StatisticalOutlier

I have a friend who makes nice dinners for himself every night. Another friend and I talking were wondering why we don't do that. This other friend said he doesn't think about food until he's hungry, and by then it's too late to make a nice dinner. That's me, too. The friend who makes dinner decides earlier in the day what he's going to have for dinner later, and shops for it if necessary. I'll do that every once in a while because I have a hankering for something in particular that only I can make, but other than that, it's "I'm hungry. I need something to eat." I don't think it's learned helplessness for my friend and me. That's just how we roll. Fortunately, neither of us is fat so it works for us. East Texas, a/k/a "Behind the Pine Curtain." And that son of a bitch who came up to her in the car and said, "I'll pray for you"? WTF? Maybe the cameras brought this on? But mind your own fucking business, asshole. Honestly. Some people. It would cost a fortune for one of these people to feel sated with tuna pouches and pre-sliced fruit and vegetables. Even a sit-down restaurant is a lot more expensive than fast food, and definitely not necessarily healthy. And if I weighed a million pounds, I wouldn't want people to watch me eating in a restaurant, scrutinizing what I was having. Or coming up to me to say they'll pray for me. I'm fine eating in the car. I'm kind of known for my ability to eat a chili cheese dog from Wienerschnitzel while driving and not getting a speck on me. It's a skill I learned in high school, during hours and hours of driving around aimlessly with friends. In the big debate over top-loader vs. front-loader washing machines, ease of access for five-year-olds has never been mentioned. Untapped market. As always, it depends. At Subway you can customize to have mustard instead of mayonnaise or salad dressing, which will make a big difference on any sandwich. Or as the study showed, you can load up a sandwich with high-calorie stuff and make it very calorie dense. Add regular chips and an unlimited refill soda, and there you are. Jared was eating a turkey or vegetable sandwich with no cheese or mayo, baked chips, and a Diet Coke. I'm not saying that's healthy, but it's low calorie. At McDonald's, you can customize, but hardly anybody does. I can't see someone saying, "Big Mac, hold the cheese and secret sauce," for example. And people are going to eat the fries at McDonald's, period. People who are trying to eat something with fewer calories will have an easier time of it at Subway than McDonald's.

Even with an infinite number of contortions, I still think her husband still had to have a dick three feet long to get her pregnant. Seat belts are to keep you from getting thrown around in a crash. It didn't look like that would be a big issue, even with the back of the seat removed. If you have food with the soda, it helps scrub the sugar off your teeth. So...problem solved. Does anybody else use the captions? Because I did a for-real LOL whenever she said "boiled eggs." It was captioned "bald eggs." A guy at my condo association meeting once kept talking about how the bawler needed to be replaced, and the bawler was going to be expensive, and everybody was really confused and finally someone said, "SPELL IT." And he said, "b-o-i-l-e-r. Bawler."

Yeah, I was thinking about the hours and hours of footage they go through to cull these bits. And they leaven it with shots of the kids just watching and not saying anything...cutely, of course. Good job, Bravo (and I don't say that often).

Thank you. I swear it wasn't there last night. A lot of the time those little red things down there don't show up at all, although if I hover over them with a mouse the text description of what it does might (or might not) appear. Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming. I agree about the elephants. I had MY eyes closed and think it was kind of cruel for them to have to be watching it. But I thought surely there must be a happy ending. Their reactions to the cleft palate baby warmed even my stone cold heart. And the authority with which those boys spoke about the 3-month cutoff for surgery on babies was a riot. I'm trying to imagine an American kid saying that and I just can't, and even if he did, it wouldn't be nearly as funny. And those girls' horror over the Queen's outfits. I'm gonna have to watch this again.

Where's the little pencil thing to edit my post? Sorry, but I just can't let my "Aptec" go unacknowledged. It's Apted, of course. The "the" instead of "they" at the beginning is a lesser crime, but as long as I'm at it...

