Chit-Chat: What's On Your Mind Today?

[EtheltoTillie]

39 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Did you ever see the TV show?  I think it was a limited production and can't recall now if it was PBS (as the Ramona series was) or not.  In any event Eve Plumb played Peter and Fudge's mother and I recall it being very well done. 

I had no idea there was a show.  I'm going to try to find it.

[PRgal]

2 hours ago, Anela said:

I don’t think we had the babysitter's club in England. Or, I just hadn’t heard of it.  I remember a movie, years ago, but I wasn’t a kid when that came out.  

What did British girls (BSC was mostly, no, OVERWHELMINGLY read by girls.  Boys may or may not have read it on the down low) read in the 80s and 90s?  

As for Ramona, I SOOOO wanted to squeeze an entire tube of toothpaste into the sink.  Didn't, of course, because I, too, would have gotten in SO MUCH TROUBLE!

47 minutes ago, Dimity said:

Did you ever see the TV show?  I think it was a limited production and can't recall now if it was PBS (as the Ramona series was) or not.  In any event Eve Plumb played Peter and Fudge's mother and I recall it being very well done. 

I've heard of the show, but it was well after my Judy Blume years.  I think they updated it to the (then) present time (so circa 2000s?)?  There was a Fudge book published after my time too.  

[Anela]

I'm trying to remember what I read, because I was a big reader, but I don't remember most of these. I did read Judy Blume. The Enchanted Wood. The books involving Narnia. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. That was the first book I bought through a book club in school. They handed them out, not long before we went home that day, and I still remember that feeling I had, holding the book for the first time.

We had Degrassi in England, but it must have been before Drake was involved. 

[Dimity]

2 minutes ago, PRgal said:

I've heard of the show, but it was well after my Judy Blume years.  I think they updated it to the (then) present time (so circa 2000s?)?  There was a Fudge book published after my time too.  

I just googled it and it was made in the 90s and was show on the ABC morning line-up - there were less than 30 episodes made which explains why I thought it was a limited production. Checking it out I realize we watched it when it was airing in the UK.  My recollection is that, as you say, it was set in the present day but I think most of the stories were pretty timeless.

[fastiller]

44 minutes ago, PRgal said:

What did British girls (BSC was mostly, no, OVERWHELMINGLY read by girls.  Boys may or may not have read it on the down low) read in the 80s and 90s?  

Not UK/British, but: when I lived in Ireland in the 80s, I and my friends were all over the Jilly Cooper books.  There were others I'm sure; can't recall them now.

[Dimity]

48 minutes ago, PRgal said:

What did British girls (BSC was mostly, no, OVERWHELMINGLY read by girls.  Boys may or may not have read it on the down low) read in the 80s and 90s?  

We lived in England in the late '90s and the British author I recall my daughter absolutely loving was Jacqueline Wilson.  I'm not sure if she has had much success in Canada/US but most Brits would know her.

[Anela]

1 hour ago, PRgal said:

What did British girls (BSC was mostly, no, OVERWHELMINGLY read by girls.  Boys may or may not have read it on the down low) read in the 80s and 90s?  

As for Ramona, I SOOOO wanted to squeeze an entire tube of toothpaste into the sink.  Didn't, of course, because I, too, would have gotten in SO MUCH TROUBLE!

I've heard of the show, but it was well after my Judy Blume years.  I think they updated it to the (then) present time (so circa 2000s?)?  There was a Fudge book published after my time too.  

I didn't see this before I posted. We must have cross-posted. Sorry. 

I'm still trying to remember. We were the V.C. Andrews kids. Flowers in the Attic. Also the Chronicles of Narnia. The Box of Delights, was a successful kids TV show. Children's BBC had several TV series, so I watched those.

The Secret Seven, the __ Five? I read a lot of those books, that were before my time. I started reading Dean Koontz, and other books like that, when I was a teenager. 

John Saul - I read his books when I was seventeen/eighteen. I loved horror books, fantasy. 

[PRgal]

15 minutes ago, Anela said:

I didn't see this before I posted. We must have cross-posted. Sorry. 

I'm still trying to remember. We were the V.C. Andrews kids. Flowers in the Attic. Also the Chronicles of Narnia. The Box of Delights, was a successful kids TV show. Children's BBC had several TV series, so I watched those.

The Secret Seven, the __ Five? I read a lot of those books, that were before my time. I started reading Dean Koontz, and other books like that, when I was a teenager. 

John Saul - I read his books when I was seventeen/eighteen. I loved horror books, fantasy. 

