beat all that trimming,plus, she was proud of her labial folds. Many a time while on the phone, she'd idly finger them as she sat.
Mom loved having a man with dextrous, deft fingers easing inside that orifice, resulting in moans and gratified groans, along with a crimson blush on her face. She found men would like putting their faces down there more, with that coarse hair removed,a smooth tactile surface,unless the fella didn't shave.
Back when I was in college, I had an internship course one quarter,and was under the tutelage of a middle-aged woman who took a liking to me, enough of a fondness to want to sleep with me. Going by looks alone, Roberta could've passed for mid-thirties easily.
A group of framed photos on her desk of her five children she was raising herself. This would be my first older woman experience; and I wasn't brimming with confidence, since I'd have a lover way more well-versed than myself. Roberta was plus-sized like Sally Struthers,a striking contrast to those of a lesser dimension I'd been used to.
Her page boy hairdo and minimal makeup was also different. Canteloupe-sized titties and a truly ample rear were also part of the package.
But what I truly found remarkable was Roberta's labia. Those outer lips were so loose, a cherry-red color,and once inside,I found that orifice quite roomy,which I guess was to be expected after decades of sex and five children. Maybe the ideal for teen boys and adult males are girls and women with tight vaginas, but I think those fellas would be surprised at how gratifying an older gal can be,stretchedness and all.
One wintry Friday afternoon in the early 80's, a bunch of us had lunch brought to the agency, rather than venture out, and the talk got around to what we all planned for the weekend. Everyone admitted they were going to burrow down amongst the blankets in bed, or lie in front of the fireplace with a date or some significant other. I replied that I hadn't decided of which gender my companion would be,considering I was bi.
I'd get good-naturedly teased about coin-flipping to decide, but I had a new affair going with a bi guy of eighteen. I was asked what he looked like beneath the swim trunks he was wearing in the photo of him that was passed around. I knew they meant his cock size, replying he bordered on five inches, but quickly added he was two inches wide.
That revived that old debate over which is better to possess: Length or width? It's been said for eons that women like the wider dick size, and if the gent has both going for him, that's a boner bonus. My response was that if a guy has a big mouth, such a cock would be comfortable.
That is the double standard that I find so unbelievable. It is terrible and makes everyone look bad. But, hey, if you can play the game without getting whacked, I guess you can have some fun with it. You just have to be smart. It is all such weirdness!
In the ad agency environment I was part of for 15 years, we had a diverse group of men and women cranking out advertising campaigns for clients. Cameraderie abounded, jocularity commonplace. I recall the firm getting a new assistant art director, and while marvelous at spurring us on to produce clever campaigns, he was found to have a fatal flaw: He couldn't communicate without peppering strategy sessions with varying shades of blue language.
He began feeling self-conscious about his dialogue, and found himself hesitating, being overly cautious in choosing his words so carefully, it'd take twice as long for meetings.It became clear to us that he'd be more at ease speaking in the idiom and patois he was accustomed to, and no one blushed or fidgited in their seats over it.
Thought I would spice things up a bit!! 
