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It would be dangerous because you wouldn’t be able to see the pool unkess you were inside the enclosure. Typically safety fences for pools just enclose the actual pool with a relatively small amount of space to walk around. If you enclose a larger area then you aren’t really making the pool safe. in the episode in which no fences except those for pools were allowed, I think it was because they wanted to preserve the views for people in that area by the lake. Also, I doubt whether most people in that location had pools because they were right by the lake and Minnesota is not a climate in which you get a lot of use from a pool. It didn’t look as if anyone had a pool 🤷‍♀️ People with dogs sometimes use electronic barriers which are invisible

The Tehachapi couple were delusional if they thought they could renovate that monstrosity - especially in Southern California - for $100,000. A master bathroom REMODEL (i.e. plumbing already in place) costs $45,000 if done with upgraded fixtures. Just an addition would easily cost more than $100,000. An upgraded kitchen WITHOUT removing walls would cost $50,000. And given the age of the house, any homeowner is going to have to upgrade non-cosmetic stuff like electrical and pipes and possibly roof and foundation.

In terms of priority, a HOA would have to follow statutes and most places do require that pools have fences as do insurance companies and simple prudence. I didn't watch the show but the allowed fences for pools might be the kind of wrought iron fences that people use for pool safety rather than privacy fences around the yard. No one uses high privacy fence around a pool because it would be dangerous as well as unsightly.

I think OLG is a success and could theoretically be around for awhile. For all the reasons mentioned above, it has been extremely popular since it opened and apparently is still popular - at least based on Yelp reviews which indicate that there are still lines to get in. It is a soul food/traditional Southern food restaurant and is going to attract business from locals as well as tourists - both Housewives' fans as well as just Atlanta visitors. Based on the menu, the food is relatively inexpensive as well. I think Blaze has a lot of issues because it just isn't that unique - no particular distinct selling point - it's a steak and fish type of restaurant - YAWN If I happened to be in Atlanta, I might go to OLG because I am going to want to eat at a Southern restaurant probably so why not there. I can't imagine why I would go to Blaze over any other typical boring restaurant. I don't typically eat at these kinds of boring restaurants so I wouldn't go out of my way to go to a mediocre one one. https://blazesteakandseafood.com/dinner/ Also I don't know where it is located in terms of Atlanta geography but it seemed like Kandi said it was in an "urban" area. I thought perhaps she was implying it was in a more crime ridden area than OLG. If so, it might not have the demographics to support that kind of rather boring steak house?

In fairness, the trope that only fools are happy is not limited to Jews although in the popular culture as promulgated by the many Jewish writers and film/television personnel, Jews are portrayed as more neurotic than the average WASP In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchan said about her new born daughter

Is it me or did most of the characters go from being somewhat funny/eccentric characters to veering off into the completely obnoxious pathological territory. Abe Weissman's child rearing advice was literally abusive - not charming or eccentric Shirley and Moishe have gone from being a bit boorish as a counterpoint to the Weissman's UWS pretensions to being obliviously annoying - heckling and being completely oblivious to Midge working at the show. I mean even if they don't realize she has a somewhat high level position, no one is stupid enough not to realize that even a receptionist is able to get tickets to watch a show with an audience

FTR Barbra Streisand was born in 1942 which means that she was in high school in Brooklyn in the mid 1950's and graduated in 1959 from Erasmus which was a large public high school in Brooklyn. I grew up in Brooklyn but went to school in Manhattan but would have gone to Midwood which is another breeder of famous people - eg Woody Allen. She wasn't famous or a star when she was friends with the twins - she was just another high school student. And by singing at the twin's home, I assumed she meant singing in the same way that many high school kids "sing" with their friends and not as a "performance". There would have been no thought that this was something to be "recorded" as part of a famous person's archives 🤷🏼‍♀️ Neil Diamond and Anthony Fauci were classmates of Streisand at Erasmus.

