Bastet

Hm, maybe it's living in the Los Angeles climate, but I would never had guessed so many people found pergolas useless. They're - when done right, like anything else - a beautiful combination of wood and plant (the plant isn't necessary, but a nice touch in general and pretty important where the beams are spaced far apart - which, come to think of it, was an issue with the pictured one) and provide the filtered sun (rather than a solid top that blocks too much sun much of the year) and breeze most want from a patio covering here. Regardless of personal preference among the audience, the wording of the clue plus the picture caused me surprise when none of the contestants got it. Sunbrella in that same category, on the other hand, I correctly predicted would be a TS when no one rang in right away; that's a good bit more specific.

This seems to be the only option she's left you with; you've been posting the same story for a couple of years, I think, so obviously nothing is going to change on her end, and all you can change is your response. She has forced your hand, and you have to protect yourself accordingly. I'm very slow to recommend making a complete break from family, but I also strongly believe it can sometimes be not only warranted but best. Maybe it would help you to analyze why you haven't done so until now/are still somewhat hesitant to do so, meaning look at what is your worst fear in cutting her out of your life until/unless she opts to treat you better? Is it general "but she's my mom" guilt (which comes from your own feelings and societal influence)? Is there any worry of external judgment and subsequent commentary (from your brother or others) making you doubt what you know to be true? Is it a fear that if she dies without there being a re-connection, you'll feel guilty about the estrangement and spend the rest of your days second-guessing yourself about it, so instead of living that way you'd rather just make the best of the status quo for as long as she's around so you can feel at peace for the longer period after she's gone? Etc. Basically, identify your personal worst-case scenario if you cease communication, and then compare that to your worst-case scenario (the degree of its cumulative effect on your well-being) if you keep doing what you're doing. I wonder if that specificity of perspective might help you make a decision on where to draw the line, and stick with it in moments of doubt. Especially because you have a similar long-ongoing situation at work (not the being blatantly attacked aspect, but perpetually bearing being used, and putting in work that is not properly acknowledged or appreciated), so maybe taking a leap and standing firm in this personal sphere of your life might bring about a fresh mindset that could help you hone in on some tricks to navigate the professional crap differently, too. Everything is easier said than done, and I do not want to imply any unintended - and unwarranted! - sense of victim blaming. I just would like to see you catch a break somewhere, so as I read your experiences and realize no one around you is going to suddenly do right by you I look for any steps you can take that might mitigate the damage others inflict (you shouldn't be stuffed into these situations, but you are - where others are behaving improperly, it sucks to be the one who has to figure out how to effect change, but sometimes that's all we can do).

Hell, I wouldn't even have rinsed it off before eating it. Wiped it off if there was some schmutz on it, but the simple fact it had touched my floor for a few seconds? Not bothered. My only sigh would have been over the fact I now needed to wipe up a little spot of sauce on my floor.

I know it was only the first round, but those fill-in-the-blank clues were ridiculously simple. Pergola was a surprising TS, especially since the clue was accompanied by a picture. Based on the category, I figured I wouldn't get FJ (I've seen very little that is animated), but "intertidal" did the trick to make it a pretty quick guess; yay for cultural osmosis. Sara strikes me as someone completely comfortable with her somewhat-awkward personality, and I like that, so I was rooting for her (also because it would be nice to see a stay-at-home mom win). I liked her face when Alex asked her why her classmates voted her most likely to rule the world; that is, of course, the natural question for that story, but the way he said it came off as "You? Why would you of all people rule the world" rather than the same inquiry he'd make of anyone. Granted, I also liked his "You're scaring me" and backing away.

Yeah, she went to buy a puppy, saw conditions that should have merely confirmed what was obvious all along, and still handed these people her money. It turned out to be a good thing for the puppy because when Lola turned out to be sick, they promptly took responsibility for getting her the care she needed; another buyer may not have (and the breeders certainly wouldn't have). So, Lola is happy and healthy and Lola's owner has presumably learned her lesson and won't go this route in future. Thus it makes sense if she gets some criticism for patronizing a backyard breeder to begin with - when there were numerous, obvious signs this was not the way to get a puppy - alongside being praised for how she took care of Lola once her true condition became apparent. It's such an edited portion of her time at the clinic that, from her overall behavior, I think her feelings were rooted in concern for animals. Her "well, we're definitely getting one now" response upon seeing the conditions was well intentioned, and I don't think her disbelief someone would lie about vaccination history and sell a potentially unhealthy dog was rooted in "dammit, I got ripped off," but in "who would do something like that?" I wonder what rock she's been living under to be surprised by this scenario, but I don't think she was upset about her pocketbook, I think she was upset about that poor puppy. Including Lola's story in the show gave Dr. Jeff the chance to remind viewers not to buy from backyard breeders, so that's good. Hopefully she reported the breeders; that doesn't usually lead to anything, but she should at least take that step.

