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SusanM

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Posts posted by SusanM

  1. 4 minutes ago, sATL said:

    Actually - I'm still a little sad on Ben staying too..

    That bothered me to at the time but I guess it was realistic - somewhat akin to at least one boy having to stay home and take over the farm.  In my family back a few generations what seemed to happen was one girl got to be the "old maid" and stay home to run the house and look after the aging parents!  Not fair but real.

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  2. 34 minutes ago, sATL said:

    What exactly did he come home for/to-do - run a country off-road car garage ? If anyone should have did 20 yrs (or until Korea broke out) and then retire out - Jim Bob James Robert, should have be the one.

    This was part of the problem with keeping the show on the air as long as it did.  Realistically Ben would have stayed home because he worked with his father but likely all the other sons would have struck out on their own not just John Boy.  That was the reality of small town life then, and probably still is.  I get, of course, why they didn't do that, but given that the actor playing Jim Bob was just not very good, writing his character off with only sporadic appearances might have been a good idea!

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  3. 3 minutes ago, sATL said:

    I didn't see it as John choosing which son went. Jim Bob was too young  w/o signatures, Jason had somekind of extension from not reporting for the draft ( I guess due to school) and when Ben did decided he wanted to go - he went. 

    John wasn't choosing which of his own sons would go.  He was on the draft board (I think that's what it was called) so he was making decisions about the young men in the area who were eligible to go.

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  4. 11 hours ago, Bastet said:

    the fact I never had any student loan debt is what made all the difference in the world in the first place; that gave me a lot more freedom of choice, and acting like my financial security is all a result of my fiscal responsibility would be ludicrous.

    Same.  My husband and I were lucky enough to be living in Quebec when we reached university age and the tuitions there were significantly lower than pretty much anywhere else.  We also  both were able to live at home, in comfortable middle class homes at that, which meant when we graduated we had no student debt. 

    But we both know people in the exact same circumstance  who, to use that famous quote act like "he was born on third base and thought he hit a triple".  If you are fortunate enough to get a decent head start into grownup land at least have the grace to acknowledge that instead of assuming this is true for everyone and it's only their own bad choices that make a difference!

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  5. 20 minutes ago, Adiba said:

    So yes, the cost of living was less— but probably every generation preceding the next one can say that.

    Funny you post this now, I just had a conversation with my Dad on this subject.  He feels bad for "the kids" today because of the economy the way it is, which is sweet if him, but I pointed out that no generation has really had it all that easy - least of all his own (he's 87). 

    Anyway I think the biggest peeve I have right now in regard to the economy is that for cripes sake it's been one damn thing after another now for a couple of years and c'mon universe - can we please catch a break?

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  6. 21 minutes ago, Rose Quartz said:

    Personally, I always thought the avocado toast argument was stupid, but on the other hand if you're feeling pinched financially and still going out and spending $10 for that at a restaurant every day instead of buying a $5 bag of avocados and a $4 loaf of bread and making your own breakfast for a week, then yeah, I'm gonna  judge.  If that makes me an old fart so be it.

    Yep.  I totally get the argument that a few dollars a day spent on a treat is a drop in the bucket if you are dealing with a huge debt load but on the other hand spending 20-30 dollars every single day (and that's just what I was personally aware of) isn't really a small treat,  That's adding up to anywhere from 400 to 500 a month.

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  7. 2 minutes ago, Blergh said:

    Alas,  his performer (Eric Scott) couldn't muster being more than slightly annoyed and sweaty from the whole turn of events as though he'd had to run an extra lap around the track at gym class for mouthing off at the PE teacher! 

    Ben and Jim Bob were typical of a lot of kid actors.  Once they got past a certain age whatever acting ability they had was pretty much gone.  I'd argue this was truer of Jim Bob than Ben but I totally agree that Ben couldn't pull off the dramatic moments.  At all.

    I think all the girls did just fine - probably Elizabeth was the least capable and Mary Ellen went through a phase where she over emoted everything but settled down.   

