lookin

I feel your pain, TY, and that of others caught in the nefarious spiral of downsizing to cover up a price increase. The next chapter is usually a new "King Size" that gets us back to where we used to be at twice the price. Even more distasteful, so to speak, is the hidden downsizing that some ice cream makers, including Häagen Dazs engage in. They put extra air into their product a few years ago, when Dreyer's took them over and, since ice cream is measured in fluid ounces, they didn't need to change the label, even though the weight decreased. Still that's better, in my opinion, than the path taken by many manufacturers of cheapening the ingredients while leaving the price and size the same. At least Häagen Dazs hasn't (yet) started putting in guar gum, or other kinds of stabilizers, to cover the removal of real cream or eggs from the formula. Try reading an ice cream label these days and see how many of the ingredients would be something you'd find in your kitchen. Most of the major candy manufacturers do the same thing. Try reading the ingredient list for some of your favorite candy bars. Yuck! Since Hershey's took over Reese's and Peter Paul (Mounds, Almond Joy), you won't even find the ingredients listed on their website. Apparently, they keep changing them, probably depending on what artificial ingredients they can get a deal on that day. The wrapper has to be accurate though. Since I started looking at what's actually in some of my old favorites, I quit buying them. Consumer tip: If you're looking for some good candy at a good price, check out my new fave at Costco - Dark Chocolate Almond Cherry Clusters. Real ingredients, great-tasting chocolate, and about 30¢ an ounce. Trader Joe's has some good candies too, but check out the ingredient list first. Soybean oil, lecithin, and artificial flavor do not add up to good chocolate.

What a thoroughly heartwarming thread! I'm so glad that it's all put to bed. Thanks to Aces and OZ and to TY, And to MsGuy and ol' Hi, And to Lucky, who's back from the dead!

Glad you're out, and welcome back! If we'd known where you were, we could have sent a little something.

The soup was recalled by the chef. Apparently, plumbing lines got mixed up in the kitchen... or maybe it was the sous chef? TY

Dude! However they got there, there's two good offers on the table: Every fiber of my being yells, Take the money and run! Things could always have been handled differently, but don't we all need a gimme from time to time? What counts for me is that OZ is reaching out, and that Lucky belongs inside the tent. Isn't that a framework for a rapprochement of some sort? I for one sure hope so. Whirled Peas!

As MER has always been a place of fun for me, it's not any kind of pleasure to participate in a kerfuffle. But it's also not a pleasure to see twenty posts stripped from a fellow poster who's been trying his best to help build participation and enthusiasm during a very difficult contest. And it's definitely not a pleasure to see it justified by a 'pre-existing rule' that nobody can actually point to. I already volunteered to contribute twenty of my own post-count for Lucky, and another twenty just for good measure, but it wasn't even acknowledged, let alone acted on. A week ago, before this all happened, MER was a model of fairness and transparency and a generally fun place to while away the odd hour or two. It wouldn't have occurred to me in a million years that we wouldn't have just laughed this off, added back the post-count, made up a new rule going forward, and got back to having fun. Yet here we are, still mired in the muck of mulishness. I won't totally rule out the hypothesis that the whole thing is an elaborate ruse to gin up site interest and bring in eyeballs, but right now it just feels weird.

Don't feel bad, Charlie, I missed the Thirty Post an Hour rule too. Imagine my embarrassment when I located it right in the middle of the Message Center Policy page nestled in between the sections on Cinco de Mayo Threads and Member Time-Outs. I'd suggest everyone read that last one very carefully, as there are some rather surprising terms and conditions.

No beef here, but please consider my post in the other thread. It wouldn't seem fair to cut someone's post count in the middle of a contest without prior warning. It takes some effort to post and it would be discouraging to lose a bunch after the fact. Of course, if the post count was maintained, or even goosed a little bit, please pardon the intrusion.

In the absence of any info to the contrary, I'm going to assume that twenty posts were lifted from this thread in the middle of the night. 'Merged' might be a better term, as I think I recognize the original content, but it has been consolidated into fewer posts. Perhaps this was an editorial, or even an artistic, decision but a question remains as to what happened to Lucky's post count when the deed was done? If it was reduced by twenty, in the midst of a contest rewarding post count, isn't that a headwind that could interfere with a happy and prosperous landing? Not that anyone gives a shit, but I'd hope to see Lucky's post count put back to its pre-raid level and maybe then some. I can even offer to donate twenty of my posts to the effort, plus another twenty for good measure. In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing my post count go back a few notches. I liked being a 'Prodigious Member'. Since I've become 'Olympian', I hardly ever hear from anyone.

Martha 'Dumptruck' Dunnstock Heathers, 1989

Didn't this thread used to be a lot longer? Three pages or so? I could swear there were over forty posts last time I looked.

Perhaps you could outsource.

I think Lucky has been occupied with his own forty post arc. And counting.

Nice website. Thanks!

It's not the lips. It's that little pouch just on the port side. I guess it could be makeup, or perhaps the lighting, but it seemed at first glance like he had a plug of Red Man in there. I had a hunch MsGuy would know for sure. Let's have another look, shall we?

Glad you're here, MsGuy! I was wondering if you think a bee stung Lucky's erstwhile eye candy, or do you think Master Sweet Lips below is packin' him a wad o' chaw?

Please don't let my numbers discourage you. You are in a whole different category. With your own thread, posting only what interests you, you've got a shot at some substantial riches here. With only 900 incremental posts needed, you'll have an easy $500 bucks from being One-of-the-Three. If you get a bit of hustle on between trips, you should also be able to snare $500 for being the First-to-2190. And then you'll still have seven tickets In-Oz's-Hat for a chance at yet another $500. For you, $1500 for 900 extra posts does not seem out of reach. Plus, you'll be doing something you love to do. If that's not incentive enough, imagine being the founder and sole proprietor of a thread that never falls off the first page of the world's fastest-growing escort website! Not till May anyway. In fact, why waste another minute? I'd say limber up the digits and make us proud!

With the Nude Skydiving Championships only three days away, the ground crew positions the landing target and awaits delivery of fifty gallons of KY Intense™.

I once propositioned the night clerk at the Binghamton YMCA. He said he would have to think it over.

Thanks. I was not aware of this. Appears I might have to rethink my earlier position, although a bit of travel may now be required.

What does Lucky really mean?

Done and done.

Check this out. Radio Shack also has simple inexpensive landline phones. If your broken phone has the round mouthpiece like the one below, try unscrewing it, shaking out the microphone and buffing the contacts with a fine emory board or sandpaper. It may come back to life. AT&T built those suckers to last.

My .. . are on the . . . Well, you get the drift. As no one else reads my posts, our secret strategy is safe and you and I could tie this thing up by tomorrow afternoon! PS: Be on the lookout for a package addressed to MsGuy from Mai Gai. Consider it an early distribution.