Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
In the old days on here I guarantee that "foist" was used, albeit not in a pleasant way.
Still have the original IHub tee-shirt that was freely foisted on us?
Troy
Glad to know some things never change.
Troy
Raymer Takes Hits at World Series of Poker
By ADAM GOLDMAN
.c The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Greg ``Fossilman'' Raymer might be chatty, likable and wear silly holographic sunglasses, but he's a monster at the poker table, flattening opponents with a gigantic stack of chips that has allowed him to continue his run at another World Series of Poker title. But hours into the fourth round Tuesday, the 2004 champ found himself out of the top 10 after taking two big hits in the prestigious no-limit Texas Hold 'em event.
Late Tuesday night, Raymer had chips totaling about $750,000.
To be crowned poker king once more and claim the $7.5 million top prize, Raymer will have to get through the round and outlast 90 other gamblers.
Some of the remaining players that Raymer could face on his way to the nine-person final table that begins Friday are among the most well-known in the game.
Now ahead of Raymer is the formidable and expressionless Phil Ivey, who had rebuilt his chip stack to near $2 million. Tim Phan was the leader with approximately $2 million, with Farzad Bonyadi tailing him with $1.8 million.
Mike Matusow and John Juanda of the fulltiltpoker.com team had dominant stacks. Ivey also is part of that impressive poker stable.
At one point, Howard ``The Professor'' Lederer, Ivey and Juanda were at the same table, creating plenty of excitement as the fans, known as rail birds, crowded the convention hall.
But Juanda was getting the best of them, knocking out the short-stacked Lederer. In a tense scene, both players went all-in, but Juanda had an edge with his ace-king versus Lederer's ace-jack. Juanda caught a king on the flop and the turn and river didn't help Lederer. He was gone.
Russ Hamilton, the 1994 champion, was still in the tournament. He, along with Raymer, are the last of more than a dozen former World Series of Poker champs entered in the event.
There were still two women in the World Series, but a woman has never won the tournament and making history could be tough in this field that has been whittled from 5,619 original players.
If Raymer's luck holds, the 41-year-old patent lawyer from Stonington, Conn., could join an elite crowd by winning back-to-back titles. On Monday, he started in ninth place with $318,700 but quickly moved up the leaderboard.
By Tuesday afternoon, he had added $500,000 or so to his stack of $1 million, keeping him in the top spot.
In one big hand, Raymer scored a flush on the turn, beating his opponent's pair of kings and raking in more than $200,000.
``I don't take it easy on anybody,'' a tired-looking Raymer said. ``I play the cards.''
But late Tuesday, with the board showing a jack, five, five, ace and five, Bonyadi bluffed Raymer out a sizable pot with only a king-high hand.
He later lost about $500,000 in another costly hand, trimming his wedge of chips.
On the Net:
World Series of Poker: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/
Nice sale. Of course, it looks like I sold a bit too early, but I am happy with the price I got. The pigs and hogs thing comes to mind. I thought about dipping back in when it dropped back to under $31, but thought it was early.
I will be happy when it drops back (assuming it does) to a sub $30 buying range.
And what about your losings? If you take care of those, I am sure we can come to a reasonable split of your winnings.
It was a problem with your link. Here is both of them together.
#msg-6895062
I just got it to post at #msg-6893253.
Try getting to stockcharts with the link in the post to which this one replies. http:// stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SharpChartv05.ServletDriver?chart=avn/un.to,uu[h,a]waclyyay[df][pd20,2!h.02,.20][vc60][iup14,3,3!ll14]&r=9672
I have put a space between // and the rest so it could be copied.
It brings up the chart by itself. Use that full link within the tag line and minus the http://.
Or if all else fails just link to the chart that showed up above.
There has to be something wrong with the link you used in the post that you had a problem with. I could not get that link to bring up the chart in IHub, but was able to use the link from the post to which this one replied to get it to post. I suspect that something was left off of the link in your original problem post.
test
A sponsor? Who would not want to play if someone else was footing the tab for the entry fee? Duh!!
I think I am going to start playing in some satellites for next year. Maybe I can spend $10K and not get there.
I don't really like dealing in hypothetical situations and can't include everything under the sun in the TOU. Show me a problem and I"ll deal with it.
You sure you aren't pursuing a law degree? You are staring to get the hang of it. Now if you could just figure out how to charge people for those answers.... <g>
If you want to see a collection of weird stuff on the web, just run a search for:
"Never let anyone meet you personally who would tell your wife or mother something you've said."