The did the Bake Off and Jurassic Park, but not the other shows you listed. There was one about life developing in the womb (the looks on these kids' faces!), some elephants in Kenya (which is located in India) trying to get across a river, and a short one on the Queen. Is it the accents that make them super hilarious? I've always thought the kids in Aptec's 7-Up series were especially charming because of their accents.

The show was on again just now, and Barbara said she and Jenelle hadn't seen each other for six months, at which point they went to dinner where Jenelle sent Barb home in an Uber because she was too drunk to drive. So...six months. They taped that check-up show at the end of April. How does that correspond with when they were taping the episodes? Even assuming six months back from the end of April, that has them not seeing each other since last October. But Jenelle's plans for spring break were an item in the show, and they had that fight in person. Can anybody figure this out, or is it just the rabbit hole of Teen Mom timing?

That's why I'm wondering how long it was that they didn't see each other before having that dinner. I have a sinking feeling that they're going to be taping the show again, and that's why they were reconnecting, at least enough to start fighting again with Jace in the middle.

Timeline question (I know, probably a fool's errand given this show): Does anybody remember how long they said it had been that Barb and Jenelle hadn't seen each other before they had that dinner where Jenelle had to put Barb in an Uber to get home? And I think David was at that dinner, too--am I right? I thought it was six months, but that can't possibly be right.

That's no doubt why I assumed that's what she was doing.

I have to disagree. I think if Barbara was concerned about Jenelle's welfare, she could have demanded to see her (without yelling--yes, I can dream), and if she was refused, then call the cops herself. Absolutely nothing good is going to come out of yet another Barbara-Jenelle-boyfriend altercation, especially when all four kids are standing there watching. Tragically, it happens that I agree with both David and Drew on this: People shouldn't be yelling like that in front of the kids. Please don't ever let that happen again. The yelling, or the agreeing. I wasn't impressed with Barbara during this check-up show. She defends yelling in front of the kids by saying, "They know I yell." And she says she yells all the time because she's short and she wants people to hear her. Hey, Barb--People can hear you when you're not yelling, but they don't listen because you never follow though with anything so it's all just noise to endure until things go back to the status quo. It has nothing to do with not talking loud enough, and it definitely has nothing to do with being short. And when she was crowing about everybody knowing who she is, it was not lost on me that this conversation started because THE POLICE know who she is ("When I go outside the cops are like, 'Hi, Barbara!' 'Hi!' Ha ha ha ha ha"). That is not something I would ever be proud of. I'm disappointed. I thought she'd used girlses as the plural, and always thought it was hilarious. But it's as the possessive, and that one is at least a little uncertain. Like if you want to make Bess possessive--you wouldn't say "I have Bess book," what you would say would sound like "I have Besses book." I know Leah is making a plural possessive, and you generally don't add an audible "es" on the end, but at least there's something she can hang her hat on there, unlike if she were saying the plural of "girl" as "girlses," as I originally thought. But they will always be Leah and her girlses to me. A couple of other observations: Jenelle was against Jace taking medication because it's a controlled substance and she's worried about if "when he gets older if he's still on it, if, like, his friends are like 'oh let me get some of that' or somethin'." Excellent reason to keep him off it when he's six and having trouble in school. And this interchange between Drew and David was choice: SP: "Nathan said some pretty negative things about you, being I think an addict or not working, a whole litany of things. Do you want to address that?" David: "That's all he ever says. That's why I don't like him." Silly me--I thought "addressing" that would include something like, say, rebutting those charges. And of course Drew lets him off the hook. And then, "I had custody of my son taken away when I was incarcerated." I couldn't help but think of Anthony on Designing Women and his unfortunate incarceration. And Drew actually asked him what his incarceration was for (!) and David said it was for "something completely different." Uh, different from what? Hey, Drew. Ask him, "Different from what?" Gah.

