Trip Olympics

It took a couple of weeks for me to face reality and make a very tough decision. Our trip to Europe is not going to happen. I had hoped that by going back on the steroids, I would gain the strength necessary to make the trip without worry about being hospitalized again, but evidently, that's not going to happen. The steroids are not having the efect I was desperately hoping to feel.

Except for the first 75 percent of the opening ceremonies, and all the damned commercials, we have been enjoying the Olympics. I don't understand why some of the "sports" are part of it, but what the hell, they're mostly the ones I don't watch anyway. I really like the rowing and, of course, the gymnastics. I'm glad to see the Americans doing so well, as are the French.

Stunning Recovery for First Child to Get Stem Cell Trachea

Researchers develop femtosecond laser that can diagnose, blast cancerous tumors

Security researchers find new wafer-thin ATM card skimmers in use

Human Stem Cells Found to Restore Memory

The Brain-Bending Building of Krzywy Domek

Monster white sturgeon weighing 1,100 pounds caught in Canada

DUPED - "PISS POOR story not true!!"

A guy dies and goes to heaven. His tour guide starts to show him around the whole place; the tennis courts, the main lobby , when they come upon a room full of clocks.

Some are going fast, some slow and some normal. 

"What's with all the clocks?" the guy asks his tour guide. 

"Each clock is for each person on earth. Every time they tell a lie, their clock goes faster," he said. 

Well that makes sense the guy thought to himself. 

Just then he noticed a clock on the ceiling going tremendously fast , and much faster than all the others. 

"What's that?" the guy asked, pointing to the ceiling. 

"Oh, that's George W Bush's clock. We use it as a fan."

Dumb Law of the Week: In Illinois, it is illegal for anyone to give lighted cigars to dogs, cats, and other domesticated animal kept as pets.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Voter Urine

I got my new Voter ID in the mail the other day, so I guess I'm not going to be purged. Their accompanying letter indicated that it's permanent. Then on Wednesday, I went to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) License Division and got my new Driver's License. Again, I was very impressed with theìr efficiency and how really nice they were. No one had that "clerk" attitude; you know, the one where you're lucky they would take a minute of their time to do their job? As usual, the picture is terrible (brace yourselves) but no one ever sees it anyway (except you guys). It's good until 2020, if I'm still here.

When I picked up my glasses last week, they had forgotten to put in the Transition Lenses. Transition Lenses are the ones that turn dark when you go out into the sun. I went back on Saturday and waited while they put them in. The only problem with Transition Lenses, is when you get into your car, the lenses quickly revert to clear. It kind of destroys the whole purpose.

Le Tour de France is over. The last day was all I could have hoped for and more. For the first time, A brit won the Tour and a Brit was second. Icing on the cake was that the final stage was won by another Brit, Mark Cavendish, who has been called the fastest man in the world (the biking world, of course), and he certainly lived up to his title. To make the day really perfect, the TV shots of Paris were simply spectacular. If you missed it, you should look for it on You Tube. You won't be sorry.

Rare Film: Claude Monet at Work 

FDA approves first preventative HIV drug 

Spider-Man is Real—And He is French!

How artificial intelligence will shape our lives

Netherlands: Catholic Church ‘castrated boys as gay cures and punishments’ 

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot. And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery... if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Quitman, Georgia it is illegal for a chicken to cross the road.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Strange Lenses

It's strange how, as you get older, things that never used to even phase you become major annoyances.  It's a trend with which I'm not at all happy, but I'm finding it difficult to reverse it.  Maybe it's the accumulation of crap over the years.  It builds up and builds up, until it finally reaches your tolerance level, and sub-consciously, you say, "Enough is enough!"  Still, it's not something about which I'm happy and I would like to get back to the days when I just let it (supposedly) roll off my shoulders.

I got my new glasses on Friday.  The lenses are new,, but I just had them put into the old frame because I really like it and I couldn't see paying for a new one which would have been basically the same.  The new lenses are strange.  If I look to either side, things get very distorted.  I was pre-warned that that would be the case, so I was kind of expecting it, but it's still difficult to get used to.  The main thing is that now, when I watch Le Tour de France, I can actually see everything!  I didn't realize how much I had been missing until now.

