Bastet

"Your son the gynecologist is overseeing a heart valve study?" Thank you, but then we get some "you ghosted me" bullshit from a highly-accomplished woman fixating on three dates that didn't turn into four a couple of years ago?! I don't know if I can hang with the soap-y parts of this show, but we'll see. "Any man who would file for divorce to get your attention doesn't deserve your attention." Testify, Lana. Ditch this dude, Annie. There's a lot of marriage there we haven't seen/heard about, so I shouldn't say that so definitively, but thus far when I've been happy to see Husband Three (I'm still learning names) is when someone is writing him off ("son of a dick" still making me laugh a week later, BTW). Cassidy practicing her resignation was funny, and I completely understand her reason for leaving, that just falls apart a little bit when she's transferring to her dad's firm. I think she'll be interesting there, though - yet I also like Amir calling her out for it. Ziggy and the skateboarder dude interests me about as much as watching grass grow. Again, with the low soap-y tolerance. Taking out the Nazi was fun - as was zero tolerance for physical altercation not existing alongside the same strict policy against hate speech being called out - and I like how Lana played Nazi's Mom, and that she turned out to be legit horrified when she learned the truth. I also like Patient X being messy, but Rebel's "I need him" speech was poor strategy even though it worked. Cruz talking to pictures of his dead wife is pretty creepy, but him coming to terms with the fact her death wasn't inevitable and getting fired up worked for me. Generic white dude at Cassidy's dad's firm still leaves me cold (to the extent I can't even learn his name yet - in my defense, there are a lot of characters!) I'm still here for Mary McDonnell - who killed it again in this episode (and I love that she's bucking tradition by putting herself out there with COVID hair and minimal make-up) - and still happy with other aspects; I like Rebel, I frakkin' love Lana, and I like many of the relationships. While I'm more interested in Rebel's professional life, "At the end of the day, we're a family, and no one pretends someone doesn't exist - even the ex-husbands" summed up what I like about her messy personal life.

Yeah, I really hope that scene stands on its own - her realizing their relationship didn't fail, it wasn't a waste of time, it's a positive in her life (beautiful memories and lessons learned that will help her in the future) - rather than it being the lead-in to pairing her back up with him because the show is ending. There's no way both Bonnie and Tammy needed Google to tell them "Women Who Like Wood" was not a good business name, but their reactions were funny, and fundamentally I like them going into this business together. I love seeing a handy woman on TV, and for Tammy to not just make a living at it but have ownership in it will be great. Sure, Bonnie needs to know a hell of a lot more than negotiation tricks, but they're about to have a lawyer in the family and Adam has had to learn a lot about licensing and other practicalities, so in sitcom world I dig this idea - a nice happy ending for the two of them.

This was a good episode showing the many effects of COVID. You could really see the toll that woman's death took on them, that they just weren't expecting her to crash like that and then they almost had her to the hospital. The woman with the broken femur is incredibly unlucky that she, you know, had her leg run over by a car, but lucky that she recovered as quickly and fully as she did. Did they give an update on the gunshot victim? I don't remember seeing one.

I love Talenti gelato, so the QF left me annoyed I don’t have any in my freezer right now. I knew Avishar’s dessert was going to win, because it was so creative. The other top two looked delicious as well, but he got the most inventive with the challenge. It’s nice to hear that the racial justice rebellions in Portland brought greater attention to local restaurants serving Pan-African cuisine. How impactful yet unrecognized the food has long been was well stated by Kiki, and Kwame talking about “yes, you have” when chefs say they haven’t had West African food was great, too. That culinary field trip they got to go on made my mouth water just thinking about the spices. I hope Top Chef doesn’t go back to ignoring this food in future seasons. I don’t like fufu, but I was bummed for Kiki that hers didn’t come out right in a challenge that was so meaningful to her. On the flip side, I was happy for Shota being unsure about using unfamiliar spices and then doing such a great job of incorporating them. Dawn’s dish was the one I most wanted to eat, and I really wish I could taste that green sauce everyone raved about!

I'm going to be watching something else tonight, so just checked the archive. The Copenhagen TS really surprised me. I only ran I Feel Alright in the first round, missing one each in every other category (although if I'd been able to see the picture, I'm sure I'd have recognized a pomeranian, thanks to Scully's poor dog on The X-Files). In DJ, I was terrible with the burned books, missing three. I also missed two gems and one movie/tv actor, but I ran historic weapons (not something I'd have predicted), capitals (much more my type of category), and money slang. I knew FJ not quite immediately, but very quickly.

A margarita with a shot of Grand Marnier added.

Head over to the Guest Host thread; we've been discussing the news about Buzzy hosting the ToC there, and several of us feel the same way.

