Kitty Redstone

This is me! I used to be a voracious reader but a shorter attention span and more distractions and scatterbrained feelings have changed that. I go back to the old ones as well, but do buy/borrow new ones as long as they're in the cozy mystery category. Right now I'm reading the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman (which is excellent!) and listening to one by Kate Kingsbury (so far, so good). You'll find them at antique/junk shops and (possibly) thrift stores. I used to find lots of great old books at our local thrift stores but, apart from six Nancy Drews with beautifully illustrated covers and a few 1960s BH&G cookbooks, haven't in quite some time. Whether they're no longer getting donations of books, or are not accepting them, or they're bundling them and sending them elsewhere, who knows? Those carts are back in style. I'd love to have a MCM one but sadly have no space for it.

How interesting! Berenstain Bear books were my very favorite readers (with Frog and Toad coming in second), so maybe that's where it came into my vocabulary, ha ha. In college I took a great class on 1920s history that, along with rapidly changing fashion and social mores, went into the slang of the era. There were so many fun words that we rarely or no longer use.

I use the word skedaddle a lot and didn't realize it was a 70s slang term. How funny. Soap and Wings are old favorites of mine as well. Crystal Bernard had the best hair!

Barney Miller was such a great show. So many funny and poignant episodes, with "Hash" being an especially memorable one all due to Jack Soo. It was one of my dad's favorites and the kids and I have watched re-runs over the years. My youngest son is a musician and loves the bassline in the intro. I'm glad you were able to find the coop/condo episode, @EtheltoTillie. Thank you for the explainer! I think Law and Order had an episode or two that touched on rent control as well, and it always made me think of Barney Miller. Glad to finally have an answer and that the BM episode took some liberties with the facts, ha ha. Yes, when we lived in apartments we also called them our house. Love that style of sink, though! When we finally redo our main bathroom we're going to go with a pedestal one. The local Habitat for Humanity Restore has a ton of good ones to choose from.

This was a storyline on Barney Miller when I was a kid. I didn't understand how the process worked then and still don't now, lol. @Ancaster I hope your plumbing issue was fixed without too much stress! When our ancient water heater went out there was so much water streaming out from it (the shutoff valve didn't work). Our water bill for the next month was through the roof.

I often watch Matlock on the Pluto channel and had no idea they were doing a reboot. How fun! I hope it's as good as the original. Also, I've been meaning to watch Ghosts but never have. Glad to know it's a great watch!

Sleet and frozen rain are my pet peeve today. I miss my garden and am ready for spring. I had stopped visiting or participating there some time ago because of aggressive and weird mean-girling (including an unhinged PM from someone I didn't know from Adam). Wasn't surprised it was shut down. Reddit has a royals sub forum but I'm not sure how busy it is. I just like the fashion and click through the photos without reading the comments.

That's a good mantra and can actually help in difficult times. Hopefully it's warmed up for you! A few years ago I picked up a heated throw from Aldi and it's so comfy. My office has a large, old sliding glass door and it's unbearable in here without that blanket once it gets under 30 degrees. Yes, I often have old shows from Tubi, Freevee or the Roku channel playing in the background.

I do, too, and always have. My youngest laughed at me the other day for sailor cursing at the Aldi self-checkout machine, which rags at you if you don't scan your items quickly enough and is absolutely infuriating. But anyway. I talk to myself all day, every day, about everything from the most mundane to the most dark and serious, in my head and out loud, and can't imagine not having that voice (or really, that inner friend). When I learned that there are people who don't have an inner monologue, as well as people who don't have a "mind's eye" and can't picture things in their heads, I was blown away. It's still difficult for me to understand what that must be like, and tbh and am grateful to be able to do both.

You can download the Freevee app through your Roku and still watch without being a Prime member. There are ads, though, and some weird breaks and cuts. I've been watching the Murder, She Wrote live channel for the last couple of weeks and have enjoyed seeing snippets of show that the Hallmark channel edits out for their airings.

There are definitely some fun and interesting areas of Reddit. I mostly just read and upvote, though, and avoid arguments like the plague. My list is 19. I ignore them because life is too precious to waste on dickheads. Yes, a relative. He doesn't have an ounce of interest in any other human being and just wants to talk about himself, his opinions, his observations. It's a mix of loneliness and mental illness and I feel for him, but don't have the coping skills to deal with him very often. Your mom is a saint!

Happy new year, everyone. I haven't been here in awhile and am glad to see some old and new screen names. Ditto. Ours broke down several years ago, right about the time appliance prices went through the roof. So we got used to not having one. Like you, I've come to enjoy hand washing dishes (Palmolive is also my favorite) and don't miss the dishwasher at all. It was noisy even with extra insulation, took a long time, and no one ever wanted to unload it. Now everyone just washes up after themselves, or someone washes while someone else dries. It actually kind of nice. The trash can and recycling bin are now housed where the dishwasher used to be, behind a large cabinet door, so I don't have to look at them anymore. Same. My husband has one because he likes gossip, so he lets me know if anything important is going on.

She whined a lot about Leann. But it was offset by the presence of Kenley, who (when she wasn't engaging in self-aggrandizement) whined and whined and whined until all the oxygen was sucked out of the room and no one much noticed Korto's whining. Same. The modesty was all in the silhouette. I actually loved her look and thought it should have won.

So glad it wasn't Bishme or Rami who were sent home tonight. I want to like Korto. She's very talented and has an inspiring story. She has deep and important insights about being an immigrant, a woman, a POC. But when her work is criticized she whines, and denigrates the work of her competitors. I don't like that, and that's why I'm not sorry to see her go. I sincerely hope there's a final four, and that it's Bishme, Brittany, Laurence and Rami.

Hopefully that woman was able to find someone to help. We don't have much, but every time I buy pet food I get a few extra cans of cat food or dog food for the local pet food pantry. It's a lifeline for those going through rough times. The person who told her to rehome her dog was an asshole. My biggest pet peeve is people who treat pets like they're disposable. Ditto! Though tbh we have Ikea stuff mixed in with antique and vintage brown-wood furniture. I follow a young interior designer on youtube and she's big on shopping at thrift shops and antique malls. We're seeing a lot more Gen Z people at these places now than a few years ago, too, which is wonderful. Same. House prices are insane and have been for some time. My thoughts exactly. High waisted, wide legged jeans don't look good on me. Actually they don't look good on anyone, but whatever.