The usual way As stated, if this is a second home, then there will generally be significant equity Many of the people are two income with relatively high paying careers People often get help with down payment for their first homes. Many middle class parents are able to assist because they would be providing it as part of an inheritance anyway OR they offer a choice of an expensive wedding or help with a down payment Some people on HH have indicated they lived with parents or scrimped for a period of time in order to get the down payment necessary for the first home Some people are house poor and pay a very high percentage of their income for house payments in the expectation that in a few years their income will rise. This is actually - or was - a pretty normal thing as many people stretched to get into their first home and just made do with minimal furniture. Not a bad economic strategy as many people who stay in their homes eventually have housing costs that are far less than what rent would be plus they have a significant asset for retirement. Of course, on HH there seems to be a level of entitlement where people expect their first starter home to be on the same level as the home a. middle aged person might be able to buy. If you grew up in a relatively nice home, your expectations for what you *deserve* are probably skewed. Not exactly the same thing but I have read it is true of college dorm accommodations as most kids are not willing to put up with the kind of spartan dorm rooms that older people just accepted as normal.

I am not as old as the twins but still old enough to have been around before there were digital cameras - and even phone cameras. With a film camera you not only have to actually carry a relatively heavy object but it was relatively expensive to have film developed. At that time it was even more expensive than during the period when you could drop your film off at the drugstore because film processing was expensive. I had a digital camera early on and even though it solved the issue of development costs, you still have to lug it around and you didn't have it attached to you to capture every moment. There were relatively few moments recorded on film and this would be especially true of non-special occasions as generally film photography was for a special occasion - party; family gathering or the equivalent.

Why should Bill leave her. It would only make his life more difficult as he seems to be fine with the current arrangement. Except for the cheating episode which Jen chose to theoretically "forgive, Bill is upholding his part in a *traditional* marriage. He earns a lot of money. Even before Jen was earning Housewives money, they led a lavish lifestyle. He isn't abusive - seems to go along with her in terms of being on the show. If she is looking for something more in a marriage, she should end the marriage but she isn't going to for the foreseeable future because she would also be worse off than if she stayed married. She would have less money than she has now because all she would get would be child support - which of course would be pretty good. Alimony is not typically given especially since she has been earning money for several years. Shannon Beador didn't emerge from her marriage with loads of money. She got child support and she got a lump sum payment of about $1,000,000. There is nothing to indicate that the Aydins have significant "assets" - they have an expensive home which I bet is mortgaged and I think the costs of running that home - taxes, utilities, household help are very high. I would suspect that lease their cars so no significant value in leased cars. They might have some investments but I wouldn't be surprised if they really didn't but spent most of their money on their lifestyle.

How much earlier? Do you know what grooming actually means. It is insidious because - like being boiled slowly so that you don't realize it is being done. Typically one would start with the kind of love bombing that Luis did and then start inserting stuff that makes your love bombed victim start isolating from family. Luis got Teresa to NOT get a prenuptial agreement and I am 100% sure that Teresa thought it was HER idea and not Luis manipulation.

Brian Moylan does fantastic recaps for New York Magazine - From this week's recap https://www.vulture.com/article/real-housewives-of-new-jersey-recap-season-13-episode-14-rat-in-the-street.html ......we’re getting ready for the final party. This year it’s being hosted by Dolores and Paulie, and he says he wants to throw an Irish party. Okay, that sounds fun. Like Guinness, corned beef, whiskey shots, and U2 on the soundtrack, I’m in. But then he says, “Like a Prohibition, Roaring ’20s party.” Okay, back up. Back up so far that you overstep Ireland and end up somewhere near Bruges. Here at the Real Housewives Institute, we have established that any franchise looking to throw anything resembling a Roaring ’20s, Gatsby, flapper, Prohibition, or speakeasy party must first file a variance petition for permission to reactivate the tritest theme in the Bravo universe. RHONJ has not currently applied for such a petition; even if it did, it would be denied. Calling it an Irish party but then having everyone show up in fringe with cigarette holders does not allow them to skirt the application process. I am going to have to show up at Paulie’s house and give them an Irish hello, which is when you show up, tell everyone they suck, steal half of their booze, and then just go to a bar. Well I remember when Porsha was viewing some historically significant sites with other housewives and was told a home was a stop on the Underground Railroad and asked where the tracks were and how the train managed to get there.

