patrick.net

Since we're on the subject, some of you might wonder where the term:" bible belt" came from. It came from a natural geological disaster in 1811. One of this country's biggest earthquakes ripped through TN, NC, GA, and LA. The quake was so large ir created a large lake in middle TN. Throughout the summer, there was a sucession of smaller quakes.
Prior to 1811, the south wasn't particularly religions.Many of the inhabitants had escaped Ireland, where religious persecution and heavy taxation given to the catholic church was fresh on their minds, thus religion wasn't a particular interest. There was so little relgion that parishes from the NE were concerened and made annual journeys to the region to " put the fear of god into the heathen immoral masses in the applachias."
The quake of 1811 created the perfect opportunity for preachers to set up small tents, known as revivals throughout the region. This practice still goes on today. They were sucessfull, and the heavily religious population that exsists there now is a direct result of this natural disaster.
Follow the locations of the largest bible publishing companies in the country and you can almost trace the fault line right under their foundations. The fault created a new "belt" over the top of an ancient one, hence the term " Bible belt" corrlates with this natural occurence.

I'll always keep one foot in the door as far as california. Wishful thinking maybe? If by some miraculous accident things are obtainable there again I'll defintely return. By the way I'm on EST on CNBC Bernake is on sweating bullets answering questions about this looming uncertainty\recession. It looks ominous

SFWoman Says:

> I find anorexic thinness disgusting and obesity disgusting.
> Both to me indicate an obsession with food in an extremely
> unhealthy way. When I lived in NY in the early 1980s about
> 1/4 of the women I knew had eating disorders (on the thin side)

In SF more than half the well educated single women I know have major food issues. Most women of European decent in their 20’s and 30’s would be a “little chunky” if they ate a normal healthy diet. These women realize that most well educated single guys don’t like “chunky gals” so they starve themselves to look hot in their $300 jeans and $1,000 ball gown. Men have been hard wired to be attracted to young thin fit females since we lived in caves so more a 32 year old gal looks like a super hot thin 19 year old the more she will get asked out (and the more a 32 year old looks like chunky 44 year old aunt Edna with her manicured nails the less she will get asked out).

> I went up to southern Oregon probably half the women I saw
> were significantly overweight. We went to the Shakespeare
> festival in Ashland, and I had several women sitting within a
> few seats of me who probably topped 300 lbs. They had coiffed
> hair and were wearing makeup and had manicures, but were
> probably slowly dying of congestive heart failure. Also, several
> of them ate Mentos throughout the plays. (I am going to start
> paying attention to who I see eating Mentos, it was peculiarly
> fascinating. Maybe they sold them in the shop or something.)

My Mom always told me about the connection between chunky ladies and manicured nails (sure there are exceptions, but generally the nicer the nails the fatter the lady) but I have never heard that mentos are the snack of choice for chunksters…

We live in a time of plenty. It’s difficult to fast for even one day in our society. You can eat better now than ever in the history of the world. The difference in the quality and variety of produce all year even since I was a kid is incredible.

Regarding America's weight problem, what I find interesting is that study after study has shown that obesity is highly correlated with poverty. Contrary to the idea of abundance of food in the US, it seems obesity is more likely a consequence of food choices and availability. Notice how many more fast food restaurants there are in poorer locales. Also, walk down the "middle aisles" of a Whole Foods vs. Cala Foods. The amount of unhealthy prepackaged, partially hydrogenated, fructose corn syrup crap in the latter is astounding. But even in these stores, one can eat better by avoiding that crap. However, most Americans choose to go with the prepackaged crap.

Men have been hard wired to be attracted to young thin fit females since we lived in caves so more a 32 year old gal looks like a super hot thin 19 year old the more she will get asked out (and the more a 32 year old looks like chunky 44 year old aunt Edna with her manicured nails the less she will get asked out).

I'd have to disagree slightly (except for the aunt Edna part). I believe psychological studies have demonstrated that men are more naturally attracted to what would be considered bodies designed for child-rearing: round hips, a "normal" amount of body fat - not thin - and certainly not obese. I think there's a dichotomy today between what "real" on the street men find attractive (non-anorexics) and the Hollywood and particularly high-fashion world physiques (skin and bones). Personally, I find most high-end fashion models repulsive (I don't mean the Heidi Klums or Giselle Bundchens, I mean the weird looking models for Prada, Dolce + Gabbana, Luis Vuitton, etc.

