itsmyotherface

Maybe I'm just old and bitter, but I found myself grumbling over the carousel. Yes, it's a romantic gesture, blah blah blah, but it also seems like a complete waste of money. The thick wad of cash implies that it wasn't a small amount of money. I feel like Barbara (if she knew) would rather have had the money go to more practical things. There's a big difference between a sixpence carnival ride, and a few hundred pounds for a private rental.

The way Justin tells it, it seems that mom is in and out of Steven's life. Steven is a momma's boy, who wants her around, but she doesn't put up with his manipulation/just isn't a great person anyway. He weasels his way into her life, then acts like an ass and she disappears again. Justin wants nothing to do with his mother or brother, so I don't think that not being invited to live in Boston hurt very much. He was probably relieved, thinking they'd both be out of his life.

Justin was asked about his dad's job in his AMA. He didn't say what it was, but he said that his dad was retired after working 36 years at the same job, and worked sometimes part-time now at the same place (when they need extra help) in addition to his retirement income. In the first episode, he had on a shirt for a window-washing company, so I assume that's where he works/worked. He also said the house was paid off. Assuming that's the truth, if Sr. is really about to lose his house, he has taken out loans against it.

Posted it in another thread, but Justin was hosting a live chat for the week between episodes. He didn't give away much, couldn't due to the NDA he had to sign. But he was crystal-clear in saying that he was never sexually abused. Not by Steven, or anyone else. The only other substantive thing that came out of the chat was that he dropped out of school because he couldn't handle being bullied at home and school.

I'm betting he's still under an NDA with the production. You *know* they're going to do a follow up on him, since he got surgery, but not until after production ceased. The picture's he's put up are all pre-surgery. He didn't look significantly different in his live chat last night, but I'm betting that's because he only very recently got surgery. I'm guessing 1-2 months ago, though he didn't say.

Some answers re: Justin's store from his Reddit AMA. -He got the money to open mostly by going to flea markets and selling things there. He also bought vintage toys at the flea markets and flipped them online. His dad did help some with the first months' rent. -The website is offline because it WAS a web store, but it was costing more money to keep up than he was making. He took it down, might bring it back up once the store isn't operating in the red. (But it's been a year, how is he paying rent now?) He also admitted to having his PS4 set up behind the counter so he can game when it's not busy....

Justin has been talking on his live channel about "going to work" and on FB he's been checking in at the shop. The shop has a FB page, and was updated with pictures as of yesterday. So either he's lying (possible but improbable), or just let the domain expire. Facebook is so ubiquitous now that unless you're doing e-commerce, you can get away with not having a website. As far as the viability of it--I know people who own/have owned similar stores. They aren't easy to keep open because they are a small business. You have to carefully pick your market, and a big part of what keeps them going is events. i The events bring in people, and people buy things. It also helps to have a niche (say MtG or Warhammer), but don't limit yourself to that niche. But if you have the right community, stores like this can thrive. My city of under 100K has 4 of them, each with their own niche.

He didn't get surgery on the show, but he got a gastric sleeve. Apparently it was done after the production deadline for the show, so that's why it wasn't shown.

They do therapy too, but most people just see a therapist for therapy because psychiatrists are hella expensive by the hour.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned here, but I haven't seen it. Justin is hosting a live channel, and has been talking off-and-on for the past week. He can't say much due to the NDA that he had to sign with the production company, but there was one thing that he was very clear about. He was not at any point sexually abused. I know the speculation has floated about.

I think it looked nice, but there are elements that can be impractical. The lack of storage, first and foremost. Outside of the kitchen, I didn't see any. The second potential problem in my mind was the open shelving. I don't know much about that particular lake insofar as what kind of activity it sees (speedboats buzzing around) or weather. If that boat sees rough water due to weather or the wakes of other boats, stuff is going to go flying off those shelves. And then I think it was missing certain aspects that should have been included. Your yard is a lake, why don't you have a swim ladder or swim deck? I also really wish they'd kept that combo washer/dryer.