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Nice job, OneFinger! You really stuck with it. It seems like the support group would be a big help. How often do you meet?

Sorry! It's BuffBoyzz. Plus, it looks like they weren't open last night/this morning. So Lucky's hypothesis remains the one to beat.

OK, the record was blown away again: 75 at 1:30 this morning! You don't suppose somebody set up an MER kiosk at BuffBoyz?

Lucky! (Oh, and Biff, Brick, and Buster.)

Just noticed that we hit 54 users on line at once which the Home Page says is a new record. If my watch is right, it happened just a few minutes ago. So good job, TY and OZ! And Lucky! And all who make this such a pleasant place to be! You know who you are. And actually, it's pretty much everyone who posts here. And thanks to all who enjoy just hanging around. An occasional post would be nice, just to say "Hi" and let us know you're not Fred Phelps keeping an eye on us. Ah, what the hell, post away Fred, if you are here. Just try to have fun and stay on topic.

Must be a different Whitey Bulger.

I know I shouldn't be reading this thread but I just love it when Lucky yoo-hoo's the lurkers!

You won't catch me defending Obamacare. Once the public option dropped out of the plan, I lost interest. But, as Allessio77 pointed out, there are some increased opportunities for opting in to Medicare. And perhaps that's the best we can hope for at this point. While some may trust the private insurers to manage their health care, I personally trust them to figure out how to send more dollars to their bottom line. All I ask is that folks have a choice. If they want a private plan, fine. If they want a public plan, fine. As an advocate for a public plan, I don't have any problem with someone choosing a private plan. On the other hand, the private insurance lobby sure seems to want to bury the public plan option. What have they got against a little free choice?

What seems to get lost in the debate is that the cost of for-profit health care is going up even faster than the cost of government-funded health care. While Medicare costs are up 400% since 1969, private insurance costs are up 700%. It's clear to me anyway that a public option like Medicare needs to be available to anyone who wants it. Not mandated, mind you, merely available as an option. But the private insurers would scream like stuck pigs. And unfortunately, at present, they're the ones who have figured out how to control the public debate. We pretend that voters are in charge, but it's the for-profit companies that are more effective at shaping legislation. As the days go by, it seems we're getting farther away from a democracy and closer to some of the oligarchies that our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters have finally had enough of.

Hell, even the Shrek virus passed me by. Now that's ugly!

Universal Studios in Orlando has a Spider-Man Ride with 3D characters swooping all around. At the beginning of the ride, Spiderman himself swings in and perches on the rail of the car that everybody rides in. I was sitting in the front seat and he seemed to land about one foot in front of my face, with his crotch right at eye level. Although he was just an animated character, the dude was packin' a 3D whopper! Not sure whether or not any of my coworkers noticed my affectionate swipe at Spidey's goods. Lucky I didn't have any dollar bills with me.

Would you like an order of flies with that?

Care to guess where that thumb was while I was sitting around waiting?

I can see again! Thanks, Guys, for working your Magic!

Lucky, aren't you sweet! I'm happy to let it wend its way through the Comments Forum. I'm sure the programmers can figure out what level we all got a few years ago that lets us see pictures, and hopefully reinstate it. No rush. I'll make some adjustments in the meantime.

I'll tell ya, but it's gonna take some kisses and hugs.

Very well done! There are those who think Obama has moved too slowly on gay rights, and I can understand their views. But, in my opinion, his strategy of moving on several fronts, using different tactics, at different speeds, and building consensus along the way, is a good path to follow. Clinton is an impressive diplomat. I think she and Obama make a good team. And props to most of the rest of the World too!

You are all to be commended for keeping alive the ancient military tradition of Short-Arm Inspector. According to the translation app that came with my Mac, your uniform patch will read 短胳膊检查员. You may consider getting one that glows in the dark, for those unannounced nighttime inspections.

Sadly no. But thanks for asking! I was beginning to think this had become the Forum of the Damned. I did find the thread that gave us all Big Picture privileges a few years ago, but lately I seem to have been demoted to a Free Member with squinting privileges only. Perhaps it was something I said?

A few months ago, along with a handful of other members, I pushed through twenty-five posts in twenty-five days and was rewarded with a free Gold Membership. It was only to last for thirty days, and I enjoyed it once or twice during that time. As scheduled, it went away. No beef here. It was nice while it lasted. But when it went away, it seems to have also taken away the complimentary Silver Membership that many regular posters had enjoyed for a couple of years. I found that out when I tried to see a full-size picture of an escort, and was told I could see only the thumbnails from now on. As I recall, the Silver Membership was a compromise reached a few years ago to allow regular posters to see larger pictures. Haven't been able to find the thread that did it, but I'll go looking for it if that would be helpful. Had I known I would lose Silver too, I would never have gone for a temporary Gold. Anybody else? Or am I just doing something wrong?

Not before I posted, but just tracked down the phrase I remember. It seems to have faded from common use after all these years, as have I, so all seems fitting. Your definitions, while not originally intended, take things to a whole new level. "The pip" is a disease of poultry and other birds, a respiratory illness that produces large amounts of phlegm. When people developed a phlegm producing cough of unknown origin it was said thay had a touch of the pip.

I was sure it's the subject or host Or the tone of a thread at the most, But I learn it's a thrip Or a touch of the pip, That determines whatever I post.

Mostly I thought a night train between Budapest and Bucharest would represent the far reaches of a cloud-connected world, where I could enjoy my own music as well as sights I'd never seen before. Add to that, Bucharest is a place I'd love to visit. Barcelona is certainly appealing but, on my rare travels, I like to go places that are a bit more out of the way. It's fascinating to go somewhere that's been rather isolated from the U. S. and see what the similarities are and what the differences are. I believe most people around the world want the same things, but the differences in how they go about getting them is always fascinating and enlightening. And, certainly not least, I think there are some hot Romanians. At the turn of the millenium, I boogied off to Budapest and settled myself at a sidewalk cafe on the Pest side of the Elizabeth Bridge. A few yards away was a little park where the Romanian boys were strutting their stuff and, ever since, it's been a place I've wanted to visit. At the time, the guys couldn't easily get any farther west than Hungary, and most I spoke with had a younger brother at home who wanted to make the trip to Budapest but didn't have the money. Why, I asked myself, couldn't Mohammed go to the mountain? I'm sure you're sorry you asked, so by way of making amends, I'll try posting a clip of the guy pictured above, Voicu Panzar, Mr. Romania World 2010. If you can ignore the interviewer (not easy, but worth the effort I think), you'll see a guy who could definitely get me up in the cloud and on a train to Bucaresti. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvMFTtxXeMk&feature=player_embedded

As many are aware, our own modest Lucky has expressed vividly his feelings on the subject of compliments, and has more than once come out strongly and publicly against them. So I have sheathed my typing finger as the educational and entertainment value of this thread has continued to build, and heretofore reticent posters have contributed thoughtful, insightful, and often quite personal, views on a subject that affects us all. Far be it from me to tender kisses and hugs where they are not wanted, but would a gentle expression of appreciation to the OP be entirely out of line?

A million thanks! I used the picture without reading the entire caption. Very interesting description of an early advance in technolology. Early telephone exchange, Paris V410/0043 Rights Managed Caption: Telephone exchange. Women working in a telephone exchange in Paris, 1890. Connections between early telephones were made manually by the operators. Technological improvements in this Parisian exchange meant that people, for the first time, provided a number rather than a name, and they were passed between fewer people before being connected. This system was known as Poste assis. Taken from Physique Populaire, 1891.