Small Talk: Judge's Chambers

[Spunkygal]

I'm going on a girls trip in a few weeks to a mountain destination in a nearby state. I was having dinner recently with my BFF (who is going and is riding with me) and her hubby. They live an hour from me so we were discussing where to meet halfway between our homes so we could meet up, he could drop her off and she could ride with me. When we decided on the location, I confirmed with her husband by saying, "OK, we will make the custody exchange of BFF at this gas station. I expect a peaceful exchange without sheriff involvement." He said, "Oh shit. You watch too much Judge Judy!" 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

5 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

On AMC's The Walking Dead you can hear prick, screw, pussy, piss, shit and dick/motherdick, but not fuck - ever. Thank goodness. I"m sure we'd all clutch our pearls and pass out in horror if we heard that word while watching mass murder, guts being torn out and eaten, heads smashed to paste with a baseball bat, throats being slashed and a little girl lying bloodied and dead.  

There was an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where the mother of a teenaged girl was arrested for passing out alcohol to her daughter's underage friends and for having sex with the boy said daughter had a crush on, and when she was at the police station being interrogated Benson asked her why she was so in need of attention that she needed to bang a seventeen year old boy - only they muted the word 'bang'. Because that's logical.

[AZChristian]

I'm always surprised when they bleep out "God" but leave "damn."

[SRTouch]

Moved from episode thread .... bad cat owners / or how two of my cats became mine....

Two of my cats became my cats when I found they needed a vet and their owner either couldn't be found or "couldn't afford"  a vet. One, who became my Frank, belonged to a neighbor and had a badly infected wound on his foot. Neighbor couldn't afford to take him in, so I took him. Vet told me the wound was BAD, could actually see his bone when the wound was cleaned, afraid he might lose the foot. I paid the bills and told the neighbors they could pay me back in monthly installments, whatever they could afford. After a couple months of never seeing a penny, I told them if I ever moved he'd be coming with me - heck he already spent more time at my place eating from my crew's food than at home anyway. I moved 8 years ago, he's here on my foot rest napping - oh, and antibiotics did the trick, he's still got 4 feet.

Spottie is an even sadder case. She started life as a cute kitten, named Betsy, owned and supposedly loved by a guy. Fast forward, never taken to the vet, of course not spayed, guy's new gf moves in, gf doesn't like cats, Betsy no longer welcom inside. No surprise, Betsy goes into heat, Tom kitties come around, gf doesn't like the cat fights and caterwauling, so starts spraying the cats with a waterhose. Guy catches gf chasing Betsy with a broom, they break up, but Betsy no longer trusts him and runs away. Fast forward a couple months, a starving spotted cat shows up with her kittens on my patio. I haul her and the kittens to the vet... fleas, bad access on momma, momma has terrible case of ear mites which requires a couple trips to vet to clear up. Vet says wean those kittens NOW, momma skin and bones, weighs 5 pounds and can't nurse them. Vet gives me big discount on treatments and her spay, I give him 2 of the kittens and he finds homes for the others. Fast forward a few months, guy shows up at my door saying he saw his cat through my sliding glass door, wants his Betsy back. What's ya talkin' bout, dude, that's, Spottie and she's MY cat. Spottie turned 16 this year, presently sleeping next to me as I type this, weighs in at about 11 pounds - not fat. 

Edited September 5, 2017 by SRTouch

[KittyMom4]

On 9/5/2017 at 4:05 PM, SRTouch said:

Moved from episode thread .... bad cat owners / or how two of my cats became mine....

Two of my cats became my cats when I found they needed a vet and their owner either couldn't be found or "couldn't afford"  a vet. One, who became my Frank, belonged to a neighbor and had a badly infected wound on his foot. Neighbor couldn't afford to take him in, so I took him. Vet told me the wound was BAD, could actually see his bone when the wound was cleaned, afraid he might lose the foot. I paid the bills and told the neighbors they could pay me back in monthly installments, whatever they could afford. After a couple months of never seeing a penny, I told them if I ever moved he'd be coming with me - heck he already spent more time at my place eating from my crew's food than at home anyway. I moved 8 years ago, he's here on my foot rest napping - oh, and antibiotics did the trick, he's still got 4 feet.

Spottie is an even sadder case. She started life as a cute kitten, named Betsy, owned and supposedly loved by a guy. Fast forward, never taken to the vet, of course not spayed, guy's new gf moves in, gf doesn't like cats, Betsy no longer welcom inside. No surprise, Betsy goes into heat, Tom kitties come around, gf doesn't like the cat fights and caterwauling, so starts spraying the cats with a waterhose. Guy catches gf chasing Betsy with a broom, they break up, but Betsy no longer trusts him and runs away. Fast forward a couple months, a starving spotted cat shows up with her kittens on my patio. I haul her and the kittens to the vet... fleas, bad access on momma, momma has terrible case of ear mites which requires a couple trips to vet to clear up. Vet says wean those kittens NOW, momma skin and bones, weighs 5 pounds and can't nurse them. Vet gives me big discount on treatments and her spay, I give him 2 of the kittens and he finds homes for the others. Fast forward a few months, guy shows up at my door saying he saw his cat through my sliding glass door, wants his Betsy back. What's ya talkin' bout, dude, that's, Spottie and she's MY cat. Spottie turned 16 this year, presently sleeping next to me as I type this, weighs in at about 11 pounds - not fat. 

I acquired one of my 4 kitties under dire circumstances as well, Theo came to us from a litter that was 'dumped' in a field across from my sister's house. She lives across from a horse barn and the owners have had this happen before, anyway, it took my niece & nephews several days to get all 5 kittens but they did, their local vet spayed/neutered them for a discounted fee and then my sister found homes for all of them. When it was Theo's turn and she didn't have any takers she asked if I'd be willing, knowing I already had 3 she didn't think I would but I did. He was pretty skittish at first, and will hide when 'strangers' come over but he is a lovey, cuddly, sweet cat.