Do you mean the Fabulous Five?  It was a spin-off of the Taffy Sinclair books, right?  The girls lived in Connecticut?  

[Dimity]

21 minutes ago, PRgal said:

Do you mean the Fabulous Five?  It was a spin-off of the Taffy Sinclair books, right?  The girls lived in Connecticut?  

My first thought were the Enid Blyton books The Famous Five. 

[Browncoat]

2 hours ago, fastiller said:

Since we're going down book-related memory lane, did anyone else read the Paul Zindel books?  My Darling, My Hamburger; Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball; Teenage Baboon.  And the play The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.

I read all of those.  I might even still have Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball.  I wonder how it holds up?  Back in the day, I read Narnia, Madeleine L'Engle, Judy Blume (oh, the scandal that was "Forever"!), "Where The Red Fern Grows," and the Little House books to name a few.

[lookeyloo]

I am 81.  I did read all the Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, even Hardy Boys available to me(I think most of them were by the same author).  My favorites were Taffy's Foal and Baby Island.  They weren't part of any series.  I had total access to our library - my mother thought reading anything was better than not reading, and when I graduated to my adult card I had no limits.  My mother and I sometimes read the same books and a lot of that went over my head, but, I was still reading something.https://www.amazon.com/Taffys-Foal-Elisa-Bialk/dp/B0006ARXOA

https://archive.org/details/babyisland0000brin

[Dimity]

7 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

Baby Island

One of the first books I ever ordered from Scholastic!!  Awesome book  (by the author of Caddie Woodlawn) I recently re-read this in a walk down memory lane and I still loved it.  Totally unbelievable of course but I didn't care then and I still don't care 😃!

[PRgal]

38 minutes ago, Dimity said:

My first thought were the Enid Blyton books The Famous Five. 

Maybe it's just my Canadianness but this is what I think when I hear The Famous Five.  One of the women was an alumna of my high school.  

[shapeshifter]

The most influential book I read was in 5th grade: My Side of the Mountain.
I read it after the teacher read it aloud to us, a chapter a day. I still recall relating to the main character and imagining I was a boy for a bit when I read it. 
Mom was so relieved that I wanted to read something besides comic books.
After that I read biographies, and those "Mushroom Planet" books.
Also Misty of Chincoteague and other horse books, and enjoyed drawing pictures of horses with a like-minded friend.

Decades later, as a parent and then as a librarian, I read the Little House books, the Beverly Cleary books, the Baby Sitters' Club books, and others, including some very dark books for young adults on the Holocaust that my oldest daughter read. 

My middle daughter started reading Jane Austen when she was in middle school. We would enjoy talking to each other like we were in 18th Century England.

I do remember seeing Drake in DeGrassi on TV in reruns. 

[Dimity]

10 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

The most influential book I read was in 5th grade: My Side of the Mountain.
I read it after the teacher read it aloud to us, a chapter a day. I still recall relating to the main character and imagining I was a boy for a bit when I read it. 

My English teacher in grade 7 read us a chapter from Kenneth Roberts "Northwest Passage" and a bunch of us did the 50 yard dash to the library afterwards to get a copy so we could read the whole book.  I wonder if anyone reads his books anymore?   This one is pretty problematic and not one I'd likely recommend but boy was it a page turner back in the day!

Edited February 13 by Dimity

[Anela]

1 hour ago, PRgal said:

Do you mean the Fabulous Five?  It was a spin-off of the Taffy Sinclair books, right?  The girls lived in Connecticut?  

I think it was the Famous Five. I read a lot of Enid Blyton. I'm going to look these books up, though.

Ohh, that reminds me: I'm watching a show now, where a little boy is reading James and the Giant Peach, in the pilot. I loved those books. I read a lot of Roald Dahl, too. 

51 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

I am 81.  I did read all the Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, even Hardy Boys available to me(I think most of them were by the same author).  My favorites were Taffy's Foal and Baby Island.  They weren't part of any series.  I had total access to our library - my mother thought reading anything was better than not reading, and when I graduated to my adult card I had no limits.  My mother and I sometimes read the same books and a lot of that went over my head, but, I was still reading something.https://www.amazon.com/Taffys-Foal-Elisa-Bialk/dp/B0006ARXOA

https://archive.org/details/babyisland0000brin

My mum was a huge reader, and she's the one who got me started. I've been going to the library since I was little. It's one of my favourite places to be. 

