Yeah, I do have or had some badly chosen "friends". I got rid of them when I tried to change my life around, and I mean all of them. I don't have very many left at all, and certainly don't seek those types out. I just must appear walking down the street as someone who likes to be stepped on. They say hey, we talk for a minute, and most I chose to never see again, but some I mistakenly give the benefit of a doubt, and later wind up paying the price.

ESPECIALLY in the situation you mentioned. I didn't meet him walking down the street, but I know all about the bad roomie thing. That's one lesson I did learn however hard-headed I may be.

Yeah, I learned the prioritizing myself first in rehab and saw how it does actually help. In a way, I kinda was making myself my own first priority, in that taking him far away from here would hopefully be a way to keep him away and keep him from taking any further advantage of me and the little time I have to spare. But it is still doing him a favor and doing something I did not really want to do nor had much time to do. So I think by getting rid of him (I'm hoping), I freed up much more time in the future that would have otherwise been spent being a sucker/doormat. But I wonder if I am really getting any wisdom (well, wisdom is sort of unquestionable) or value out of doing this, or if it just points to further abuse of my friendship down the road.

I like that. Gonna add that to my list of good quotes.

Yes, I agree. I'm a sucker. I do a lot for people that never really appreciate it. People have usually already walked all over me by the time I realize they're going from recieving a favor to taking advantage. And I don't often complain about it because, like you said, I let them do these things. So, eventually, in this scenario, I think I did him one more favor, a favor to his wife by getting rid of him, and a favor to me as well by taking him far away from here. So I was kinda wondering if I really did us all a favor, or if I just perpetuated further advantage taking by him, or of myself.

...so that it might benefit you in the long run?

...or that karma might come back and repay you in kind?

...or do you just tell them they're on their own?

Scenario:

I have an acquaintance that I never should have bothered with in the first place. He seemed alright at first when I was getting him back into school and things, but after a while it turned into me doing all sorts of things for him and getting nothing in return.

I don't expect things in return for the favors I do, but after so much it seems to become expected. I wind up being used by him as I do by damn near everybody else. Can you show me how to use Powerpoint? Can I get a cigarette? Can I use your phone? ...he asks

Sure, no big deal....the first 10 times. Then it gets kind of old and the person gets kind of annoying. To wrap this up, today he comes by, wakes me up, and says he needs to get out of the apartment complex because he got in a fight with his wife and the cops are making him leave. He asks me to take him somewhere and drop him off. Good God, do I have to do everything for this guy? So I figured I'd take him across town and drop him at the homeless shelter, and hopefully it'll be a while, or never, that he makes it back up my way.

It seems like even after I got out of a bad lifestyle, I still attract people that just wanna use me. So I'm wondering how far do you let people walk on you and what will you do to get rid of them?

1. You are walking in the woods. You are not alone. Who is with you?

My love

2. You are walking in the woods. You see an animal. What kind of animal?

A doe

3. What interaction takes place between you and the animal?

She stares at me for a little bit and continues on her way

4. You walk deeper in the woods. You enter a clearing, and before you is your dream
house. How big is it?

Approximately 1,250 sq. ft.

5. Is your dream house surrounded by a fence?

No

6. You enter the house. You walk into the dining room and see the dining table,
what is on the table?

A bowl of fruit

7. You exit the house and a cup is on the ground, what kind is it?

A coffee mug

8. What do you do with the cup?

Pick it up and carry it with me

9. You walk to the edge of the property where you find yourself standing at a body
of water, what type of body of water?

A lake

10. How will you cross the water?

A rowboat

...................................

The ANSWERS

1. The person who you are walking in the woods with is the most important to you now.

2. The size of the animal is representative of your perception of the size of your
problems in your life.

3. The severity of the interaction you have with the animal is representative of how
you deal with your problems.

4. The size of your dream home is representative of the size of your ambition to
solve your problems.

5. A lack of a fence is indicative of an open personality. People are welcome at all
times. The presence of a fence indicates a closed personality. You'd prefer people
not drop by unannounced.

6. If your answer did NOT include food, flowers, or people, then you are generally
unhappy.

7. The durability of the material with the cup is made of is representative of the
perceived durability of your relationship.

8. What you did with the cup is representative of your attitude.

9. The size of the body of water is representative of the size of your sexual desire.

10. The way you cross the water is representative to how easy or hard you expect
your life to be.

OK, whatever.

Here's a couple interesting tidbits I read recently:

(1)
Why does a toucan have such a large bill? Hypotheses have ranged from peeling fruit to sexual ornamentation, but a new study at Brock University in Canada has found a new and perhaps the main function. Putting toucans in a rooms with varying temperatures and observing them with infrared imaging, they found that when it's hot, toucans increase the blood flow through the bill to radiate excess body heat. They found that heat loss through the bill can range from only 5% to as much as 100% of a toucan's total body heat loss.




