amarante

There have been a few HH who have discussed utilities as part of their storyline as well as some in Florida who have discussed high cost of insurance for flood areas. Also in Florida construction has been addressed in terms of masonry construction and hurricane proof windows. I would imagine not having to board your windows is a significant benefit. Even the shutters would be a drag - I remember before my parents got storm windows in my childhood home, it was a day in the Spring and Fall when each screen had to be taken off and put back on a window and each of them had to go with a specific window for the most part. I think the Upstate New York guy was very clear that he had a lot of sentimental attachment to the furniture because he remembered the memories of it when growing up. I can relate because I got saddled with grandmother's and mother's vintage furniture and held on to too much of it because it had sentimental value and also I was too guilty to get rid of it. I finally was able to "release" the stuff that no longer worked but I still have a few pieces and when I focus on them I can see us all having various happy moments. At some point Upstate NY guy might be willing to get rid of some that don't work for him but the house they chose worked for the whole family. Room to hold the "heirlooms" as well as casual space. And you are correct in terms of dollar value because he would find it hard to find anyone who would take that stuff for free because it is so unfashionable and doesn't work for today's lifestyle where most people don't have a formal living room that is used only for guests. There have been a few episodes where someone actually wanted a formal room and it was treated as another somewhat crazy HH desire. When I was growing up every middle class home had the living room that was used only for formal guests and the den/casual space that was used for every day living. Even poor people aspired to having a fancy space in their modest homes.

There are good plastic surgeons but believe it or not that horrendous super plastic look is what women actively aspire to. My friend has had work done - eyes, facelift, moderate amount of injectables and she seeks out surgeons where the result is more more discreet. The surgeons in New York tend to do less obvious work because it isn't fashionable there although there are of course always outliers But just consider some aging stars like Jennifer Annison or Reese Witherspoon. They are both 50 or so and have obviously had work but it is very good subtle work. Of course at a certain point you either have to accept the aging process or look like a lunatic like some of the women like Suzanne Somers versus Meryl Streep who has obviously also had plastic surgery/injectables but doesn't look freakish because she is not bloating her face with procedures

You would know it if you saw it. It's essentially just a contemporary home with some use of "natural" elements. I think the most obvious characteristic is for some reason it typically has black mullions and door trim instead of white or wood stained. There are also shower doors with that kind of treatment. Not that anything new called Arts & Crafts actually resembles a vintage bungalow but theoretically the Arts & Crafts new builds aren't as contemporary looking as they might have pillars - but really for all practical purposes if it has black mullions it will be called Modern Farmhouse :-). I didn't mind the Upstate New York couple as they obviously chose a house that worked for them both and all of the "shtick" about prices and styles was just for the story line. I also think that the husband was probably still recovering from the death of his mother and since no mention was made of the father I assume he was also dead. A lot of people have trouble getting rid of physical possessions of their dead parents and so they wind up having to decorate around them even if they aren't really their taste or functional for their current lifestyle. Upstate New York house had a place to stash all the inherited stuff and the family also could have rooms that they actually decorated with comfortable furniture. A vintage dining room table may or may not be okay but in general the upholstered furniture isn't particularly comfortable and really isn't meant for lounging around watching television.

I thought the sim was fascinating especially because many people have those kinds of thoughts although not as extreme as experienced by someone who is suffering from schizophrenia. But anyone with social anxiety thinks people are looking at them and judging them although not to the kind of degree but it can also hamper one's ability to navigate the world - although obviously not to the same degree. I have read that they also have done this kind of training to make doctors more sympathetic to geriatric patients - they put stuff in their shoes and wear smeared glasses to simulate walking and vision issues.

That is all I could think of when I saw her "largesse". Same thing I thought when Jen Shah was buying the jewelry from money stolen from old people who needed money for food and shelter. Granted everything in my being despises "preachers" like Mary who suck money from their generally poor flock. I don't quite understand why people are attracted to these kinds of wealthy preachers but then I don't understand the culture of admiring people like many social influencers who are admirable merely for being rich and spending money lavishly. So I guess there is an element of Social Darwinism involved where her parishioners think that Mary's wealth is based on god's feeling she is special and deserving.