My daughter also acquired one of her cats through poor ownership. Fast forward 5 years, one of my elderly cats passed away, and through a coworker I found another litter of kittens needing homes. I decided to take one, Gideon as he his know now, as did my coworker who named her cat Sullivan. About 6 months after we adopted them, and my coworker decided to move in with her father for financial reasons, but Sullivan was not welcome. Had she told me I would have gladly taken him, but instead somehow he "got out" and was lost. My daughter works for the village where my coworker lived and had alerted animal control to be looking for him (my coworker did not), and 2 1/2 months later he was found. My daughter attempted to rehome him but every opportunity fell through so she and her boyfriend adopted him. He hadn't been neutered yet or had shots so I asked my coworker if she would go in 3rds with us to cover the cost, she was hesitant, said she wasn't really sure it was her cat (I have photos from her FB page, they're an exact match to Sullivan), then she said she would think about it. I didn't ask again, and just gave my daughter half the cost. I hate people who dispose of animals when they become a problem.

[configdotsys]

On 4/27/2016 at 0:41 PM, ponyglue said:

Does anyone know where to go to watch JJ online?  Other than YouTube? I don't have teevee anymore and I need my JJ fix!

I haven't found any other places than YT to watch and you have to be quick. They get taken down pretty quickly.

[configdotsys]

Long post. I am going to tell a story about our cats that is going to make me cry but I'm posting it anyway. For clarification: I am a relatively new, young, sudden widow so there's that. We only ever took in rescued black cats because they are commonly put down because people are assholes. We had a doll of a cat that my husband loved so much. She slept in his lap all the time. She had a stroke and after going through vet stays and what have you, on Christmas Eve in 2013, we had to take her to the emergency vet. They called us a 9 a.m. on Christmas morning to say she had a stroke and was blind and having seizures so we told them to immediately put her out of her misery. Merry Christmas. It was the first and last time I saw my husband cry and to this day that visual still kills me. He was so devastated.

I wrote a message to our local rescue saying, "If you come across a black female cat under a year old with a tiny white patch on her chest, please call me." A day later they called, a day after that they came for a home visit and brought her. I have a very short video of my husband playing ball with her on the living room floor. She is pretty independent, but after my husband died, any time I was on the couch in tears, or just at other random times, she jumps on me and lays on my chest with this face that tells me that she knows I am feeling very low.

A few months my husband passed away, the drama teacher at my school decided to donate the take at the door of our elementary school musical to the rescue that we got our cats from in loving memory of my husband. The rescue people were invited to the play and said they would bring adoptable kittens with them. They have hundreds of them. I told someone I work with: "If they bring a baby black female cat with a small white patch, it's a sign." They brought 2 cats. One was a tiny, skin and bones black cat with a tiny white patch. As soon as I picked her up, she started purring. I would not put her down. I took her home that night and named her Navy. My husband was in the Navy back in the day and was very into military history and stuff. She is a year old now and sleeps in my lap all the time, follows me everywhere, is a purr machine and has seriously saved my life through this horrible new reality I have to adjust to. Many people that I work with say that my husband sent her to me. I am not a believer in much but I would love to believe that is true. 

Edited to add: Both cats enjoy participating in wrestlemania as soon as I go to bed at night. They insisted I include that information. 

Edited September 10, 2017 by configdotsys
messed up a word. added one last thing

[AZChristian]

Thank you for sharing that. I have no problem believing Navy was sent to you.

[AngelaHunter]

configdotsys, I don't adhere to any religions and I'm not one to believe usually in mysticism, paranormal, etc, but having had signs, messages or whatever you want to call them, myself (which has happened my whole life and I never mention to anyone for fear of sounding like a kook), I too truly believe your kitty was a clear and loving message and would hope you'll take it as such.

[Jamoche]

Ask A Manager has a letter about a co-worker who's straight out of a JJ unpaid loan episode: http://www.askamanager.org/2017/09/my-coworker-keeps-asking-everyone-for-loans.html

And you know JJ would not understand why people just kept giving in.

[funky-rat]

17 hours ago, Jamoche said:

Ask A Manager has a letter about a co-worker who's straight out of a JJ unpaid loan episode: http://www.askamanager.org/2017/09/my-coworker-keeps-asking-everyone-for-loans.html

And you know JJ would not understand why people just kept giving in.

Ugh.  The girlfriend of a former co-worker was like that (they had 2 kids together, but never married because that meant she'd give up her welfare - also they had 2 houses burn down under identical circumstances).  She was always coming in giving sob stories, begging for money for gas, or once to buy her kid a birthday cake, etc.  Some people would (I never did - I knew I could kiss that money goodbye).  Once, my mom loaned her money (we used to work together) and then my mom bumped in to her at the local BINGO parlor, where she was dropping untold amounts on rip tickets (more money than she could ever hope to realize to get back).  My mom confronted her about the unpaid loan, and she begged my mom not to tell her boyfriend or the people in the office.  She got paid back after that, but mom never gave her anything again, and she did spread the word not to trust her with money.  Her boyfriend got fired years ago, but she still shows up when her kids are selling stuff for school.  I refuse to buy - especially since her boyfriend no longer works there, and she could easily take off with my money and never come back ( and I wouldn't put it past her).

[Jamoche]

"And the car just came out of nowhere!"

Jalopnik has a video where it really does seem to have come out of nowhere, from the perspective of the dashcam of a third car that caught the accident. Their analysis is that the car between the driver and the "ghost" car was perfectly sized and placed to obscure the other car. So from the perspective of the dashcam owner, it does come out of nowhere.

However the car between them that hit the "ghost" has absolutely no excuse.

