TigerJ

Here's a fairly conservative stock to consider; Ivax Corporation trades on the AMEX. Symbol IVX. Generic and branded drug manufacturer. Have recently added several drugs coming off patent. Deemed a takeover target by some I've also made money lately on Torrent Energy trading as TREN on the BB. They are a junior exporation company with a hot coal bed methane property in Oregon. I'm still holding on to Hyperdynamics, an oil and gas exploration explorer with a potentially massive oil and gas property off the coast of Africa. They just recentlymoved to the Amex from the bulletin board and now trade with the symbol HDY.

A pontoon party boat. It's not going to happen.

I would definitely participate. One word of caution. Don't pick a stock because someone else does. Tips from friends, cousins, and fellow Bills fans are a perfectly fine way to get ideas, but you've go to due your own due diligence, and don't plan on blaming someone else if an idea doesn't pan out.

In theory, since it is a twelve hour spray the rebound effect should take effect after about 12 hours. It doesn't. I can breathe all day long. I can breathe OK when I go to bed, but experience tells me that if I don't use all three medications in combination (I've been off the OTC nasal spray for several weeks - long enough for recovery from any rebound effect) I still wake up in the wee hours of the morning, 4-5 AM with my nose completely clogged. You're right about pollen counts being highest during those hours of 4-6 AM. We have a central air conditioner coupled with a high efficiency air filter, which helps. I will try the saline nasal wash. I will also ask my brother (a doctor) about the OTC nasal spray.

People who have allergies are not born with those allergies. They are born with a genetic predisposition to develop allergies. The actual allergy requires exposure to the potential allergian for an unspecified length of time. If you transplanted a southern allergy sufferer to Rochester, and his allergy was to something that doesn't exist in Rochester, his symptoms would disawppear the way yours did. But leave him in Rochester for a few years and his body would probably find something to be allergic to. Likewise, moving to South Carolina would likely not be a permanent escape for you. Some environments tend to have fewer common allergians, but some unfortunate sould will never completely escape. I am a 50 year allergy sufferer. My particular culprits include maple tree pollen, grass pollen, ragweed, mold spores, pet dander, duck down, and dust mites. Fortunately, my current regimen of Flonase with a single bedtime spray of oxymetazeline decongestant in each nostril and an antihistamine seems to give me pretty complete relief.

There are too many guys named Mike Williams floating around. It's too confusing. He should change his name to Mitch Williams.

Justice is so unfair. White guys always get away with things.

Cool. I mean that literally. Even the northern part of New Zealand does not get very warm in the summer. Doesn't get cold in the witner either. It's kind of like living in San Francisco without the fog. You gotta be mindful of earthquakes and vocanic eruptions to. New Zealand is one of the volcanically and seismically active places in the world. What part of New Zealand will you be in? I would really like to visit there some day.

Aside from the fact that William Schatner can't act his way out of a paper bag, the character of James Kirk is much too much of a cowboy to be realistic. Picard is much more credible as a starship captain. Kirk would be more credible as a first officer.

More prayers coming your way.

Jason Gudmundson or Geir Peters.

I was thinking more along the lines of taking up a collection to send him a fruitcake.

That is a major problem, of course. The other side of the story is that if the nation is warming to the notion of Buffalo as a tourist destination, that might be a place to start. Tourism is of course an industry of sorts and does provide jobs. Whether tourism has swelled enough to make the building of more hotel rooms yet is beyond my awareness.

I wonder how much of these early individual ticket sales are going to turn out being scalping tacetly approved by the Bills because of the long period allowed for such sales to season ticket holders. You know a lot of these tickets are going to end up on Ebay at inflated prices, and those of us who can't use season tickets are going to pay through the nose for the one game we can go to.

Rhinocort, Flonase, Beconase, and Vancenase (sp) are all chemically related steroid based nasal sprays. Because they are made by different drug companies the chemical formula is a little different in each one, but they are all pretty similar in their effectiveness as far as I know. I've used three of them. If you worry about liver damage and other issues connected with steroids like Prednisone, don't. A nasal spray is a non systemic use. It's not going to hurt you.

Some people (like me) are subject to strong side effects (drowsiness and lethargy) from some over the counter antihistamines. I would only ever take diphenhydramine (Benadryl) at bedtime. Otherwise I can't function. Other people are fine with it. Try it. Claritin is supposed to be a non-drowsy OTC antihistamine. I can't vouch for its effectiveness as I've never taken it. I'm taking Chlor Trimeton, but only at bedtime. But when I do take it in the daytime, the side effects aren't bad. It's also cheap, the main reason I picked it over Claritin. One tip: go to Walmart and get their house brand (Equate). You'll save a lot of money. Walmart has house brand versions of Chlor Trimeton (chlorpheniramine maleate), Benadryl, and Claritin. Another option is a nasal spray called Nasalcrom. It works on an entirely different principle, and is more effective if you start befor your symptoms begin. As far as I know no one makes a generic/house brand for that yet. It is supposed to be quite effective. It's a bit pricey though. I use Flonase, a prescription steroid based nasal spray not only to control allergic symptoms but to treat a complication of my allergies, a tendency to develop nasal polyps. If I don't use it, eventually my nasal passages get completely blocked by polyps and I have to have surgery to remove them. I also use at night, one spray in each nostril of an OTC decongestant nasal spray, the 12 hour kind. You're not supposed to use that for more than three days. You can develop a rebound effect where it actually makes your symptoms worse, but since I use only one spray in each nostril per day, as opposed to the maximum six, the rebound effect doesn't seem to be an issue. BTW, I have had allergies for better than 45 years. I have tried most things including shots. I can tell you authoritatively what works for me, but since everyone is different, you might have better luck with something else.