(2)
Can cockroaches be lonely? A study at the University of Rennes in France found that cockroaches raised in isolation show the same later social impairments as many other animals. Those that had been reared in solitude were more reluctant to explore their environments, search for food, or approach other cockroaches, and more often failed to recognize the signs of a potential mate.

What type of person do you attract?
Your Result: You attract artsy people!
Those free spirited artists with great imaginations find you interesting. They are usually interesting themselves, so its not a bad thing, but they CAN be a bit wifty and choose odd goals. If you like life to always be a bit 'different' from the norm, but not too extreme in any one direction, these are the people for you. If you seek logical decision making skills and good money management, you may want to change something in the way you appear. Artsy people are fun for adventure and exploring, so, have fun! (smoking weed helps too)
Result Breakdown:
74% You attract artsy people!
61% You attract geeks!
53% You attract unstable people!
53% You attract rednecks!
42% You attract Yuppies!
35% You attract models!
Quiz Created on GoTo Quiz

Yes, that is a very nice costume you've got going for me. I dig I dig. I was hoping you wouldn't take the headdress away upon redoing the drawing. I do appreciate the time and thought you put into it. Looking forward to the weekend after these projects I'm working on are submitted and I can catch up on the story.

*starts twitching uncontrollably....ghy76hu 45re uyhjj7n<---- smashes head on keyboard repeatedly and wets pants*

You'll be hearing from my lawyer.

Most excellent drawings my good man! Looking forward to seeing mine completed. It looked pretty swell as I saw it earlier.

Quite fascinating.

Eh, when they're infants, they're up crying at 4:30 am. When they're small children, they're b!tching because they have to go to bed at 9 pm. When they're old folks, they're complaining that they're not in bed by 7 pm. They'll get a normal bedtime at some point in their lives. Til then, let 'em have some fun.

treatment - literary or artistic handling, especially in reference to style

...because it is an application of artistic style to a window, or a method of handling lighting that penetrates the window.

My Monday thought, although not so random: where to put the reception desk and how to shape it.

Depending on the size and type of hose, you could use something simple you might have lying around the house. If it's just the thin clear type of hose typically seen for fish tank air and water circulation, then you could use something as simple as a paper clip, or fold the hose partially over a piece of cardboard and use a rubber band to hold a light kink in it. If it's a thicker hose, then they sell adjustable clamps at many pet stoires with aquarium supplies. They're pretty cheap. If not there, try a hardware store. You seem like a pretty smart guy, and clamping a hose is a pretty easy task. Surely you can figure out something.

May I suggest partially clamping the downhill hose?

Sorry 'bout that. Here's a full-face, better lit portrait if it helps to fill things in aside from what you've already done:



I love the sketch! I am one cool looking shamanic wizard. Can't wait to see the finished result.

Here's some random and interesting data I have. Not sure how accurate it is, but I'll go with it:

Average Amount of Garbage Produced by Americans each day: 4.6 lbs.

Type of Trash:
Paper - 32.7%
Yard Waste - 12.8%
Food Waste - 12.5%
Plastics - 12.1%
Metals - 8.2%
Wood - 5.6%
Glass - 5.3%
Textiles - 4.7%
Rubber/Leather - 2.9%
Other - 3.2%

Where our trash goes:
Landfill - 54%
Recycled - 33.4%
Incinerators - 12.6%

Recession Recycling:
$10 - The amount per ton that Harvard used to be paid for their recyclables
$35 - The amount per ton Harvard now pays to get rid of them

1.7 million:
The number of homes the U.S. could power for 24 hours if we turned a days worth of garbage into fuel

How much of our trash is recyclable?
80%
How much of our trash do we recycle?
33%

60 days
The average time it takes for an aluminum can to be recycled and put back on the shelf

$304,479
Average cost per acre to build a landfill

Trashy Nations:
Who's tossing out the least/most junk worldwide (pounds per capita)

Ireland - 1,764
Norway - 1,764
U.S. - 1,672
Netherlands - 1,375
U.K. - 1,287
Japan - 913
Mexico - 759
China - 253

Just wondering if it was after my dad started writing and if you might have been familiar with the book. The picture is the 4th and I believe the most recent edition, which puts it back I'm thinking 8 years or so.

Long as I'm here, I'll add another funny one: Vascular Pole of the Renal Corpuscle

I've got the books. I can come up with these all day long.

Well, my first suggestion would be to put up a more visible or clearer picture as your default. I like the monochrome high contrast thing there, but it's not a very clear visible image that's going to stand out against the rest of everybody else's out there. It's hard to get one that actually does stand out, but if you can pull that off, you will see dramatic results.

You have a cool list of interests. How bout elaborating on those some? Your bio section definitely needs more to it. If you can't think of anything, just start typing and something will come out of it. And keep up the forum posting.