 

https://jalopnik.com/ghost-car-suddenly-appears-from-hell-portal-to-cause-cr-1819802336

[badhaggis]

I had jury duty last week and Judge Judy would be so proud of everyone that was subpoenaed. Not a single person wore shorts. Keep in mind this is Tucson, AZ where the temp was in the upper 90's. 

[AZChristian]

10 minutes ago, badhaggis said:

I had jury duty last week and Judge Judy would be so proud of everyone that was subpoenaed. Not a single person wore shorts. Keep in mind this is Tucson, AZ where the temp was in the upper 90's. 

I'm surprised that they found a roomful of people in Tucson who even own long pants!!!  (I live in Phoenix, so I know exactly what you mean.)

[badhaggis]

7 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

I'm surprised that they found a roomful of people in Tucson who even own long pants!!!  (I live in Phoenix, so I know exactly what you mean.)

So was I! I was really impressed our whole group read the dress code instructions!

[TresGatos]

On 8/17/2017 at 6:12 PM, AZChristian said:

I'm always surprised when they bleep out "God" but leave "damn."

I am always amazed when they bleep out "hole" but leave "ass."

On 9/10/2017 at 10:22 AM, configdotsys said:

Long post. I am going to tell a story about our cats that is going to make me cry but I'm posting it anyway.

It made me cry too!

On 9/12/2017 at 2:12 PM, funky-rat said:

rip tickets

They're called "rip-offs" in Kentucky. I can hear my mom now, in the Bingo parlor, waving a twenty dollar bill and saying "Get me some more rip-offs!"

(In my moms defense, she worked factories all of her adult life and never went into debt to buy rip-offs or to play Bingo though she, and me grandmother, her mother, were once arrested during a Bingo raid. They were working the tables where people buy the cards so they would get free cards when it all went down.)

On 9/11/2017 at 9:36 AM, AngelaHunter said:

configdotsys, I don't adhere to any religions and I'm not one to believe usually in mysticism, paranormal, etc, but having had signs, messages or whatever you want to call them, myself (which has happened my whole life and I never mention to anyone for fear of sounding like a kook), I too truly believe your kitty was a clear and loving message and would hope you'll take it as such.

When my mother was dying of lung cancer she chose to have just palliative care. My grandmother had died of the same type of cancer and she new the drill. One day, as she told it, she was praying. She wasn't praying for anything in particular but she was praying to God for a "sign" when she heard this big commotion at the front door and when she opened it in walked a little white cat that my mother came to believe was the reincarnation of her mother (mainly because this cat would try to work rings off off women's fingers and would go into open purses and try to steal billfolds but that's a whole different story). The cat stayed and Mother named her Sheba.

Well, before she died, I would go up to visit her on weekends and one weekend my brother was there as well and when we were all together my mother said, "Children, after I am gone there may come a day when (her 4th husband, let's call him 'Scumbag') will want to date again. He might even want to get married. If he does, I want y'all to hunt him down and kill him." and we promised we would even if we didn't mean it.

Four months after my mother died Scumbag had moved a woman in to the house my mother had purchased before she had married him and, to tell the truth, I was happy for him. Life is for the living. My spouse and son went down that summer and met her and I met her that Christmas. At one point, while we were alone, the Girlfriend confided, "I don't like that cat," she said, pointing to Sheba, "She follows me around and just stares at me." I wanted to say, "That's because she's really my grandmother and she doesn't want you here," but I was too polite to say so.

Anyhow, as it turns out, Scumbag had been raided by the FBI one month after my mother died and was found to have child pornography on his computer and also he sent dick pics to what he thought was a 15-year-old girl but who was (of course) a law enforcement official. I didn't find out until a year later when Scumbag was convicted and sentenced and it appeared in our hometown paper and my father called my brother and my brother called me asking, "Did you know?" which I didn't though Scumbag and Girlfriend certainly knew!

Since Scumbag had not probated my mother's will yet, I ended up going to Court numerous times to get my mother's cremains away from Scumbag's Girlfriend as he spent the next 9 years in federal prison. The government also seized the house though I did end up getting half of that for my brother and me (the government also seized Scumbag's computer, computer desk, and computer chair!) and eventually the Probate Judge ordered that I have custody of Mother's cremains, but during one of the hearings, one of my step-uncles, the one who initially alerted me to the probate proceedings, offered to go and steal Sheba for me. I declined but I've always felt guilty about it, poor Sheba, having to go live with a woman who hated and mistrusted her and who was so spiteful and evil that she smashed my mother's urn, the one my mother had picked out herself before she died and which had since been discontinued, before sending it to us. I had offered to take Sheba, after I found out about Scumbag's conviction, but Scumbag refused to let us have her because, Scumbag.

Then I read William S. Burroughs' book, "The Cat Inside" and what he writes about white cats, in particular, and when I got to the end of that book I was in tears.

[AZChristian]

You guys will be so proud of me.  We had the final walk-through today on a home we were renting.  I had already taken multiple pictures of every room, showing how immaculate it was.  When the complex assistant manager came over to do the walk-through (we insisted that we be there), she said blithely, "Well everything looks really good.  We'll just withhold the mandatory $55 carpet-cleaning fee, and will refund the rest of the deposit to you."

Me:  "Whoa, whoa, whoa.  We've never been told anything about a mandatory fee.  Do you have a document that WE signed agreeing to that?  We've looked at our lease, and it says we will get our full deposit back if the place is left clean, other than allowing for normal wear and tear.  We've lived here for three years; cleaning the carpet falls under 'normal wear and tear' and we're not going to pay any 'mandatory' fee that's not in our lease."

Her:  "Let me talk with the manager on the phone.  She's at lunch."

Me:  "Yes, you do that.  We'll meet you back at the office.  When you talk with her, tell her that there needs to be a signed document, or we're going to small claims court.  You can't keep money for fees that were not in the lease.  You gave us a paper that showed how much would be charged for specific damages.  There is no notification there - or anywhere - about a $55 fee to clean the carpet.  There has never been an animal in this unit; just two ridiculously tidy old people who cleaned regularly."  