Yeah, I think I have to either switch phones after the end of the year or switch to a different provider than AT&T. I haven't looked into it yet, just paid vague attention to some mailings. I have no need for a smartphone, so I don't want one, but we'll see what I decide is the easiest transition. It was about that time I had to get a new phone, as something in my old one destroyed two batteries, and I had several flip phones to choose from in the store, and was able to walk out of there with the one I chose. It was a pleasant experience; I expected to be at best pushed and at worst harangued towards a smartphone, but, while the first whippersnapper who hopped out at me upon my entrance directed me towards a coworker when I answered his "How can I help you?" query with my old-school request, the employee I wound up with was great. She not only never tried to up-sell, she didn't patronize me; she readily acknowledged a flip phone's meeting of my needs and simply talked to me about which one would be most similar to my old phone that I was used to. (I am certain I would not have liked the first employee even if he'd deigned to help me, but the second was such a delight I emailed the company to sing her praises).

Okay, I know I've vowed to keep the mask grumbling to a minimum each week, but "I've been vaccinated" as a reason for not wearing a mask AND a prompt for another person to take theirs off? Holy shitshow. Becky found the most non-Jewish Jewish rehab I've ever seen. Which fits, if everyone is there for the same economic reasons. (But, really, the difference between schlemiel and schlimazel not being widely known, I'll easily grant, but verklempt and schmuck being "foreign" words? With how much TV these folks watch?) Anyway, Becky coping with saying good-bye to Beverly Rose by instructing everyone against any developmental progress was perfectly in character. Her coming home early and everyone telling her she needs to go back was nicely done. But was Jackie lying again to get through to Becky - I remember Al as an abuser, but was he an alcoholic? (Bev kind of, sort of, temporarily was in those hazy days of the final seasons, but Al?) Like all shows, this one will keep as many characters as possible under one roof until the end, so valid points about the living arrangements don't resonate as they would in real life because I know they're not going anywhere. Even setting those limitations aside, though, everyone needs to take a seat. None of this is ideal, but folks are making do, and selling the house not only isn't what anybody wants, it's not going to actually fix all the things people are claiming. I mean, yay for Ben's mom moving back; I'd love to keep seeing her occasionally. But, fundamentally, Barb is totally out of line about the house and who lives in it; Ben is bad enough, but she's beyond. I'm sure many people can relate to Darlene's attraction to the nomadic lifestyle Brian Austin Green's character lives, but she has obligations he doesn't, and I suspect that will be acknowledged in his next episode (he has another one coming, right?). Anyway, if she realizes what she wants is somewhere between that life and the one Ben keeps trying to force on her, so that she needs to blaze her own path alone, I'm here for it. I couldn't stand him or them together in the beginning, came around on him and them, and have now settled into he's okay, but wrong for her. "I wish I was going somewhere." "Drink excessively, and you can, too." Ha! And Jackie's ironic "Some people just can't handle the quiet" also made me laugh, as a nice call back to the original series, when she was training to spend long stretches of time alone in a truck; her teacher didn't think she'd make it, but she did, but then came home and babbled incessantly at the entire Conner family because she hadn't had anyone to talk to for umpteen hours.

I have just enough leftover ribeye steak (that was seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning and a little extra granulated garlic and grilled) to make two tacos, so dinner will be soft corn tacos with ribeye, cilantro, red onion, and guacamole. The salad will be romaine, red peppers, cotija, pepitas, and cilantro pepita dressing. I just made the guacamole, and I'm currently having a Cadillac margarita as an appetizer. 🙂

Ugh, once again someone decides to talk about the halftime show "wardrobe malfunction" with no mention of Justin Timberlake, just Janet Jackson. I have never seen/read Batman, but I managed to get three of the villains based on the other information provided in the clues. Similarly, I figured out/correctly guessed four in the biblically inspired titles. It was only a decent round for me; the only category I ran was lawns. I missed one each in the others. I got better as I went along, though; in DJ, I ran math, malfunctions, and celebrities, and I correctly guessed FJ.

Thank you - you found the one bit of silver lining in that news, and I'm not quite as annoyed now. That was my next thought, too.

My best friend moved to Florida about 15 years ago because housing was so much cheaper. She came back after a couple of years because she hated so much about living there, and while I was very happy to have her back, I had to give her a little grief because all the things she hated were things well known from traveling, reading, and just paying the slightest bit of attention, really. She basically just claimed temporary insanity (not that it's crazy to live there, but that it was crazy to think she would enjoy living there - like that big ol' house was going to be an oasis from everything else). I am rarely indecisive, but when I am, hoo boy. I still do not have a ceiling fan in the living room because Casablanca stopped making the specific one I want, and I just cannot decide which one to get instead.

1. Sing. Any time I've learned a music instrument, I've been successful, so I'm sure if I wanted to play guitar I could learn to do that (not like a rock star, but well enough to make me happy). But I cannot carry a tune with a forklift. That does not stop me from belting out songs when I'm by myself, but I'd enjoy listening to myself a lot more if I sounded like a diva rather than a dying goose. 2. Shouting. You said I wouldn't hurt myself if I fainted, but what if I fell on my cat? So, shouting. Also, with shouting, I can immediately explain why I just did that if I want to. With fainting, before I came to and explained I'm fine, someone could have called for unnecessary help or started fussing with me. Shouting is just easier all around. 3. Dirty toilet. Snakes are one of my few phobias, so as irrational - by definition - as my fear around even a non-venomous snake is, it's intense. And even if it's non-venomous, I don't want to get bit in the ass by it. A dirty toilet I can just squat over.

