3pwood

My father also bought the Jiffy blueberry muffin mix by mistake, instead of the cornbread mix, & didn't realize it until he opened the box & saw all the little dark things -- he thought they were bugs at first, which would have been OK because he's no sissy (extra protein!). He didn't go to the trouble of removing the berries & just went ahead & made the muffins because he likes muffins, but he did complain that they didn't taste very good with chili. He also complained once about how A&W root beer wasn't as good as it used to be & had become too sweet & just bland, until someone pointed out that the bottle was clearly labeled "Cream Soda". He's always been absent-minded & now that he's over 90, things aren't improving. But the problem starts with other customers putting products back in the wrong spaces on the shelf, which is a big pet peeve of mine (& my dad's).

Not common at all, I'm afraid. I read the Miss Manners column regularly & am appalled at what passes for polite behavior these days. (I know I sound like my mother, but she was right, dammit!) When I was a girl, we scoffed at marriage & just shacked up -- at least we were honest about it & didn't expect gifts that weren't acknowledged.

Peanut butter & jalapeno jelly actually sounds kind of good -- or just peanut butter & jalapeno peppers (like peanut butter & dill pickles). Surely this has already been done by someone? Though that wouldn't stop her from copying, probably without attribution.

I think Meredith Vieira would write honestly & well, but she may be too busy with family matters & not want to undertake it. Joy Behar could definitely write a good book if she wants to, & I hope she does.

I can't remember anything important, but I do know that "Supreme Supper" is a Friskies flavor, not to be confused with "Super Supper", which is a 9 Lives flavor. Everyone loves the latter, whereas the former makes my female cat throw up. So it's not all the same after all.

Yes they do -- they want to give you the secret of how to achieve eternal salvation.

Thank you, rur & 1st Circuit Court of Appeals! Yes, indeed!

When I make a pie for Pi Day, I make it in a square pan because Pi R squared (ancient but venerable joke). The coconut pie in a chocolate crust sounds excellent. I think mini chocolate chips would be too much with the coconut, but a decorative drizzle of chocolate ganache sounds just right.

People like Ree Drummond make us appreciate people like Martha Stewart.

I wonder if they've ever met? If so, I'm sure Martha Stewart was polite, at least to her face -- I'd love to know what Martha Stewart really thinks of her.

I'd think he was trying to stop the baby from crying -- shut up, kid!

I don't buy that Obama cares about being helpful to Trump, but I do accept that he might want to be helpful to us, i.e., the country. Sadly, I doubt that Trump would have the balls to ask anyone for help, especially not Obama.

I read a novel written by a man whose father was a doctor (maybe the author was a doctor too) -- can't remember the name of the book or the author. One character is an old surgeon & he tells a young surgeon that they're just like auto mechanics & their job is to fix the machine when it breaks. Not that auto mechanics aren't smart, but they only need to learn how a given machine works, which curious little kids do all the time. Surgeons aren't inventing anything, or figuring out new ways to cure diseases or conditions -- they're working within a closed system that's well-known to them, & just have to correct malfunctions when those occur. The thinkers in medicine are those who discover causes & devise remedies such as vaccines, organ transplants, etc. Dr. Carson learned what he needed to know through diligent study & understanding, plus rote memory -- he then applied it carefully & skillfully with great manual dexterity. Separating twin infants whose skulls were conjoined was certainly no mean feat, but it called only for certain talents & abilities that Dr. Carson had developed -- the fact that he was able to accomplish it does not mean that he's any more "brilliant" or even capable of reasoning than anyone else is.

I've been missing him for quite awhile now. Very sorry to lose him, but it's good that he could spend time following & telling us about the actors & their movies that he loved. He seems to have had a happy life, as he deserved.

Dear Geico: the kraken-on-a-golf-course commercial is as good as it could possibly get, so why bother with anything else?

That doesn't happen at the 3 Trader Joe's stores that I use in the San Francisco Bay area. It must have to do with how our respective TJ stores handle the milk before putting it out for the customers -- mine all have open shelves rather than enclosed cold cases, but the milk is always fine at home at least until its expiration date over 2 weeks later (I open it the day I buy it). I only get the 2% TJ brand, so I don't know how the other types/brands behave.

And The Flight of the Phoenix -- the "real" one, from 1965 starring Jimmy Stewart. I think there was a woman doing a belly dance in a mirage, but I don't remember any speaking parts for women.

Of that list, I've only seen Elmer Gantry, plus bits & pieces of The Music Man & The Rainmaker. But what about The Sting?

The only time I saw Anderson Cooper on The View, one of the women petted his hair (don't remember who, it was a long time ago with different personnel) -- so it may be that he's not eager to return.

The stars pasta are readily available in Mexican markets, for some reason.

Don't throw sour milk away -- use it to make chocolate cake! My mother would leave a shallow bowl of fresh milk on top of the refrigerator overnight, to go sour for the next day's baking -- I always loved seeing that little bowl because it meant chocolate cake for dessert tomorrow.

And it doesn't count if you giggle in the process, or even if you smile while saying it.

Just goes to show what the world has come to, when George Will appears on MSNBC (even if it is on Greta Van Susteren's program).

But wouldn't the oven rack get dirty/oily? I'd rather wash a cookie sheet or whatever was placed between the oiled spud & the oven rack than have to remove the oven rack & wash it (or forget to remove it & have the oil on it start smoking next time I turned the oven on).

Best wishes, GHScorpiosRule. Hope you're feeling fine soon.