Fast Food Restaurants fundraising for Mitt Romney and other Republicans:
Chick-fil-a  (Also donated to anti-gay groups), Hardee's, McDonald's, Outback Steakhouse, PapaJohn's, Waffle House, White Castle

Natural Alzheimer’s Protection  

Breakthrough molecule makes your teeth ‘cavity-proof’  

It's not lunacy: Not-a-planet Pluto boasts 5 moons  

What Really Happens When You Get Sucked Out of an Airlock  

Japanese group transmits electricity through 4-inch concrete block, could power cars on roads  

Dumb Law of the Week:  In Florida, Women may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Designer Rides

After depositing my Humana check, I walked down the block to Chic Optique to check their prices for the glasses I need to get. They are in a gay shopping center, so I expected their prices to be higher than elsewhere, but I was surprised to learn that it wasn't all that much more. While checking the various frame styles, I was struck by the fact that I could not distinguish the difference between "designer" glasses and the 'generic' kinds. Also, once I started thinking about it, I'm positive that Versace, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, et al, did not sit around their mansions one day and think, "Wow, I should put out a line of frames for glasses." You can bet some frame manufacturer got the brilliant idea to use 'designer' names for the soul purpose of extracting large sums from their customers.

We've been thoroughly enjoying the 2012 Tour de France. We're not as interested in the actual race as we are the shots of the beautiful French countryside. If you've never been to Europe, I recommend watching the race for the fantastic shots of the European countryside. I know it's Le Tour de France, but so far they have ridden in at least three countries including Belgium, Switzerland and France. One thing that really bothers me though: I simply cannot believe the utter stupidity of some of the Tour de France spectators who run out onto the road in front of the riders!! Or the ones who crowd the road or try to run alongside the riders. What the hell are they thinking? The Tour security people need to take action before one or more of the riders is seriously injured by one of these jerks!

They're so far ahead of the US! Europride

   

Congress to rule pizza sauce is a vegetable 

  

Scientists reach “holy grail” of tissue engineering 

  

Spain leads quest to the sun

   

New mind-reading technique could help the paralyzed speak

   

Buy an entire Tuscan village on eBay for €2.500.000

Dumb Law of the Week: In Columbus, Georgia it is illegal to sit on one's porch in an indecent position.

À la prochaine, mes amis

Snail Mail

On Monday, Robb got a first-hand lesson on why sending stuff through the post office is called "snail mail". Last September, he sent a check to his bank in Paris. Afterwards, he realized it had insufficient postage (thanks to another rate hike in postage). It was returned on Monday. Will someone please explain 1-why it even left the country in the first place and 2-why didn't the French Poste just deliver it instead of waiting nine months to return it? Snail mail indeed!!!

BJs is a wholesale club where you can purchase a variety of things in huge quantities for a very low price. If you're a single person, you don't have to buy huge quantities, you can buy smaller amounts and still pay a lower price than you would at, say, your local supermarket. Of course, unless you receive an invitation to check it out, you must first purchase a "membership", yes, I deliberately covered the picture (you can thank me later).  You pay a price, somewhere around forty or fifty dollars, for the privilege of shopping at BJs. But our experience has been that we usually save more than that every time we shop there, so we think it's well worth the cost. On cava alone, we save about $40 per month. BJs sends a booklket of savings coupons each month. In this month's booklet, there was a coupon for Magnum White. We paid less than twice as much and got three times as much. Not to mention, we now know where to go to get our supply of Magnum White without having to special order at a higher price from our local Publix market.

Has anyone seen the Exxon/Mobil commercial about how they raised the test scores for math and science in six cities in the US? Want to know how they did it? They cheated! The teachers actually changed the answers so that the students would pass the tests with better grades. Of course, I'm not saying you can't trust one of the major oil companies in the world.

Paris Pride 2012 Pics

Mysterious Fairy Circles Are 'Alive' 

AIR.U to connect universities with “Super Wi-Fi”

Statue of Liberty at Musée d'Orsay, Paris

The ‘city of tomorrow’ is here (and it’s in Canada)

Dumb Law of the Week: In Connecticut: You can be stopped by the police for biking over 65 miles per hour.

À la prochaine, mes amis.