I wonder if anyone on IHub is playing in the tournament.
More from Zack's
Target Price Updates
Symbol Broker From To Date
JBL Prudential Equity Re 16 37 07/05/2005
of late I'm favoring dividend-paying instruments as they provide additional cash reserve as the stocks and funds lumber up-and-down in the hold zone without buying-or-selling.
Ran across VLCCF while screening the other day. It has some interesting dynamics.
A man decided to write a book about famous churches around the world so he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to Bangkok, Maine, thinking that he would start by working his way across the USA from North to South.
On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read, "$10,000. per call." The man, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by, "what the telephone was used for." The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000. you could talk to God. The man thanked the priest and went along his way.
Next stop was in Chicago. There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in Maine and he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 he could talk to God "O,K,, thank you," said the man.
He then traveled to Kansas City, Billings MT, Seattle WA, and Salt Lake City . In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same "$10,000 per call" sign under it.
The man upon leaving Salt Lake decided to travel down to the Southwest to see if any of those states had the same telephone service. He arrived in Fort Worth, TX, and again, in the first church he entered, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read, "$.40 per call." The man was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. "Father, I've traveled all over America and I've seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I'm told that it is a direct line to Heaven, but in the Northeast and Southeast, even on the West Coast the price was $10,000 per call. Why is it so cheap here?"
The priest smiled and answered, "Son, you're in Texas now, it's a local call."
A very nice tool and many thanks for taking the time to make it available.
A couple of ideas, thoughts, suggestions:
1. An option to make the volatility parameter in the algorithm adjustable. Thus, instead of the fixed 17%, one could enter any different value -- 5, 10, 15, 20, or more.
2. A function for a group of variable end dates to be computed over a variable time period. Thus, instead of just a single end date with a single result, one could acquire a result with say 48 end dates, one for each month for the last 48, one with 104 end dates, one for each week for the last two years, or even the last 712, each day's result for the last two years -- all run as a batch. If this were graphable, either in the program or through importing the data output into a program that would graph it, it would provide a picture of the volatility trend over the period. From a graphing standpoint, graphing the total as well as the high-low line would be particularly useful. Even if it were not graphable, just viewing the raw data output would give one a pretty good feel for the volatility trend. Ideally, plotting that on top of the moving average and current price could provide some truly useful data. Then again, as I am want to do, I may just be overanalyzing it.
3. Of course, combining the moving volatility with batch mode would be truly powerful.
Two questions:
At what frequency does the algorithm measure the volatility: daily, weekly, monthly?
From what online source does it retrieve the data? Obviously, the accuracy of that data controls the accuracy of the output.
Two observations:
1. It took me forever (well, okay, just 20 minutes, but it seemed like forever), to realize that somtickers.txt was not sometickers.txt. When I finally saw that there was no "e" after "som," the Duh! moment had arrived. It was "Screen-O-Matic tickers" not "Some Tickers."
2. I have probably not run enough mutual funds yet, but every one I have run has come back at zero. Same for SPY and QQQ over various time periods.
From Zacks -- FYI
Recommendation Changes
Symbol Broker Change From To Date
JBL Regional Broker Up Sell Hold 06/27/2005
JBL Standard & Poor's Down Sell Strong Sell 06/22/2005
NEW ELEMENT CALLED REPUBLICANTIUM:
A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest chemical element yet discovered. Though just newly discovered, scientists believe it has existed in some form for ages. The most recent decades have witnessed drastic mutations, and scientists cannot predict the results of continuing mutations. Based upon its characteristics, the new element has been named Republicantium.
Republicantium has 1 neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 11 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Republicantium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Republicantium causes one reaction to take over 4 days to complete when it would normally take less than a second.
Republicantium has a normal half-life of 2 to 4 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a re-organization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Republicantium mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization causes some morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to speculate that Republicantium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as Critical Morass.
Though scientists have made this discovery and identfied the properties of the element, they are at a complete loss to ascertain any productive purpose for the element. This is most peculiar, seeing that even the most dangerous of elements, isotpoes, etc., normally have some use; for instance, radioactive isotopes lend themselves to some forms of medical treatment. Republicantium seems to do nothing more than erode everything with which it comes in contact. More shockingly is that scientists cannot figure out how to eradicate the element, as each time any species has ever tried to attack it, Republicantium only mutates further into a more destructive mechanism.