So we went back over to the rental office.  

Her:  "Well, your lease was signed with the former management company, and did not specify a carpet cleaning fee.  Your renewal lease with our company did not specify the fee, but new tenant leases do.  There will be no charge."

Darn.  And I was already packing for my trip to California to have Judge Judy rule on it.  There was NO carpet cleaning fee mentioned within the four corners of our lease . . . so it didn't exist.

[KittyMom4]

Quote

Good god that Plaintiff. Between the dollar-store eyelashes and, what seemed to be the world's first case of achondroplasia dwarfism limited only to the face, I could barely scare uo any sympathy. Then again, the Defendant's mother -- who thoughtfully dressed up for court as Trailer Park Bo Derek -- seemed to have gone on a three-day meth binge prior to entering the Sephora and applying all the make up in the store to her face. Naturally, she hauls out the tried-and-true defense of every deadbeat parent in the country when confronted with her underage child's sexual shenanigans with an adult: "What can I do about it? I'm just a single mom!" Yes, [throws up hands] there is literally nothing you can do  to thwart your elderly-looking child's horrific behavior, I suppose, unless you live in a two-parent household! Who knew! 

Then there's Makayla, an ancient crone of a "child", who doesn't know how to un-make her sexy selfie face anymore and preens in front of JJ as if JJ were an Instagram follower she wanted to "heart" one of her pics showing off her fresh arm tat and her mad make-up skillz. No doubt, in two years, Makayla, with a fully exposed chest tat and twenty additional pounds,  will make a repeat appearance on JJ, this time suing her future baby daddy for rent money and a broken cell phone all while crying she's a single mom and asking "What can I do about it? I'm a single mom!" 

The circle of fucking life in present-day America. 

Giant Misfit hit on something that is a huge Pet Peeve of mine "Single Mom Helplessness". I have been divorced since my daughters were 12 and 8, my ex moved out and would only see them in strict adherence to the custody agreement: every Tuesday (6:00pm - 9:00pm) and every other weekend( 6:00pm Friday to 6:00pm Sunday), IF he wan't golfing.  I made it clear he was welcome to see them any time, there was no restriction on that, and he made it clear that he was unavailable. Even when they would call him to see if he could take them to the movies or the park or whatever, he would refuse. So most of the child-rearing and parental duties were on my plate, not once when they were acting up,  like a teenager does, did I shrug and say "oh well, I'm a single mom, what can I do?" and let them have their way. I have never spoken the words "I'm a single mom", what the hell difference does it make when it comes to parenting?? I worked 40 hours a week, made meals, helped with homework, made sure they brushed their teeth, had clean clothes on, said please and thank you and did their chores, sure it was exhausting but I'm a PARENT, you're supposed to do that! Having a kid without a supportive spouse/baby daddy/partner does not make it any less your responsibility to make sure your kids learn the basics of life and that you guide them through good and bad. Gah! Rant over....

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, GoodieGirl said:

Giant Misfit hit on something that is a huge Pet Peeve of mine "Single Mom Helplessness". I have been divorced since my daughters were 12 and 8, my ex moved out and would only see them in strict adherence to the custody agreement: every Tuesday (6:00pm - 9:00pm) and every other weekend( 6:00pm Friday to 6:00pm Sunday), IF he wan't golfing.  I made it clear he was welcome to see them any time, there was no restriction on that, and he made it clear that he was unavailable. Even when they would call him to see if he could take them to the movies or the park or whatever, he would refuse. So most of the child-rearing and parental duties were on my plate, not once when they were acting up,  like a teenager does, did I shrug and say "oh well, I'm a single mom, what can I do?" and let them have their way. I have never spoken the words "I'm a single mom", what the hell difference does it make when it comes to parenting?? I worked 40 hours a week, made meals, helped with homework, made sure they brushed their teeth, had clean clothes on, said please and thank you and did their chores, sure it was exhausting but I'm a PARENT, you're supposed to do that! Having a kid without a supportive spouse/baby daddy/partner does not make it any less your responsibility to make sure your kids learn the basics of life and that you guide them through good and bad. Gah! Rant over....

Totally agree, says this confirmed bachelor old fart. Just one thing to add for any parent, be they single or not. Teach kids how to do those vital household chores. No reason a kid can't do laundry, or help make dinner. I used to joke with my Mom that she was the reason I never married. See, I'd say, I listened to the old song about "she got the goldmine... I got the shaft" and remember Jerry Reed asking himself "why I didn't just learn how to cook." Well, when Mom tried her matchmaking on me, I'd tell her anyone she fixed me up with had to be able to cook better then I did - and she taught me to cook ? as a kid, my brothers and sisters and I all took turns fixing dinner.

Edited November 9, 2017 by SRTouch

[Cobalt Stargazer]

17 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

In my whole life I have never uttered the sentence, "She wanted to fight me." I never knew or met anyone who would want to fight me, even as a kid. I can't imagine saying that as a grown woman, but YT is filled with videos of women viciously fighting each other right in the streets. Incomprehensible.

[chenoa333]

I abhor the term "single mom". Every child has a mother and a father. So for every single mom, there is a single dad. Unless your babies daddy died in a tragedy, suck it up cupcake. You made a poor choice for a sperm donor. 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

2 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

I never heard of Strayer University

[Jamoche]

"Dear Abby, my sister hits every single item on the Judge Judy litigant checklist"

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Years-of-bailouts-fail-to-help-sister-who-s-12417352.php

 

Quote

She promised to pay us back with her tax return money, but we never saw a dime. I have given her information on debt consolidation programs and offered to pay for her to file bankruptcy, but she has done nothing to improve her financial situation. She works and makes OK money. Her husband is disabled, but gets Social Security and a small pension. She also supports her adult child, who doesn’t work, and she smokes like a chimney. I have told her many times that I can’t keep giving her money, but she still asks every month.