And be sure to just throw the used floss pic thingys on the ground when you're done. Everybody else does, to judge from how many I see in parking lots. What is the deal with that?? Is everybody flossing their teeth while walking around? I just don't get it. Same with hair elastics. I don't think I've ever been in a parking lot where I didn't see at least one lying on the ground. How do they get there? People's ponytails just fall apart and they don't notice and keep on walking? Being a ground-watcher is hell. Check out these things for closing bags. Clip-n-Seal They're expensive but will never break, they come in different diameters, and you can cut them if you want them shorter. I've been using them for probably 10 years now and every single time I close a bag, I thank the organizer gods for them.

Agree. People have become irrationally terrified of the word "me." Except to start a sentence. Sigh.

Remember when Caroline Kennedy used "you know" about a million times in an interview and the world went crazy? That told me it's not something that just kids do, and fair or not, she was criticized for it (I fall on the "fair" side). This is not the thread for discussing society's ills, but the whole millennial inclusivity thing is starting to mean that people don't have to behave and talk like an adult to get taken seriously. Case in point: vocal fry. It's just the way people talk and if it bugs you there's something wrong with you (probably your advanced age). Back to the topic... But as discussed upthread, they've already started using "between she and I" in scripted shows and I've ranted about a scripted show using "your guys's" as a possessive for "you guys." This is how bad it is--I had the TV on while cooking and my hands were too grimy to work the remote, and "Two and a Half Men" came on. I've never seen the show, but I know of it (which is why I'd never seen it, actually). Anyway, within just a couple of minutes Charlie Sheen used the word "me," and not as "Me and him went to the store." He used it as the object of a preposition (is that what it's called?), as in "He brought it to Bob and me." When "Two and a Half Men" makes me nostalgic for quality in television, the end is near.

Thank you. I knew one of them had admitted on a reunion show that she was hiding her boyfriend(s) from the camera. And actually, I couldn't figure out how to edit my post when I remembered that she had spent all that time having occasional sex (I just can't use "hooking up") with Adam, and wasn't looking to date for that reason. That's not exactly an introspective attempt at a reset of her life. I am just trying to wrap my head around someone who is picky having a hard time moving on from...Adam. Seems to me it's the opposite.

Just because Dr. Drew says it doesn't make it true. I'd like to see some proof of causation. In the meantime, I'll believe what I see--that this show illustrates that being a teen mom can make you a celebrity. Then I have to wonder why she went to therapy (or rehab, as I believe Corey termed it). Seems like if it was just a matter of the meds being too strong, she'd have the dosage adjusted, and if it was a matter of taking too many, she's stop taking too many. Unless she couldn't. She did date, but didn't have them on the show (and maybe even hid it from the show?). Since we didn't see it, we don't know if she was positioning people she was dating as new daddies; I hope not. But if she didn't, she certainly seems to be making up for lost time now. I had to laugh when a few episodes ago, she was saying something about what are the odds that you will find your perfect partner (or maybe she even said soul mate--I have trouble listening to her baby voice) in your own town; it reminded me how young these people are even though they've been on my TV forever. Because yeah, there's nobody on the whole planet for her except this one guy in Sioux Falls.

She did get pregnant, but had a miscarriage, and I don't remember that their marriage was all that wonderful at that time. I'm glad she hasn't added yet another kid to the mix, but I think luck (or fate, for the more squeamish) played a part in it.

Unfortunately, I doubt that's the case. What?? Obesity in pigs?? Big shock.

