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oxymoron

Published Letters: 355
Editor's Choice: 32

Wednesday, September 26, 2007 08:32 AM

Bottled water has its place

1) Camping.

2) Places where the water just isn't very good--obviously most of you have never lived somewhere where the well water is TECHNICALLY safe, but absolutely STINKS of sulfur. I've dogsat for a friend with well water, and my dogs (who I brought with me) absolutely refused to drink the water in her house. I didn't even want to brush my teeth with it.

2a) When I went to graduate school in the 80's, I was immediately warned that the tap water had farm runoff in it and nobody drank it. The grocery stores in that small Ohio town had the first reverse-osmosis water purifiers I'd ever seen--you brought your own jugs or bought theirs and filled up there.

2b) My understanding is that the genesis of Perrier was due to the poor quality of tap water in France.

3) Anyplace where water isn't easy to get (fairs, music festivals, etc.) even if you CAN buy it at concessions.

4) Mixers for drinks, or as a change/treat. I love Cap10 (soda water with a touch of flavor and NO sweetening). I can't stand sweet drinks, and nearly everything is oversweetened (even drinks marked as "diet" are just overly sweetened with artificial sweeteners as opposed to sugar or corn syrup).

I don't really understand why people who are complaining about bottled water aren't also complaining about all the other drinks that comes "wrapped" in plastic, glass, or aluminum. Did you all give up soda, bottled iced tea, juices and alcoholic beverages as well? If people are drinking bottled water INSTEAD of soda, how is that making a difference in the net amount of waste we're producing?

Look, I use a filtered pitcher for my water at home or drink it straight out of the tap (sometimes it tastes of chlorine more than at other times). But when I camp, or when I go someplace where I don't know if I will have access to water (and I drink a LOT of water) I'll buy bottled water. And put the bottles in a recycling bin, and hope they really ARE being recycled.

Thursday, September 27, 2007 10:09 AM
Original article: The happiness gap

Hmmm... I'm a chick, and I'm pretty happy

I'm 41 years old, but I look better than I did at 31 (lost some weight, finally grew in to my face). I have a tiny old house (a 1942 starter home, about 800 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, but there's a nice finished basement with a fireplace to hang out in) and a smallish mortgage to go with it an older part of my city where there's lots to walk to. I have a decent job where I make enough money, and it's a relaxed, "as long as you get your work done" atmosphere. I have 3 dogs and hobby that involves the dogs. I have a nice boyfriend who has a job and who is supportive of my hobby. Sure, I could always wish for more money, a nicer lawn, the ability to get some things done around the house without spending a lot of time considering the cost/benefit ratio, the ability to more quickly pay off my credit card debt, etc. But in general, I'm pretty happy. Maybe it's because I'm NOT very ambitious.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 12:11 PM

How is it a "fight"?

If you say "bless you, you're not so good with the checkbook, but you're good with other things". That doesn't sound like a fight to me. Fights involve, oh, I dunno--SOME yelling and recrimination. OTOH, going to your partner with a problem, offering a suggestion to fix it, and the two of you coming to agreement ain't a fight or even a spat.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 07:31 PM

Noel Airman says much the same thing in "Marjorie Morningstar"

When he wants oysters for breakfast, and Marjorie wants him to have a bowl of cornflakes. Wish I had the book in front of me so I could quote from it.

I discovered years ago that no matter what I eat before 10:00 AM, I am always hungry at 10:00 AM (and rarely before 10:00 AM). So that's when I eat breakfast. Yogurt or a protein bar, some fruit. I think you should sometimes listen to your body, and my body always screamed "cold cereal sucks!"

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 07:38 PM
Original article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily

You said Phillies

But Rockies are right there in bold. Were you having a moment? Presumably you really meant to pick the Phillies, right?

Sunday, October 7, 2007 05:47 AM
Original article: Opus

The "Bikini Wax"

Looks like purple leeches.

Monday, October 15, 2007 04:01 PM

The ONE commercial I remember from my childhood

Was for Delta faucets. I can still sing it "Put Delta in/take washers out/forget about those washers you used to worry about..."

I'll spare you.

It's hard to believe that anyone takes those Axe body spray ads seriously enough to worry about their effect on anybody--though I did hear on a Canadian public radio show that one school had banned Axe body spray because the 12-year-old boys were spraying it on so thick, it was difficult to be in the same room with them.

As a previous poster said, it's aimed at horny teenage boys (YOUNG teenage--13-14 years old tops) and all could be solved if some reasonably intelligent parents would sit their boys down and say "Do you REALLY think that girls would actually act this way because of something you spray on yourself? And have you SMELLED this crap?"

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 08:45 PM

I want one that REALLY works

I have a friend who regularly uses hers and I can never hear her. I thought I was the only one who had this problem, but then another mutual friend said she can never here her either! So I want a GOOD Bluetooth. And I'll buy it. And not give a damn about how silly I look. Then again, I have long hair and talk to myself regularly anyway.

Thursday, October 18, 2007 10:51 AM

How gigantic ARE these wires, anyway?

I *always* wear an underwire bra and have NEVER set off either airport or courthouse metal detectors.

Oh, and I've walked through numerous detectors wearing a belt with a metal buckle, AND with change in my pocket.

So how is this happening?

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