It was an up and then down kind of night. Went up significantly early ($500) and then the cards stopped liking me and started liking one other person. Ended up down about $250. Played in this game a couple weeks ago and won $500, so am still up overall.
The big looser last time was the big winner last night. He ended up +$1300 last night.
On Friday, I am interviewing 23 year old Matt Brown. Have you decided to change professions, come to Texas, and earn an honest living as a lawyer?
Headed to a no limit game (5&10 blinds). Wish me luck.
if anyone wants to post a snapshot of a tracert to investorshub.com during a hang, I'll forward it to tech support. Please include date/time/timezone...
Instructions on how to run it and snapshot it, por favor?
I was only poking fun on what folks said (me included) not on anyone.
BTW, and speaking of which, who is Tony?
I wonder if I am the only one who finds humor and irony in so many people announcing, proclaiming, and sharing online their hang-ups? It usually takes thousands of dollars at a shrink to get this much confession. God help us if everyone starts to really share -- though the posting quantity would be good for IHub.
I am particularly amused with "Had a REAL bad hang-up a few mins ago...." If only hang-ups came and went that quickly.
His will be done!
Except for that Houston part....<vbg>
Not surprisingly, I liked the earlier versions with New York and California punch lines better.
I have not read the decision of the lower court in the reporter case and there was no Supreme Court opinion since they just denied cert.
Basically, as I understand it, and I could be wrong since I have not read it in detail, when there is evidence that the information in the possession of the reporter could have only gotten there by someone committing a crime, there is no shield to the investigation into the crime that must have been committed by the disclosure to the reporter. The same is true when the reporter is a witness to a crime.
The government interest in preventing and punishing crime is said to outweigh the interests of the reporter in a free press.
Of course, any time a court starts with balancing crap, it is usually just a gloss for reaching a particular result in conformity with the judges' views on what is reasonable under the circumstances.
All I have time for right now.
The condemnation case is interesting not so much for its result but for who came down on which side. The conservative wing of the court, which usually gives great deference to the reasonableness of government choices with respect to reasons for policy (especially in the criminal law arena), here chose to give little to no deference to government policy choices.
Public purpose, like reasonableness, is in the eyes of the beholder. Traditionally, many true conservatives have taken a narrow view of government interference with private property rights and have been unwilling to cede that aspect of private life to the government. Many liberals on the other hand have been willing to let government have its way when it was advancing some social purpose that they found to be a greater need or goal. As I have said before, however, these days the only real difference between most "conservatives" and most "liberals" is what aspect of our life they want government to have control over.
I do not profess to have significant expertise in the area of takings, but like many others areas of the law, I tend to come down on the side of "when in doubt, keep the government out."
The opinions in the Kentucky case clearly illuminate the differences of opinion concerning the history and scope of the First Amendment's establishment and free exercise clauses. In the end, the Kentucky case really came down to the majority's view (as well as the view of three of four of the prior judges who reviewed it) that the purpose of the display in that case was not secular or historical, but rather that the purpose was to establish a religious view. Justice O'Connor's concurring opinion could easily be viewed as the most honest of all of the opinions. She, unlike most of the other judges on the court, would draw a bright line that would prohibit all religious displays in almost all circumstances. Most of the other members of the court -- on both sides -- seem to have a moving line dependent on the nature of the case. This moving line, of course, sometimes produces some results that appear inconsistent -- at least in the way they are reported in the press.
The Kentucky opinion can be found at:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/27jun20051200/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-1693....
The Texas opinion can be found at:
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/27jun20051200/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-1500....
Beware, they are both very long and sometimes tedious reads. Ironically, in them, like in the Bible, one can find nuggests to support almost any proposition on these issues than one is inclined towards. But, since most of these views -- on both sides -- are largely based on opinions and not fact, there will always be disagreement.
The flip-flop vote between the two cases is Breyer. His concurrence in the Texas case, for which he was the fifth vote allowing the monument to remain, highlights the nature of the moving line. Based on the vastly different facts of the two cases, and about the only common fact was the fact that each had some version of the 10 Commandments, he reached different conclusions.
Interestingly, from a legal standpoint, Kennedy disassociated himself from Scalia's attack on Souter in the Kentucky case. I suspect that Kennedy viewed it as too much of a personal attack -- and some of the text of Scalia's opinion could easily be interpreted that way. Scalia has little tolerance for those with whom he disagrees and for those he views as intellectually inferior to him. But, I digress.