I don't think the cost per se was the reason for having her husband do it but I would be surprised if he added the customary GC 18% markup to the job. I would doubt that Tracey charged a full commission to her sister. It's a win win for both of them. He gets some kind of promotional benefit from the job. She has the job done by someone who she knows is reliable and not a flakey GC. It is not as if the guy is doing any of the physical work and I doubt at his level he is even acting as a project manager. That whole set up of his unfurling the bathroom plans was ridiculous as he had no more to do with designing the plans than the man in the moon. Somewhere behind the scenes a professional design company was at work designing it and producing the "plans". In Los Angeles you need to submit detail plans to the City in order to get permits to even start. These very detailed plans are typically drawn up and used to bid out the project because the only way you can get an accurate bid from a GC is to give them exact plans so they know exactly what will be done. This will generally include finishes because the type of finish impacts the cost of the work. Some stuff is more expensive to install for example and even the design will impact the cost - e.g. more expensive to install certain sizes and styles of tile. Will plumbing be moved? What about electric? Ask me how I know - LOL - having just completed a gut remodel in Los Angeles. The Plan Check documents are equivalent to blue prints and are extremely detailed. Plan Check is a review of plans, drawings and documents by the Building Official for compliance with the building codes. An accurate and detailed set of plans, specifications and supporting documents is required for most construction projects. ... Plan check may be required before a permit can be issued. Also - and not mentioned - at this point in Los Angeles it is almost impossible to hire any kind of qualified tradespeople as they are booked out well into 2022. I would assume that her husband put her in the front of the line because otherwise demo would not have even started. Again - ask me how I know about scheduling work as the quality workers are incredible demand.

Whether you keep the gate open or closed you would still need to have a gate at every top and bottom as people don't take off the gate when they aren't using it. You typically close the gate on the level the baby is when you take them up or down the stairs and then keep the other gate open. It's actually fairly cumbersome to have to deal with baby gates in terms of opening and closing them. You don't move the gates around. The only time you wouldn't have a gate is if it is a level that the baby would never be on. For example, my friend's husband had an office in the basement and they only needed a gate at the top of that stair because the baby was never in the office

Not to be cynical but I bet that now that she is a celebrity of sorts, the bad reviews will start.

I think that both Heather and Terry are hustlers. I think Terry likes the spotlight more than Heather but I think they both enjoy it. Why does Terry have the Botched show? Fame and salary and cross promotional benefit to his medical practice. And the money is tempting for a gig that not only isn't much work but also has tremendous cross promotional benefit. They all monetize their social media as much as possible. I would have to imagine she is getting at least $500,000 for what is essentially three months of part time work - much of which also includes very interesting experiences. Much as there are some people who criticize Heather for being pretentious I think she does a pretty good job - at least so far - of controlling her image and they seem to have navigated the waters or reality television fame successfully - their marriage is intact and their children seem to be growing up well. At this point I doubt whether there are any secrets that will crawl out from under the rocks. I would imagine that Heather got back in when Tamra, Vicki and Kelly Dodd were booted as they were truly trash as was their behavior. Emily while not as glamorous is someone who is a social and intellectual peer. I am NOT surprised that she seems to have bonded with Gina because Heather isn't a snob in the sense of choosing people based solely on wealth or social pedigree. I am not sure how the new housewives are going to shake out. Clearly Noelle? is more in the category of housewives who should have kept out of the public spotlight. And I am waiting to find out whether this whole malpractice thing is a nothing burger because how it would seem odd that Terry wouldn't be aware of any kind of significant malpractice lawsuit.

I have always rather enjoyed Heather because she has genuine wealth and both she and her husband are not morons like most of the OC wives like Vicki and Tamra who are just low class trash. While Heather is obviously pretentious she seems to have fun with the whole fancy pants image and she seems like she would be an interesting person to actually spend time with.

Tracy is disingenuous because she isn't honest about her wealth. The whole ridiculous claim that the daughter of a billionaire who married well sunk all of her savings into the $8 million is so stupid it is insulting. Flagg has always been completely upfront about the tremendous wealth of his parents whereas Tracy is attempting to bamboozle viewers into thinking she is self made. The Laguna house was awesome. Laguna Beach is my favorite of all of the beach communities because it was originally somewhat of an artist colony. Kind of like the "Greenwich Village" of Orange County. Obviously that has changed with the extreme escalation of housing prices but it still has the kind of "arty" shops versus Vuitton type of boutiques. My parents retired to Laguna Hills and so we would drive down there pretty frequently when I visited them. The reason why San Clemente is less expensive than other shore communities is location. Malibu - apart from being trendy - is theoretically commutable to Los Angeles especially if you have a non 9-5 job or are working in Santa Monica/Venice whereas the communities in southern Orange County aren't an relatively easy commute. Manhattan and Redondo Beaches are commutable especially if you are working in one of the industrial hubs off the 405 or in Santa Monica. Mattel is in El Segundo and has some other high tech stuff and those communities would be commutable versus a place like San Clemente or even Laguna Hills or Newport.