Nope, you can upload (it just has to be a file size that doesn't exceed the maximum). I don't know if one method is preferred over the other - there's nothing in the FAQ about it - but the attach files option below the reply box is easy (and I don't use any photo sharing sites), so that's what I use.

I complained about that one a while back for a variety of reasons, mostly that it's completely implausible to have sex that frequently, period, never mind with someone who travels for work, and also noting that it taking five years of twice/day (every night and every morning) sex for her to have an orgasm indicates a serious lack of sexual compatibility and/or technique. I'd like it so much better if her final zinger to Blanche indicated she'd made the whole thing up in order to be able to stick it to her with that line, but it plays like Rose is serious. Which, just - no.

I'm not fired up about either holiday, but as I read a bunch of posts around the internet today, I find myself irritated by those who don't know the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. "Memorial" seems a pretty big clue, but apparently not.

Do you need to use a site? I just upload pictures from my computer (after using Photoshop to size them down to fit the site's requirements). That's private, because all that is posted is the chosen picture(s); there's no link to anything else.

Add me to the list highly displeased with the weather. We have sun today, thankfully, but it's only in the mid 60s, and yesterday it rained. This is Los Angeles! It's Memorial Day Weekend! WTF, Mother Nature?! Bring me some goddamned heat. I accept the traffic and high cost of living for a few reasons, but the two big ones are my family and the weather. Some days, I'd rank the weather first. So the fact "May Gray" has been so intense I had to actually turn my heater back on to take off the morning chill is ridiculous.

I have a snake phobia (although they don't scare me to look at on my screen, just in person), but I really liked that segment because of that little boy - he didn't have a snake because he thought it was cool to have something scary and watch it eat live things, he had one because of love, and he was proud of how gentle the snake was, boasting that Scales doesn't even hurt what they feed him.

Of course. Stroh isn't just a suspect, he's a lawyer, and a good one. He's not going to believe Brenda's lie like some ignorant, scared suspect; they need evidence, and because it will only be used to scare him into messing up, never entered into evidence at trial, Hobbs and Morales are willing to go along with manufacturing evidence - creating a prop for police theatre, basically. It's why Brenda has Andrea come to the morgue, to assure Dr. Morales it's okay, she knows about it, this isn't just Brenda going crazy (well, she already went crazy, in attacking him, but with that damage done, Andrea is fine with using it - in a way that doesn't violate her ethical obligations to the court and bar - to see if it can do some good).

I do, because I work out of my home office the majority of the time, so I want it to be a dedicated space rather than something cluttering my living room or bedroom as there's a fair bit of stuff involved. Also, having physical separation between work and personal spaces within the home helps with the emotional separation, which is important to me as I do not - other than under truly necessary circumstances - work outside of my business hours. I didn't see the episode, so I don't know if it made sense for the HH, but as a blanket question, that's my answer.

I just looked it up, and it's part of the Geico series where two (or more) people are in the middle of a bizarre situation, and one of them says, "I can't believe it," leading the other(s) to assume she/he is talking about the craziness around them, only to learn, no, she/he is amazed by how easy it was to switch to Geico and save big bucks. In this one, they're at a research station they can't step outside of due to the weather, and one guy brought his karaoke machine with him, and has been serenading them with "I Want It That Way" on a constant loop. After however many renditions, one of them thinks freezing to death would be a better option and tries to make a run for it.

This one? If so, I've used showers like that, or more often shower/tub combos where the glass door also only extends that far, in several hotels (mostly in Europe), and the water wasn't an issue. But a lot of travelers hate them.

