satrunrose

So glad I'm not the only one who noticed that "The Rod kids" posts took a dramatic shift in writing skill around the wedding fiasco. They went from a 5th-7th grade level to "college before you learn that simpler is usually better" level. Without any particular reason (Renee, Kaylee and Nurie have been out of school for years and haven't collectively started new jobs that demand better skills), I'm going with Jill has discovered AI (or the editing bits of Grammerly, at the very least)

Ummm, Jill, taking pictures from a low angle so teeny Kaylee looks like she's gained 50 pounds and then taking high angle shots after your "diet" so you both look all chin is not the marketing genius you think it is.

No, I don't think lazy is the right word for Jill either, but it's puzzling to me that she spends all this time and effort making and selling things that there's no market for (Rod cds, the book for young ladies (ugh) or that are set up so she's putting in a lot of effort for fairly low profit margins (Plexus, these eBay shenanigans). I mean, when you look at the numbers coming from Plexus itself, she could make more at a fairly part-time retail job. I realize it all comes down to attention for narcissistic Jill, but really, with the signs pointing to a bit of a financial crisis, she could earn a fair bit more for a lot less effort. Dave, on the other hand... well... I'm generally not a fan of the word lazy, because it's often used against people who have unaddressed barriers to meaningful participation in work etc, but I will use it for Dave. He won't use the tools and skills he does have to start printing things for a profit (they can be religious!). He won't expand his line of landfill filler to new pamphlets to attract new churches. He won't even write a new sermon to try and get some new stops on the grift tour, but Jill's hunk still dips up first.

Yes, the Rods need more from people who have less to give, but I do think Jill's Plexus empire has bit her in the butt a bit. Jill has been really showing herself as rolling in the dough thanks to the scam, so why does she need all of these ministry donors? If I try to put myself in the shoes of Jill's likeminded marks, I would be willing to pitch in to make sure the Rodlets had some food, shoes and a roof over their heads, but to buy Jill another sweatblouse to go roaming around Sin City? Nope!

An interesting read, thinking about @Minivanessa's post. They're still getting gifts, but not gifts that are of high value or that took a lot away from the giver (ie, a banjo that no-one plays anymore and a cutting board that someone enjoys making as a hobby). These are not houses, tablets, RVs or shopping sprees.

I'll admit, I was pretty pissed, enough to step away from the forum for a few days when I first read what Jinger said. Reading the quote in context, though, I think the issue is that, while Jinger may talk a good game about becoming free, her understanding of how the rest of the world lives is still coming out of the mouths of very conservative (male) preachers, not unlike Jill Rod who had to save her poor daughters from the debauchery of a prom. Honestly, I've never, in all my days heard anyone say they didn't have kids because they wanted to frivolously amuse themselves (wait on kids, yes, flat out never, not so much). Like all of these Duggar and Bates kids who have gone fundy-lite, I really wish Jinger would take advantage of her freedom to actually talk to a woman who opted not to have kids. She might get a bit of a surprise.

Jill, m' dear, when I look at... squints... are those coats or dresses? and my first thought is a flasher, you may want to re-think the mahdest thing. As for the blue and yellow, it's the first time I've seen a Rod waif looking distinctly non-waify... so there's that...I guess...

Me too! That fall-to-your-death cottage was the right pick. If they win, I hope they keep the hilariously giant key, though! I was really surprised at the Mid-West winner, though. If you took out all of the scary memorabilia (which I'm surprised the owner was willing to do), what was left just needed a bit of a spruce up. The haunted church was waaaay worse (dead people water eeek!), but I suppose could never be fixed for $150,000. Heck, just getting a better water source would probably blow a good chunk of the budget.

I noticed in the Kathy update that her daughter said "she just can't resist a good deal" but like many hoards, so much of it seemed to be cardboard, old food packaging and general trash. Is "I like bargains" a convenient excuse to hide the fact that they can't throw anything out, even trash, or does the excessive shopping make it so hard to get around that they can't deal with the things they actually could part with (ie garbage)?

Heaven help us, a Jill Rod on tv, Look, when the Duggars and the Bates burst on to tv 15 odd years ago, big or unique families who were wholesome, weird and just outside mainstream culture enough to be freak shows were all the rage (see Honey Boo Boo and all the multiples shows). They certainly made no secret of their faith (part of the wholesomeness for some viewers, the freak show for others) but they did play down the proselytizing and the condemnation of everyone who didn't follow fundamentalist Christianity. For Jilldo, wholesome fun is climbing things illegally and swimming in ditches. More importantly, her reason for being is lecturing people about their sinful ways. A tv show at that point was never going to fly (Plus, they lived large chunks of the year in an RV, talk about a logistical nightmare for filming). Nowadays, things have shifted a lot. Outside of the "sweet friends", I think the number of people who see these families as just wholesome is pretty low. Heck, the Duggars (for sure) and the Bates (allegedly) both lost their shows when the Shiny Happy People facade dropped. I suspect this is why all of the big family shows are now about those families falling apart and losing their faith (see Plaths and Browns). There's a slim possibility that some producer somewhere caught the recent meltdown and thought "crazy religious folks melting down over son's wedding" would be ratings gold, but even Jill is canny enough to realize that would end badly for her.

I think I'm starting to see where CinderBri got her inspiration. Renée looks frighteningly tiny in that picture.

Me too. Jill's never been to a prom, neither has anyone in her family and I doubt any of their sweet friends aka marks have either. How on earth would she know what a prom, sensual or otherwise, is like?

RV showers are fairly tiny, about 3x3 or 4x4. Larger people often opt to use the campground shower to get some elbow room. The shower head is a hand sprayer and I know we always did wet down - turn off water - soap up - rinse approach. It's not the place for a long hot shower, but it does the trick to freshen up for a day of vacation (although I didn't need to rinse off perfume, polyester sweat and seven layers of eyeliner). Whether the kids can shower probably depends on whether they're staying in a campground hooked up to utilities or dry camping in a parking lot. If they have access to water and sewage they can probably do baths for everybody even a little faster than at the barndo. If they're dry camping, I'm going to guess that showers for 13 are going to both use up the water supply and fill up the grey water tank (where everything but the toilet goes). What I don't get was whether Dave was joking about being nice enough to wait for her to get ready. If not, it's an arse move to make someone shower hurtling down the highway in a fiberglass phone booth. I doubt Jill could do it on her severely torn knee things.

The idea that a stupid little tempest in a teapot like Jill being an idiot with her children's privacy online (again) has kicked off at least 5 or 6 loooooong "Thank you, jailers, for making us constantly aware of just how much holier than thou we are. We're better than all y'all heathen sinners, [bible quote about adulterers]." posts by the Rodlets makes my head and my heart (and possibly my liver) hurt.

Nah, it's not pink ;)