[funky-rat]

7 hours ago, Jamoche said:

"Dear Abby, my sister hits every single item on the Judge Judy litigant checklist"

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Years-of-bailouts-fail-to-help-sister-who-s-12417352.php

 

I love the 2nd letter.  "We're fiercely feminist and independent but whine whine, my husband doesn't follow us home!".  Dear Abby on point, as usual with that one.

[SandyToes]

3 hours ago, funky-rat said:

I love the 2nd letter.  "We're fiercely feminist and independent but whine whine, my husband doesn't follow us home!".  Dear Abby on point, as usual with that one.

Agreed!  "You can't have it both ways."  Should become the new mantra.  Judy should have it printed on a big sign, and then can turn to Byrd and give him the look, and he whips out the sign and holds it up. For all those cases of "I want the thing, and the money back I paid for the thing, because it changed colors (etc) after I bought it. "

Great to see Dear Abby.  Haven't read that in many, many years.

[funky-rat]

Pray for me, JJ peeps.  I was sitting at my desk when a co-worker waltzed in with a smile on her face and said "Hey!  Just wanted to let you know that I hit your car.  But it's not bad.  I just slid in to it and knocked off some dirt (it just snowed, and all cars are covered with road muck)!  Not bad at all!".  I walked outside. She followed me.  She reiterated it's not that bad.  Yes it is.  It's scratched all to heck.  Car is 1 year old - bought it new.  Not a mark on it.  My first brand new car ever.  I turned around, and she was gone.  I called my insurance company and they started a claim, but now I need to go find her on her break, and get her insurance info.  My fear is that she doesn't have any.  She made no offer, and kept downplaying how bad it was.

[momtoall]

Oh boy funky-rat, this probably isn't going to end well.  She probably doesn't have insurance but at east you know where she works.

[funky-rat]

8 minutes ago, momtoall said:

Oh boy funky-rat, this probably isn't going to end well.  She probably doesn't have insurance but at east you know where she works.

True.  This day isn't going well to begin with, and this is just the cherry on the turd sundae.

[funky-rat]

She has insurance (well....an insurance CARD anyway), but it's from The General.  They advertise on JJ (oh, the irony).  It's that "minimum coverage so you stay legal" stuff.  Yippee......

[AZChristian]

26 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

She has insurance (well....an insurance CARD anyway), but it's from The General.  They advertise on JJ (oh, the irony).  It's that "minimum coverage so you stay legal" stuff.  Yippee......

Minimum coverage (depending on state) should be enough to fix your paint job.  It's just really bad when someone with minimum coverage causes a multi-car accident with injuries . . . because NO ONE gets "made whole" by the insurance in that situation.  Keep us posted.  Fingers crossed.

[funky-rat]

2 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Minimum coverage (depending on state) should be enough to fix your paint job.  It's just really bad when someone with minimum coverage causes a multi-car accident with injuries . . . because NO ONE gets "made whole" by the insurance in that situation.  Keep us posted.  Fingers crossed.

Hopefully.  I think they'll just need to re-paint the bumper.  I just want to be sure there's no damage on the underside.  These new bumpers seem to damage easily if someone bumps in to them.  I'll find out Monday when the adjuster comes.  I sent him photos and her insurance card.  Perhaps when she hit me she was on her way to plan to pay for insurance.........wait.  I probably shouldn't say that.

[Jamoche]

7 hours ago, funky-rat said:

She has insurance (well....an insurance CARD anyway), but it's from The General.  They advertise on JJ (oh, the irony).  It's that "minimum coverage so you stay legal" stuff.  Yippee......

That's usually liability. I got suckered into having minimum insurance when I was in college and clueless - of course insurance covers your car, right? It didn't, because my car was 10 years old. But it covered the car I hit when my recently-redone brakes failed.

[momtoall]

Posted this in the TPC thread.  In January TLC is debuting a show about people who fall in love with convicts!!  I guess the premise is they, meet, fall in love and marry, while the love of their life is behind bars.  I think reality TV has passed rock bottom. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, momtoall said:

Posted this in the TPC thread.  In January TLC is debuting a show about people who fall in love with convicts!!  I guess the premise is they, meet, fall in love and marry, while the love of their life is behind bars.  I think reality TV has passed rock bottom. 

Isn't this just the lowest of the low?  Making celebrities out of people who have a psychological need to be assured that their significant other is accounted for at all times.  Disgusting.

What day/time does this despicable show air?

[AngelaHunter]

Remember A&E - "Arts and Entertainment?" Their lineup now includes stuff like, "Behind Bars: Women Unchained" "Cement Heads"(haven't they appeared often on JJ?) "Billy the Exterminator." All way too highbrow for me. But seriously, all the formerly enlightening, educational yet entertaining channels have to dive into the cess pit because apparently that's what people want. Can you picture 95% of the litigants we see here watching anything else?

7 hours ago, PsychoKlown said:

Making celebrities out of people who have a psychological need to be assured that their significant other is accounted for at all times.

Also women (and I"m sure it's nearly always women) who want a ring on their finger, a "Mrs." in front of their names and the notoriety and attention it brings them. The last thing they want is a husband. All these shows that exploit/exhalt the mentally ill and even the horrifically disabled and debilitated do so with pseudo-sympanthy and under the guise of "education", but it's not since there is no solution. They're all just modern day freak shows, making money from the unfortunate, and the slackjaws who eat it up,  but doing it in a PC, acceptable way.  The only reality show I've watched was "Top Chef" because I liked seeing dishes they came up with using odd assortments of food.

[momtoall]

18 hours ago, PsychoKlown said:

What day/time doe this despicable show

It premieres January 12, on WETV not TLC, as I incorrectly posted.  Still not sure of the title, something like Love and Convicts.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Love After Lockup, and yes I hate myself, but I watch WE for the Law & Order lineup.