The editing that juxtaposed Shannon's current relatively modest home with her old home underscored her decline. Of course her current home is worth several million dollars but it is just a "nice" home versus the kind of showcase that she used to live in. It is interesting that she had to downsize so drastically because when she was introduced we learned that her family were San Francisco socialites - weren't they owners of I Magnin or Bullocks Wilshire so I had assumed that even after a divorce she would have retained that money. I guess the old "mansion" was just smoke and mirrors and mortgaged so when they divorced, there wasn't much equity to split up. Not that she is hurting for money by ordinary standards but she didn't get that much money considering she was a SAHM mother for most of the marriage. As I recall she got a relatively low settlement and a fair amount of child support. Plastic surgeons - especially ones that are as *famous* as Terry do make an a huge amount of money because all of their procedures are elective so they can charge (and collect) whatever the market will pay. A face lift could be $50,000 from that kind of *famous* surgeon. And he also has significant income from Botched which has been running for awhile.

And this sex dungeon is a bit sad. As far as I can tell it is a bed with black sheets stuffed into what reminds me of the old coal bin in the basement of the house I grew up in which my brother converted to a dark room. :-) At least the witch from Beverly Hills had a large "dungeon" that looked as if it could host a small reunion from Plato's Retreat. Braunwynde's "dungeon" was exposed as a complete fraud as I recall since they were probably not even having sex at that point. It was an apartment they rented for the show in order to have a *shocking* story line.

I am not here in order to find a role model in any of these housewives. Of course true moral depravity like Jen Shah, Erika Jayne or even Mary Crosby is beyond the pale. Sure Heather is a vapid elitist who prizes her material possessions but Terry is not some pussywhipped sponge who is toiling to support his trophy wife. If anything Terry is more of a narcissist than Heather since he was in a television show prior to housewives and he is the one who pushed for Heather to become a cast member. As far as I am concerned he is happy to have a wife who is willing to do the work of spending his money in the most ostentatious manner possible - because being in charge of building that kind of house takes a lot of effort. There are so many large houses owned by rich people. In their defense, the Dubrows only own ONE house versus the number of rich people who own multiple homes all over. As far as homes go, it's really not as sterile as many large homes built for the mega rich. Obviously it can only be maintained by a large staff but it provides a living to their staff. I suspect that most of their living is done in the family rooms like the kitchen where they were seen eating dinner. The formal rooms downstairs are for formal entertaining on a lavish scale - which is why they have the actual second kitchen downstairs which is used to cater large events. I don't want to live in a house that size but I sure wouldn't mind having some of the elements like the closet with glass doors; the warming drawer for towels and champagne at the push of a button. AND a live-in chef.

I also thought it was not a particularly gracious look for Nicki to come so hard against Candiace. It looked as if she was trying to squash a rival. There are lots of things to *get* Candiace on but I think the success of her record project isn't one of them as she wasn't one of the completely untalented housewives who put out novelty records. I would love t have seen Minaj put on the spot and asked to do an cappella version of a song that is meant to be accompanied. FWIW there are two meanings of "downloads" in the business. You can purchase/download and that is equivalent to a sale. In general the record company or whoever owns the record would get 50% of the sales price for the license to the iTunes Store. There is the Spotify "download" and that is equivalent to an internet radio show. I won't bore anyone with the whole business part of the negotiation but in the end the performer gets a very tiny amount for each download/play on this kind of streaming service. For standard radios there is no royalty at all for the performer record company but only for the publisher of the song. The lack of income from Spotify/Pandora and hell even from record "sales" is why most recording artists make their money from touring and merchandising and other ancillary rights.

All of the homes were pretty terrible but of all the horrible choices, the one with the foundation issues was probably the worst. A person with limited financial means and no construction background should have run like hell from that kind of place. And what in the world was going on with the whole shtick about wanting the daughter to come home every weekend. It didn't seem like she was in college and therefore would normally come home for school breaks and summer and I don't know of adult kids with their own apartments who are come home often enough so that their "wants" are a factor. I mean it's nice to have a place for your kids to crash when they stay overnight but once I moved out, the pull out sofa or the couch in the living room was what I got and they certainly didn't think I was going to be a roommate.