The first time I watched this, I didn't recognize her from anything else (although a subsequent check of her credits showed me I'd seen her in a few other one-shot roles) and she oddly reminded me of Audra Lindley - I knew she didn't actually look or sound like her, but somehow in this role she reminded me of Lindley, specifically Lindley as Cybill's mom on Cybill. Anyway, I liked the way they dealt with Mrs. O'Connor -- she was a mildly racist, gun-loving snob, but she was also an older woman who just lost her husband right before Christmas, and Mike and Julio responded to each aspect of her as appropriate. I'm still not convinced Keisha fit the criteria for diminished capacity, and Mel certainly didn't, so with three murders (the choreographer plus the two felony murder counts for the Santas), she was off to prison. I always like her public defender, the curly-haired guy, and in this one I like when she finishes her "what I did, I did for my son, and what I did for my son, I did for the world" explanation and he just closes his notebook and asks, "So, you said life?" Also when he responds to her "and you're on my side?" annoyance at his endorsement of the deal by saying he's trying to come up with another explanation for a body being stuffed in a cello case under her bed and it's not coming to him. He wouldn't actually say that in front of the cops, but I let it go because it's a Christmas episode and I'm already laughing so much.

Quoting myself to say I (mostly) watched the rerun last night and I'm still not finding it in me to get fired up. Both rooms were kind of dumb, but not EXTREME!ly dumb, and looked better than they did before. My favorite moment was the look on Hildi's face when Paige outright shouted, with her usual 50 times more energy than warranted for the situation, something that could have simply been stated (maybe that it was time to start loading in). After all these years of exposure, to have that really? reaction to this particular moment of EXTREME over-exuberance was funny. Second favorite was the absolute stink face on the living room homeowner's face when she was led in for the reveal and could feel that her new carpet was no longer under her feet.

With the ratings increase, they can negotiate higher ad rates, so that will help the budget.

A lot less time than she said they would. I forget the timeframe she stated when gushing about how long they'd use it, but it was unrealistic. (But, it can just become storage space then.) The fake cabinet was fine at a glance, but spend any time in that room and it will become distractingly obvious in its fakeness. Maybe if the actual brick had been usable (which would mean a smaller column, since they wouldn't have had to frame it out to cover it), brick would have been okay in there, but I think it still would have been out of place in the kitchen. And that big expanse of brick paneling definitely was. Give him his brick somewhere else, like not painting over it in the living room. Personally, I hate brick, but I hate painted brick even more.

"Oh my gods, Mom, are you really telling the internet about my Butt Comb?!"

I haven't watched this in quite some time and almost checked out at “look at all this mold” about a two-inch strip of mildew on shower grout and "this is a decent size" about a backyard half the size of an airstrip, but I hung in. And I got a laugh out of the wife telling the husband carpet wasn’t going to be a deal-breaker and him coming back with a says the woman fixated on having a banister to decorate retort. I missed the intro, and the program guide just referenced a “Boston couple.” All those enormous lots and big houses they looked at, for under $600k – that’s not Boston. It took 45 minutes before I saw a chyron identifying Wakefield. If they agreed to act like they thought that fireplace was usable, they’re foolish, and if they actually thought it was, they’re moronic - from the first walk-through, that was obviously a former fireplace that had long since been made merely decorative. In these old houses with <gasp> walls, owners and agents have to know a lot of buyers are going to want to knock them down to create a giant kitchen-dining-living room, so it would behoove them to investigate whether the “offensive” wall is load bearing, and thus be able to assure such potential buyers, “Yep, you can do that.” So much manufactured drama. I’m with the husband on hating the glass doorknobs, and thus not wanting to make things worse by using them as cabinet hardware. But I wasn’t at all in sync with him on his fear of color; I don’t like neutrals for anything other than hallways, ceilings, and trim/cabinetry, so anyone freaked out about a mere “pop of color” just doesn’t compute with me. Especially with how little color was in the kitchen window treatment; that’s not a pop of color, that’s a drop of color. The end result was fine - the kitchen is boring to me but functional and stylish according to their combined tastes, the basement is now a usable space (with that play area easily converted to storage in a few years when the kids outgrow it), and painting the tiles gave the bathroom a nice facelift until they're ready to overhaul it completely (I used epoxy paint on my main bathroom's ugly-ass tiles nearly 20 years ago, and am still a couple of years away from ripping it all out and replacing with granite). I’m confused by the living room, though – it looked like there was a TV with a mirror in front of it over the “fireplace.” Did anyone who'd not had several drinks before the late airing get a proper look to see what that really was?

