Rudynate

Yes. To get the mothers line, they analyze mitochondrial DNA. To get the father's line, they analyze the Y chromosome.

They only extrapolate ethnicity from the genetic information. There is no way to say definitely that a person has certain ethnic makeup. Sibs share 50%, more or less. Depending on the way the genes have sorted, it would be reasonable for the mapping to a particular ethnic makeup to be different. It doesn't mean that the analysis is bullshit. It does mean that the marketing of these analyses causes people to expect too much of them. I'm surprised a physician wouldn't have thought all this through.

I had a 23andme analysis done. One small surprise. There is a story in my mother's family of a native American ancestor. I have never fully believed it. And the 23andMe analysis showed my ancestry as being essentially 100 percent northern European, with the distribution being exactly what I would expect from what I know of my family history. A second small surprise showed some sequences, originating from North Africa, that are common among Ashkenazi Jews. Myself and a couple of my sibs have dark hair and olive complexions and there's no good explanation for it, except maybe the milkman. I also found some very useful health information, that I have a single copy of the apo e4 allele, which means my ability to process lipids is impaired. In fact, without a statin, my LDL level is higher than many people's total cholesterol.

I think there is a widespread belief in the full-moon effect among people in the nursing profession. They all swear that the incidence of death and other untoward events is higher during the full moon. On my very first real job, I worked the night shift as an orderly at a VA hospital. On a full moon, the nursing supervisor would always say something like, "Fasten your seat belts, it's a full moon."

Yes, that's been studied of course. I don't remember the numbers, but there is a high rate of concordance in sexual orientation between identical twins who have been raised together. It gets interesting with identical twins who weren't raised together. There still is a high rate of concordance, but not as high as in the twins who were raised together.

It is possible to rehabilitate your attitude toward your work. You can even do that over and over again. I know because I've done it. I get tired of my work, but being tired of my work is a luxury I can't afford, since I'm self-employed and I have clients counting on me. For me, it's a question of getting a little tough with myself and doubling down on my effort to be the best at what I do.

San Francisco

Where am I from now or where did I grow up?

Wow. Interesting. Makes me think of those above ground burial places in New Orleans.

He's ha He's had a long run.

Control.

For me, cremation, no service, lunch for family and friends at a nice place. Plant a tree in the back yard, dump the ashes in the bottom of the hole.

His sag. There are drugs for that

Guilty.

It's OK for straight folks to have sexual attractions to people that they hire like personal trainers, but, as a gay man, something that you're supposed to deny and apologize for. Classic case of internalized homophobia, my friend.

And yet he has mostly five-star reviews. Maybe he really delivers.

Let it go. Even if you had hired him mostly because you were attracted to him, what's wrong with that? I don't hire trainers solely on their looks, but it's an important consideration. Getting fit with a great looking trainer is very enjoyable. And when they're also really good, it's a winning combination. People are going to talk and you can't stop them, so don't worry about it.

I think you need to get out more.

I really enjoyed Downton Abbey, but it always made me think, "There's more to life than changing your clothes all day."

And the butler was dressed black-tie (tuxedo, black bow ties) as opposed to white-tie (white bow tie, white waistcoat and tailcoat.) White-tie is the most formal evening dress

The thing that I like about formal daytime dress is that hasn't been rendered cliche through overuse and overexposure. Because it has fallen out of use, when you see it, it retains its special aura. When my partner and I got married, we thought we would like to dress that way, but when we checked into the cost we had difficulty finding a place that could provide such an outfit and it turned out it would cost hundreds of dollars for each of us. Practicality won out. Guys in tuxedos look like wine stewards in high-end restaurants. One of the surest ways for an escort's profile to turn me off is if he has a pic of himself in a tuxedo holding a champagne flute. It says, "I am a total ass."

Generalizations, pushed to their limit, nearly always break down. Nonetheless, even with their limitations, they are useful descriptive tools. The problem with colognes/perfumes/toilet waters is that it isn't just a question fashion and style and personal preference. As someone noted upthread, many find it to be presumptious and an impermissible invasion of their personal space. And there are health issues. Men's fragrances aren't a problem typically, because of their subtlety and because the wearers don't necessarily want to use so much that their fragrance precedes them as they enter a room, but when I'm in close proximity to a woman who has doused herself, I start sneezing, and that's a common complaint. It isn't just out of PC that strong fragrances aren't permitted in most workplaces - there are genuine health issues and employers find them an unacceptable distraction.

I grew up in the northeast and I have spent nearly my entire adult life in the western US. In the late 80s, I spent a couple years in Rochester, where I grew up. I was surprised to notice that it was common among gay guys to use fragrance of some sort. I did also notice that they tended to have a disconcerting preoccupation with designer labels.

It's even considered uncool and unprofessional for a woman to show up for work with a lot of fragrance on.

Perhaps it hasn't come up because that is formal daytime dress, seen only at pushy weddings. A top hat and morning coat used to be obligatory for presidential inaugurations, but the last time I remember seeing it was for Kennedy's inauguration.