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  8. 1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

    It is generational. When you're drowning in student loan debt, with a balance going up instead of down no matter how much you pay, and your rent for a tiny apartment you share with 3 other people is over half of what you bring home, sacrificing Starbucks, or lunch out (which could also be the only meal of the day), isn't going to create a stream of income.

    I have friends who get really annoyed when someone accuses the boomers of ruining things for the younger generation and acting like our generation had it all and none of us struggled.  Of course that's demonstrably false, but, and it's a big but - most boomers didn't have to take on enormous debt loads just to get a degree that didn't get them a decent job and even with a decent job didn't earn them enough to live on their own.  I'm glad this thread reminded me of that.

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  9. I really liked The Waltons when it was still the original family with the original John Boy.  I also actually liked a lot of the episodes set during the war years.  For me though the "jump the shark" episode was the one when we find out that Mary Ellen's husband had not actually been killed in the war after all.  Worst Plot Ever.  It was embarassing to watch. 

    And don't get me started on the movie set in 1963 where they somehow forgot about the existence of some of the Walton grandchildren and had clearly had all the characters drink from the Fountain of Youth.  

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  10. 15 minutes ago, rcc said:

    What happened to buy one, get one free. That was a real sale. Of course these days we can't have that.

    Another peeve of mine is that along with not seeing too many sales like that anymore instead (at least at our local grocery) they have signs like "3 for 7.98" or similar amounts.  All this does for me is make me think "huh?" Not that I might be getting a deal or that at that price it's worth stocking up.  I'm convinced the store does this just to confuse the consumer.  Which it does with me but it also makes me not buy that particular product at all, which I am guessing isn't what they want.

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  11. 48 minutes ago, Adiba said:

    My pet peeve when it comes to buying groceries is when the discount only applies if one buys 2 or more of an item.

    This is my peeve today.  Well that but signage about that that is very unclear.  The item I wanted to buy had a sign below it that read "Buy two and get one free".  To me this meant if I buy two then one of those two is free.  Not so fast.  According to the cashier it means buy two and get a third one for free.   Which does make sense but honestly my interpretation made sense to me too and especially as we're talking about a perishable item  not many people would typically buy three at a time in the first place.  

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  12. Someone upthread mentioned Don Rickles - not sure if this is a place to talk about dead stars that we couldn't stand but if it is he is on my list along with Jerry Lewis.  Probably quite a few others but these two are celebrities I've disliked for a very long time.  I know both did a lot of good in their lives, and in the case of Rickles at least, seem to have been well liked by their colleagues but even so, ugh.  I just never liked insult humour which was Rickles shtick and Lewis just always gave off creepy vibes to me.

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  13. I guess Mary Stewart is considered more romantic suspense than mystery but she did win an Agatha Award for lifetime achievement so I think she counts!  Anyway if we're willing to expand the Golden Age time frame a bit I'd recommend her earlier books - her best stuff (IMO) was published between 1955-1965

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  14. Wow, there are quite a few!  But off the top of my head I'd highly recommend Rex Stout.  I also really like Phoebe Atwood Taylor and the Mr and Mrs North mysteries by Richard and Frances Lockridge.  Also while her books are probably more spy thrillers than mysteries I'd  include Helen MacInnes here.  Or at any rate  her first 5 or 6 books which were written during, and set in, WWII.

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  15. 19 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

    ven if some or all of the titles are now in the public domain.

    There are only a few titles right now that would be in the public domain.  In the US books published before 1927 fall into this category but after that assuming the copyright has been renewed it is 95 years after the first publication date. 

  16. 2 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

    They aren’t murder mysteries. Mr. Parker Pyne runs an add in the newspaper, “Are you happy? If not consult Mr Parker Pyne, 17 Richmond Street.” It’s a series of short stories. They are fun. 

    I loved those stories too - and liked as well the way there was a nice little tie-in with Miss Lemon from the Hercule Poirot books.

    3 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

    I mean, is there such a thing as spoiling a nearly 100 year old book?  Probably, when they are mysteries...but, still the fact that I've been spoiled once so far is pretty remarkable.