“Trial by Fire” instilled in me the bad habit of saying, “I mean, seriously” at the end of a grumble. But it’s a very honest case in its sadness – Claudia is successfully scared off from testifying, which results in her going to prison as an accessory to murder while the actual murderer walks. My heart breaks for her when Sharon asks if “shot to death waiting for a bus” is the kind of world she wants her daughter growing up in and Claudia rightly wails, “No, but it’s the world we live in; we don’t have any other world.” Testifying is the right thing to do, but it’s not going to change that, and she’d rather live to see her daughter during prison visits than never at all. I like Sharon’s “If we want the justice system to work, we have to stand beside it when it doesn’t go our way” fundamental belief in the midst of how unfortunate she finds this whole mess. And I love, madly, all the Beck'n and Mom stuff. Sharon not registering that the calling for “Mom” behind her is Rusty trying to get her attention starts it off great, and then the way she keeps teasing him with it (and he always picks the thread right up) is even better. (I also love everyone’s reaction to Jeff saying Rusty’s positive attitude makes him a joy to work with.) Sharon continues to handle Rusty’s crush so well; she could easily tell him Jeff is too old for him and just got out of a relationship, so forget about him, but she knows her warning Rusty off him will only make Jeff more attractive and extend this thing, and that – even with the age difference being more of a concern than normal considering Rusty’s history – it’s actually a healthy sign for Rusty to have a normal, overblown yet harmless crush. So she encourages him to put himself out there and ask him out, and (figuring Jeff will do the right thing again and Rusty can move on from this little obsession) assures him he’s getting ready to start college and there will be life after Badge of Justice. That whole conversation in the living room is an adorable time between them, especially when she says she was hunting down an anonymous 911 caller who reported a murder and he smiles, “That’s how we met.” Provenza’s that’s the spirit reaction to Andy essentially saying the job is the only thing he has, because it’s cost him everything else, so he has to stick with it as the only place he fits in anymore, is so Provenza. Jack cracks me the hell up with “Ah, Rusty Beck – the LAPD’s very own Oliver Twist,” I love his Amazing Kreskin impression when he realizes Ed Winslow is their supposed witness, and I also get an irrational kick out of the way he says Sharon’s name when he wants to irritate her. It’s cute how Andy and Provenza try to keep her from having to deal with him, and she just turns around and handles him perfectly like always. I love watching them spar. “Chain Reaction” is a fabulous Christmas episode, although I am a little baffled by the Provenza and Patrice thing. As I said, I hated her in “Party Foul” and thought the two of them going out to eat after that whole mess was weird. Now they’re going to spend Christmas together, rather than each spending it with their families, even though they’re not dating. Um, why? Of course, at this point – which changes later – Patrice is written as if she’s estranged from her family; there’s no one with her when Keisha is in the hospital (they even make a point of it, via Provenza saying it to Sharon) and now apparently there’s no one who cares that she’s spending Christmas with some random cranky dude instead of them. And, while we learn in season five that Christmas is one of the few times Provenza sees his kids, there have always been indications he knows no one is going to take care of him when he can’t live alone anymore, so I guess I shouldn’t take it as so odd at this point that he wouldn’t be with his family at Christmas. But I do still find it out of the blue that they decide to spend it together, platonically (two rooms, no romance; they start dating after the holiday at home goes well). Oh, well; I love when Andy asks him who this friend he’s spending Christmas with is and Provenza sighs, “At this rate, you” and the way Sharon gestures – and in Buzz’s case, physically removes – everyone out of the Murder Room to give Provenza and Patrice some privacy, so it’s worth it. I’m so glad we finally meet Emily, and wish we’d seen more of her in the series. It makes sense, given where they each live, that Ricky visits more often, but I always wanted to see more of Sharon with the women in her life – more with her daughter, some bits with Andrea outside of work, a little more explicit of the mentor-like boss she is to Amy, etc. Alas. Ricky is funny, with his “after a certain age, Christmas is for our parents” spiel undercut by his grief over Sharon throwing out his elves (pine cones with hats, which he named) and forgetting the Christmas village. I love how excited Sharon is to have all three kids together, but also that she – and they – accept that work keeps interrupting. None of them love it, but it’s okay. It’s also nice to see all the kids together, as they continue to figure out this new family. The looks Emily and Ricky share about Rusty planning to visit his other mom in jail to cheer her up and being worried about his inexperience decorating a Christmas tree are great, and the way Rusty disagrees with them yet agrees to act in sibling solidarity by not telling Sharon about Jack’s drinking is interesting. And, of course, I love the case – a Santa flash mob (or flash dance, as Provenza would say), an illustration of why the “good guy with a gun” idea is rubbish, and a body stuffed in a kid’s cello case leading Provenza to say, “Thank God he doesn’t play the triangle”? Yes, please. I can do without Buzz pouting - for the second time in the franchise – that the murder of Santa Claus is per se a major crime, as if Santa is real. But at least the dumbass winds up with green dye on his face for days. And Faith’s credit report means she’d have never been hired at a bank, but I let that slide. My only real annoyance, and it’s still minor, is that they cut the scene of Andy giving Sharon a gift (an angel ornament or figurine); she finds the box in the Christmas Village. And didn’t even include it on the DVD as a deleted scene, leaving me so thoroughly confused as to where that opened gift box Sharon was holding came from I had to go sleuthing on the internet and find fan references to a Duff social media comment. Beyond that confusion, deleting the gift makes it seem like her reaction to him is just for his unknown role in the surprise office party, and the full picture makes much more sense. I love the special opening credits for this one, with snow falling in the background and Santa hats on the actors’ names while the situation seems to be jaunty fun, the Santa hat in the next credit screen tipping over when it turns out to be a bank robbery, the snow gone and the hat falling down entirely in the screen after one of the Santas gets shot, and then regular credit screens after that. Perfect!

