CHAT -- The news and news

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

There have been some items in the news lately that I could not resist

commenting on.

" Golfer Daly will attempt to hit a golf ball over Niagara Falls on

Wednesday to mark the opening of Daly's first signature golf course.

Daly will need his drive to carry about 350 yards from Table Rock,

Canada, to land his ball onto Goat Island, N.Y. The good news is that's

only 275 American yards. " -- from Pete McEntegart Sports Illustrated.com

Sorry Deb, I couldn't resist that one.

Recently it was learned that Rafeal Palmeiro ( a baseball player for

the Baltimore Orioles) has tested positive for anabolic steriods. It

appears there will be many more baseball players testing positive for

this banned drug. Do you know what you call baseball players who are

not on steroids? -- Kansas City Royals

In the United States, the White House is considering dropping its " War

on Terrorism " slogan and replacing it with its " Global Campaign on

Terrorist Violence " -- REALLY ! Do you think with our president's

limited vocabulary that this is a good idea?

Walmart has announced that they will be opening a Walmart Superstore in

China. I think they should call it The Great Walmart of China.

Now for our news. We took my son for his quarterly ped. endo

checkup. In the past 3 months he has grown a lot. He height has

increased about 1.2 inches and he has gained 4.4 pounds. That is the

biggest quarterly increase ever. The doctor has decided to keep his

growth hormone and periactin dosages the same.

There are 2 concerns for us. One is that he has developed this tick

when he blinks. When he is tired, about once a minute, he scrunches up

his whole face to blink. It is an involuntary reflex. For now, it only

bothers us. doesn't realize he is even doing it. However, if it

gets worse then we will investigate it further. For the time being, his

doctor thinks it maybe something he will outgrow. We shall see.

The other concern we have involves this Star Wars video game we

purchased for him. It comes with this blue wand that is used as a light

saber. You wave it at the game and it shows up on your TV. plays

this game often and he really gets involved in swinging this light

saber. He keeps whacking himself in the arm. He has developed some

pretty big bruises. So, we have tried to limit his playing time and we

have gotten him some arm pads. The bruises are healing, however, my ego

is taking a beating because he is beating me at this game.

Otherwise, is doing great.

Last, once again, I am facing unemployment. My job is being sent to

India at the end of the month and my employer is headed into the toilet

(i.e. going out of business or being acquired by a larger foriegn

company). This just shows that the economy is recovering -- India's

that is. I do have some prospects. I will let you know if they work out.

Ken M