I'm a prettyn small guy ( 5 ft 7, 135-40 pounds or so) and whenever I get on the plane back home to TN, I'm AMAZED at how many enormous people there are sitting there with me. When I get off the plane, sometimes I have to aclimate to the fact that virtually 75% of the people in the region are overweight. That said, I've never been attracted to thin women. I'll go to the grocery store and pass by the magazines full of women with no breasts, hips, thighs, or anything else. Just a frame with a pretty face and hair. This was a big problem for me when I was single because the kind of women I liked were usually bigger than I was, which in our silly society seems to be a taboo thing. My wife is around 6 ft tall and sort of curvy, so I got lucky. Still- we are a rarity. I don't think about it anymore since we've been together for so long, but from time to time I notice that there are very few women that are taller than their husbands.

I think Bernake caused a rally of sorts thirty minutes ago. He made it seem like there will be a pause in fed raising rates. Seems while he was on the hotseat he was afraid to tell it like it is. Sort of side stepping specifics this read as all is well and the stock market went nuts.

My take on the too thin/too fat thing is that, now that the First World has overcome the perennial problems of food/water/shelter, people's insecurites need to find a new channel.
They may not have much control over their lives, but the one thing they can 'control' is thier calorie intake. Hence the thinner you are the 'better' you are.

Of course, there's always been Ectomorphs who couldn't put weight on if they ate the entire contents of a Ralphs in one sitting ;-)
My husband's like that - I only have to look at food and on go the pounds - he can sit down and eat my entire weeks calorie intake in one sitting and never break into a sweat. Bastard ;-)

Not that long ago, beautiful women were healthy and curvy. It showed that not only was she eating enough, she was 'rich' enough to eat a little bit more.
Not to say that men haven't liked slim women since the dawn of time, but a few extra pounds (just a few, we're not talking 'two-stoolers' here) weren't looked at as being revolting either.

Horses for courses, innit?
My husband is a foot taller than me, and on one seems to think it strange. I've never really understood why it can't be the other way round, S--H-T-F.

Then again, I'm 8 years older than my husband, which does raise some eyebrows. Still, as we both act as if we have the combined age of 12, its never really been a problem to us

speeding bullet,
My grandparents were similiar. My grandad was 12 years older than my grandmother. Again- it seems ok for the guy to be older, sometimes a lot older than the woman, and not for the woman to be older. To me, we're in a modern society and women are just as equal as men, so I've always acted that way. I never insisted on always paying for everything, opening doors, and being overly courteous to women. Me and my wife split tasks, money, and responsibility right down the middle, yet I still know a lot of women who essentially are entirely dependt on their husbands for their financial well-being, or expect the man to " take care" of some of the hairy life details. Not sure how I turned out like I did since many women back home were still housewives in the 50's term.

tannenbaum,

"Indicators of market distress are still largely absent"

Well, unless you're one of the 3,000+ (or should I say -) that haven't been able to sell your home this year vice last? Marshall Prentice doesn't find it distressing that home sales are down 24% ?

BB is in a tight spot. I believe given his academic credentials, he's a true believer in controlling inflation as priorty #1. However, he does appear to cave in to stronger personas during testimony, and it makes you wonder how beholden he is to political influences (ie, let's keep the money loose so the masses are happy and the incumbents stay in power). the elephant in the room is that everything right now just reeks of looming inflation, despite what the government tries to do to manipulate statistics and indicators. My bet is BB really wants to whomp inflation with more rate increases, but he will feel extreme pressure from the powers that be to go easy. Maybe one more quarter % and then a pause.

Skibum,

Kind of wondered that myself. When ever someone makes a statement, then asks me "what's my reaction to that" I usually go one of two ways. Firstly ask them if that was a question or a statement, or turn it around and ask them "how long is a piece of rope" (or something like that).

These are basic "verbal self defense tools" that evidently BB has yet to master.

I’m thinking it’s rope-a-dope. He just puts his hands in front of his face during these encounters, then he does what he has to do.

I sure hope you're right. There's probably a strong desire in him not to become the Fed governor who let the inflation monster rear its ugly head again.

SFWoman,

I remember seeing a special where British researchers ultimately came to the conclusion that western man's natural proclivity to gain weight is that we are the "survivors". Meaning simply in times of famine it was difficult for more frail humans to survive (let alone reproduce) so the more "sturdy" among us tended to be able to survive these lean times. Their conclusions not mine.

I think it also goes back to our 'Monkey Brains'...we've spent the last X million years simply trying to get enough to eat...all of a sudden in the Western World there's a huge surplus of food,

But no one's told our Monkey Brain that its OK not to stuff ourselves silly in case of a famine. We're probably not as 'evolved' as we think we are...

DinOR,

Native Americans (both from NA and Latin America) seem to suffer particularly for their thrifty genes. The few times I've been to Indian reservation, almost everyone seems to be overweight. Blacks seem to also suffer more compared to whites. Unlike whites, they seem to pack on pounds very early and the have health problems a lot earlier.

