Desert Rat

Like Gabe, my son is an NAU student. Classes resumed part online, part in person, in early August. The campus itself is pretty strict in terms of social distancing, marking etc. Students have been disciplined for before visiting friends in a dorm they don't live in, marks are required on campus, no large events, for example. Random testing is mandatory. Life off campus is far different. Off campus, there are large student parties, just like many of us experienced when we were in college. The parties are getting larger as the months go on. My son reports there are fewer parties than before the pandemic but the parties are much larger. Typical parties are over 200 and there are many parties on any given weekend. The police are called for noise, not to enforce any type of COVID restrictions. No masks, no distancing. Most students have had COVID. This is reality of college life. The same is happening at ASU in Tempe. I don't know if Gabe attends parties like this, but I would not be surprised. There was no official spring break this year, but many students went to Mexico, California, Miami, Colorado, Nevada and other popular vacation spots for an unofficial spring break. After joining in the protests in June with no consequences or serious illness, students largely decided parties were okay. Kody is a fool if he thinks he is protecting his family by only going to Robin's and Christine's. These same students who are partying all weekend, no distancing, no masks, are the same people serving his food, delivering his pizzas, Amazon purchases and groceries, etc. Nope, COVID is just another excuse for ignoring is kids and being a shitty parent.

Divorce verses annulment has nothing to do with the show. Those are legal proceedings. The show can't grant a divorce. If the petitioning party meets the criteria for divorce or annulment under the applicable state law, the party would be entitled to the requested relief. I am assuming these are legal marriages as stated in the show.

Dayton is going to Northern Arizona University. It is large research university. Definitively not a community college.

I'm sure you're right. It's hard to pay attention, the show is so boring. The only reason I still watch the show is for the shots of Flagstaff and the San Francisco Peaks.

South Carolina is a right to work state. So it is highly unlikely his helper job is unionized. In right to work state pay is determined by the market, not union pay scales.

That's what happens when you get older. I'm over fifty. When I look in the mirror, I see my mom. 😳

FIFY. I doubt she's taken the plunge, so to speak.

Lizards are great. Completely harmless. Best of all, they eat the bugs. Think of them as natural exterminators.

Kody and Meri bashing Flagstaff really pisses me off. I live in AZ. It's a false narrative for ratings. I'm also pissed that TLC put that fat, pale belly on TV in my living room with no trigger warning. I'm still nauseated. My eyes are burning.

My theory is they have balloon payments coming due on the four houses which they can't make. They have to sell or they will be foreclosed. Just my theory. Idiots.

Wine Michael dropped the pre-nush because he doesn't have any assets to protect. If he had substantial wealth he would have hired a lawyer for Juliana and a lawyer for himself to negotiate the deal. That's what wealthy people do everyday. It's clear, Michael is not wealthy. He's a poser. Thus, no need for a prenup.

Also asking for a friend named Russ, aka Roos.

Because U.S. women have standards, at least those with job skills do. It would be tough to find a US woman willing to support his sorry ass. Bikini is no prize, but I can't see Ben doing any better.

True, but the problem for Ben is he lives in Phoenix. The black population is very small, only about 5%. So, the number of black women in Phoenix in his age range who are single and Christian and who would be interested in a relationship with a broke ass dork is probably around 0.0002% of the population. Ben won't move because of his son, so he will have to pay the bride price to marry a joyless scammer like Bikini.

This is terrible. I've been married 30 years and I've never asked my husband about his favorite color. I have no idea what it is. Clearly, I don't care about him as a person. My marriage is a sham.