I'm grateful there's a great lingerie shop near me run by a wonderful woman who can take one look at you and rattle off numerous bra options that would work best for your breasts. Mine, I don't need lifted and separated (a common request), I need them lifted and pushed together - left to their own devices, they like to try and go hang out in my armpits, and most bra styles don't do enough to stop them. So all my bras are French or British brands, as American brands either aren't right for my shape or, of the few that would work, only come in boring styles. (I have a strong distaste for boring underwear [on me; I don't care what anyone else wears!]). If the shop owner comes across something she thinks I'll like - the right style in a pretty color or pattern - she'll get one in my size and then call me, inviting me to stop by next time I'm in the area to see if I want it. How often do you get that kind of attention anymore? I first met her years ago when I went in her shop to pick up an order for my mom (she's really good with mastectomy patients needing bras with pockets for their prosthesis, so my mom had been shopping there for many years), and she quickly transformed my bra drawer and made my tops fit so much better.

And warmer.

They keep doing that on the show, too, with Ben talking about not wanting to live in her childhood bedroom. Well, Ben, unless you go bunk with Harris and Mark, you're not. (I mean, of course I take his general point, but it's another example of lazy writing in terms of continuity with the original series.)

Mine is several years old, but, yes, that's an option (and what I have mine set on; I rarely text, but when I do I don't want to have to jab the buttons quite so many times).

That's what I have. My dad, uncle, and I installed them (and then just had someone come charge the lines), as I do most home repair/renovation projects myself or with the help of my dad, and, yeah, I'm always appalled at how cheaply people want such work done. You have to know what you're doing, and you also have to be willing to crawl on your hands and knees - sometimes drag yourself along on your belly - in tight spaces under and above houses. Of course there are contractors out there who try to rip people off, and when I do outsource something I can have a moment of ouch at labor costs, but then I remember the labor involved and sign the contract. And some of these complaining folks are just cheapskates, period, but a lot of them don't walk into their lawyer or financial adviser's office and complain about the hourly rate for those services, so for those people it's total classism that they expect manual labor to be cheap.

I'd never heard of the original, so when I saw the sequel's title in another thread earlier tonight, I thought it was some sort of parody. I still have no idea what any of it is about, and that trailer makes it look like a film I'd rather stare at my wall for 90 minutes than watch, but I'm glad there's something there for the majority of you who understand why it's funny. (I mean, sure, Samuel L. Jackson, and he was enough to salvage a Die Hard movie for me, but this - I got nothin'. You had to be there?)

When I work from my parents' house - in non-pandemic times, they travel a fair bit and when they do I spend 24 hours at my house, 24 hours at theirs, lather, rise, repeat, to spend adequate time with my cat at home and with their two cats at their house - I work on my laptop (at home, my laptop is hooked into a port replicator, so I have an external everything, but at their house I'm on my mobile own, and just hook up to their printer as needed). Their cat Bandit manages at least once every single vacation to step on the keyboard of my laptop - a device he, living with two retired people, finds profoundly offensive during his waking hours, whether it be on my lap or on a table - in a way that does something to make the laptop's touch pad mouse move at the speed of molasses and become effectively unusable. I have no idea what setting that is, what combination of keys his paws hit to make it happen, or how to get rid of it other than to restart the damn computer, but it only happens with him.

That's my second favorite; my favorite block is in the laundromat.

Aaron Rodgers made me laugh with his Mark Kelly teasing and his reaction to the Packers TS. Especially the latter, with "Go again - I guess" and "Oh, you know that one, huh?" I ran title waves, stir crazy, batteries, and unity, and only missed one each in VP and cities (the $200 clue, ouch, but I know nothing about Ron Burgundy other than it's a Will Ferrell character, and there are so many cities named after monks there was nothing else to hone me in on San Diego), so a good first round. In DJ, I only ran animal words & phrases and wails, missing two Scotts (it would have only been one if Scott Tur-Something had counted for the author) and two musicals, plus one each in England, literary characters. I didn't have much hope for FJ based on the category, but I guessed it correctly. Maybe I learned that from Battlestar Galactica? Or just had previously known Orion = hunter and thus thought of that because of weapon? I have no idea, but I backed my way into it, so good for me.

I have already used that twice since Thursday night. I love it.

I can see Dan proposing because he thinks that's the road all relationships are supposed to take, but I'd find it a lot more interesting if Louise told him she's very happy with their relationship and hopes it lasts, but she doesn't want marriage, or at least doesn't want to give up her place and live in a human zoo full-time. Dan could stand having some of his assumptions successfully challenged at this stage of life. TV is getting a little better about including alternatives to marriage and/or non-traditional marriages, and this would be a good candidate. (On general principle, and especially because if Rebel continues Louise will continue to be absent from many episodes, and that will make more sense if they're not tied to a traditional spousal situation.)