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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> spike@rainier66.com <spike@rainier66.com> <br><b>…</b><o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>…Owww, damn, I learned nothing. My own biases have been confirmed, even though I struggled to overpower my own confirmation bias. spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Then it occurred to me: I have an advantage on that insight. We have a lot of Asian friends around here, some of whom eat durian. We went over next door to discuss neighborhood matters. The smell nearly knocked me to my knees (oh mercy.) I didn’t go in, nor did I invite her into my house smelling like that. She figured out what was up, suggested we talk outside. Once in the great outdoors, we spoke for about 10 minutes. Outdoors, no problem: I could scarcely smell that vile substance, an odor so foul, one must make a conscious decision whether to inhale the wretched fumes or just suffocate and be done with it all forever.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Perhaps others are not so lucky as to have friends who are durian devourers, so they might lack the insight provided by that breathtaking experience.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>