Since both the Texas HH are accountants who have been in the workforce for quite awhile, presumably they know exactly how much they can afford and it is unlikely that their income will ever be endangered. I had no issues with the house they chose as it seemed suitable for their needs. Evidently they both worked from home and needed separate offices. I think their *differences* were maximized for drama because the wife wanted a room for her gym equipment plus an office. I think they are reasonable in not getting a starter home at this stage. They will almost certainly have at least two children. And obviously a two income professional couple is going to have cleaners, gardeners, pool maintenance as well as child care. If people actually work from home they need child care although it is logistically simpler if one is at home with the care taker.

For those who are interested, the Hulu documentary featured a woman who had been scammed by Jen who has a home business selling adorable snuggle type blankets which would be used especially for infants in car seats. I imagine the snaps make accessibility easy. I have no idea whether the price is competitive because I am past the stage of needing baby stuff. However, these might make a great gift for a baby shower even if one splits the cost with someone else https://www.etsy.com/listing/1131666217/footed-infant-baby-car-seat-blanket?ref=shop_home_active_1&frs=1&crt=1

I thought the LA Magazine article was a "must read" for those interested in the whole scheme. It provided a really lucid account of how long Girardi has been violating Ethics 101 by dipping into the trust accounts. Not that any of us believed the whole attempted defense that it was due to senility, but it completely establishes a long running course of conduct. What was new to me as exactly what happened in terms of the divorce from his first (or was it second?) wife who hired a forensic accountant and found that Tom as already writing checks on the trust accounts and writing personal checks drawn from the business. It also succinctly illustrates how the "powers" in the Bar enabled his behavior - I believe the President of the Bar at one time was a lawyer in his firm and the investigator who made a very small salary had two children working at the Girardi firm and was wined and dined by Girardi. I would imagine there was also cash payments as well. I don't think it lets Erika off the hook. I think more accurately one could say that the article isn't really about Erika but about the fraud and Girardi's long standing course of dealing with his clients as well as other attorneys to whom he owed money. Erika is more of an illustration of how he spent money like water - because it wasn't really his to spend. Private planes; lavish spending; personalized menus; clothing and a vanity recording project were all just play money which Tom funded from his ill gotten gains.

I thought the documentary was great and well worth watching. It explained very clearly why Jen's *businesses* were criminal and what they did exactly. Just to be clear no one except her aunt claimed that Jen was innocent. In fact most of the commentary from lawyers was that the SDNY doesn't joke around and that if you are indicted. you are guilty because they have done their homework which is why more than 90% of the defendants take a plea. The attorney was offering what he said would be Jen's only defense if she actually went to trial. That is that she wasn't involved in the companies selling to the victims but was only providing leads. And she had no responsibility for what they did with her leads. ETA This was not Jen's attorney but an attorney who was stating what would be her only possible defense at a trial and he didn't think it would be a winning defense especially with Stu testifying against her. I think her problem is that Stu Smith is going to testify against her and so there will be clear evidence that they ran companies which engaged actively in the fraud. As was pointed out, there is no way that Jen can claim that Smith is unreliable - the documentary ran clips in which Jen praised his loyalty and that they ran the businesses together. I thought it interesting that Brian Moylan turned up for this documentary and wasn't defending Jen Shah versus his moral blindness in terms of his defense of Erika on his Vulture recaps.

While I can understand why people might feel more comfortable in the type of NEIGHBORHOOD they grew up in, I really don't understand why the need to replicate the style of their home. My home was completely nondescript and I am glad to live in a home that wasn't essentially builder grade 1920 - e.g. lacked any kind of architectural charm. So you grew up in a nondescript suburban ranch or a fake "Colonial" style home - who cares. I also don't understand why people care so much about what the exterior of the house looks like. None of the so-called Craftsmen have any true Craftsmen features in their interior anyway. If someone wants a home that is genuinely of a certain era that is different of course. I love Spanish Colonial but that is because I also love the original interior design features and authentic Craftsmen homes with the original wood features are fantastic. Conversely nothing could persuade me to live in a so-called Cape Cod homes because I hate the upstairs with their sloped ceilings with a passion. Of course on HH those who claim to want vintage charm are always shocked by the size of the closets and the lack of an ensuite or a tiny ensuite. :-)