I think Chelsea let it be up in the air, though. All she had to do was tell him he has until X date to let her know if he can go to the dance, and that if she doesn't hear from him, she'll assume he can't. Really, if a chief complaint of hers is that Adam never responds to texts, then make it so that it doesn't matter if he doesn't respond. All she has to tell Aubree is that she's checking with Adam to see if he can go. If he doesn't respond by the deadline, then she tells Aubree he can't make it, so Cole is taking her. If Aubree asks why he can't make it, Chelsea just says she doesn't know, but Cole is looking forward to it. It makes it a little easier on Adam, which I'm sure Chelsea isn't interested in. But it makes it a LOT easier on Chelsea, and it's better for Aubree not to be told that Adam didn't respond. I wish those considerations would outweigh whatever investment she has in getting the same result but with Adam proving himself once again to be a dick. Definitely a gamble, and definitely having to choose among several bad options. But she did choose one that meant she would be taking care of Jace, and she's doing a terrible job. Frankly, I don't think Barb's any better than Jenelle in this respect because she doesn't consider that Jace is present when she takes calls from Jenelle even though there's a very high probability it's going to be a typical Jenelle call, laced with profanity and ending with abruptly hanging up on her. I'm positive MTV wants them to talk on the phone, but so what? Why doesn't Barb say, "It's harmful for Jace to be exposed to it, so I won't do it in front of him. I'll let you film Jenelle and me fighting until the end of time but not when he's present." Actually, I'll answer my own question: She doesn't do that because she doesn't think it's harmful, and because of that, I think she's a bad parent and I resent her accepting that role. At the very least she could TRY to learn some parenting skills, but I seriously doubt she thinks there's anything wrong with her parenting, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. Or, worse, she's afraid of losing the MTV money, which is unforgivable, not to mention kind of stupid because I'd be willing to bet big that there's no way MTV would engage in a showdown about that.

But Barb wasn't just put in the predicament; she had a big hand in it. She told Jenelle she wouldn't take care of the kid, but she did anyway. In that sense, I feel she volunteered because she chose not to make Jenelle take care of Jace. There was an episode of 16&P (maybe two?) where the parents insisted that they would not take care of the baby and the daughter believed it and gave the baby up for adoption. Traumatic for all involved, but at least there's a chance that the baby found its way into a decent home. Jace was never even given that chance because Barbara prevented it from happening, and I think she owes him. Adoption and foster care are far from perfect, and there are definitely no guarantees. But if Jace were living this very life within the foster care system, it would be used as an example of the failing of the system, that a child would be placed in such a harmful, toxic atmosphere.

I think the real question America wants answered is, "How does a person lose weight on a diet of Lunchables, Mountain Dew and frosting in a can?" Aubree will figure everything out on her own eventually, and wouldn't it be nice if she were able to say, "You know, mom, my dad never really cared a bit about me, and that hurts, but thank you for protecting me from that hurt for as long as you could. It couldn't have been easy for you." I know Chelsea's sick of dealing with Adam, but it's a father-daughter dance, for christ's sake. So text him the date, and tell him you need to know by X day if he can make it, and tell him if you don't hear from him by X day you'll assume he can't and you'll make other arrangements. If Adam says he's coming, then have Cole waiting in the wings if Adam doesn't show. And don't tell Aubree any of this. Sorry, but you chose to breed with this guy, so suck it up. I forgot about that. I've always thought it was her strange affect that I found so weird, and the way she always says "my child." But her list of the things that constitute her doing well was just odd, and your quote captured it. Who says, "I work out vigorously" in a casual conversation? Actually, almost all of her conversation sounds like a rehearsed recitation of bullet points. Although I think Jace will be in jail by the time he's 14, let's assume his family is responsible for him until he's 18. He's 1/3 of the way there already. When does she think this sea change is going to happen? And every time there's a big incident, the clock starts over. Barb just doesn't want to cut Jenelle out of her life. I'm sure she loves her, and I think she actually enjoys the drama. But she needs to be thinking about someone other than herself. Don't tell me MTV is going back to music! The world would be a much better place.