    On another message board I used to visit someone threw a tantrum because another poster revealed that 

    Spoiler

    Beth dies in Little Women

     They insisted this info should have been put in a spoiler tag,   I disagreed but just in case I did use the spoiler tag here!

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  17. We have a station here called Vision TV which is religious based but they do show some great Britcoms (and a few other, I guess what they see as "wholesome" dramas and sitcoms).  The funniest to me is the way they had Father Ted and AbFab on for awhile - I think whoever picked those shows had never actually seen an episode or figured "Hey British let's go for it".  Anyway, I digress. One show I watch now and then is Last of the Summer Wine and I am finding the older I get the better I like it.  If you'd told me 20 years ago that I'd like this show, which is basically about a group of elderly people bobbing along having gentle adventures in the Yorkshire countryside, I'd have thought you were nuts!

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  18. 45 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

    I haven't seen anyone imply that they're victims or without choice so I don't see the infantalizing at all. 

    I do see negative commentary - usually suggesting, or downright stating - that these women are golddiggers.  Which, to be honest, is fair IMO.  Unless these women are living under rocks or are sub-par mentally they have to know his history.  To give him credit here he's not exactly subtle and he isn't, as far as we know, lying to anyone about his intentions.  He wants to have lots of kids, with lots of different women.  

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  19. 18 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

    My next one is The Murder of Roger Akroyd which (sigh!) I accidentally allowed myself to be spoiled for.  I was watching a Christie documentary--the one David Suchet did--and they just blurted out the device in that one.

    I read that one long before I saw any documentaries about Agatha Christie so no spoiler.  Given the huge interest in Christie though it must be increasingly hard for new readers not to have some of her most famous works spoiled.  I'm thinking especially of And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express given how many movie versions are out there for one thing, but also how often these stories get referenced on TV shows and in other books.  

    On the bright side these are so well written that IMO anyway knowing how they end doesn't spoil the journey.  Part of the fun for me in reading a Christie novel now is seeing how cleverly she laid the clues and how often I STILL end up heading down a false path in a book I may not remember as well as I thought I had!

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  20. 2 hours ago, bluegirl147 said:

    I don't know what Nick's baby mama's think when they conceive a child with him but it seems like Nick is already thinking about the next woman he is going to conceive a child with.  I would like for someone interviewing Nick to ask him how often he sees his kids. 

    Most of those women are either thinking "this time it's me he's going to marry" or "hot damn, child support for at least 18 yrs" I guess.  What I wonder about is how many women though are sleeping with him and not getting pregnant or does he only sleep with women with both of them intending pregnancy to be the result,

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  21. 24 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

    When I lived by myself, I found that there was barely a difference moneywise between (a) buying a lot of groceries or (b) buying less at a time at the food store and just ordering lunch and/or dinner (maybe in part because latter option would sometimes stretch into 2 meals?

    This is a really good point.  I guess I come at expenses like groceries and buying restaurant meals from the POV of buying for a family as opposed to a single person.  My mother (influenced I am sure from growing up during the Depression and WWII) always insisted on having a pantry and freezer full of food.  Made her feel secure I guess.  But the flipside to that was the waste!  I can't count how many times, when she still lived in her own home, that I would go through the pantry and fridge and freezer and have to throw out expired food!  It's not a saving if you never eat all that food you stockpile!

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  22. 17 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

    On the flip side, they DON"T come with their own food items when they visit. They rely on Uber Eats. Personally, imo it's fine every once in a while, but it gets to be very costly.

    This jumped out at me and I have to ask  the board - is this a generational thing?  I had a young fellow working for me for awhile (just before Covid) who was always moaning about his student loans and bills mounting up and yet every single lunch time, as in 5 days a week, he ordered in a meal delivered from local restaurants.  I get that it's his money to spend as he pleases but I was still a little surprised.  Am I showing my age when I think "what's wrong with bringing a sandwich and an apple from home? do you really need a frappacinno from Starbucks when you can't pay your bills?"

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