9 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

The most influential book I read was in 5th grade: My Side of the Mountain.
I read it after the teacher read it aloud to us, a chapter a day. I still recall relating to the main character and imagining I was a boy for a bit when I read it. 
Mom was so relieved that I wanted to read something besides comic books.
After that I read biographies, and those "Mushroom Planet" books.
Also Misty of Chincoteague and other horse books, and enjoyed drawing pictures of horses with a like-minded friend.

Decades later, as a parent and then as a librarian, I read the Little House books, the Beverly Cleary books, the Baby Sitters' Club books, and others, including some very dark books for young adults on the Holocaust that my oldest daughter read. 

My middle daughter started reading Jane Austen when she was in middle school. We would enjoy talking to each other like we were in 18th Century England.

I do remember seeing Drake in DeGrassi on TV in reruns. 

Reading in class, reminded me of having to read out loud to the class, in English. This one mean English teacher, mocked my pronunciation of something, instead of just kindly correcting me, and the other kids laughed. I hated that place. 

Edited February 13 by Anela

[Ancaster]

3 hours ago, Dimity said:

My first thought were the Enid Blyton books The Famous Five. 

Learning a foreign language?  Borrow some library books by Enid Blyton - Famous Five, Secret Seven, etc.  If you can ignore the blatant racism and misogyny, her simplistic language is a great way to learn a language.  As long as you can get someone to explain "Lashings of ginger beer".

[Dimity]

1 minute ago, Ancaster said:

As long as you can get someone to explain "Lashings of ginger beer".

And that rugs are actually blankets.  That confused me so much when I was first reading the Adventure series (my personal favourite of her series books).

[shapeshifter]

A meme for some of us:

• Don't worry about not having a Valentine on Valentine's Day.
  You didn't have a groundhog on Groundhog Day either.

[Mindthinkr]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The most influential book I read was in 5th grade: My Side of the Mountain.

I still give that book as a gift to young boys. I loved it too. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I used to read these boys’ adventure books by an early twentieth century author Stephen Meader. They were about boys who ran away to sea and stuff like that. Very exciting!  I don’t know how I got on to them but they were in the library. 

[Bastet]

It's sad how girls have always been expected to read books about boys as much - or even more, given what was out there at any given time - as books about girls, but books about girls are still so often regarded as only for girls to read.  It's a precursor of what persists among executives in adult entertainment (not that kind, which is its own sexist pile of problems) -- the belief, contradicted by facts, that while women will spend money on male-dominated stories (books, shows, films), men won't do the reverse.  There's still a resistance, of course, but the numbers have consistently shown for years that women-centered stories draw a notable audience among men, not just women.  But we still hear "chick film" and "chick lit" dismissively -- just like how the idea black people will watch movies centered around white people but Black-centered movies will only attract a Black audience has been disproved, but the "niche audience" myth persists, impacting what gets published/produced.

[Anduin]

On a completely different topic. I've been assigned to look for a treadmill to buy, only I'm not sure what I should be looking for. Anyone know anything about what makes one good or bad, outside price?

[EtheltoTillie]

I found the Fudge show on Roku TV (for free).  I watched a little bit so far.  It's so much fun for me to watch the opening, as it was filmed in my neighborhood, New York's Upper West Side, and I can see so many familiar sights but how they looked thirty years ago.  (I have lived in this area for more than 50 years.)  The books actually take place in the neighborhood too, and that's one of the reasons they were fun to read also. 

3 hours ago, Anduin said:

On a completely different topic. I've been assigned to look for a treadmill to buy, only I'm not sure what I should be looking for. Anyone know anything about what makes one good or bad, outside price?

I have an extreme opinion:  the only good treadmill is a commercial gym treadmill.  The ones made for home use feel flimsy to me.  That's why when I went to buy a treadmill I bought a used gym treadmill.  There are companies that sell them reconditioned.  They have a heavy duty motor and a high platform. 

Similarly, I bought a used commercial gym spin bike.  That one was barely used.  I bought it from a condo building that was getting rid of it because no one used it. 

Edited February 14 by EtheltoTillie

[PRgal]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

It's sad how girls have always been expected to read books about boys as much - or even more, given what was out there at any given time - as books about girls, but books about girls are still so often regarded as only for girls to read.  It's a precursor of what persists among executives in adult entertainment (not that kind, which is its own sexist pile of problems) -- the belief, contradicted by facts, that while women will spend money on male-dominated stories (books, shows, films), men won't do the reverse.  There's still a resistance, of course, but the numbers have consistently shown for years that women-centered stories draw a notable audience among men, not just women.  But we still hear "chick film" and "chick lit" dismissively -- just like how the idea black people will watch movies centered around white people but Black-centered movies will only attract a Black audience has been disproved, but the "niche audience" myth persists, impacting what gets published/produced.

