Taking into account factors such as population density, government project fund distributions, sports team alleigances, media coverage, & per capita income, I've come to the conclusion that Connecticut only exists alone the coast & in the Triangle.

For those of you who are new to the game, "let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up." While the state of Connecticut exists within the prescribed boundaries legally, culturally, it's MUCH smaller. Go get your atlases, encyclopedias, what have you....turn to the map of Connecticut. Now, put your finger on Hartford. Draw a line down to New Haven. From there, draw a line to Waterbury, then back to Hartfoprd. That's the Triangle. From Greenwich to Groton along the Sound is the rest of the state.

To the left, you have what's essentially New York--the alleigances are all there. To the right, you have the Rhode Island weirdos. To the top, you have the Massachusetts freaks. All of us hate the Connecticut folks in the Triangle for they get all the funding, all the attention, all the tourism, all the goodies.

Little do they know I've been saltpetering their water.

I just turned 42 (last Thursday -- thanks for all the cards 'n' letters :P). As an OP (Older Person) I find that, having survived numerous injuries, one motorcycle accident, and one serious car wreck, injuries come back to haunt you.

I have a bad shoulder (aches sometimes & I can't sleep on it) and a bad knee (3 steel pins and 3 day's advance warning of really bad weather -- I wonder if they'd used seven pins I'd get a week's advance warning?). Occasionally I get a migraine headache (on the migraine scale of pain, mine rate a "1" -- at least my head doesn't explode).

I use (infrequently) ibuprophen (800 mg horse-pills) for the occasional migraine or insistent shoulder or knee ache. One pill usually kills the pain in ~30 minutes, and it usually doesn't come back.

I also get infrequent heartburn. Once every few months (usually when I'm stressed) I'll take some Tums (actually the generic equivalent from Wal-Mart) or some acid blocker (AAFEES' cheap imitations sold at the Base Exchange). If I'm really feeling cheap, I'll just mix a tablespoon of Baking soda with some water and drink that down. It makes you belch real good, but yuo have to take it a few times to quench the fires.

During the spring, I sometimes get allergies. Usually I just try to be well-stocked with kleenex�, but sometimes I need REAL drugs. When I'm really stopped up but need to stay awake I take pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (Sudafed or its generic equivalent). If staying awake isn't an important issue, then I'll take tripolidine with pseudoephedrine (Actifed or its G.E.)

When I've got a persistant cough, I'll take an expectorant cough syrup (it doesn't suppress the coughing, it just loosens the phlegm up so you can hawk loogies).

I try to avoid taking any drug unless it's necessary. That way, if it is necessary, I don't have any built-up tolerance for the drug, and it works better.

I do smoke (it boosts adrenalin and endorphin production, but I didn't know that when I started smoking). I also have an occasional drink (a good beer or brandy, but since I don't often drink it doesn't take much).

Any questions?

~~Baloo

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Beer lovers take note:
Stroh's spelled backwards is "shorts."

http://www.geocities.com/cyrano_jones.geo/

You should have made a public spectacle out of it, like some other guy did. Happy birthday anyway.

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It's not my birthday
It's not today
It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?
--
They Might Be Giants
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Read chapter one of "Dirk Tungsten in...The Disappearing Planet"! I'll give you a cookie.

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Fool of a Took, throw yourself in next time!!
Gandalf