My brother lived in Vancouver and so I am a bit familiar with the real estate. For starters, Vancouver real estate is incredibly expensive for a variety of reasons. Many Canadian professions don't pay as much money as their US counterparts. My brother was in the health care field and so many of his friends are doctors, In Canada, doctors don't make the kind of salaries that US doctors traditionally made so they have more modest life styles. Economics of doctor salaries in the US are changing but I am discussing traditionally. So doctors and other upper middle class professionals live more modestly - nice homes but not McMansion level and the couple in this episode wouldn't have had high incomes - he was retired from the Canadian military and she was a vet but alluded to the fact that her career hadn't taken off - perhaps she had to move a lot and couldn't establish a practice. Also - at least when I was there - basics were much more expensive than the US. Food at the market was more expensive as was clothing. My brother used to buy stuff when he was in the States because pricing of basic stuff like jeans was less money. Again, things could have changed but at that time Canada had higher tariffs than the US as well as stuff like VAT taxes so net income was lower. And then to stereotype, Canadians are much less flashy as a whole than a stereotypical US resident. They also were much more eco conscious years before the US so stuff like gas (which translates into heating and other utilities) was much higher than the US.

Beyond the transformers, the realtor was saying that there would probably be a condo built there as if that was a PLUS. I would be worried about any kind of vacant lot or possible change in building if I bought. You could wind up with a building in which you have people a few feet away looking into your home. I would prefer an ugly view with no neighbors close by to having neighbors so that I would have to shut the blinds. In one of the other places, the realtor pulled down these hideous black shades when the woman complained about units being so close in front of her. Even if you must obscure the view there are better choices than those.

I must admit I did somewhat of a double take when they said she had THREE children all born within a year of each other. Unfortunately our current prudish educational system doesn't do a great job of really educating kids on how to avoid getting pregnant and I would imagine sex education is especially feeble in the state where she grew up. But how do you not do everything possible to avoid pregnancy the second and then the THIRD time. She must have been not making the slightest attempt to practice any kind of birth control. Given that she currently lives down the block from her mother and father I would imagine they were a significant support system which is why the outcome for her children wasn't disastrous and she was obviously willing to work hard at whatever multiple jobs she had to do to earn money.

I thought the issue was that it is just real estate and doesn't have anything "tech" or modern about it. They can spin it like WeWork attempted to do but in the end it is just real estate. And the concept isn't even particularly new. There are loads of very expensive "retirement" places where you enter as a "young senior" and then graduate to a luxurious "nursing" facility or memory care section for dementia. This one in Manhattan is about $20,000 per month. Residents at The Apsley have access to a variety of luxury amenities and services including a wellness suite, art studio, theater, and fitness gym. In addition, the community takes advantage of technology by offering wearable tech and Alexa tech, in addition to SunriseConnect services.

Thought of the Valencia IHH when I read about Spain’s record heat wave https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/28/world/europe/spain-heat-wave.html

African Americans and the specific use of the term "generational wealth" is NOT producer driven. I think there are informational type of seminars at churches and community organizations in which the concept is stressed. It is my understanding that it is very specific to homes as in your home being the best way for a working or middle class family to actually have assets. I believe statistically for many Caucasians a paid up home represents their single greatest asset since most American's have very little in actual savings or retirement savings. On a very shallow note, I watched last night's episode with the couple in New Jersey who got pregnant six months after they started dating and were now buying a house - plot point being she wanted fancy house and big wedding - he wanted a fixer up. To my surprise, they actually bought the worst home viewed which was the cheapest - even less than his budget with plans to significantly remodel kitchen and bathroom immediately. Of course it is going to cost them well more than the $20,000 or even $30,000 to redo the kitchen in the manner she wants - once you start taking down walls you are in a rolling flood of expenses that are triggered. I was amazed at the physical change in her. She was obviously carrying a lot of her baby weight - no shame in that. But the pictures of them when they were dating pre-baby showed someone completely unrecognizable - blonde hair and very slender.

