Al, while I don't doubt that there are unique challenges to being short, and I don't want to imply that those challenges are easy, it's not as if taller people don't face problems themselves. One-size-fits-all is a cruel joke to a lot of people.

That said, it seems to me to be going well beyond what's reasonable to risk being unable to walk (not an inconsequential risk) for what is essentially a cosmetic procedure (and I have heard about a professional in Alberta who underwent such a procedure and did in fact end up unable to walk as a result, which directly affects his job.) Joke as I might about "donating" my height to someone else, it's not really a reasonable response to one's physical condition -- even one that is associated with demonstrable morbidities later in life, such as being tall.

I'm not saying that people have an easy go of it when they're short, either, but there are reasonable measures to coping with that, and there are unreasonable ones. This procedure seems well into the latter category.

Alright I am in another country but this topic has really touched a nerve with me. Many of you are 6 feet or over 6 feet tall. You really don't know the subtle prejudice that short people face. You can't understand how we have to try harder, do better just to get noticed. So before you think it is crazy think about how much harder people like me had to work just to get some notice. If you want to be more informed there was a CTV documentary called: S&M: Short and male which covers this topic in more detail, it also includes a section abut the height adjusting operation. Alright rant over.

I was looking at those t-shirts yesterday Paras. I think I'd be in for one or two of those bad boys.

To me, this just seems crazy: How Far Would You Go to Get Taller?:

Jeff’s career as an architect at a prestigious East Coast firm was taking off. At 26, he was successful and athletic, and he had no trouble meeting women. There was, however, one problem. Though it was imperceptible to friends and colleagues, Jeff (his name has been changed) was tortured by a sense that he had been born with the wrong body. Jeff was five feet six inches tall, and he was obsessed with his height—or his lack of it. “To the outside world I was extremely confident, but my height was always an insecurity,” he says.

...

In Germany, Jeff’s femurs (thighbones) were severed by a surgical saw. The surgeon inserted a rodlike telescoping implant in the bone canal of each leg, bridging the cut. He fastened each rod in place with four pins. The next morning Jeff stood up on his new legs and took a few steps on crutches.

Anyone want to buy shirts with me from this place?

I may have to claim the deebs on this one. Also, probably this one as well (sorry, Gaut.)

Also, the new Firefox seems nice. May break some addons, but my (very brief) first impression is good.

It really disturbs me, and it may disturb you as well, that my preceptor -- a colorectal surgeon who shall go unnamed -- when he's in clinic, doesn't wash his hands between patients. I mean, yeah, he wears gloves, but that's just not right.

Download Day 2008:

All you have to do is get Firefox 3 during Download Day to help set the record for most software downloads in 24 hours - it’s that easy. We're not asking you to swallow a sword or to balance 30 spoons on your face, although that would be kind of awesome.

The official date for the launch of Firefox 3 is June 17, 2008.

In other news, Crows are awesome:

That's pretty cool, Tony. (I mean, in general. It's not so cool for the part of me that wants Germany to win.) I can't wait to see the pics from that party.