American culture is really unhealthy overall. Everything scream out at you to consume too much: too much food, too many shoes, too much car, even too much thinness.

Oh, I hear you......

I think the ready available of ready to eat food also really encourages overeating. It used to require hours of prep time to get a meal going and now you just have to open a baggie and take out some dip. If our snacking was restricted to fresh fruits and vegetables (especially ones gathered from the garden or from daily markets), there would be much less temptation to overeat.

Even without buffets, the portions in this country are just huge. I have a very "healthy" appetite but it's really hard to finish an appetizer and an entree at most restaurants.

Yeah, 6 months after coming to the States I'd put on 30 pounds...most of which I'm still trying to shed.

I'd made the common mistake of trying to finish what was on my plate. Being used to smaller UK portions, not to mention a healthy amount of excerise a week (2 miles walking a day just going to/coming from work, let alone the weekends) my weight ballooned.

Still, I'd had instilled into me as a child to finish everythng on my (reasonalby portioned) plate and that to waste food was a sin.
Forget evoloutionary factors, a Mother's Guilt Trip will get you every time...; )

Being used to smaller UK portions

Try going to restaurants with smaller portions. Alternatively, eat 2 appertizers instead of 1 entree. You can also ask the restaurant to split the entree for you and your companion. I cannot stand large portions.

Still, I’d had instilled into me as a child to finish everythng on my (reasonalby portioned) plate and that to waste food was a sin.
Forget evoloutionary factors, a Mother’s Guilt Trip will get you every time…; )

I naturally finish everything... on the table. My mom had to stop me from eating everything.

"Monkey Brains"

I started to put on weight in my mid- 20's. After leaving "shore duty" and going back to an aircraft carrier I was able to lose almost all of the weight. This however requires an 18 to 20 hour day and plenty of rigorous exercise! Just to get down to 186 lbs! Maybe I could get a part time job digging ditches?

Here's the thing about food: When I was growing up, we were kind off financially strapped so we grew most of our vegetables and didn't eat tons of meat. My grandparents did the same thing. My grandmother canned everything. A LOT of the food at dinner was fried, dipped in some sort of lard, or put into equally fatty cassarole dishes full of cheese and mayonaise. You would think we'd all be fat as hell, but we're all thin as sticks.
I moved to SF and I got SPOILED! I mean- I cannot eat at Chilis or any of those nasty sweet tasting places anymore. prior to that, I thought Applebee's was a luxury.

I always feel bad when I go to restaurants and (1) get water instead of a drink (2) forgo one entree (3) skip dessert. I feel like I have to tip around 20% because the wait person has missed out on so much expected gross.

I always feel bad when I go to restaurants and (1) get water instead of a drink (2) forgo one entree (3) skip dessert. I feel like I have to tip around 20% because the wait person has missed out on so much expected gross.

Do this:

1) order sparkling water
2) order more appertizers
3) skip dessert but get a coffee

Muggy Says:

Hey, since we’re already waaay OT, grant me this one rant: would somebody please smack that girl that is on CNN complaining about not being able to take a shower during the evacuation from Lebanon.? Please? I can’t believe how much airtime they have given her.

You might have to form a line behind me.

I've got CNN on as sort of background noise while I work, and have noticed the shift from "The Sky is Falling" to "Plucky Americans Hitch Rides on European Ships" over the last couple of days.
No word of thanks to the host countries for making room for them, just, "Well, my Mom thinks its a Cruise Ship, but I can tell her its not...."

Am I the only one thinking that, like post-Katrina, the US Govt has sort of dropped the ball on this? I've heard stories of 25K Ausralians being stranded (was that you Different Sean?) and of 50K Canadians being stranded, so maybe the US isn't doing so badly.
Don't mean to step on any Pro-Bush feet, really, just wondering what anyone else thinks.

And, yes, totally off-topic. Sorry, its my lunchbreak. Normal HB ranting will resume shortly....

For two people, try sharing 2-3 appertizers and 1 splitted entree.

Back from my hiatus -- I've officially given up on buying anytime soon, and rented an overpriced place on the beach. No more renting dumpy places in the name of "saving for the housing crash". I don't want to be 40 years old and realize that my entire young years were spent "living for tomorrow". Stop the insanity!

Peter P:
You've got it right. Small portions, baby. Restaurant portions are rediculous. The logistics of what to do with a four inch tall mound of pasta with 28 shrimp on it end up making me want to cook my own dinner. Split first, take half home and have to carry it around as you stroll after dinner? Split entree with date, and everybody including the date look at you like you're cheap? Ugh. Plus, the markup on wine in the last five or six years has gone from 2.5x to more like 6x, which further ruins the dining out experience. Thank God I love to cook and don't mind cleaning up afterwards.