It’s really up to parents to make the change.  I bought my son Madeline books but he didn’t seem interested (I don’t want to get him Eloise for other reasons).  Ramona is to come.  Males not reciprocating is one of the reasons why there are far fewer male elementary school teachers.  

[kittykat]

I lost count how many Babysitters club books I had.  Regular series, mysteries, super specials.  Shelves of books.  As said before I had Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume.  Never really got into Sweet Valley.

Did anyone go through a teen gore phase?  I went through R.L Stine (Goosebumps and Fear Street), Christopher Pike, Lois Duncan.  I read those like crazy for awhile.

14 hours ago, Bastet said:

It's sad how girls have always been expected to read books about boys as much - or even more, given what was out there at any given time - as books about girls, but books about girls are still so often regarded as only for girls to read.  It's a precursor of what persists among executives in adult entertainment (not that kind, which is its own sexist pile of problems) -- the belief, contradicted by facts, that while women will spend money on male-dominated stories (books, shows, films), men won't do the reverse.  There's still a resistance, of course, but the numbers have consistently shown for years that women-centered stories draw a notable audience among men, not just women.  But we still hear "chick film" and "chick lit" dismissively -- just like how the idea black people will watch movies centered around white people but Black-centered movies will only attract a Black audience has been disproved, but the "niche audience" myth persists, impacting what gets published/produced.

So true.  And anytime a female led movie breaks box office the pundits are all "whuh-huhhhh women like movies!"

And yes it's true, men like female led films.  My James Bond, Terminator consuming dad bawled shamelessly when we saw Sense and Sensibility in the theaters.  It's still one of his favorite movies.

[Anduin]

8 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I have an extreme opinion:  the only good treadmill is a commercial gym treadmill.  The ones made for home use feel flimsy to me.  That's why when I went to buy a treadmill I bought a used gym treadmill.  There are companies that sell them reconditioned.  They have a heavy duty motor and a high platform.

Okay, how would I find one of those? I really have little idea what I'm doing here. :)

[shapeshifter]

My 2014 Subaru got a new battery and a shower for Valentine's Day. 

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, Anduin said:

Okay, how would I find one of those? I really have little idea what I'm doing here. :)

There are companies that sell them and can easily be found with Google. That’s how I found one. But I don’t want to steer you wrong because you seem to have so little knowledge. Have you used a treadmill? Sounds like you are not familiar with them at all.
 Do you know the difference between a home model and a commercial model?  If not Just start by Googling so you can see pictures.  I suggest you go to some sporting goods stores and look at home treadmills. Go to some gyms if you don’t belong to one and ask to take a tour and try the commercial equipment. Gyms will give you day passes. 

When I was looking I just searched for a model that was the same as one I liked at my local gym that went out of business. Since you can’t try them when you order this way you need to know in advance what you are ordering. Who has asked you to look for a treadmill?  Does that person know more than you do?  
Start by reading some articles rating treadmills so you understand them. But also you have to try them in real life to see what you like. 

Another thing that people care about in treadmills is the display. Some people want to have video workouts and others don’t care. 

[Anduin]

58 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

There are companies that sell them and can easily be found with Google. That’s how I found one. But I don’t want to steer you wrong because you seem to have so little knowledge. Have you used a treadmill? Sounds like you are not familiar with them at all.

What I was getting at, there are models that cost anywhere between $200 and $4000. Exactly what features are worth the money? I suffer from choice paralysis and want to narrow it down somewhat.

[roseha]

@Anduin  are you buying the treadmill for yourself (you said "assigned")?

If so is there a way you could try out the treadmills at a local gym first to see how much you like them and might use them?

I'm only posting because my super and building staff recently helped me get rid of a treadmill that was sitting in my bedroom for....years.  I bought it pre-internet.  I was storing stuff on it, and all of it had to go when the lead paint and dust started coming down from the ceiling. The guys were really nice about taking the thing apart and getting it out of here.  But let's face it this is a thing that's so huge and heavy that - aside from the point @EtheltoTillie makes about quality - are you sure you will want one long term?

Just throwing that out (no pun intended).

By the way my super tells me they now make treadmills with no arm handles. !!!!!!

[Anduin]

3 hours ago, roseha said:

@Anduin  are you buying the treadmill for yourself (you said "assigned")?