On a personal note, I believe each side of the argument to be partially correct and partially incorrect. I probably most closely associate with the views expressed by O'Connor in her concurrence in the Kentucky case, though I disagree with some of them as well. In the end, and when in doubt, I come down on the side of "keep the government the hell out of anything even remotely close to our personal lives." I think that is especially true with respect to religion. Many Christians, myself included, would find great offense in government sponsored displays critical portions of the Quran. The only way in my mind to be assured that the government does not advance religious views I find offensive is for government to advance no religious views or goals. Religion is personal and ought not be established, even when it is viewed consistently by 98+% of the citizenry, or its free exercise be abridged by any action of the government.
Get the freak off Matts back about the hang ups and time outs, he's aware of whats going on and doesn't need a dirty diaper stuck to his butt
What a tempting line.... He might really need that stuck dirty diaper right where it is if he switches ISP's in CA and especially in San Fransisco. Everyone is just trying to be helpful.
I'm sure their working on the problems with both hands and one foot.
No one disputes that they're diligently working on their hangups (rather appropriate word usage with Matt in CA) over there. <g> But, so long as he remains in CA, he will need to use his remaining foot to keep that diaper firmly stuck to his backside. Placed appropriately, it will produce much better results than the alternatives.
Probably: I bought a nice inflatable ($75) for my son-in-law to be's bachelor party last year -- much safer than the skank, and that is being generous, stripper a friend of mine provided. Have another one coming up in a couple months -- daughter getting married, not skank stripper -- so I will likely contribute again.
But, from what I hear, it is women who are really feeding this frenzy. Seems as though we are more easily replaced.
Edit -- someone please explain to me how Matt's spell checker cannot recognize the work skank.
Site was down tonight for me from around 11:00 p.m. until at least 11:20ish p.m. I wanted to catch the last of the Sunday sport's news, so I did not check after that.
6796661 at 10:57:02
6796662 = no such board
6796663 at 11:11:45
6796664 at 11:12:49
6796665 at 11:17:56
6796666 at 11:18:11
6796667 at 11:18:36
6796668 = no such board
6796669 = no such board
6796670 = 11:22:29
What is the "no such board" message?
Time for an ISP switch.
More than we needed to know, but just head north to San Francisco and you will have no problems switching to an interesting sexual partner.
www.mysportsbook.com
There was a man from Racine
That was the kissing cousin to the classic:
There once was a man from Nantucket.....
Nebraska Man Has Lost 573 Pounds in a Year
By SHARON COHEN
.c The Associated Press
VALENTINE, Neb. (AP) - He still is a mound of a man, but his blue eyes widen with delight as he presses his chest with his fingertips, smiles mischievously and makes the grand announcement: He can FEEL his ribs. To Patrick Deuel, this small moment is huge. Headline huge. Man Can Feel Ribs - A First in 25 Years.
One year ago, Deuel weighed 1,072 pounds. He was so enormous that his bedroom wall had to be cut out to extract him from his home. Then, he was rushed to a South Dakota hospital in an ambulance with extra-wide doors and a ramp-and-winch system that had to be dispatched from Denver.
One man. More than a half-ton. Mind-boggling.
So, too, were the grim realities of Deuel's life. He hadn't left his bedroom in seven months. He'd barely been outside in seven years. He couldn't sit up. He couldn't roll over by himself. He had heart trouble and diabetes and needed oxygen.
Patrick Deuel was dying. A photo taken last June shows a pneumatic-like figure sprawled helplessly on his stomach looking like an inflated balloon.
Now 12 months after being hospitalized for gastric bypass surgery, Deuel sits on a love seat that is propped up on cement blocks. He still looks like a plus-sized Buddha. But he is less than half the man he used to be and that, his doctor says, is amazing progress.
The patient concurs.
``I'm used to looking in the mirror and seeing the Michelin man,'' he says. ``All of a sudden ... I look a little more like a human being and I say, 'Ooooh, my God, where did HE come from?'''
Deuel does a quick inventory of his shrinking, yet still massive body: He touches his ribs. He stretches his fingers like fans to see bones and tendons.
But thrill No. 1 is the magic number on the scale: 499 pounds.
He pumps a fleshy arm in triumph. He hasn't been south of 500 in two decades.
Deuel now goes out almost every day, walks a bit, exercises and thinks about all the things he hopes to do someday.
``Life,'' he says, ``is infinitely better.''
Patrick Deuel's weight was off the charts before he even knew it.
Before he could walk or talk, he says, medical records defined him as obese.