Reliable birth control, better than condoms. You already said you don't want to hear the rest of what I have to say.

We stayed at the Ohana West on our vacation. I got an incredible deal over the internet, a two bedroom suite for $125 a night. The price was so cheap for Hawaii that for months I was living in fear that somehow it was not legitimate, until we actually got there. They weren't the newest rooms in Waikiki, but they were really very nice and clean. You won't find a deal like that on the major internet lodging sites, Hotwire, Expedia etc. Single rooms generally run $140 a night and up. But then, on a cruise you won't be worrying about that.

A gallon of milk was $8 when we were there. You can get hawaiian shirts dirt cheap though. I suggest the International Marketplace in Waikiki for souvenirs on Oahu. It is kind a bazaar hidden amongst the buildings in one block. Dozens and dozens of merchants selling food, ukeleles, clothing, jewelry etc. in cheaply made shelters. Some is open air, sheltered by banyan trees and palms. Other areas are roofed. It's all kind of campy and quaint. I think the same submarine company operates from the Big Island. I think those are the only two locations where you can get rides. Here are a couple interesting facts about the cocnut palms you'll see in Honolulu. 1. City workers regularly remove any cocnuts from the trees that line the streets of Waikiki because some years ago a tourist was hit and injured by a falling coconut. He sued the city for a relatively modest amount and won the case. Later he decided he should have sued for more. He tried to sue again but this time his case was thrown out of court. The city realized they had lucked out and did not want to take any more chances. Thus, you'll never see a coconut on the cocnu palms of Waikiki. 2. On almost all of the coconut palms of Waikiki you will see a a band of tin wrapped around the trunk, fifteen or twenty feet off the ground. This is to prevent rats from climbing the trees and nesting in the tree tops. Rats are a huge problem in Honolulu. BTW, all the land on which Waikiki (a subsection of Honolulu) is located is reclaimed swamp land. the canal on the backside was built to catch the water draining off the mountains so the land of Waikiki could be used. All of the land of Waikiki is owned by a private school, bequeethed to that school by Hawaiian royalty back in the days when there was Hawaiian royalty. The school requires that all students attending have some native Hawaiian blood. Why they have gotten away with what amounts to state sanctioned discrimination for so long is anyone's guess. When we were there, a non-native student was suing for entrance. Anyway, all the businesses on Waikiki lease the land from the school. I can only wonder at how many millions of dollars is paid in rent each year.

Was it wearing a red helmut, or was it one of those throwback white helmuts with the standing red buffalo on it?

II think I would second the thoughts on flying versus cruising. If you're going to cruise, cruise to somewhere close. Fly to Hawaii. Reading a few other posts brought back some memories. We did a luau. Great fun, pork to die for. Snorkeled at Hanauma Bay. My son took underwater pictures of a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle. The North shore is dead calm in the summer. No waves, but sea turtles bask on the beaches. The crater inside diamond head is for all practical purposes a desert. Great view from the military structures at the peak. We took a hike in the rain forest below Pali pass and rode to the top at Pali pass. It is a formation in the eastern mountain range of Oahu that acts like a wind tunnel. Winds of 30, 40, 50 MPH and higher are not uncommon. Whatever the trade winds blow at sea level, multiply the speed by about three times to get the wind speed at Pali Pass. The Polynesian Cultural Center is interesting. The submarine ride at the Hilton Hawaiian village is pricey for what it is, but it was enjoyable too. Of course, don't forget Pearl Harbor. After 60+years there is still fuel oil leaking from the tanks of the Arizona. As others have said, take money. Hawaii is very expensive.

I'm sure you've heard the joke that all the tour guides tell on all the tourist busses. They tell you the Hawaiian terms for first time and second time visitors to the islands. Tourists who come three or more times are called "rich." I've been once, to bustling Waikiki, though we did get around to the north shore and got to some other spots too. Loved it and want to go back. I want to see the Big Island and either Maui or Kauaii

I'm not an expert, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. No not really. I do know that among all breeds there are individual differences in temperament within the breed. There are pit bulls that if you'll excuse the expression are kitty cats when it comes to temperament. Here's the problem. One characteristic of the breed is that they have much stronger jaws than typical dogs of the same size. Their bite can do more damage. Since you can't predict what their temperament will be when you adopt a puppy, you would have to be a fruitcake to adopt one when you have small children. You might as well try to adopt a wolf puppy. Same problems: stronger jaws, unpredictable temperament. Then of course there are yahoos that train their pit bulls to be vicious.

My father's side of the family were western New Yorkers going back quite a ways. The Joneses who were my direct ancestors left Wales around 1812 and settled around Rome NY. They were staunch Methodists, ironic since I'm now a Unite Methodist pastor. The son was a prodigal however and got into gambling. He must have been good at it because he won a plot of land in Leon, NY at a poker game. I'm not sure when that was, but I would assume it was in the 1820s. He had a family and his children decided to move west when the Homesteading Act opened up the frontier to those willing to pull up their roots. They went out to South Dakota and tried to establish a farm. They made a go of it for a while, but were wiped out (econimically) by locusts. They came back east to Leon. Their son (or grandson - I'm not sure which) left for the big city of Salamanca where he became a general contractor. That's where my father was born, and me too.

Shaq is not perfect, but then none of us are. He seems to have a good and generous heart that some of these mega rich sports stars don't have. I admire him for that.