For whatever reason, flying insects aren't as huge a problem in Los Angeles as they are in the Northeast and the South. In New York (City and upstate) and Virginia, New Jersey (all places I spent summers at) it would be impossible to sit outside in the evening without getting seriously eaten by mosquitos. As a child during the summer my legs would resemble those of someone suffering from end stage leprosy because of all the mosquito bites. I stumbled on some interesting information about the dysfunctional Tutor family - her mother was divorced and her marriage to Tracey's father was her second. The mother had a son who the father adopted and he was a sad character who descended into drugs - committed suicide - and left behind a dysfunctional wife and a child who Tracy's mother fought and won custody of. https://www.laweekly.com/crystabel-funes-is-fighting-one-of-l-a-s-richest-families-for-the-right-to-see-her-daughter/ And although they have limited the story lines enough of the fake story lines - what in the world are they attempting to showcase by creating an idiotic story line that this daughter of a billionaire who married well and was left possession of their house would somehow be in dire financial straits over $200,000 or so. I would imagine the daughters have multi-million dollar trust funds set up as most wealthy people do a lot of estate planning to make sure the money passes hands with as little taxation as possible and so that the kids don''t get their hands on it until they are 35 - not an uncommon age for trusts to vest. And it is preposterous that Atmann's parents want the headache of a large house in the hills for a pied a terre. Wealthy people in their situation would get a nice condo in one of the high rises on Wilshire that are fully staffed with concierges,v valets and other staff so that the property would be taken care of in their absence.

I would assume that Witherspoon and Aniston are almost totally responsible for the direction of Season 2 as they are both Executive Producers with their own production companies as well as stars with clout. It is not unusual for stars with unfettered creative control to make a mess because their egos get in the way of objectively viewing the script. This episode seems as if it was a cliche of the kind of scenes an actress like Aniston would write for herself. I don't think Apple gets very involved in the creative decisions as that is one of the big draws of the streaming services - it is a place where the "creatives" can do their own thing without pesky network or studio interference. Apple at this point is using Apple+ as a way to keep consumers in the Apple fold. It worked brilliantly for iTunes which when there were only iPods. Fully disclosure - I am not an Apple executive but I live in an Apple universe - my first Apple was a Performa bought in 1993. Everything works together seamlessly so it is worth whatever small change Apple has to nurture their streaming service. I watch Apple+ on my Apple streaming device and can shift content between my iPhone, iPad and iMac as necessary and still use my iPod classic to listen to music in the car because it holds way more music than my iPhone and has my carefully culled playlists which date back to 2001.

The Pacific side had a better climate as it was significantly cooler in the summer. In my experience that makes a big difference in quality of life. The house they chose was fabulous. I think some of the urge to be close to the action is when people are looking for a vacation home and/or one that can be rented out. Also I would imagine a lot of the people who are looking for less expensive properties don't want to buy a car so that they would have to factor in the expense of just normal day to day travel even if they weren't bar hopping every night. The whole idea of walkability would be a big factor in terms of determining net monthly housing costs since a car would probably be at least $500 a month. I also wonder about furnished versus unfurnished homes. I realize that many vacation style homes - even in the US - are sold furnished because that is the market but I have my doubts as to whether there really are significant numbers of furnished homes and apartments as they seem to be very prevalent on house hunters International. If someone truly has no furniture it is really an expense to get even the basic items. But then I don't get why anyone would move to a new country and want to purchase a home immediately. This seems especially ridiculous when it is theoretically people without an income who are starting up a business. If I were *truly* moving someplace new and relying on only my savings to support myself by launching a new business, the last thing I would do would be to sink all of my money into purchasing a home versus keeping as much as possible as a safety net.

It looked like they had acquired additional horses for the children as I saw a pony in one of the closing scenes. There was also a lot of tack in the tack room and based on how the show operates, they had already moved into the home and probably didn't move out their own tack to minimize disruption. The horses were all mysteriously missing when they toured. I think they bought the place for the land and the experience it would provide their children. They were essentially planning to tear it down as the value was in the land. I enjoy the shows when rich people are touring fabulous places like this episode and the recent one in Mexico. The shows in Australia with limited budgets are particularly boring because the housing is generally so banal - it's like HH Domestic when people are touring tract homes in Iowa.