I have a friend who calls me for moral support everytime he goes to the grocery store.  Me:  “What’s going on now?”  Him:  “NO WAY this is happening!  A woman in front of me has a coupon for EVERY item!”

How about (even when there are employees nearby who can operate a register),  they MAKE you use the self checkout…and you have produce!  I’m not trained in the codes and scales and such! 

I know I’ve thrown this topic out there before, but something tells me it’s time to head back to the store. 

Barack O’Bama smokes.  He’s admitted to the vice, saying he’s trying nicotine gum.

Maybe he needs to call my sister.

Suzie Talley is the only person I know who can quit vices faster than you’ll notice Kim Kardashian’s backside.  

It’s been a month since Suzie gave up caffeine, sugar, alcohol and processed food…all at once.  I tried that.  I caved after two days (and at the begging of co-workers and The Boyfriend who said, “I liked the toxic Sherri”).  I thought we’d never hear from Suzie again.  I was wrong.  

Have you tried to give up something?  Are you up for the challenge?  Here’s Suzie’s report: 

‘”As my month long experiment ends…(no coffee-caffeine/sugar or alcohol/white or processed food) I highly recommend it! 

At first, the caffeine withdrawal was awful.  I almost felt sick for the first 2-3 days.  This just confirmed to me that I was addicted to it.  It was by far the hardest of all the things to give up.

Sugar was the second, but something really awesome happened.  Before giving these things up, I felt roller coasters in my energy level throughout the day.  On this experiment,  my energy level is constant throughout the day.  My 5:00 p.m. everyday blood sugar dip went away as well.  This was the most amazing.  For example, this morning I got up at 6, went to gym and lifted weights, washed Scott’s car, cleaned out the garage and was on the phone by 9:00 for my first conference call.  At noon, rode my bike for an hour and 15 minutes and will do a run after work today.  My energy level is amazing now!!

Giving up alcohol had some effect on me.  My resting HR in the morning is 40 bpm.  At night after dinking wine, it was 55 bpm.  So no more heart racing which I attributed to alcohol.

I also noticed I sleep like a truck.  No waking up in the middle of the night and when I do wake up at 6 a.m., I am really up.

At first life seemed rather bland without my vices to spice things up, but after about 3 weeks, other things took their place, like the spike in my energy level.  I have felt the best I have ever felt.  I lost only 5 pounds, but weight loss was not my goal.

I can’t say I will give these things up for life, but it was a cool way of getting to know your body better.”

LindsAy:  “What’s Najahe’s last name at Ch. 12?”  John:  “Twa.”   05-17-08

“I’m tired of marathons and ironmans.  I’m doing the Running of the Bulls next.”  –Suzie Talley 05-18-08

“I’m not trying to be cool or anything, but there’s a snake in my sink.”  –J.J. Lewis 05-11-08

“Yesterday was the shiz.  I love you.”  –Suzie Talley, texting her son the day after Mother’s Day.  (Instead, the message was accidentally sent to Suzie’s co-worker.)

“My stomach sounds like a freight train just rode over a hoard of bunnies.”  –LindsAy 05-27-08

This fella was captured in Meteorologist Joe Haynes’ yard in Bossier City, Louisiana on Monday. 

Oh sure, Joe came to work with a dramatic tale about how the gator was “put down” by wildlife experts who were afraid the 8-foot reptile would return to devour pets and children in the neighborhood.  

That was our Joe, the environmentalist.

 But what really happened to the big lizard?   

 ”All in a day’s work.  Being a KTBS Meteorologist, I can wrassle an 8 foot gator in the morning and then wear my new belt and shoes to do the 5 pm weather.”

That’s what we thought!  Upon further questioning, Joe’s meteorologist, Texas A&M geek-like exterior began to crumble as some rarely seen Ninja Weather Guy emerged and  started throwing around words like, “…we rolled for hours, the gator biting me…finally, I pinned him like a spot on a map!”

This is much more than a ‘pesky upper level low’….and Joe knows it. 

What do you think happened to that gator? 

Would you ride your bike to work on a regular basis.  Why or why not? 

I tried that once.  Gas prices weren’t that high then.  It was Ride Your Bike To Work Day.  I was sweating profusely when I got to work.  I had helmet hair (the people in this picture should be wearing helmets–trust me–I know this).   The weight of my backpack with all the stuff in it I needed for work threw me off balance on the bike.  Traffic was terrible.   

On the bright side, I felt envigorated when I got to work.  I felt industrious and more independent (I didn’t need no stinkin’ car!). 

What if we had cycling lanes?  I would make the effort more often to ride for the purpose of transportation if we did. 

What if there were a place at work to put your bike?  What if there were showers there?  What if we as a city, residents and employers made the necesssary changes? 

This week I did a story about an amazing rescue that took place during the recent flooding in Shreveport.  One of the heroes and the teenager who was rescued walked me through what happened.  The story airs Monday night at 10:00 on KTBS.  After that, you can watch it online by clicking here.   Here’s a preview.   

17-year-old Tim Prestridge doesn’t know how to swim.  Even if he did, he’d have been no match for the swift current that suddenly hit the corner of Lister and Alexander Streets in Shreveport’s Highland neighborhood. 

Prestridge got swept away in the current of the floodwaters and wound up hanging on for life to a guard rail with water rushing over his head.  Prestridge remembers the fear.  “If I would have let go, I would have gotten thrown in that ditch right there and after that, it was like a whirlpool.  You couldn’t get up, seriously.  That’s how close I was to dying.”     

Two of Prestridge’s neighbors heard his cries for help.  David Hudson and Justin Sullens sprung into action, fighting the current themselves, and rescued Prestridge.  “And I thought, alright, alright, man up,” said Sullens. 

While Sullens is trained in water rescue and says he knew how to read the current, neither hero likes the distinction that comes from such a rescue.  “I didn’t really get out here and try to help people for the recognition.  I mean, that’s not God’s way,” said Sullens.  Hudson wouldn’t even be interviewed. 

Prestridge feels lucky to be alive and says the world would be a better place if more people had the level of concern Hudson and Sullens showed him.

Sullens says he believes angels were watching over all three that night, helping them.       

One of our commenters, Sparky, is a new dad!  His wife, Jennifer, just gave birth to a baby boy!  Little Cameron James weighs 5 lbs, 15 ounces and is 20″ in length.  Congratulations Sparky!

My friend Nathan is 7.  He was looking at the tree in my yard and explaining to me that there aren’t enough things on it to aid him in climbing it.  I agree.  Nathan went on to explain that if I got him an Indiana Jones sound FX whip, he could snap it and it would wrap around a limb and then he could use it to pull him up the tree.

I like the way Nathan thinks.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens today.  You going?

Shreveport, the movie industry, Hollywood South, the oil bust…click here to read today’s article in The New York Times.