By the time the ambulance pulled into his driveway in this tiny town more than 40 years later, Deuel had long been a prisoner of his many pounds. He couldn't work, attend a college football game (a Nebraska banner hangs on his living room wall), or - for a time - even sit in his parent's home.
And he wasn't shy about talking about it.
When Deuel arrived at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., he welcomed the spotlight, determined to prove he was no Guinness Book footnote but a man with a message: Obese people suffer because the health care system and insurance companies don't do enough to help them.
He also didn't mind being an inspiration.
``If I can lose weight, anybody can do this - and I mean ANYBODY,'' he says. ``My willpower is basically zero.''
In the year since, Deuel's story has brought him more than 2,000 e-mails and letters from as far as China and Saudi Arabia. He has acquired an agent (he has been paid to appear in a British documentary and on German TV magazine shows). And he has talked openly - and often humorously - about his obesity.
``My dad says I was supposed to be 8-foot-4,'' he likes to joke, ``but I quit growing.''
Deuel, 43, says it has been frustrating not to be able to lose weight and humiliating to be called names - 'Fat Pat' was a common childhood taunt - but he's not one to analyze a life defined by obesity.
``I always thought it was a problem that some people had and other people didn't like,'' he says simply.
Deuel was a fast-food junkie hooked on pizza, chips, beef jerky and chili dogs. He also gobbled down cherry blintzes and ambrosia (a creamy fruit, marshmallow and coconut concoction). Even now, his face brightens when he mentions his favorite foods.
While those days are over, Deuel doesn't believe in total deprivation.
He exercises with bar bells and weights, but still smokes (he's cut down to a pack a day), saying he can't kick two bad habits at once. And he defiantly refuses to consider any foods taboo.
``If you have a craving and don't take care of it, it's going to grow and grow and grow and it's going to make you do something stupid - binge,'' he says.
About twice a month, Deuel indulges in foods most dieters would consider off-limits: a small piece of chocolate, an ice cream bar, Taco John's nachos on his van ride home from visiting his doctor in South Dakota.
``I've lost 102 pounds in 70 days, eating what I wanted,'' he says. ``Tell me it doesn't work. ... For me, the easiest way to stay on my diet and not go absolutely crazy to is eat (to satisfy the craving), get that out of the way and get back on the program.''
The Atkins and South Beach faithful might shudder, but not Dr. Fred Harris, the Sioux Falls surgeon who operated on Deuel last fall.
``Patrick is over 21 and he can do what he wants to do,'' he says. ``He's a free individual who has to enjoy his life.''
Harris' empathy has some personal history. Three years ago, he had bariatric surgery and is 100 pounds thinner. He declines to be more specific.
``An occasional indiscretion is OK,'' Harris says. ``Every once in a while you have to have a piece of chocolate, providing you're not carrying the bag around all the time.''
Harris suspects Deuel is a lot more careful about his diet than he admits.
``He's a naughty boy when he's trying to show off,'' he says. ``I think he has made up his mind he wants to be more mobile.''
Practically speaking, Deuel can't eat as he once did. Surgery initially reduced his stomach size from two to three liters to the end of a thumb. Now, with the swelling long subsided, he can eat four to eight ounces of food. Anything more, he'll likely feel pain and vomit.
Deuel concentrates on high-protein, low-salt foods: cottage cheese, refried beans, spinach, asparagus, non-breaded shrimp, steak, roasts, cheese. He avoids potatoes and bread. And milk makes him sick.
So far, so good.
Some doctors say bariatric surgery works if a patient loses more than 40 percent of excess body weight - something Deuel has done.
``Any way you slice it, we did what we set out to accomplish,'' Harris says. ``If Patrick wouldn't lose another pound, I'd think he had been a success. ... Anything else I get out of him is gravy.''
Or, Harris says, look at it this way: ``He's lost two NFL defensive linemen.''
When Deuel loses more weight, Harris plans to remove his panniculus, an apron-like layer of abdominal fat. It makes walking feel like he's carrying giant sacks of flour. That surgery could trim another 40 to 70 pounds.
It was Deuel's hometown doctor who called Harris last year after she arranged for her patient to get emergency care for neglected dental work and realized he needed more help.
``It was clear we had a dying patient,'' Harris says. ``I told him, 'We don't have weeks. We have days or hours.' I said he could die in the bed ugly or accept admission (to the hospital).''
Even now, Deuel says he thinks he could have lost weight without surgery.
At the hospital, Harris' medical team had to design extensions for an operating table.
