My city-bred mother told me that she and her siblings always looked forward to the occasional family trip to the berry patches or orchards. They picked fruit all day long and when they brought it home, their mother would allow them to have the fruit for supper! They thought it was a fantastic treat. Mom said that it wasn’t until years later that they realized that their parents did this when there was absolutely nothing in the house to eat, and the berry-picking was a last resort for feeding the family.

Back in the middle school, we had a teacher who was obsessed with food, to the extent that he used to go to the teacher’s lounge and STEAL other people’s lunches. He never stole the entire lunch; he only stole the best parts of as many lunches as he could safely pilfer before someone else came into the room. Nothing was safe from him. We’d go to the lounge refrigerator to get a birthday cake or a pitch-in pie, or a bowl of potato salad, etc, only to find a piece or a huge helping of it gone. Someone would open his/her lunch bag to find half of the sandwich missing, or the cupcake gone. Finally, in frustration, the men in our building got together and decided to lay a trap for him. They made a HUGE pan of pecan-studded brownies, using Ex-Lax instead of chocolate, covered it with foil, labeled it “Please don’t touch - this is for the Spelling Bee after-party” and put it in the ‘fridge. At lunch time, we took out the pan and discovered about a third of it missing. And speaking of “missing,” our thieving food-obsessed colleague missed almost a week of school. It seems he had some major digestive problems. He behaved himself for a few months but eventually he was back to his old tricks. Honestly? I’ve never known a person so absolutely obsessed with food as this man was. He would tremble with anticipation and his mouth would water so that he had to use a napkin, at the very mention of food. He was disgusting. We finally had to put a combination-code lock on the teacher’s lounge doors, and he was NOT given the code. What a jerk he was.

I can’t vote for McCain; his reprehensible treatment of both wives and his “anger management issues: - which is nothing but a euphemism for “I’m grown up but I still throw temper tantrums, and I still want my own way!” - are too much. What some people call Obama’s lack of experience might just turn into a much-needed breath of fresh air for our nation. At any rate, I’d rather take my chances with the newbie than take the risk that putting a fussy old codger who has a fit when things don’t go his way, and who treats women like so much scheisse, would surely bring. As for ANY president who was unfaithful… I know there have been many, and while some might have been good presidents, they were lousy MEN.

I voted “other,” because, to me, education is the most important issue. “Values” mean far more than “religious bias,” however. I can’t separate a person’s public life from his/her political life, because I believe that a person who will betray a spouse and children will also betray his/her country. I believe that a person who wants his/her own way at home will want his/her own way in the government. Or anywhere else. I am not able to trust an adult who still has temper tantrums, either. Honestly? I don’t know how I’m going to vote. Right now, I only know that I will vote, because those who choose not to vote, forfeit all whining rights.

I can’t see Russia from my house, my daughter has more respect for herself (and for her family) than to follow her hormones into the back seat of a moron’s car, and while I can shoot a Campbell’s soup can right between the kids’ eyes from a pretty fair distance, I’ve never pursued an animal from an airplane, so I’m not really qualified to help lead the nation.

Political correctness cheapens the language. This is not to be confused with simple etiquette and good taste, however. I was a public school teacher for 26 years, and the euphemisms long ago stepped over the borderline of absurdity. Who do these people think they’re fooling?

I think it’s creepy to have a romantic relationship with someone who is young enough to be your biological son or daughter. A few years don’t matter, but a generation? Who will you hang out with, your kids’ friends? It smacks of a sexual predator-type thing.

Who puts these lists together? It’s someone with far different taste than mine, that’s for sure. It’s not just this list, either. It’s most of them. Oh well, it’s probably just me.

I have never found ANY mere “politician” “sexy, but I’ve only seen Charles Dance in one film and I still dream about that chin. Etc. And that voice… be still, my heart. As for poor sick Bill and his addiction to women other than his wife… . we used to call those horny old men “whoremongers,” but in this day and age of excusing everything under the sun, I guess the sweet gentleman is merely ill and we have to make allowances for that.

Well, what can I say? The answer is probably “nothing,” because my post on this thread has disappeared, as have several other posts I’ve made on other threads on this website. Jeepers, ladies, I’m starting to feel unwanted here.

I like her. The fact that she is the mother of a horny, knocked-up teenager doesn’t change the fact that she tried her best to instill good values in her children. After a certain age, kids do what they want to do, in spite of our attempts to teach them right from wrong. People are criticizing her for continuing to work even after her labor pains started; so what? I mowed five acres during the worst of my labor pains. A woman who has had four children probably knows her own body and its strengths and its limitations, and can evaluate what she can and cannot do for that fifth one, besides which, this is absolutely nobody else’s business. Sheesh. Should she stay at home with her special-needs child? Not unless she wants to. She has a stay-at-home husband? Awesome. We need more of those. I think she is a walking example of what an educated, hardworking woman who chooses to work outside the home can be. I also think that politicians are grasping at straws to find something amiss with her, because, to our shame, tearing the opponents down seems to be the way a lot of people run an election these days. I admire Obama for his statement on leaving a candidate’s children out of it. Why, yes, I almost always split my ticket. Shouldn’t everyone? The best of this party and the best of that party… .

In my experience (26 years in the public schools) the teachers’ union was interested mainly in financing itself and various political candidates, none of whom I was “for.” When push came to shove and I NEEDED the union, it was not there. In fact, it sided wholly with the administration, mainly due to the fact that neither had any computer/internet knowledge whatsoever.. My classroom computer was hijacked and I was blamed for what was done with the contents. Not one person in the union or administration understood enough about the internet to comprehend the dynamics of that. So yes, the union? I loathe it. In fact, I despise it. And I have no respect for the administration, either. Someone in power who doesn’t know how the internet works? Despicable. Unacceptable. Deal-breaker. Yes, in every aspect of life.

One summer between college semesters, I took a job in an RCA factory. The union made all of us summer workers join, and the dues took over half my summer salary. So, yes, I hated the union there. As a teacher, I was forced to join the NEA, and I begrudged every penny I contributed to buy their new building, their wall art, their carpeting, and their endorsements of political candidates NONE of which were my own choices. When push came to shove, and I needed the union’s support, there was none. NONE. As in, you know, NONE. I honestly wish I’d just flushed all those thousands of dollars down the toilet, instead of giving them to the union. At least then, I’d have had the fun of watching them swirl before they disappeared forever. In the past, I believe that unions were invaluable. Now? No. I’m not kidding.

I store all of my pictures in a file on my desktop, and I use FrameChannel as a content provider. It’s absolutely free and I LOVE IT. I have a wireless digital picture frame, and FrameChannel sends all eight thousand of my pictures slideshowing through my wireless frame, along with the many RSS feeds FrameChannel can pick up and send to my frame. I get the local and national news, quote of the day, word of the day, local weather, and several other RSS feeds. http://www.framechannel.com/ I’ve used Flickr and Picasa and Blogger and Shutterfly and others, but nothing compares to FrameChannel.

An affair is a betrayal, and a betrayal is a deal-breaker, no matter what the context might be. If he would do that to his wife and family, who loved and trusted him, what might he do to us? I am always shocked and horrified when a seemingly decent and honorable person turns out to be just one more horndog who can’t keep it in his pants. Correction: One more horndog who makes a conscious and deliberate CHOICE not to keep it in his pants. There are no “accidents” when it comes to infidelity. It’s always a choice. Shoddy, shabby, and cheap. Just like all the other horndogs who “can’t” keep it in their pants. And of course, one can’t be a happy cheating horndog without a woman of the same calibre. Sorry, John. Bad move. Deal-breaker.