"I'd have a lot more confidence if you could give me a bone sample, " he said.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

When I was coming up, my father built in me a bone-deep sense that life owed you nothing.

NPR: Seeking Solutions for the Nation's Broken Schools

"I'm not having the business of the House decided by (shudder) Peter Bone, " one upwardly mobile backbencher told me.

BBC: The year ahead in Parliament

What did surprise me was that the thinner T-bone was better than the rib eye, usually my favorite steak.

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Like me, it seemed to dread the bone-jarring return to town.

CNN: A bizarre visit to John McAfee's pleasure palace in Belize