By last October when Deuel had surgery, he had dropped more than 400 pounds, a lot of that water.
Harris says Deuel's weight problems are not simply from overeating.
``I'm absolutely convinced the basic, overlying cause for morbid obesity is genetic,'' Harris says. ``There's some nature, some nurture. But it's like wanting to have blue eyes and having brown eyes. You can't fight it. We desire food more, we get hungry quicker. ... Every gene in your body says, 'Feed me now.
' ``
Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University's School of Medicine in St. Louis, says it's likely there's a genetic predisposition to obesity, but that has not been proven. About 40 percent of weight variability, he says, is related to genetics.
To hear Patrick Deuel tell it, his troubles began when he was still in his baby carriage.
Deuel says he was 3 months old when diagnosed as morbidly obese (some medical experts say there's no way to make that assessment so young.)
He clicks onto childhood photos on his computer and, in his high-pitched voice, narrates a life story measured in alarming numbers: The kindergartner in cap and gown, 90 pounds. The chubby-cheeked Boy Scout, 240 pounds. The thick-necked, 13-year-old, holding a whipped cream confirmation cake, 275 pounds.
Deuel points out the less obvious, too: His little red wagon had extra sturdy wheels, his pants' legs were rolled up because he could fit only in men's clothes.
His mother, Betty, said doctors offered little guidance beyond suggesting nonfat milk but recalls one telling her son: ``If you don't get some of this weight off, you're not going to live to be very old.''
Neither parent was fat, though one of Deuel's grandfathers weighed more than 300 pounds.
Deuel's mother worked in a health-food store and says she prepared healthy meals - lots of salads and squash - and they tried the Weight Watcher's diet, but it didn't help much.
She knew how abnormal the situation was, but ``there's a point where you say, 'Am I nagging so much where I'm making things worse?' I did believe you can overdo it,'' she explains. ``I had someone ask me one day, 'Couldn't he just eat less?' Well, he did.''
By high school, Deuel was 300 pounds, but found his niche, lending his tenor voice to choirs and his trombone-playing talents to bands. He only lasted one semester in college, then began working a variety of restaurant jobs where meals were free.
``There was too much to choose from and I made a lot of rotten choices,'' he says.
Deuel tried all kinds of diets - and lost 300 pounds on one, but quit because he couldn't afford the supplements.
``I just thought one of these days somebody is going to come out with a diet that works or one of these red-hot science fellers is going to come up with a pill ... you take and lose 100 pounds,'' he says.
Deuel knows how Pollyannish that sounds. ``Every dieter,'' he says, ``is wishing for that day.''
In the mid-1980s, he fell and hurt his back and ended up on disability, making him even more sedentary.
But there was one positive turn in Deuel's life. Through a newspaper personals ad in which he described himself as ``physically challenged,'' he met Edith Runyan, a divorced school guidance counselor.
On the phone, he bluntly told her he weighed about 700 pounds.
When they met, she found his sense of humor appealing. ``He had a positive attitude about life even though he had been kicked in the teeth a lot emotionally,'' she says.
They married a decade ago - Deuel weighed 750 pounds - and his weight gain continued, his waist expanding up to 90 inches. Vertically, that would be about 7-foot-6, or the height of Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets star.
Deuel had to be weighed last year at a feed mill on a scale designed for trucks.
Now, he can move gingerly with two walkers; he does 'laps' around his house, moving from the living room to the kitchen to the laundry room and back.
He still can't attend church. ``I don't do steps yet,'' he says.
Deuel hopes to become a motivational speaker and though he first talked about reducing to 240 pounds, he now says maybe he'll settle for more - it depends how he feels.
He already has plans for the future: He'd like to go fishing, attend a football game, and yes, drive to McDonald's for an Egg McMuffin.
``Just being able to go out and do what I want to do - when I get to that point,'' he says, ``I've reached my goal.''
And his timetable for that?
``At least 15 minutes before I die,'' he jokes.
He pauses, smiles and reconsiders.
``Maybe a half-hour.''
http://www.gastricbypasshq.com/alerts/index.php
derf and I were discussing GVRP
Can't imagine why discussing "Gorgeous Voluptuous Real People" would prompt him to delete anything.... Then again, see the last post.
Maybe it was the Go Vote in the Republican Primary that got too him. Now that I think about it, being from Florida, he might have done that ten times and just be jealous.
Time for bed -- minny yana.
You must be getting frustrated in CA.....chill, dude.