#87372
11/20/2002 1:51 PM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180 |
I just accomplished something at work that I thought I couldn't do, so I am rewarding myself by posting to this forum for the first time.
Inventing the word "dextrocentric" seemed obviously necessary to me when my daughter started using her hands for things beyond the random infantile waving and poking of self in eye: i.e., eating, drawing, using scissors, etc. She was obviously left handed, and suddenly my consciousness was raised about how many processes in our daily lives use tools that operate on the assumption that the person using them is right handed. And I say, when a phenomenon exists, it needs a name.
When I used the term in speaking to one of my co-workers, he thought I was talking about dextrose at first. I told him the words were related, that dextrose is probably a right handed molecule. He asked me how you could tell a molecule was right handed, so I suggested he watch it write a check. I don't remember enough chemistry to know how a molecule can be right handed, I just know it can.
This is my bid for immortality.
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#87373
11/20/2002 2:32 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
Welcome, birdfeed (I like the handle).
I am just learning about the complexity of isomers due to a post by wwh (familiarly know as Dr. Bill). I had known only what I think of as D-isomers and L-isomers for right and left handed versions of complex molecules that can be oriented in two different ways. There are other isomer pairs, notably endo and exo isomers, but them I have no idea what differentiates them. It gets kind of technical on the molecular level. As far as I know the choice of handedness in the designation of these molecules is purely arbitrary.
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#87374
11/20/2002 2:43 PM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180 |
Thanks. Yer own self-described better half put the idea of "birdfeed" in my head. Having read your response, I must say I vastly prefer "right-handed" and "left-handed" to the non-hyphenated versions I used.
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#87375
11/20/2002 3:23 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
self-described better half
We're a team. Which of us is the better half varies from situation to situation. Or so she permits me to believe
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#87376
11/20/2002 3:54 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Deaar Faldage: If I remember correctly, Pasteur discovered optical isomerism, and made
several of the original contributions thereto. I'll try to see if I can find anything worth
posting.
The sites I found were rather volminous to quote from, you can copy and paste from this:
1.Optical isomerism - Wikipedia - ... First discovered by Louis Pasteur in the nineteenth
century, the study of optical isomerism is called stereochemistry. Optical isomers ...
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_isomerism search within this site
2.Stereoisomerism - ... Optical Isomerism. ... the plane of polarised light and this was known as
optical activity. Louis Pasteur discovered that when 2,3-dihydroxy (tartaric) acid was ...
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~freya01/stereoisomerism.htm
3.ISOMERISM AND STEREOCHEMISTRY Jack DeRuiter I. Basic Principles (PDF) - ...
Pasteur further demonstrated that the left- and right-handed crystals were mirror images of each
other ... Figure 3. Tetrahedral geometry and optical isomerism III ...
http://www.auburn.edu/~deruija/pdastch1.pdf
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#87377
11/20/2002 4:13 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks, Dr. Bill. I'd like some good stuff on this whole subject. My guess on endo and exo isomers is that they have, respectively, radicals pointing in and out of the basic structure. ¿Qué no?
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#87378
11/20/2002 4:54 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Faldage: I am completely ignorant about endo- and exo- isomerism. Here's a bunch
of sites:
1.REACTIONS IN SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE - ... Alder reactions. It is well known
that many Diels-Alder reactions result in formation of variable mixtures of endo- and exo-isomers.
...
http://www.chem.leeds.ac.uk/People/CMR/da.html search within this site
2.exo/endo-7-NORCARANOL - ... 7. The exo/endo ratio is 6:1; the exo and endo isomers
show characteristic triplets in their nmr spectra at d 2.9 and 3.1 ppm, respectively. ...
http://www.orgsyn.org/orgsyn/orgsyn/prepContent.asp?prep=CV5P0859 search within this site
3.E033: Troubles With Isomers Of (Isodicp)Ticl<Sub>3</Sub> - ... The two isomers of
(isodiCp)TiCl 3 have similar unit cells in the orthorhombic crystal system: endo with a = 9.134(1),
b = 12.328(1), c = 10.314(1) Å, and exo ...
http://www.hwi.buffalo.edu/ACA/ACA97/abstracts/text/E033.html search within this site
4.electronic poster - ... as shown in Scheme 3. Thus condensation of the endo- anhydride with ...
Interestingly, attempts to extend this chemistry to the exo-isomers of compounds (10) and ...
http://www.ch.kcl.ac.uk/kclchem/staff/mno/poster.htm search within this site
5.Chapter 2 Stereochemical Principles Isomers (PDF) - 1 1 Chapter 2 Stereochemical
Principles Problems: 1 (4 pts), 2 (4 pts), 5 (2 pts), 6 (6 pts), 10 (7 pts), 16 (4 pts), 18 (3 pts) 2
Isomers * Same formula ...
http://www.cns.uni.edu/~macmilla/carroll/Carroll02.pdf search within this site
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#87379
11/20/2002 5:01 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
back to the matter at <ahem> hand, google finds no hits for dextrocentric; but does turn up this for dexterocentric, from Feb., 2000: http://www.dailyemerald.com/archive/v101/2/000224/letters.htmlI don't know which I like better.
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#87380
11/20/2002 5:03 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Unfortunately, these all look like sites that expect you to know what they are before you enter.
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#87381
11/20/2002 5:05 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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#87382
11/20/2002 5:14 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I must have typo'd, although I don't know how since I just inserted an 'e' to google dexterocentric!?
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#87383
11/20/2002 5:17 PM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180 |
Well damn. I wonder which of us used the word first. In this vein, I suggest another word I invented for my daughter's benefit: ambisinister. This word describes anyone who is primarily left-handed but who can use his right hand almost as well.
