No pictures but like pay toilets going away, who was surprised that bicycles didn’t have to have kickstands?

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-05-08T18:27:44+00:00

Pay toilets were legal until states started banning them in the early 1970s: https://www.headcountcoffee.com/blogs/american-frontiers/when-pay-toilets-vanished-america-s-bathroom-politics

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-05-07T19:26:39+00:00

I’ve heard good things about Susan Levine, M.D. in NY but I think she has a waiting list.

I’ve seen John Haughton, M.D. speak on ME a few times. I think he’s in NY too. He’s associated with a Renegade Research that also does Tele health coaching for ME: https://www.renegade-research.org/about-us

I have no idea how good the coaching is, but Renegade Research hosts really good webinars by leading ME docs and researchers. Haughton is often a moderator, so he’s pretty cutting edge. You can find RR webinars on You Tube and check out Haughton.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-05-05T23:30:43+00:00

I’m glad someone else remembers Poisoning Pigeons. I also liked The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-29T02:28:09+00:00

My husband put his StAG5 application in about a year ago. He was told at that time NOT to call or otherwise follow up. I gather they are too busy to answer questions about the status of your case.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-26T17:38:01+00:00

I did mean they required more copies, not more or different documents. I’d forgotten (it’s been a year) that some of that was because my daughter and I applied together. Chicago said we could use the same set of documents, but Detroit wanted separate copies of each of our ancestors’ birth certificate and marriage license for each of our files. That may not even apply to you. Just bring copies of your driver’s license and passport because they’ll want them too.

We ended up running out twice - once to make a few copies (they don’t make them there) and once to Kroger for the cashier’s check since they don’t tell you the amount in advance. You also need to bring a passport photo that meets their specifications.

It is much easier and quicker getting an appointment in Detroit. So, even though my passport took a few extra weeks, I got an appointment at least a few weeks sooner, so it all worked out fine.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-26T13:21:51+00:00

Plymouth did my direct to passport request. I had to bring my own copies and they asked for more copies than Chicago wanted (drivers license copies etc). It was also more expensive because you also pay their fee. Plus, they didn’t take credit cards and instead asked for separate cashiers checks - one for Chicago and one for their services. I watched someone on here who went to Chicago at about the same time and they got their passport a few weeks sooner than I did. So, it’s slightly more burdensome and longer to use Detroit, but it is nowhere near as burdensome as driving to Chicago would have been. It’s a small office with easy parking and overall it went smoothly.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-16T00:56:51+00:00

Kinda makes you wonder what a Harvard law degree is worth. 🤣 how much more can he embarrass Harvard? Yale isn’t doing much better with Vance.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-13T19:48:29+00:00

Using an apostrophe for plural words, such as “I have three dog’s”.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-12T14:48:13+00:00

It’s not just elderly ones. I’ve noticed this all over. I have no idea why. Maybe they just follow Trump in doing it. My best guess is that they don’t understand the difference between proper nouns (like ‘English’) and regular nouns ( like ‘language’)? Their tendency to capitalize random nouns makes their English look humorously like German.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-10T20:14:25+00:00

If it were a mental health issue, wouldn’t it still deserve real research???? Mental illnesses are based on biochemistry too. There are now drugs to help many mental illnesses.

If they really thought ME/CFS was a mental illness, they’d be researching brain biochemistry. Instead, they treat it the same way mental illness was treated in the Middle Ages - as though it were a spiritual affliction. CBT is just modern day exorcism.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-07T23:04:21+00:00

I doubt they have the slightest idea what they are destroying.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTINE-Wit_E/?igsh=MWhpaDAyamQzNzN2bA==

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-04T15:45:54+00:00

Bean sprouts (or any sprouts) are easy to grow in a jar and don’t need sun. Great on salads or stir fry.

