BooksRule

I picked up a pork butt at the store yesterday so I could make some pulled pork. It tasted good, but I've come to the realization that I'm terrible at the last step of the process. I have a very simple recipe: I put the meat in the slow cooker with a little water and chopped onion. When it's cooked tender, I remove it from the pot and place into a pan. This is where I have problems. I have no talent for the shredding of the pork. I know I've seen people on TV shows just taking two forks and working quickly to shred up the meat into nice bite-sized pieces, I'm so clumsy with the forks, ge

That's the part I missed. Thanks!

Can someone fill me in on a bit of the wedding that I missed? The power went out for just a few seconds, but it was enough to kick the DVR off so that it didn't record for a minute or two. It cut out during a commercial break and picked up again just as Maya was getting upset about not remembering to write vows. I'm sure I didn't miss much, but I did see Maya's mother. Did she just pop up in the background and Maya acknowledged that she was there, or was there some kind of explanation?

When Dr. Charles suggested contacting an old doctor friend who could consult and also translate, I immediately wondered if they had cast the 'HITG' actor that always seems to be hired whenever someone who speaks Russian is needed for a show/movie. And, in comes the 'HITG' himself, Elya Baskin. Are there any other Russian-born actors who are working in the U.S.? I'm kidding, because I like Baskin. He is good in any role he plays. It just seems funny that it's usually him that shows up when the role calls for a Russian character. :)

I thought for sure that Helm (Helms?) was going to go live with Gwen. Gwen made it clear that she was lonely and didn't want to go back to living by herself. Helm is crashing on Jo's couch and really needs to move out. And, it was obvious that she spent a lot of time with Gwen in the hospital and thought of her as a mother figure. I think it would be a win-win. I totally forgot about Jo being in the psychiatric hospital for a while. I was thinking that she failed the background check for reasons already mentioned above (busy schedule, roommates, etc.) but also thought about the days

Well, I've had my new phone for several days now, and I've gotten better at texting. It's interesting that my fat fingers made so many mistakes when I started, but the tip I read online that typing fast actually works better than trying to be deliberate and slow. And I find that having the 'suggested' words that pop up at the top of the keypad helps a lot. I haven't made/received any calls except for the one 'test' call that I made to my office phone last night (I didn't want to call a real person, in case I was too much of a fumbling doofus. :) )

I'm kind of easing into the technology (although I did skip the flip-phone stage). Mine is a new phone, but it isn't the fanciest and wasn't expensive at all. I told them I wanted to be able to sent/receive calls, send/receive texts, maybe occasionally take a photo, check my e-mail, maybe look up something on a site now and then and that's about all. I don't do gaming and I won't be streaming any TV shows or movies. I might end up drinking the Kool-Aid, but right now I have no desire to have the phone by my side all of the time and constantly use it to call/text people. It's not even turned

Today I dragged myself (not kicking and screaming, but reluctantly) into the modern era. I got a smart phone. I know there are many benefits, but actually, until the lockdown happened last year with the pandemic, I was okay with my old clunker that I used only for emergencies. At work I have a phone. At home I have a phone. Most other places I'm near others who have phones if something happens. I mainly charged it up when I took a trip somewhere in my car where I might be stuck if I broke down. But, being more isolated from people has shown me that I really need to at least have the capab

I kept hoping that Reyes was not actually thinking that Owen was the arsonist but was going through with the arrest and interrogation of Owen just to smoke out (heh heh) the real arsonist, but I didn't think that Owen was going to be in on it. That was a surprise. I did think that it was the investigator and not Billy, since that would have been too obvious. I did think it was interesting that the first place that Owen's thoughts went to as to where I fire might have been set was the firehouse instead of his own or Carlos' house. You would think he would consider that his own family mi

Maybe I read too much or watch too many TV shows and movies, but I immediately thought of the concrete river that runs through Los Angeles. I didn't figure it would be anywhere near a 'real' river, because that would be too obvious. I also assumed that the writer wasn't really dead, since I recognized the actor (I forget his name) and didn't think he would have been cast just to be in that one tiny video scene.

Ha! I mean weeds that have a thick, kind of rubbery stalks and leaves. I think the ones I was pulling up are 'plantain weeds'.

My yard could do with a mowing, but it's not too bad yet. Mainly a little straggly. The big problem was that I have some tall fleshy-like weeds that have popped up and makes the yard look worse than it really is. So, I decided to go outside in the front yard and spending an hour or so pulling them up. For one thing, it will mean I can put off mowing until at least the weekend if not later. And, by pulling them up by the roots (easy to do, because the ground is still soft from the last rain) they won't keep coming back up all summer. Of course, as soon as I went out there, the two little

I had to laugh a little at this exchange: Owen: 'You listenin'?' Mateo: 'Um hm. To both of you.' Owen: 'Good, 'cause you need to hear this in stereo.'

My neighbor (the one that now lives there without the country-rock-blasting ex), has three kids and they run around in the backyard occasionally yelling, but I've never heard the ear-piercing screams, which is good. I never had a problem with the kids playing outside and doing some yelling and arguing (even when they were having a birthday party or cookout and there were additional kids around). And 'yard work' noise is okay (lawnmowers, weed eaters, etc.) as long as it's not at the crack of dawn. It was only the music.

I can sympathize with you so much on this. I know I reported here (and elsewhere) a few times about my neighbors who moved into the house next door about four years ago. She was quiet and stayed in the house with their new baby. He would go outside and sit on the screened back porch or play with their two toddlers in the backyard and crank up the country rock music. Or, they would have people over and blast the music. It was so loud that my dishes were dancing in the cabinets and I couldn't hear the TV. When I would complain he would apologize and turn it down but a week or so later it woul