[funky-rat]

On ‎12‎/‎20‎/‎2017 at 3:29 PM, momtoall said:

Posted this in the TPC thread.  In January TLC is debuting a show about people who fall in love with convicts!!  I guess the premise is they, meet, fall in love and marry, while the love of their life is behind bars.  I think reality TV has passed rock bottom. 

 

On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 1:27 AM, AngelaHunter said:

Remember A&E - "Arts and Entertainment?" Their lineup now includes stuff like, "Behind Bars: Women Unchained" "Cement Heads"(haven't they appeared often on JJ?) "Billy the Exterminator." All way too highbrow for me. But seriously, all the formerly enlightening, educational yet entertaining channels have to dive into the cess pit because apparently that's what people want. Can you picture 95% of the litigants we see here watching anything else?

Also women (and I"m sure it's nearly always women) who want a ring on their finger, a "Mrs." in front of their names and the notoriety and attention it brings them. The last thing they want is a husband. All these shows that exploit/exhalt the mentally ill and even the horrifically disabled and debilitated do so with pseudo-sympanthy and under the guise of "education", but it's not since there is no solution. They're all just modern day freak shows, making money from the unfortunate, and the slackjaws who eat it up,  but doing it in a PC, acceptable way.  The only reality show I've watched was "Top Chef" because I liked seeing dishes they came up with using odd assortments of food.

I have a bit of a different perspective on this.  Mr. Funky's late Uncle, Uncle Funky, was a lifer - L w/o P.  He did something stupid in the late 70's.  I don't want to get in to it here, but it was akin to being a getaway car driver, but the person you were being the driver for killed someone.  He turned states evidence.  He cooperated fully.  He was sold a bill of goods.  Then a judge, up for re-election and eager to show that he was tough on crime gave Uncle Funky "Life w/o P" because he "didn't do enough" to stop the crime from happening.  Meanwhile, the murder gets a lesser sentence because he went before a different judge.  Ain't life fair?  Anyway, Uncle Funky always conceded he needed to be punished for his role in what happened, and he flourished in prison, because he was away from bad influences, and off drugs/booze.  And he received mental health counseling for his PTSD from the war.  It was in a prison penpal program run through a religious group that he met the future Aunt Funky.  They married while he was in prison.  I never understood it, so one day I flat-out asked her why.  She said it was a fair question.  She had been in a string of bad relationships - some of which bordered on abusive.  Uncle Funky was eloquent, and gentle.  He listened to her, and treated her as well as he could.  And he couldn't really hurt her.  Definitely not physically - there was always someone watching.  And if he got mentally abusive, she could just end it, and he wouldn't be able to bother her much.  So they got married, but it was never officially recognized by the state because we don't have conjugal visits, and they never consummated.  It was also something that was generally known at the time that the governor would most often commute sentences just like Uncle Funky's because he was a non-violent offender, had served more than the minimum sentence for the crime otherwise, and the prisons were overcrowded.  Then not too long before his case would have come up, they commuted a violent offender who they thought was rehabilitated.  He killed some people.  And there was so much outrage and backlash that the commutation program was cancelled permanently.  He would spend more than 25 years after that trying to get out, before he passed away of natural causes.  He was beloved amongst guards, wardens, and other workers.  He had some famous names here in state government working his case for free.  So when Aunt Funky married him, she figured he was less than 5 years away from getting out, worst case scenario.  She stayed married to him until he died.  They were good for each other, as stupid as that sounds.  She got some backlash from people for wanting to move on "too soon" after he passed, but she would always say that he never lived with her, so his things weren't in the house.  His presence wasn't felt there.  I got it, and eventually the others came around.  We lost touch with her.  She's since remarried, and I know she's happy, and I'm happy for her (she had never been married before marrying Uncle Funky).  She didn't have a TV show, but there was an independent documentary film made that had the both of them in it (we were finally able to get a copy of it after many years - it's impossible to find, and I got it from the director), and they were also featured on an evening news show (but I can't remember which one) about "Unusual Marriages".

But these people who go on reality shows?  I don't have the same views on them.

 

**ETA:  I love Billy The Exterminator (hangs head in shame).

Edited December 27, 2017 by funky-rat

[AngelaHunter]

7 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

She had been in a string of bad relationships - some of which bordered on abusive.  Uncle Funky was eloquent, and gentle

He was also locked up. No chance of abuse, either physical or verbal because she could just get up and walk away knowing he couldn't follow her. Of course he listened to her. What else did he have to do? Sorry -  I'm not judging -  just speaking in general here and of course don't know these folks. It does sound like the punishment didn't fit the crime. Maybe he was a truly wonderful person who did one dumb thing,  maybe a robbery gone wrong,  didn't deserve the sentence he got and had he been freed, he may have lived a good life and they could have gone on to be very happy together. This set of circumstances is quite different from women turned on by psychopathic serial killers like Ted Bundy.

Yes, as one brilliant litigant sadly stated in a hallterview on JJ, "Sometimes justice isn't fair."

16 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

**ETA:  I love Billy The Exterminator (hangs head in shame).

I've never watched it, so I should have shut about that. I did used to watch a bunch of reality stuff, particularly Hoarders. One night I said to myself, "I'm sitting here watching shows about mentally ill people refusing to throw out roach-infested rotten food,  other people with worms in their eyeballs and guys who have sex with their cars and pool toys. What is wrong with me?" But what made me quit cold turkey was a show featuring a woman in England who had some sort of rare condition that made her legs grow to gigantic size. She was lovely - so sweet and brave.  I felt so sorry for her, and her situation disturbed me so much it wouldn't leave my mind. I watched it all, desperately hoping for some sort of relief for her, but of course that never happened, since this was just another "Hey look at this!" freak show. That was the last Reality/Freak show I ever watched.

