On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:01:52 -0500, Warp wrote:

> Jim Henderson <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote:
>> On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 06:39:36 -0500, Warp wrote:
> 
>> > andrel <a_l### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
>> >> I am not an expert (no kids myself and only one grandson)
>> > 
>> >   I have hard time figuring out how that is even possible...
> 
>> Stepkids.
> 
>   Hmm, I still find it a bit paradoxical to say "I have no son/daughter,
> but I have a grandson".

Perhaps from a logical standpoint, but since when are kids logical? ;-)

>   Is the son of a stepchild considered more familial than the
>   stepchild?-)

As a stepparent myself, I can understand what Andrel is saying - because 
my experience was with Ken from the age of 9 (and for Andrel, his 
stepdaughter from the age of 18), we missed out on raising a child from 
an infant.  So there are experiences for us as stepparents that are new 
with a grandchild that aren't for parents who raise a child from infancy.

For my own experience, I told Ken from the very start that I did not see 
my role as one of replacing his father.  The fact that it has turned out 
that way in many respects was not by my design, but rather from his 
father's apparent lack of interest in being involved in Ken's life until 
just recently (it's perhaps cynical of me to say 'now that he's 
financially off the hook', but I find it an interesting coincidence if 
that wasn't by *his* design, especially given that he quit jobs so he 
could get out of paying child support).

Ken coined the term "Assistant Dad" to describe me when he was about 10.  
He calls me "Jim" instead of "Dad", which I'm perfectly fine with; but 
when he has kids, I imagine he'll talk to his kids about me as "Grandpa 
Jim", just as he referred to my father as "Grandpa Ole".

Jim

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On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:04:12 +0100, andrel wrote:

> St. wrote:
>> "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message
>> 
>>> Which reminds me, if I'm going to make bread today (first attempt
>>> ever), I'd better get started... :-)
>> 
>>     Mmmm... the smell of fresh-baked bread is to die for... The same as
>> fresh cut grass, (for me anyway).
> 
> Do you have some cow in your ancestry?

LALOL!  I guess I must as well, because I really like both of those 
smells, too. :-)

Jim

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 21:59:36 +0000, St. wrote:
> 
>> "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message
>> news:475c6347@news.povray.org...
>>> On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 21:10:59 +0000, St. wrote:
>>>
>>>>     Ham...bur...gers...
>>>>
>>>>     Want... three...
>>>>
>>>>     or 4...
>>> We were going to make some last night, but it got to be too late to get
>>> started...
>>      It reminds me of when I was kid and we 'always' called them
>>      hamburgers.
>> Now you never hear it, it's always 'beefburgers' here.
> 
> LOL, ain't that the truth.  Ours are made with red onion and dijon 
> mustard.  And they're not 1/4 pound, either, they're more like half-pound 
> (more like meatloaf on a bun as well).
> 
> Now I'm getting hungry.
> 

You guys are making me hungry, and I haven't even really woken up. Time
to fire up the stove, carrot soup seems right for this weather.

>>> Which reminds me, if I'm going to make bread today (first attempt
>>> ever), I'd better get started... :-)
>>     Mmmm... the smell of fresh-baked bread is to die for... The same as
>> fresh cut grass, (for me anyway).

Fresh cut grass? Okay, that might have just ruined my appetite.

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Greg M. Johnson wrote:
> So, is babies-wailing a cultural thing?  If you go to restaurants in
> different corners of Europe or Asia (or the world), is wailing the norm in
> some parts?  Or does it take a lot of disposable income & time to keep
> snacks and toys ready for a kid the moment he peeps?   Or can there be
> geographic concentrations of actual indifference to babies' well-being?

Babies getting fussy doesn't bother me as much as the way the parents
handle it. If I see that they take a bit of time, and try to figure out
why the kid is upset, then a noisy baby doesn't bother me. The things
that really ruin a day out is when the parents just talk louder and
ignore the kid, or get the restaurant to turn up the TV or music.

I think, having grown up in rural areas, that a noisy baby is more
disturbing or distressing when at a nice quiet restaurant than at a
local pizza dive. In a small town, a baby sitter can cost as much or
more then a short dinner. And, having been part of the loud college
crowd at our local pizza joint, I think we were more annoying then any
loud baby ever could have been.

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On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 18:55:21 -0500, Sabrina Kilian wrote:

> You guys are making me hungry, and I haven't even really woken up. Time
> to fire up the stove, carrot soup seems right for this weather.

