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QUOTE(Brian @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 01:29 PM) It may just be my mind frame, but I don't understand why some people are content with not working out or taking care of themselves. I'm FAR from the perfect looking human, but I maintain my weight and stay active. Two big reasons: 1. time 2. money I don't have enough of either.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 01:23 PM) _Employers should offer their workers benefits that help them stay healthy, such as nutrition counseling and subsidized health club memberships. My company does this. The only problem is that I already drive an hour south to get to work. The gym they offer free membership to is another 15 minutes south. Not even considering the cost of gas, I wouldn't make it home until 7 PM or later. Yet they don't have anything to do with the YMCA that is 5 minutes away from my house... QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 01:23 PM) _At the local level, governments should approve zoning and land use laws that give people more chances to walk or bike to the store or to work. Local governments also should set aside more funding for sidewalks. I agree with this. Half of my neighborhood doesn't even have sidewalks. Just a gravel shoulder and a small drainage ditch.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 12:24 PM) Why would the doors INTO the classrooms being locked be a fire hazard? I guess it depends on what type of lock it is. If it's one where you can just turn in by hand from the inside, then it's probably not a big deal. But if it's one that requires a key on both sides, then that might be a problem. Obviously if it's still being done in schools, it's not a problem. I guess I was thinking back to the movie "Lean On Me" (which is based on a true story) where the principal put chains and padlocks on all the doors leading outside. IIRC, he had to take them down because it was a fire hazard. Different scenario I guess...

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 12:13 AM) Dont they eat dogs on China? I believe that's Koreans.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 08:23 AM) Up until i moved last year, my boys had to wear 'uniforms' at the grade schools. Black or dark blue pants/shorts for boys, along with light blue polos, dress shirts or plain t-shirts. Pretty cheap to buy, even if they are wearing them 'only' 6 or 7 hours a day. You buy 5 or 6 polos for about $15 each, a few pairs of the pants, and actually do a load of laundry during the week, you are set for about $100. if you took your kid out shopping for the school clothes they wanted to wear, you would be lucky if the price tag was still 3 figures. Clothes for uniforms serve one purpose only: school clothes. Regular clothes serve multiple purposes. School clothes, play clothes, going out to eat clothes, going to the store clothes, lounging around on the weekend clothes...

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 07:06 AM) MCHS actually has the sweep policy as well. They just started it last year, along with the reduced number of tardy's. They also have it to where so many tardys equal an absence, and so many absenses equal an automatic failure of that grading period, although according to my wife, I don't believe she ever had a kid fail for attendance, who wasn't going to fail for grades anyway. I know somebody that missed 56 days his senior year. He passed all his classes with A's and B's. The very next year they implemented a rule that if you missed more than X amount of days in a given semester (like 10 or 15, I don't remember the exact number), you automatically failed that semester. We "unofficially" named the rule after him. QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Aug 29, 2006 -> 06:28 AM) The locked door thing is actually the policy at the junior high I'm at. Students get 3 minute passing periods. When the bell rings, all the doors get shut and then staff "sweeps" the halls where they get the late students with passes and then let them into the room. Students get a detention for the first two tardies and then harsher punishments as it goes on. The administration should have gone with in-school suspensions. I kinda fail to see how sending them home with no supervision, TV, video games etc. is a real punishment. With an in-school suspension, they get all their work and are supervised that they spend the day doing their homework. 3 minute passing period? You must have a small school. We had 5 minutes and sometimes that was just barely enough to get to your locker and get across the school to the next class. Wouldn't having a locked door be some sort of fire hazard? Or does that just apply to the doors that lead outside?

