Emotional leeches

Rant:

There will always be all sorts of fallout from the end of a relationship. Thus, it is of no surprise that friends of the ex-couple will parcel out their allegiance in the aftermath. That said, however, it is a basic understanding that once one has chosen a side, one should expect none of the privileges of friendship from the party forsaken. But, oh no, there exist some individuals out there who expect to have their cake and eat it too.

Take the example of an individual by the pseudonym of "Z." Z was a mutual friend, made when I was part of a pair. We had a lot of good times with Z. When the relationship ended, Z chose her side by ceasing to respond to any of my emails. That's fine, and definitely within her rights. I bear no grudge for that.

Occasionally, Z would get into situations (like most of us do) and end up falling sick, and would then begin milking everyone on her address list for sympathy. For some unknown reason, even though I am deemed unworthy to deign a response from her, I qualify to be a donor of sympathy for this suffering creature. My charitable responses and outpourings of goodwill never garner a reply, but they must possess some value because my email address remains on her address list.

And so, I continue to receive the occasional odd email seeking sympathy. I am expected to pour out words of comfort and encouragement because Z has twisted her wrist, broken her arm, foot, funny bone, nostril hair, etc.

These are neither friends nor acquaintances. These are parasites--emotional leaches. Henceforth, Z and her ilk will be blocked as spammers from my accounts. I do not want to hear about how you were nearly admitted into the ICU because of that paper cut, etc.

If a real tragedy to you occurs, rest assured that I will get wind of it from traditional channels. E.g. the Obituaries.

Mount Tamalpais Ride II

Memorial weekend ride.

For the ride report, click on the image or here.

Obesity Trends among US Adults between 1985 and 2004

Definitions

Obesity: having a very high amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass, or a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

Body Mass Index (BMI): a measure of an adult's weight in relation to his or her height, specifically the adult's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his or her height in meters.

Source of data

The data shown in these maps were collected through CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Each year, state health departments use standard procedures to collect data through a series of monthly telephone interviews with US adults.

During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. In 1985 only a few states were participating in CDC's BRFSS and providing obesity data. In 1991, four states had obesity prevalence rates of 15-19 percent and no states had rates at or above 20 percent.

In 2004, 7 states had obesity prevalence rates of 15-19 percent; 33 states had rates of 20-24 percent; and 9 states had rates more than 25 percent.













































Citations

BRFSS, CDC.
Mokdad, A H, et al. JAMA 1999; 282:16.
___. JAMA 2001; 286:10.
___. JAMA 2003; 289:1.


PowerPoint or text-only (Adobe Acrobat) presentation of this data can be obtained here.