From personal experience, I think PC's advice was spot on. I've been married over 30 years. We are best friends and I think we have a great marriage. Are we happy? Yes, a lot. Have we been miserable in our marriage? Yes also. at times very unhappy. There have been times when I thought marrying my husband was the worst decision of my life. There are times I thought it was the best. Those are all emotions. I have a good, long marriage of trust and love because I fought through the negative emotions and made the conscious decision to stay committed to my husband and our marriage even when I couldn't stand him. I knew that my marriage was more important than my temporary emotions. PC has said love is not an emotion, it is a decision. He is right. If your marriage is based on the emotion of love, it will fail because the emotion cannot be sustained over years and decades, over the stresses of life. However, you can have a long meaningful relationship, if you make the decision each day to love your partner through it all. That being said, I do not think Amber and Matt should be married. Matt is not committed to the marriage. It takes two. Also, Amber does not love Matt in any sense of the word. She loves the idea of Matt, not the man. She wants a marriage for the sake of being married but has no clue as to what a successful marriage looks like. I think her mother abandoning her left her very damaged.

Well said. Although by 30 I was well educated, married and had a good job, I was very insecure and vulnerable. I would not have been able to handle the pressure of my life and my flaws being recorded and broadcast to the world.

But Keith only has three left. Matt needs another supplier cuz Amber won't settle for three. I'm sure Greg has extras. Better idea, the Ramblin Man should get a vasectomy and call it a day.

Thanks for sharing this. While she certainly has a lot of experience, it doesn't sound like she has had great success. Frankly, I doubt think anyone can be an expert at "marriage." People can be trained to give good advice, sure. But marriages are highly complex relationships. An outsider can never understand the unique dynamics of a particular marriage. Even children can never really understand their parent's marriage.

So, I have no doubt Iris is technically a virgin, but innocent, not so much I bet she and Keith are having all kinds of "sex", just not intercourse. A former president taught a whole generation how to narrowly define "sex" to suit the situation. Iris can't go "all the way" until the show is over or she and Keith will have nothing to talk about. In the meantime, Keith will have to be content with BJs and hand jobs.

I think Jenny is afraid Summit is never coming back. Could you blame him? Poor Laura is looking for "love" in all the wrong places. The ability to "rock the world" of a middle aged American woman takes willingness and know how. Aladdin doesn't have the skill set. Also, he is not willing to try. Laura, go home and find a decent guy at your experience level. Get him a Viagra prescription, and get a vibrator to finish the job, if necessary. You will be so much happier long term.

It's not ready living and sharing with someone else. I think it is good they had this conversation. Marriage is all about compromising and finding common ground. I've been married over 30 years and my husband and I have had dozens (maybe hundreds) of different issues, some small, some big, like this come up, especially in the early years. It's healthy to work through these issues. Ultimately, it makes the relationship stronger. It would be far worse for Iris to keep quite and seethe and resent Keith and his friends. Personally, I agree with Iris. I don't want people rummaging in my fridge. But there is no right answer. They have to find a resolution together. Maybe Iris learns to accept that some friends will help themselves to the lemonade without asking. Maybe Keith will tell his friends to ask before helping themselves. Maybe they can find a different solution. The important thing is that they communicate. Disagreements are a normal part of a long term healthy marriage.

Stenciled eyebrows are to the 2010's what blue eyeshadow was to the 1980's.

This whole show is all fake and we (the handful who actually watched some of the show) are being played. I bet IRL these people are all fast friends. How else would they get everyone to agree to do the show. I think the Family Chantal and Family Pedro conspired to create this phony drama. Fake fight for TV for an hour, then laugh together all the way to the bank to cash the checks. If Pedro wanted alone time in the DR, he wouldn't go with TLC cameras in tow. And he wouldn't twerk with random girls for TV, knowing Chantal would see it eventually. Ma Chantal wouldn't run around with "Shocky" on camera, not IRL. It's all fake drama.

I despise Tiffany for what she is doing to Daniel. Poor kid has to leave his family and friends to be with total strangers new family so mom can marry total loser love of her life. IMO, uprooting Daniel like this is worse than other bad parenting we have seen on this show, a la Molly, Nicole, Danielle, etc, etc. At least those kids were able to keep their connections at home.