Yes! One of my favorite images of the episode. They either didn't even have horns yet or had teeny tiny ones, but they still had the instinct. Yep, and Apollo will pay the price for this guy's macho attitude. He loves the dog, and obviously pays attention to him; this isn't one of the asshole owners who treat their "guard dog" as a full-time outdoor employee who is mistreated at worst and ignored at best. But he's training him recklessly, and putting the dog he loves at risk right alongside innocent people.

Watching Dr. Jeff and this show back-to-back tonight, I now want a goat. (Goats and piglets are animals that every time I see them on TV, I ask my cat, “Can I have one?” She always says no. Which is good, as I don’t actually want to own either one, but they’re adorable.) I think gender reveal parties are ridiculous, so I laughed so hard I cried when Dr. Lavigne asked if that means you pull your pants down. I'm glad it's a girl. I also liked Dr. Blue not at all having it when that goat yoga lady was trying to convince him being shat/peed on would be a blessing. Not to mention him trying to convince Kayla to keep quiet about the blessing when they got back to the clinic (and it was cool that he started to refer to them by their first names, and then corrected himself and called them Dr. Ross and Dr. Lavigne to her). And Kayla making herself dizzy whipping her hair around like a tornado was funny, too. She was so cute hugging Teddy like he was a big ol' teddy bear. Apollo’s dad is lucky they agree to take him on as a client, with the way he’s training that dog to view everyone other than him as a threat. Missy’s dad came off as a dick; there’s a difference between the this animal means everything to me and I won’t breathe easy until I know all is well sentiment we all feel and telling someone this my dog is more important than anyone else you’ve ever worked on and you better treat her that way jazz. “Thanks for not hurting my dog”? Fool, bye.

The momma cat isn't much bigger than her nine-week-old kittens; poor thing having to carry four of them. The row of them all knocked out after surgery, with Tequila's paw over the kitten closest to her, was such an adorable sight. A dog Bella's size is really lucky to have survived a coyote (if that's who attacked; it could have been another loose dog). Hopefully seeing the horrible consequences scared the kids into never leaving the gate open again. Ugh to Snappy's owner deciding she/he didn't want him anymore after 30 years! But, having never taken proper care of him to begin with, it's a good thing and I wish it had happened long ago. I like the name Tortellini, too; that poor little guy looked so miserable, it was particularly gratifying to see him perk up. Jes the vet tech not being able to hit the vein on his own dog was touching. Melody sticking her head right in the vomit bowl to smell what was coming up was classic. And Fred keeping watch over his BFF was sweet. I laughed out loud at Tina loving to eat anything and everything extending to activated charcoal. That's hard core. The goat sanctuary was cool, and OMG the hooves on that one! I like Dr. Jeff saying he's always excited for the opportunity to neuter something new. And at this rate Dafni is going to enter vet school with more experience than most of her classmates combined.