Thoughts of the Last Few Days...

=I've heard that scientists found
we all seem to have a "meat gene" (or genes).
It (they) determine
whether we should be eating meat, fish,
or if it's just best to be a vegetarian.
Which might be why many people become vegetarians.
It could be it's their genetic calling....
my wife says it's easier for vegetarians not to eat meat
if that's the way they were meant to be.
And healthier for them, too.
It could be that it's healthiest for people with
the "meat gene" to eat meat
and healthiest for people with the "fish gene" to eat fish.
Maybe any deviation contributes to cancer
or throws our blood chemistry out of whack.
How do you know what you have?
I suppose the only way to tell, for the moment,
is what you feel is right for you.

=I've been recording Deep Space Nine from Spike
the last several weeks on VHS
then burning favorite ones on DVDs.
I do it that way because
they haven't been showing them
in quite the right order.
A couple of weeks ago
they showed The Visitor and I got it.
Sweet!

=Tornwordo did a posting the other day on dental visits.
Oh man...
I wish I would've read it the same day he posted it
and left a comment
(I rarely leave comments on any older posting
because I don't know if they're ever read).
I once had a dental hygienist who,
using torn's words,
"sawed away bits of my gums"
with dental floss 'till they bled like she hit an artery,
then said it wouldn't happen if I flossed regularly.
I got pissed and told her,
"Give me some dental floss,
I'll bet I can make your gums bleed
as badly as you've made mine bleed!"
A moment after I said that,
I realized my dentist was in the next room
and I'm sure he heard the whole conversation.
She never cleaned my teeth again
and she doesn't even work there anymore.
Even though I've brushed and flossed daily now
for several years,
I can still make them bleed if I get carried away
and go at it too hard.
And the present hygienist
tells me I do a nice job cleaning my teeth.
Which makes the old hygienist's argument invalid.

=I once was at the Wal-Mart check-out counter
and the check-out lady seemed real down.
I said "Hi, how are you?"
and she began to tell me why she was so down.
As she checked out my stuff,
she was telling me about
how her house needed a new roof
and was wondering how
she was going to be able to afford a new one.
Man, I wish I were rich.
I would've found out from her where she lived
and sent a roofing company over to re-roof her house.
If I ever win the lotto or otherwise get rich somehow,
no doubt about it...
I'm going to help people like that.

=Someone left
a 6X10X2-foot deep inflatable swimming pool
on our front porch.
Brand new, still in the box, never opened.
I assembled and filled it Saturday morning
and my kids have been having a ball with it ever since.
I was pretty sure it was from
my neighbors across the street,
an 81-year-old woman and her daughter.
They really like our kids
and buy them stuff at Christmas and Easter
(although if it's clothes,
they're nearly always too small.
I don't think they realize how much my kids grow!
But, it's the thought that counts!)
Anyway, I was surprised when the daughter said
"No...it wasn't from us."
And I could tell she was telling the truth.
She's not the kind to lie to remain anonymous anyway.
And I still haven't found out who it was!

=My wife was watching CNN
and they came on with a story
about illegal organ trade in China.
It seems someone with lots of money
can (and will) buy an organ they need from China.
China will then execute a prisoner
with the proper "credentials", and
*poof*
you have your organ, ready to transplant.
China insists that the prisoner
(or the family,
if the execution has already been carried out)
always consents to the donation first,
but human rights organizations say that's not true.
One man who wanted a liver transplant
due to liver cancer
paid tens of thousands of dollars for a liver
....even though doctors have told him
there's a 90% chance of the cancer coming back
after the entire operation is done.
I'm not against capital punishment,
as I feel there's some cases that justify it.
But if China's executing prisoners just for this,
what a ghastly scenario....