[funky-rat]

3 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

He was also locked up. No chance of abuse, either physical or verbal because she could just get up and walk away knowing he couldn't follow her. Of course he listened to her. What else did he have to do? Sorry -  I'm not judging -  just speaking in general here and of course don't know these folks. It does sound like the punishment didn't fit the crime. Maybe he was a truly wonderful person who did one dumb thing,  maybe a robbery gone wrong,  didn't deserve the sentence he got and had he been freed, he may have lived a good life and they could have gone on to be very happy together. This set of circumstances is quite different from women turned on by psychopathic serial killers like Ted Bundy.

Yes, as one brilliant litigant sadly stated in a hallterview on JJ, "Sometimes justice isn't fair."

I've never watched it, so I should have shut about that. I did used to watch a bunch of reality stuff, particularly Hoarders. One night I said to myself, "I'm sitting here watching shows about mentally ill people refusing to throw out roach-infested rotten food,  other people with worms in their eyeballs and guys who have sex with their cars and pool toys. What is wrong with me?" But what made me quit cold turkey was a show featuring a woman in England who had some sort of rare condition that made her legs grow to gigantic size. She was lovely - so sweet and brave.  I felt so sorry for her, and her situation disturbed me so much it wouldn't leave my mind. I watched it all, desperately hoping for some sort of relief for her, but of course that never happened, since this was just another "Hey look at this!" freak show. That was the last Reality/Freak show I ever watched.

I understand that. I did mention in my post that she felt OK with proceeding because if he turned on her, he was unable to do anything about it - he couldn't physically hurt her because all visits were supervised, and if he got weird, she could walk away and he couldn't follow.  I stopped giving out information about Uncle Funky years ago because someone who had promised would help me find the film he was in (since he's deceased - it's a nice thing to have) used that info to dig into his past, and into old newspaper archives, and made some horrible comments on a public forum, no matter how many times I said that what the newspaper reported wasn't entirely correct, or represent anything he did right, including cooperating and turning state's evidence, and none of it represents the bill of goods he was sold by the legal system (I've seen the documents myself - it's horrible).  My point was that not all prison marriages are shams, and not all prison wives are groupies, but yes, there are plenty of prison wives that I just shake my head at.  I've seen plenty of them over the years in the various prison visiting rooms I've been in.  Just wanted to give a different perspective on the situation.  : )

And you're absolutely entitled to your opinion on Billy The Exterminator.  I liked that when he'd get called out to do something, he'd trap the animals and set them free rather than kill them, and he'd make sure he relocated honey bees, etc.  Toward the end of the show when it was on the first time, it became more about drama with Billy's brother, and their wives, etc, and the show lost me.  But it was recently started up again, and it's just Billy on his own, and it's much improved.

[AngelaHunter]

6 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

someone who had promised would help me find the film he was in (since he's deceased - it's a nice thing to have) used that info to dig into his past, and into old newspaper archives, and made some horrible comments on a public forum

Ugh. This is why I'm so OCD about privacy online. Even people who may seem nice and reasonable can turn out to be nuts. Sorry to hear about that. It's despicable, but I guess some people will do anything to make themselves feel important. Sad.

My husband's brother was a criminal. He made a good living by reading obituaries to find out the names of older, new widows and he had a system to con and fleece them out of large sums of money. I refused to ever meet him (luckily he's deceased now) but I think he may have been more way deserving of jail time than your uncle was, even though his crimes were not violent.

 

6 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

  I liked that when he'd get called out to do something, he'd trap the animals and set them free rather than kill them, and he'd make sure he relocated honey bees, etc. 

Again, I've never seen that show. I just picked a few random titles to compare them with the kind of programming A&E used to have back in the dinosaur days. I love animals and Billy sounds like a dear! I think I might actually take a peek at this one.

I'm supposed to be preparing food, etc. for a family dinner tomorrow, and here I sit, drinking coffee and discussing reality shows. Omg.

[Brattinella]

3 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

I'm supposed to be preparing food, etc. for a family dinner tomorrow, and here I sit, drinking coffee and discussing reality shows. Omg.

Hubby is preparing one of our favorite lunches.  Fried Turkey Spam with a fried egg with mayo, cheddar cheese on sourdough toast.

[SRTouch]

1 hour ago, Brattinella said:

Hubby is preparing one of our favorite lunches.  Fried Turkey Spam with a fried egg with mayo, cheddar cheese on sourdough toast.

SPAM... when I was in Honduras we went a couple months eating spam twice a day - lunch was MRE's... well, it seemed like months. We had a mess hall, just not military cooks. They hired locals, brought in a Spanish speaking Army mess sergeant to run the mess hall and train train the locals. Until they learned the "Army" way everything was canned or dehydrated. Actually, mess halls are pretty regulated nowadays and inspected regularly. The military has learned to avoid poisoning soldiers with bad food - remember Napoleon's "the army travels on it's stomach." So, the locals had to learn Army approved recipes (which of course needed translation),  storage and prep, etc... 2 months worth of training for the Army basic cook MOS.

I went for years swearing never to eat Spam again - now I'll admit it's not TOO bad, and do have a couple cans in the pantry for the occasional quick, easy meal. Course, folks in the South Pacific - including Hawaii - reportedly love it. Maybe a regional thing, like grits, collared greens, green chili, etc.

Edited December 27, 2017 by SRTouch

[funky-rat]

45 minutes ago, AngelaHunter said:

Ugh. This is why I'm so OCD about privacy online. Even people who may seem nice and reasonable can turn out to be nuts. Sorry to hear about that. It's despicable, but I guess some people will do anything to make themselves feel important. Sad.

My husband's brother was a criminal. He made a good living by reading obituaries to find out the names of older, new widows and he had a system to con and fleece them out of large sums of money. I refused to ever meet him (luckily he's deceased now) but I think he may have been more way deserving of jail time than your uncle was, even though his crimes were not violent.