I was just going to rant about Barbara. That woman VOLUNTEERED to take custody of Jace, and she'd doing such an unbelievably shitty job it makes my blood boil. Why she EVER let him around Jenelle is beyond me, but what she's doing now is beyond the pale. Really, ALL she is doing is a little better job of keeping Jace alive than Jenelle would. And I mean "alive" as in currently breathing--the "life" he is going to have makes me very very sad. Actually, the life he already has is very very sad, and it's Barb's fault. Why would she EVER have a phone conversation with Jenelle, on speakerphone no less, within earshot of Jace? I can almost see the fight she had with David where he called the cops on her--things get heated and out of hand, it happens (all too often with this crowd, and I definitely think she handled it very very poorly, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt on that one). But there is no reason in the world for her to answer the phone when she knows it's Jenelle and Jace is listening. Just call her back later, you dipshit. Even if there are 100 perfectly civil conversations (which I doubt), there's a history of fights and foul language and someone who actually cared about Jace would do what she can to protect him from that, and the way you do that is DON'T LET HIM LISTEN TO PHONE CONVERSATIONS WITH JENELLE. Gah, it's really not that hard. Oh, and Barb--when you volunteer to parent someone because you think you'll do a better job than anyone else, at least put a seat belt on the kid while you're driving him around while fighting with your daughter on the phone.

Not to go too far afield, but the only way insurance premiums are affected by income is if a person buys individual health insurance on the healthcare exchange AND qualifies for a government subsidy due to low income. The price of the policy is the same, but the amount a given person pays for that policy might be less, but it's only because the government contributes to the premium in the form of a subsidy for people with sufficiently low income (which would not include Kail or any of the Teen Moms). The cost of insurance is affected by age, but older people pay more, not the other way around. I ran some quick numbers for Dover, Delaware (I don't know where Kail lives in Delaware) on healthsherpa.com, and compared the premium for a silver plan from Blue Cross that has an EPO network (more flexible than an HMO) and found: $277 for a single person age 23, $3,400 deductible $494 for a single person age 50, $3,400 deductible $628 for a single person age 23 and two children, $6,800 deductible for the family The absolute highest policy on the exchange for a 23-year-old with two children is $957 with a $600 deductible for the family.

Amber hit Gary with the cameras rolling. Twice, maybe. If she didn't want to leave Jenelle and Kaiser, she could say, "I'm leaving, and I'm calling the police." And then call the police. Oh, but that would mean she'd have to follow through with one of her threats. Not going to happen. I read it as the text came in, not that she replied to it. All of which again makes me wonder just how much good is coming from giving deployed people constant access to the internet. So much drama for people that age.

Ah, I missed that because I tend to FF through Leah's on-the-couch-talking scenes. I regret it. Did she really? Oh my. I couldn't take the Amy Winehouse hair, and managed to also miss this. But I don't regret it. I can't believe that eye doc said that. And maybe it's too contaminatey, but here's what I do to put drops in. Wash your face. Lie back with your eyes closed, and put a drop in the corners of your closed eyes. Open your eyes, and the liquid flows into your eyes. Done. I have a real thing about eyes, but have worn contacts for 35 years because I learned to put them in without having to watch them coming toward my eyes. I bless the ground that one-eyed optician walked on. But there are different kinds of prison. You can't leave either a state prison in Louisiana or a federal prison in Connecticut, but I know which inmate has it better. I've said this before--he's not in a jungle being shot at by the enemy and sprayed with Agent Orange by his own side. Plus he volunteered for this. Shut up. I wonder if all this contact with his family and friends is actually doing more harm than good. Maybe it should be like how they used to do summer camp--cold turkey. The kids are homesick as hell, and then usually get over it as long as they're not constantly reminded about it. I did about 10 seconds of internet searching and found this from the West Virginia Code: Who knows what's going on with that whole thing. I do know I don't really trust either Leah or Corey with explaining the fine points of a custody order and its conformity with the West Virginia statutes, especially when it could be used for either one to point a finger at the other. I give her no props whatsoever because it was stupid, and she did it in front of Jace and the other kids. She has no business confronting someone she thinks has committed domestic violence in the past. She put herself in danger, she put those kids in danger, and if nothing else, those kids had to watch that. What possible good can come from that? And then she puts Jenelle on speakerphone in the car, where Jace and Gabriel have to listen to the whole thing. There was NO reason to do that. So no props from me. Instead, a big "Fuck you, Barb."