Mmmmm, now there's something I haven't had in a while.

>>> fresh cut grass, (for me anyway).
> 
> Fresh cut grass? Okay, that might have just ruined my appetite.

LOL!  I think fresh cut grass is enhanced by the smell of a recent 
rainshower (or perhaps it's the other way around).

Jim

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St. wrote:
>      It reminds me of when I was kid and we 'always' called them hamburgers. 
> Now you never hear it, it's always 'beefburgers' here.

Wow. I've never heard that. At most, it's "all-beef hamburgers" if 
someone's trying to make a point.

>     Mmmm... the smell of fresh-baked bread is to die for... The same as 
> fresh cut grass, (for me anyway).

My allergies are bad enough I *want* to die after cutting the grass, yes.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     It's not feature creep if you put it
     at the end and adjust the release date.

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> So, is babies-wailing a cultural thing?  If you go to restaurants in
> different corners of Europe or Asia (or the world), is wailing the norm in
> some parts?  Or does it take a lot of disposable income & time to keep
> snacks and toys ready for a kid the moment he peeps?   Or can there be
> geographic concentrations of actual indifference to babies' well-being?

Depends on the standard of "restaurant".  Places like McD's know that if 
they banned screaming kids they wouldn't make any money.  More expensive 
places know that if they didn't ban screaming kids (or at least make it 
clear they are not welcome) they wouldn't make any money...

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"Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message 
news:475c3e4d@news.povray.org...
> On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:24:07 -0800, Darren New wrote:
>
>> Incidentally, in the US, it's often cheaper to eat out at an inexpensive
>> restaurant (like pizza of McD) than to buy fresh food to prepare at
>> home. That's why poor people get fat here.
>
> I don't know about cheaper, but easier it certainly is.  Especially with
> a bunch of kids that need to be fed.

Cheaper. Subsidized corn makes up the most used ingredient in everything on 
the menu at a place like McDonalds. From the filler in the meat (and what do 
they feed the meet factories? corn... they feed corn to an animal that is 
specialized to eat grassy greens. wtf), to the breading around the meat, the 
buns, french fries (what potatos?), beverage and salad dressing.

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Ross <rli### [at] speakeasynet> wrote:
> "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message 
> news:475c3e4d@news.povray.org...
> > On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:24:07 -0800, Darren New wrote:
> >
> >> Incidentally, in the US, it's often cheaper to eat out at an inexpensive
> >> restaurant (like pizza of McD) than to buy fresh food to prepare at
> >> home. That's why poor people get fat here.
> >
> > I don't know about cheaper, but easier it certainly is.  Especially with
> > a bunch of kids that need to be fed.

> Cheaper. Subsidized corn makes up the most used ingredient in everything on 
> the menu at a place like McDonalds. From the filler in the meat (and what do 
> they feed the meet factories? corn... they feed corn to an animal that is 
> specialized to eat grassy greens. wtf), to the breading around the meat, the 
> buns, french fries (what potatos?), beverage and salad dressing.

  It may be cheaper if you want to eat the *same* food you get from the
restaurants. However, I'm sure that one can come up with cuisine that's
actually cheaper and equally (if not even more) nutritive..

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Ross wrote:
> "Jim Henderson" <nos### [at] nospamcom> wrote in message 
> news:475c3e4d@news.povray.org...
>> On Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:24:07 -0800, Darren New wrote:
>>
>>> Incidentally, in the US, it's often cheaper to eat out at an inexpensive
>>> restaurant (like pizza of McD) than to buy fresh food to prepare at
>>> home. That's why poor people get fat here.
>> I don't know about cheaper, but easier it certainly is.  Especially with
>> a bunch of kids that need to be fed.
> 
> Cheaper. Subsidized corn makes up the most used ingredient in everything on 
> the menu at a place like McDonalds. From the filler in the meat (and what do 
> they feed the meet factories? corn... they feed corn to an animal that is 
> specialized to eat grassy greens. wtf), to the breading around the meat, the 
> buns, french fries (what potatos?), beverage and salad dressing.

I've been to McDonald's.  I've been to the grocery store.  The grocery 
store is only more expensive if you insist on buying prepared foods.  I 
have built lunches for less than a dollar each by shopping in bulk; 
these meals were not as entertaining as some people would find to their 
liking, but they were nutritionally adequate.

People who can afford *any* restaurant on a regular basis are not poor, 
and any definition of poor that includes such people is faulty.

Regards,
John

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