 

Again, I've never seen that show. I just picked a few random titles to compare them with the kind of programming A&E used to have back in the dinosaur days. I love animals and Billy sounds like a dear! I think I might actually take a peek at this one.

I'm supposed to be preparing food, etc. for a family dinner tomorrow, and here I sit, drinking coffee and discussing reality shows. Omg.

I hate scammers, so I hear you there.  Uncle Funky definitely deserved to serve some time, for sure, but not the 30+ years he served.  The person who committed the murder served less and got out.  I think that's what upset everyone the most.  I have learned to not trust random internet people from that experience.  We asked his aunt for a copy of the tape after he passed away, but it was her only copy, and old, and she was hesitant to even play it.  I finally found a nice person who helped me earlier this year, but I didn't give him details about the case.  Just the details about the film, and he found an article about it online, and the names of the director and producer, and that's how he found it, and got me in touch with the producer, who was a lovely woman, and said she always felt so bad for Uncle Funky, and was sad to find out he passed away without earning his freedom.  She provided me with a copy, and all of Uncle's kids with a copy as well.  Many of them had never seen the film.  The film crew paid for their wedding, and they took photos.  She gave me some backstory that his Aunt didn't, so that was neat to have.

Billy has killed a few animals - mostly rats - but generally traps and releases wildlife and other animals.  He does kill things like roaches and wasps, but he uses eco friendly insecticides so as not to harm people or pets, or other animals.  You might like his show.  If they are episodes with his mom and dad and brother, they were good up until the end, where they tried to make it more about family drama.

40 minutes ago, Brattinella said:

Hubby is preparing one of our favorite lunches.  Fried Turkey Spam with a fried egg with mayo, cheddar cheese on sourdough toast.

Oh yum.  Just leave off the mayo and substitute with butter.  :D

[AngelaHunter]

3 hours ago, Brattinella said:

Hubby is preparing one of our favorite lunches.  Fried Turkey Spam with a fried egg with mayo, cheddar cheese on sourdough toast.

Okay, not a big Spam fan here, but anything - even shoe leather -  served on toasted sourdough bread and smothered with mayo and cheddar? Has to be incredibly good!

2 hours ago, funky-rat said:

Oh yum.  Just leave off the mayo and substitute with butter. 

Nooo! Butter AND mayo! Lots of both!

 

2 hours ago, funky-rat said:

Billy has killed a few animals - mostly rats

Aww, I've had many pet rats and loved them second only to my dogs. I know - they're not the same kind of rats, but I guess I"ll pass on this. :(

Edited December 27, 2017 by AngelaHunter
Cuz, damn - drunk again and no work done.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, funky-rat said:

He did something stupid in the late 70's.  I don't want to get in to it here, but it was akin to being a getaway car driver, but the person you were being the driver for killed someone.  He turned states evidence.  He cooperated fully.  He was sold a bill of goods.  Then a judge, up for re-election and eager to show that he was tough on crime gave Uncle Funky "Life w/o P" because he "didn't do enough" to stop the crime from happening.  Meanwhile, the murder gets a lesser sentence because he went before a different judge.

This is a horrible miscarriage of justice, @funky-rat. Of course he deserved to serve time, but to serve more time than the murderer? No. No way. I'm sorry things turned out the way they did.

 

3 hours ago, funky-rat said:

She provided me with a copy, and all of Uncle's kids with a copy as well.  Many of them had never seen the film.  The film crew paid for their wedding, and they took photos.  She gave me some backstory that his Aunt didn't, so that was neat to have.

That, however, is a good story about a decent human being. I'll try to remember there are more of them in the world than the shitty ones. (Me, watching Judge Judy in 10 minutes: "Hm. Maybe I was wrong.")

5 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

But what made me quit cold turkey was a show featuring a woman in England who had some sort of rare condition that made her legs grow to gigantic size. She was lovely - so sweet and brave.  I felt so sorry for her, and her situation disturbed me so much it wouldn't leave my mind. I watched it all, desperately hoping for some sort of relief for her, but of course that never happened, since this was just another "Hey look at this!" freak show.

 

Mandy Sellars! I loved her! What a horrible condition she has. I think there were several docs (or what passes as docs on cable TV) about her plight I've seen.

 

4 hours ago, Brattinella said:

Hubby is preparing one of our favorite lunches.  Fried Turkey Spam with a fried egg with mayo, cheddar cheese on sourdough toast.

I shouldn't read this thread while hungry. :(

[AngelaHunter]

13 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

I shouldn't read this thread while hungry. :(

You and me both. I just had dinner, but the thought of toasted sourdough bread will not leave me alone. :( Better than sex - well, from what I remember of it.

[Dakisela]

S21/EP. 228 (2017)  What in the world is AMY SCHUMER doing sitting in the gallery behind the defendant directly in the line of the TV?  Ep. just started -- I guess only time will tell!

[Brattinella]

5 minutes ago, Dakisela said:

S21/EP. 228 (2017)  What in the world is AMY SCHUMER doing sitting in the gallery behind the defendant directly in the line of the TV?  Ep. just started -- I guess only time will tell!

Being an attention-craving woman?  Besides, looks like she is buds with JJ.

[funky-rat]

On ‎12‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 5:09 PM, AngelaHunter said:

Aww, I've had many pet rats and loved them second only to my dogs. I know - they're not the same kind of rats, but I guess I"ll pass on this. :(

This was an infestation of wild rats (not pet rats), but I get the sentiment.

19 hours ago, Dakisela said:

S21/EP. 228 (2017)  What in the world is AMY SCHUMER doing sitting in the gallery behind the defendant directly in the line of the TV?  Ep. just started -- I guess only time will tell!

This was mentioned earlier in the year.  Not sure what page to find it on in the regular forum.