Sprint has a lot of features so locked up in their phones that they use it to force the users into the more expensive plans. I generally just use my phone to talk and I talk less than 300 minutes a month. (Actually, less than 100 - its more like "Meet you at the Albatross at 7. Bye.") I did eventually wind up with a cell phone with a camera. Turns out Sprint would not sell me a data cable to transfer data. I had to use the phone to call myself somehow to send myself the photos. I got online and found BitPim and the Samsung driver and managed to download my photos for the cost of the Samsung cable. Then, I laundered that phone. I now have a blackberry I inherited from the place where I work. I can download stuff to my computer like mad. But, I know that the equipment that can download into the computer costs several hundred dollars. So, if you want a teeny phone and want to transfer your data to your computer, Sprint wants you to pay through the nose.

It might *seem* like you are paying less with Sprint, but they have you so caught up by the short and curlies with their locked phone service that many users are compelled to buy a more expensive plan than they really need.

I want to put a "YAHOO!" sign on my house and see if the "Do No Evil" doers blur that out.

Anyone know if their CEO's houses are on street view yet? I'd love to peer in their living room windows just like they have with mine.

No one is 10 feet tall, and windows and curtains are designed with that in mind. Yet, Google's vans have cameras mounted on the *roofs* of *vans* and those are aimed in ground floor windows. It might be legal in a loose sense, but it is disturbing in a more personal sense.

I know a lot of people who go through some extreme experience and mistake other people who reach out to them as some kind of "armchair" whatever. I know people who have children (I don't) who think I will never understand them, despite the fact that I have held a laboring woman's hand in the delivery room, held babies in my hand, fed kids, and paid for their books. I have a widowed friend who thinks I know nothing about grief (I guess having your mom, grandparents, aunts, uncles, "twin" cousin, best friends, and multiple teenaged pets die is insufficient life experience.) I get it from guys who hold patents, managers, blue collar workers, and my own dad who saw a trainwreck once.

Admitting you do this is a good step. I think the rest of the people who are piling on should realize that is a demonstration of how this kind of hyper-competition damages a young mind. Push and push an obsessed kid and this is what you get - if you are lucky - an adult who hates herself because she feels apart from the rest of us.

By the way, Jennifer, when people come to you and say they have been in sports, they are being nice to you and trying to find a point of connection. Its called "bidding" in psychology and is a nice thing. It might be good to see that as a gift, accept it and see what else that person has to offer.

they aren't frying up bacon, they should be OK.

Toothpaste does dry them up. Years ago, a friend of mine from Australia told me everyone used Crest or Colgate (I forget which) because Clearasil was so expensive. I tried it and it did dry them up. It does dry the skin in general, which is not so great. Another one was rubbing alcohol. Antihistamines keep them down a bit. Also, using cortisone cream just on the spot itself can take down the redness. Noxema was pretty much worthless, but it did not make it worse and it smelled nice.

What's Billy's big fat hairy problem with using leisure time to, you know, have leisure. There's nothing wrong with loafing around the neighborhood. Do we have to get on a plane after being fisted by the TSA, check into an overpriced and underinsulated hotel, and wander strange streets in order to have a good time? I remember things like playing with neighbor kids, going to Coney Island on the bus, cookouts and campouts in the back yard, and reading stacks of comic books, science fiction and literary swill. It didn't cost much, either. As an adult, I have used my volunteer time to paint my house (saving about $5000), volunteer for various causes, putter in the garden, and enjoy the local cafe.

Its the White House, not a trailer park.

I have worked in IT since 1987. I have had a few clock puncher bosses, but the vast majority don't. Keep looking for a job that meets your diurnal schedule. How hard can that be?