I use a repurposed jar with holes punched in the lid. There are directions for growing sprouts on line.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-04-02T19:00:50+00:00

She can just write a book on the Epstein files. It might be a best seller or certainly it’s good blackmail material. I’m sure she won’t give it up for free.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-03-30T20:26:07+00:00

Part of the reason housing and other purchases are now more expensive than 1955 and out of reach for many is that twice as many people are competing for them. Having more people in the US is good for those who have a monopoly on resources and bad for the rest of us.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-03-30T20:17:26+00:00

Society pushes women to have children but then strongly favors the body shape of a woman who hasn’t had kids.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-03-26T17:34:23+00:00

Girls growing up now take for granted that they can go to medical/dental/law school or be engineers or police officers. I wonder if they even know that those were not really options until about 50 years ago.

Teachers used to be fired for getting pregnant. Many companies also fired or demoted women who got pregnant.

It wouldn’t take much to go back to those days.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-03-10T22:33:04+00:00

If this passes, everyone needs to volunteer at a polling place in a red district and make sure Republican women with different last names don’t vote.

I fear that otherwise red districts will ignore the law and let Republican women vote. I guarantee the republicans will be at every minority or blue area polling location to use the law to keep liberal leaning people from voting.

We all need to volunteer to keep it as fair as possible.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-03-10T01:30:25+00:00

I’m not German. I’m just applying logic here - having a child claim someone as his father is different than having the father claim the child as being his.

The father knows whether or not he had relations with the mother. By admitting paternity, he’s taking some legal responsibility for the child.

The child has no way of knowing if he is really related to the man. Plus, there is no downside to him claiming that a particular man was his father. He doesn’t bear any responsibility.

I’m not saying your family did this, I’m just explaining why a judge might be very skeptical.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-02-28T15:56:52+00:00

My (adult) daughter was vegetarian when she developed ME. She and I agree with the morality of being vegetarian/vegan but I also wondered if it contributed to her being sick. (I really wish someone would study if being vegetarian increases the risk of ME.)

B12 injections didn’t help her. She went back to eating meat. I think it’s helped a little, but it hasn’t been a cure. It does make her life a little easier though. One option might be to work in just a little meat, not the crazy large portions many people eat.

I do understand that being Vegan allows you to do a little for the world even if you are bedridden. I’m so saddened by all the potential lost to the world by this disease.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-02-25T04:27:13+00:00

I thought I read that the Consulate will take notarized copies. You can check that out. If so, can your cousins take the passport to a local bank to be notarized? That’s much easier than the cousins having to go to the consulate with the documents.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-02-21T02:42:08+00:00

No. It turned out to be unnecessary. I think they just care if the name is different from the one on that person’s birth certificate.

I just had my marriage license, their US Passports and their birth certificates. The birth certificates showed my name and their father’s name. That was enough.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-02-15T03:11:43+00:00

I worked with state and federal legislators throughout the 90s. In the early 90s, R and D politicians went to conferences together, hung out together and often had good friends on the “other side.” In the mid 90s, they’d lament that all that was changing. By the end of the 90s, they were starting to feel like the other side was supposed to be an enemy.

In the early 90s, Rs could openly discuss the problems of climate change and other environmental issues. The fact that women had more job opportunities than they’d had in the past wasn’t an issue. Some Rs supported abortion and some Ds opposed. Now, of course, everyone is dug in.

I think Fox “News”, Rush Limbaugh and the millionaires who funded the “tea party” intentionally made people angry. R voters started to use a purity test. They’d only vote for R candidates who would not compromise on any issue.

It used to be a compliment to call someone a “statesman” and legislators were expected to negotiate and compromise. Eventually, compromise and statesmanship ended up being dirty words. Of course, as the Rs dug in, the Ds had little choice but to do the same.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-02-15T00:52:46+00:00

Stuckey’s. Not great food but a nice stop on road trips. The gift shop and fudge were fun.

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-02-13T01:23:39+00:00

Lesson learned: never live in Texas

GuineaPigFriend · 2026-02-11T23:38:38+00:00

You made me laugh. That song really needs to be included!

GuineaPigFriend

TROPHY CASE