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#87384
11/20/2002 5:21 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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#87385
11/20/2002 5:27 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Kinda like the individual, yet cosmically concurrent, discovery of fire, huh.
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#87387
11/20/2002 7:12 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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chopped liver of Anu
Course birdfeed's definition is kinda at odds with Anu's.
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#87388
11/20/2002 7:16 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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#87389
11/20/2002 7:27 PM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180 |
Course birdfeed's definition is kinda at odds with Anu's.
Yeah, I meant it as merely a description with no connotations. I was trying to fly in the face of, well, dextrochauvinist tradition, as expressed by the connotations of words like maladroit, gauche, sinister, etc.
Honest, Officer, I never seen the word before.
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#87390
11/20/2002 7:39 PM
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
>I was trying to fly in the face of, well, dextrochauvinist tradition
A warm welcome from the top of the world, birdfeed. Any friend of the ASp is certain to be asset to us all. Nice word, that dextrochauvinist, I shall use it often. Your "ambisinister" crusade is a noble cause, one that has been played out here before by some of the Elect, but sadly the cause appears to be lost. Never mind, if you remove the ordinary and banal from the world, we're what's Left. Dieu et mon gauche.
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#87391
11/20/2002 7:42 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
Some of us like the term ambimanual.
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#87392
11/20/2002 7:57 PM
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
>ambimanual
Sorry, too wishy-washy, too namby-pamby. We need an affirmative action kinda word, one that gives all those dextrochauvinists a taste of their own medicine. We have millennia of such prejudice to fight against (as an aside, the highest mark I ever received for a German essay was on this very subject).
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#87393
11/20/2002 8:10 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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#87394
11/20/2002 8:29 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Posts: 1,819 |
[Runs screaming from the room shouting chemistry! chemistry! argh! ]
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#87395
11/22/2002 2:51 AM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,289 |
To relieve your fears of chemistry, let me point out that Dorothy L. Sayers, the queen of mystery writers, wrote a very fine novel (The Documents in the Case) in which the solution of the murder turned on the dextro- and laevo- forms of muscarine. Highly recommended, also since it's the only good epistolary novel other than The Moonstone.
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#87396
11/22/2002 1:14 PM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Posts: 180 |
"To relieve your fears of chemistry, let me point out that Dorothy L. Sayers, the queen of mystery writers,
wrote a very fine novel (The Documents in the Case) "
Yes! I read that, and that may very well be where I first encountered the concept. It's a very good novel, and one of the most interesting things to me was that I read it in college, and again some 20 years later. By the time of the second reading my sympathies had completely realigned to different characters.
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#87397
11/22/2002 2:09 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Years ago I got all excited when I read an article saying that a "left-handed" sugar molecule had been created, and that they were going to try and produce enough of it to market. Supposedly it contained all the properties of "normal" (right-handed molecule) sugar, except--that the left-handedness would cause your body not to process it. So I thought people were going to be able to eat all the sweets they wanted to with no effects from the sugar. But I never heard anything more about it. Pity.
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#87399
11/22/2002 3:34 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>Sucrose is C12H22O11 and fructose and gluscose are both C6H12O6 and that doesn't quite add up but.
to paraphrase Alex, aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
(I think left-handed sugar causes left-handed diabetes..)
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#87400
11/22/2002 4:32 PM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Posts: 180 |
"According to this site ... it was too expensive to make and they couldn't get the stock price high enough to make it worth while."
Well, considering the effort my grandparents put into changing my father from left-handed to right-handed and how warped he is, they may well be right.
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#87401
11/22/2002 4:33 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Remember;, any sugar that we can't metabolise, bacteria can. Thereby blows an ill wind.
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#87402
11/22/2002 4:34 PM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180 |
But I think "Left-handed Sugar" would be a great name for a rock group.
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#87403
11/22/2002 4:40 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
"Left-handed Sugar" would be a great name for a rock group
You bin hanging with Dave Barry?
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#87404
11/22/2002 6:28 PM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 180 |
In re. Dave Barry- That may be the part of his column to which I have the greatest affinity. I'd been making up names for rock groups for years, maybe to compensate for my total lack of musical ability, and then started reading his column and found out he had the same obsession. I think my most promising one so far is "Brain Chemistry Rollercoaster", which originates in a remark I made once about my state of mind.
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#87405
11/22/2002 7:13 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Then there was the time I was lying on the gurney in the ER writhing in pain with my back all tied up into knots and this petite young thang comes by pushing her little cart full of vials and needles and on her sweat shirt is embroidered the legend "Brain Eraser".
It's a rollercoaster at a local amusement park
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#87406
11/23/2002 3:25 AM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
"Brain Chemistry Rollercoaster", which originates in a remark I made once about my state of mind.I've been to that state! Didn't get the t-shirt, though. (welcome, birdfeed!  )
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#87407
11/24/2002 3:05 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,636 |
You mean to tell me there are other states????[shocked that no one has told me-e]
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#87408
11/29/2002 6:01 AM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Wasn't that what killed off lots of Tribbles? The wheat they were gorging themselves on was left-handed rather than right-handed and so they starved to death.
Bingley
Bingley
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#87409
11/29/2002 7:47 AM
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Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 450
addict
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addict
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 450 |
So that was the trouble with Tribbles? I've always thought that lefties were a rum bunch, but the thought that they could have been responsible for killing those cute Tribbles is horrifying.
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#87410
11/29/2002 1:20 PM
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
formerly known as etaoin...
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