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Aug 28, 2006 -> 01:51 PM) Since the topic at hand deals with high school students, I still say uniforms are cheaper. You're describing two extremes, so I'll give my example: I shop at tjmaxx, marshalls, etc. with my younger brother in high school too and we never see shirts at a dollar or jeans for 2. Clothes for teenagers are pricey, even when shopping for sale and clearance prices. My brother isn't the type who wants the most expensive clothes or fads, but buying quality clothes for him to look presentable still isn't cheap. He needs far less of these clothes since his school requires a uniform. For school, he alternates between a few polos and khakis, the polos being from last year, and last year's shoes are still holding up, for now. The khakis were cheaper than any pair of jeans he has. (dockers hit the clearance racks; levis never do.) When wearing uniforms, there are no worries about keeping up with current fads or the latest expensive gym shoes. No designer jeans for alternating daily needed. You can get away with washing your shirt and wearing it more than once in a week. Brands don't matter since all the uniforms looks the same. Still the fact remains that you have to buy extra clothes that you're only going to wear about 6 or 7 hours a day. I have the same issue with my work clothes. If I were allowed to wear my "normal" clothes to work I could cut my wardrobe down quite a bit. But at least it's my choice to be at a job that requires a dress code and I get paid for it. If we had to buy uniforms for our kids on top of the clothes they wear everyday, their closets would be overstuffed. Following a simple dress code is not that difficult.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Aug 28, 2006 -> 01:20 PM) Uniforms are cheaper. Not where we shop. My wife is constantly finding garage sale and clearance sale stuff. We can probably fill an entire closet for under $100.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Aug 28, 2006 -> 12:30 PM) I'm curious as to how it was deemed what was "too baggy" and what was "appropriate." I'm kind of curious about that too. There's a very fine line between "baggy" and "loose-fitting". My jeans are a little baggy around my thighs but I still keep the waistline up where it's supposed to be. I once saw a guy denied entrance to a bar because it was wearing "baggy" jeans according to the bouncer. They looked like the same pair I was wearing. As far back as I can remember my school district has had the same basic dress code. No sleeveless shirts, no offensive language/graphics, shirts must cover your stomach and shorts/skirts must go to mid-thigh. From what I remember, nobody had a big problem with it. Every once in a while somebody had to turn their shirt inside-out for offensive language/graphics but not too often. I don't see the big deal here... QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Aug 28, 2006 -> 11:34 AM) I am all for uniforms as it cuts down on worrying more about looking better than the next student as well as costs for the parent. Ugh. I spend enough money on my kids for school including clothes, supplies, books, activity fees, etc... The last thing I need is to spend MORE money on clothes that they'll only wear one place a few hours a day. Then they'll come home and change into their regular clothes causing even more laundry. We get a lot of their clothes of clearance racks so it's never a problem looking as good as everyone else or wearing the same namebrands. As long as it's clean and hole-free, we're happy.

QUOTE(AssHatSoxFan @ Aug 24, 2006 -> 10:21 AM) sara lee owns hanes which makes underwear and they dont make cookies themselves more along the lines of cheescakes, pies, breads, bagels...i worked at a sara lee outlet store so i know too much about the company I never knew that Sara Lee owns Hanes. I guess that means I can't remember a time when Sara Lee didn't make underwear. Pretty weak "fact" IMHO. I just recently learned that Pillbury owns Häagen-Dazs.

I haven't seen that stuff in years. Is it even still made anymore? Huh? I thought Sara Lee made bread...

I played baseball with a guy that was probably over 6 foot around age 13. All I know is that he was always the tallest guy in the league. He finally stopped growing when he hit 7'2".

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Aug 17, 2006 -> 12:23 PM) Pssh, lucky you. I paid 3.49 a gallon at a BP on Broadway/Irving park. I paid 2.97 this morning was happy about it. I remember complaining when it went over a dollar...

QUOTE(rangercal @ Aug 15, 2006 -> 12:54 PM) seems like an 18 hour period to me. Unless he got his AM and PM messed up, it is only 18 hours. Doesn't exactly seem like a big deal does it? I routinely get 5-6 hours of sleep a night then have to drive an hour to get to work. I don't get that go back home and sleep for another 4.5 hours...