If so is there a way you could try out the treadmills at a local gym first to see how much you like them and might use them?

I'm only posting because my super and building staff recently helped me get rid of a treadmill that was sitting in my bedroom for....years.  I bought it pre-internet.  I was storing stuff on it, and all of it had to go when the lead paint and dust started coming down from the ceiling. The guys were really nice about taking the thing apart and getting it out of here.  But let's face it this is a thing that's so huge and heavy that - aside from the point @EtheltoTillie makes about quality - are you sure you will want one long term?

Nope, not me!

[EtheltoTillie]

9 hours ago, roseha said:

@Anduin  are you buying the treadmill for yourself (you said "assigned")?

If so is there a way you could try out the treadmills at a local gym first to see how much you like them and might use them?

I'm only posting because my super and building staff recently helped me get rid of a treadmill that was sitting in my bedroom for....years.  I bought it pre-internet.  I was storing stuff on it, and all of it had to go when the lead paint and dust started coming down from the ceiling. The guys were really nice about taking the thing apart and getting it out of here.  But let's face it this is a thing that's so huge and heavy that - aside from the point @EtheltoTillie makes about quality - are you sure you will want one long term?

Just throwing that out (no pun intended).

By the way my super tells me they now make treadmills with no arm handles. !!!!!!

Yup. When my treadmill was delivered they had to remove the arms to get it through the door. 

[EtheltoTillie]

14 hours ago, Anduin said:

What I was getting at, there are models that cost anywhere between $200 and $4000. Exactly what features are worth the money? I suffer from choice paralysis and want to narrow it down somewhat.

I’m having difficulty narrowing it down at this point beyond having you first distinguish between the heavy duty gym treadmills and the home treadmills.  That’s where the price differential shows up.   It’s all about the feel and durability. If you are going to buy a gym treadmill the feature of heavy duty action and sturdiness is what you are buying. Any display differences are just bells and whistles. 
All the gym treadmill brands are priced similarly and are used at many different gyms.  And are all probably equivalent in quality. I have used all brands at different gyms in my lifetime. I own a Precor.  I paid about $3,000 for the used one. I can’t comment on the home treadmills from personal experience.  They look like children’s toys compared to the commercial models.  The commercial models are built to withstand heavy pounding by gym members hour after hour for years.  Since I’m the only one who uses mine, it will essentially last forever.  But also the feel to the user is important .  You don’t want to feel like you are bouncing around.  

For a serious or even moderately serious runner you’d want the gym treadmill. people who just walk might be satisfied with a home treadmill.  Then rather than research you’d have the person go out and try the treadmills. 

Who is your end user who has asked you to buy? family member?  Employer?  What is their price point?   Does he/she know what he/ she wants?  You can’t buy a treadmill in a vacuum. Please give us more info.  

Edited February 15 by EtheltoTillie

[graybrown bird]

On 2/13/2025 at 1:41 PM, Anela said:

 

Reading in class, reminded me of having to read out loud to the class, in English. This one mean English teacher, mocked my pronunciation of something, instead of just kindly correcting me, and the other kids laughed. I hated that place. 

Some people shouldn't be teachers.  I'm so sorry.

[EtheltoTillie]

https://www.fitnesssuperstore.com/Precor-c966i-Treadmill-p/c966i.htm?gad_source=1

Here's a link to the model of treadmill I bought.  I paid $3,000 delivered in 2012.  They still seem to be sold.  Or newer models by same brand.  I did not buy from that company.  

Life Fitness is also a good brand. 

 

Edited February 15 by EtheltoTillie

[Dimity]

This would be me:

 

[Anela]

Just now, Dimity said:

This would be me:

 

This is me. 

[Anduin]

7 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

For a serious or even moderately serious runner you’d want the gym treadmill. people who just walk might be satisfied with a home treadmill.  Then rather than research you’d have the person go out and try the treadmills. 

Who is your end user who has asked you to buy? family member?  Employer?  What is their price point?   Does he/she know what he/ she wants?  You can’t buy a treadmill in a vacuum. Please give us more info.  

Someone has asked for one for their birthday. I'm coordinating with two other people here, it's all a bit complicated. Have to wait for answers, and so on.

[EtheltoTillie]

1 hour ago, Anduin said:

Someone has asked for one for their birthday. I'm coordinating with two other people here, it's all a bit complicated. Have to wait for answers, and so on.

Yeah, let us know.  I don't think one could or should buy something like a treadmill without input of the end user.  Unless they said--I want the Runmaster 2020X with whatever-- I would be wary, as it's so expensive.  It would be like buying someone a wedding dress or a new suit without their trying it on. 