SQT:
I finally solved the "buffet dilemma" by avoiding buffets at all costs. Try as I might, I could not prevent myself from overeating. Even when I tried the "take only one bite of each thing" approach, it still ends up being 1.5 times what I would normally eat! And I hate to overeat. Considering how little needs to be eaten at mealtime, the whole concept of a buffet is just stupid. Not only that, I have NEVER ONCE ordered an entree at a restaurant and NOT been satisfied afterwards. Never. P.S. -- How are the parents' "financial fiasco" progressing?

Muggy,

I avoid cable news so I missed that one. I guess reality TV is not the only place where Americans can make complete arses of themselves...

Peter P,

Thanks for the tips. I try to just tip a bit more and order a nice main course. I usually avoid appetizers unless there's something I really want to try, appetizers tend to be even less healthy than the main course...though I can't say no to Buffalo Wing variants.

RE: portions

Luckily, I think the "small plates movement" is gaining momentum. There is going to be more Tapa-style restaurants in the future.

astrid,

Good for you! To me, tipping is half the fun of eating out. Once they recognize that you tip just as well for ice water as you do for any other drink you'll get past the whole "stink eye" thing. My wife didn't used to believe me but once she got with the program she's had a lot of fun with it too. We usually just round it up and people really appreciate it. Bill came to $31.50 just give the kid two twenties. They're almost breathless when they ask "how would you like your change"? I just tell them "I wouldn't". They get a kick out of that. Many people don't (or don't seem to want to) realize that your cocktail waitress in LV is making MINIMUM WAGE! Without your tips (which she shares with the "tarbender" and then are taxed) that's exactly what she's getting! I hear "stiffers" complain about service but this is "somebody's" daughter. Personally, I don't care if dump the drink in my lap. (I brought a change of clothes). Have FUN with these people!

New Topic? Who tips better? FB's of JBR's?

New Topic? Who tips better? FB’s of JBR’s?

FB's tip more % of their disposable income.

I meant to say, "hick", bartender!

FB eats out? I thought they're now sitting at home boiling their old shoes. :)

Howabout "JBR have all the fun"?

DinOR,

Hehe, I thought you were trying to get around some esoteric Oregonian blue law.

SQT,

Well exactly! Most of the gals there probably go to UNLV and trust me when they got to town this wasn't their "first choice" for employment! After trying all the usual haunts (and realizing their parents weren't as rich as they pretended to be) here they are. They'll probably have to do it for a while (to get the lights and phone turned back on) so can't we just please make this a little less unpleasant for all parties involved and give this girl a decent tip? Sheesh.

Well, when someone calls out "tarbender" I think their night is over!

I really am adamant about tipping though. Yes, I even tip the valet and the "barbacks" so it's not a sexist thing. I'm sure at great length they all have to explain to their folks that the reason they haven't asked for more money isn't because they "got a nice raise" at Wendy's! Why can't we all be a little more pleasant about this?

If you can't afford to tip, stay home!

It takes A LOT of courage to walk up to total strangers and put yourself in their service. I've never waited tables (but believe me I've had my share of sales rejection). I see a lot of people that won't even make eye contact with these kids. I know it always makes me feel good when people don't even think enough of me to look at me!

I worked as a waitress full-time for two years in my youth.
Despite being in my late teens/early twenties, I'd still end up at the end of a shift exhausted, simply from running around carrying 4 plates at a time and remembering 16 impossible things before breakfast....and shiflts were normally 12 hours long. Its a backbreaking and thankless job, even for the young and fit.

To my mind, anyone who works in a kitchen or bar environment deserves the biggest tip you can afford. Even in the UK, formerly notorious for stingy tipping, I would always tip 10+% when I lived there, pre-2000.

We had some friends over from the UK a while back, and at the end of thier trip they took us out to dinner. Even though we'd told our friend that tipping 15% was a minimum, he still tipped 10% at the end of the meal. Unsurprisingly, the girl who's been our waitress all night (and had done a great job, too) came over and said very pleasantly "I'm sorry if you weren't happy with my service, you've only tipped me 10%, could I have served you better?"
Needless to say both me and the husband looked daggers at him, and he very grudgingly handed her over the extra 5%..

Incedentally, in the UK, the posher you are, the tighter you are. Numerous lunchtimes, I'd have to serve a whole Rugby club full of young guys who pinch my ass, have a food fight and change thier minds on their orders after you'd given it to them. Needless to say, if they left a tip at all, it would normally be a roundup of pennies from their pockets dumped in the middle of the ruined table. As if I was a parking meter, or something.