QUOTE(Texsox @ Aug 11, 2006 -> 12:35 PM) Let's remember these rules are more about helping the teachers who don't want to deal with crying kids who were excluded than about anything else. Knowing and working with several elementary teachers I can say they have too much to do than counsel the class geek who wasn't given a Valentine or invited to the party. From that point of view, I side with the teachers. I just wish they would be honest and give that reason than some pop psych lip service. Even that's a flimsy excuse. If you deliver the invites personally to all the kids, then they show up the next day and all talk about what the party is going to be like, who got invited and who didn't, etc... Or after the party they talk about what it was like and who was there. Like the kids that weren't invited aren't going to figure it out one way or another?

I hate the "everyone has to be invited to a birthday party" rule. They even go so far as to not let the kids pass them out on school property at all. My daughter tried giving them out on the playground before school started and they made the kids give them back. So we had to go through the struggle of finding home addresses for all the kids she wanted to invite. It was a huge pain. QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Aug 9, 2006 -> 01:57 PM) Maybe not, I started 2nd grade when I was 5. I started 1st grade when I was 5. My b-day is in late October but my parents somehow got me into kindergarten when I was only 4. I think the cutoff now is they have to be 5 or older by September 1.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 28, 2006 -> 01:33 PM) No, the Sox didn't print up the tickets. Ticketmaster did. The Sox told the Hyatt how many THEY were comfortable with. They Hyatt's plan is to generate revenue so booking more rooms and giving away more tickets is how they make $$. OK, that makes sense now. It just seems like the Sox should have more control over that. I know they nearly doubled the amount of people allowed into Soxfest itself but did they actually book more rooms this year as well?

QUOTE(Steff @ Jul 27, 2006 -> 02:59 PM) They had nothing to do with the overbooking of Soxfest. They should have some part in it shouldn't they? Aren't the Sox the ones that printed up the tickets for Soxfest? They should be able to control how many Soxfest tickets the Hyatt gets and gives out.

QUOTE(AbeFroman @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 03:51 PM) I like palehose six... many of them are actually pretty funny. That said, I must be missing this one today. I'm not real sure I get it. can anyone help me out? The first 2 panels make sense but I'm not sure why Garland is asking "who's the man?" He's been pitching well and only giving up 1 run to the Tigers is good but he wasn't exactly dominant.

My cats have killed a few mice but mostly they just kill inanimate objects. Mostly small toys from the kids rooms. They'll bat it around for awhile then sit and meow until somebody goes in and tells them what a good job they did...

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jul 14, 2006 -> 09:10 AM) That sounds like what I grew up in (there were three kids and 2 adults there). That's why I couldn't imagine more than 2 in my house - just got to used to finally having a little space. I'm waiting for my parents to let me have their house (either by inheritance or by buying it from them). It's a 5-bedroom, 2-bathroom with a full basement, 1 two-car garage and 1 one-car garage on a corner lot. It's' just the two of them in that big ole house. I've offered to trade them but they didn't like that idea. It's also the house I grew up in so there are lots of memories there as well.

So when will Extreme Makeover home edition come calling? QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jul 13, 2006 -> 06:50 PM) I couldn't imagine that many children is such a small living space as the most I can imagine is 2 kids in my home which is a 2 floor/3 bedroom. Try 3 kids in a 1 floor/3 bedroom with less than 1000 sq feet.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jul 11, 2006 -> 03:07 PM) Oh yeah, and smoking is a major no no. That would explain the 4 dry sockets...

Lightning is attracted to iPods now? GMAFB.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 6, 2006 -> 04:46 PM) For you, barely driving and with a not-bad car anyway? None. Except maybe the environmental angle. For someone who commutes 50-100 miles RT every day, and has a 15-MPG gas-guzzler? Maybe. In a year or two? Heck yeah, in that case. I fall exactly into that category. I drive about 80 miles RT and get around 15 MPG. My only problem is that any money I would be saving on gas would be going towards car payments. My current car is paid off. I think I'll be better off looking for a used car for around $6000 or less and gets something over 20 MPG rather than paying $20,000+ for a hybrid and have to make payments for the next 5 years.