[Anduin]

3 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Yeah, let us know.  I don't think one could or should buy something like a treadmill without input of the end user.  Unless they said--I want the Runmaster 2020X with whatever-- I would be wary, as it's so expensive.  It would be like buying someone a wedding dress or a new suit without their trying it on. 

None of us are made of money, it's not going to be the $4,000 model by any means. :)

[EtheltoTillie]

1 minute ago, Anduin said:

None of us are made of money, it's not going to be the $4,000 model by any means. :)

I understand.  The recipient should know what he/she is really getting or wanting.  Because if the cheaper models would not be suitable, then even that might be a waste of money. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

My laptop died last night. I’ve had it for about four years so I’m just going to buy a new one and went to Best Buy today to test drive a few models. Old computer crashed on me while I was revising a fanfic (got a blue screen of death), and then it would freeze and/or the display would go on the fritz after I would boot it back up. At this age of the laptop I wasn’t inclined to take it to a local shop for diagnostics and repair; if it were only a year or two old I may have felt differently. But I’ve had this computer since I lived in my first apartment and bought it in 2020 or 2021 so I’m going to move on and wait for an electronics recycling event to get rid of it. (I write all my fic in Google Docs so I’m not worried about losing files but I probably should clean out my Google Drive since it’s home to some abandoned fics, years old resumes, and some failed attempts at original fiction.)

Anyway, all that is to say thank goodness I’ve spent the last year building up an emergency fund. I can’t save a lot, so I only have about $700 there, but it will cover me if I have anything else pop up before my next payday. Makes me feel a little less stressed that this happened. It’s still annoying, and I need to buy quick and not spend too much time dawdling over what model I want because of some things I have to do, but it’s not the world ender that will keep me up like it would have if this had happened a year or two ago. 

[SoMuchTV]

I’m watching a show where a mother and daughter are discussing things to do to help ensure safety, and one item was “slide your keys between your fingers to use as a weapon if you have to.” And now I’m thinking, huh, I only have one key, for my house. I’ve had a push button car key for years. Pretty sure my daughters & DIL have both push button cars and keypad homes. Has technology removed a layer of physical defense? 

[Anduin]

52 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I’m watching a show where a mother and daughter are discussing things to do to help ensure safety, and one item was “slide your keys between your fingers to use as a weapon if you have to.” And now I’m thinking, huh, I only have one key, for my house. I’ve had a push button car key for years. Pretty sure my daughters & DIL have both push button cars and keypad homes. Has technology removed a layer of physical defense? 

That's a good observation. Are there any other potentially sharp knickknacks you can put on the ring? Or even a couple of other keys that don't actually open anything?

[SoMuchTV]

1 minute ago, Anduin said:

That's a good observation. Are there any other potentially sharp knickknacks you can put on the ring? Or even a couple of other keys that don't actually open anything?

My personal plan is never going anywhere after dark, but it might be a good thing to bring up with the girls (who are actually 30-something women and whole people in their own right). Especially the one who recently moved to a new apartment and mentioned that one of her questions when she was apartment hunting was “so, how safe do you feel walking between the parking lot and your apartment?”

[lookeyloo]

10 hours ago, Anduin said:

That's a good observation. Are there any other potentially sharp knickknacks you can put on the ring? Or even a couple of other keys that don't actually open anything?

I am thinking go buy four keys. they are relatively inexpensive.  Don't need to get them matched to another key.  Get a key ring that feels comfortable and just keep those keys handy as a weapon.  I can't remember the last time I went out after dark, by myself.

[fastiller]

@SoMuchTV Put your one housekey on this keyring. (I hope this is an ok post.  Mods, please LMK if not.)

 

[Dimity]

Gotta love Facebook, everyday there is a new theme that they seem to be promoting where I get dozens of posts, memes, suggested groups etc all roughly on the same topic.  Yesterday it was all Beatles all the time.   Day before that it was post after post concerning screen legends. Today it's "have you found the lord".    I'll take the Beatles and screen legends please!

[Browncoat]

I finally broke down and bought a Dyson cordless stick vacuum -- it was 50% off!  And it has been life-changing for me.  My house is pretty small, so dragging out the full-sized vacuum was really a chore.  It almost took me longer to get it out and put it away than it did to actually vacuum.  Just unwinding and rewinding the cord felt like it took forever!  With the stick, I'm completely finished in about five minutes.  I don't dread vacuuming anymore!