And yet two D list celebrities managed to find this hideous outfit and wear it in public. Where do they sell this stuff? I have never seen anything like it in a normal store

SPAM is quite a delicacy in Hawaii - they even do SPAM sushi. I don't eat it now any more than Vienna sausages but when I was a kid my father would sometimes cook it for my brother and I and call it "Army food". 🤣 He also called the charms and lifesavers in the glove compartment of our car "K rations". He wasn't career military at all but I guess he had a certain nostalgia for the mess hall stuff they had was introduced to during WW II - he was also stationed in Hawaii - maybe that added to the mystique. 😂 I think for better or worse the show sometimes has to skip over or over-simplify points they are attempting to made so as a watcher I fill in the blanks and give it context based on what I know from being a fan of period fiction and history. Even adult cancer patients were often not told their diagnosis at the time because it was considered to be so scary. People didn't even like to name it and literally it was the C word. I think the kind of extreme skin problems the father had would have made him a pariah. People would be frightened that it was some kind of terrible communicable disease like leprosy. It is unclear why the wife left - surely it couldn't have been as simple as lack of sexual attraction since when she reappeared she seemed to be a normal caring woman. A mystery why she left with no contact with the boys rather than just leaving and setting up somewhere in the neighborhood. I am not clear as to the extent of the social support network at that time - would there be money from the state - i.e equivalent to Aid For Parents With Dependent Children? They really used that poor boy as an anvil in terms of laying on the tragedy. His mother had deserted the family. The father not only couldn't earn a living but seemed to be incapable of being any kind of parent. Psoriasis shouldn't have sapped his energy to the point where he was incapable of being a stay at home father. So the boy obviously had a deadly horrible disease and to add to the tragedy of a young life nipped in the bud, he was a smart hardworking boy who would have been able to get through University if he wasn't dead within a year.

Ha ha - I was actually responding to someone who said everyone in the US had mini splits :-) In my original post I said that central air was not common in many older neighborhoods on the East Coast because there was no ducts available. However, at least based on my experience, people who live in their homes are more likely to spend the money to have the unit installed in a wall versus the window for a variety of reasons. I think it is more energy efficient - doesn't block the windows so they are still functional. In general also they stay in place in the winter versus window units which often are taken out and in. In terms of aesthetics units in the wall have the same aesthetic quality as a mini split since they are not blocking a window and they tend to blend in with the rest of the room.

I wasn't limiting my comments about housewives getting outrageous drunk to Thailand as it is a major activity in all of the franchises. The cast is deliberately supplied with loads of free booze in the hopes that they will become extremely drunk and lose control and inhibitions so it can be filmed.

Not sure of the functional benefits of a ductless mini split since many older homes do not have ducts because they have radiators or perhaps a bit newer have some kind of radiant heat running around the walls by the floor People who own their homes didn't actually put units in the window as they had them installed in the wall - either just below a window where it wouldn't be blocked by furniture since typically furniture doesn't go below windows. Or they are placed on the wall near the ceiling which is the same placement as a mini split in terms of being relatively innocuous. If you rent I am not sure a mini split could be done however since it would entail making some kind of permanent change to the walls. I guess a landlord might agree provided that you left the unit behind when you moved out

Yes I had thought the AC would be a deal breaker until the reveal showed that they were quite willing to install an air conditioning. In the USA people install window units. One issue is that the electrical system has to be sufficient to actually run A/C. I grew up in a home built in 1920 and it had knob and tube wiring and probably only enough to light one light in each room and maybe a refrigerator in the kitchen. Stove was gas and heating was steam run by a boiler that was originally coal converted to gas. When my parents got units for the rooms individually they also had to deal with upgrading the electrical system so that it could actually run A/C.

I just watched an episode of ONLY the wife moving from Maine to a really tiny village in Northern France, There seemed to be no rational reason as to why she felt the need to move without her husband who had to stay behind because of his job and also because his bio son was still in high school in the USA. Explanation was that she wanted to pursue her gardening and writing interests and her college age daughter was in university somewhere in England Still made no sense as to why you would uproot your life in that manner. Also another episode in which the finances made no sense - their budget was no more than $150,000. I guess buying a ramshackle place in the French boonies is not more expensive than a ramshackle place in the US boonies.