Small Talk: We'll Be Right Back

[Prevailing Wind]

I have two - one in the living room that gets the biggest workout. The Roku stick is attached to it. There's also a smaller one in the "Stuff Room" so I have something to distract me while I'm ironing. (Yes, I still iron...)

My brother & SIL had a 3-bedroom house in Charlotte, NC - TVs in every bedroom, the living room, the breakfast nook AND the screened-in porch. And SIL claims she doesn't watch much TV.  I'm going out to their new house today - 4 bedrooms and a "living room" type space upstairs all have TVs, and there's a HUGE honkin' one in the family room downstairs that can easily be seen from the kitchen. There's probably one on this screened-in back porch which is also the "catio." I don't think the cats watch any TV, so all those TVs are for them & whomever might spend the night.

[ebk57]

We had a Zenith console black and white TV growing up.  It had a remote - 5 buttons that corresponded to 5 channels, but my dad never bothered putting batteries in it, so it just sat in the holder on the front of the TV.  When that TV died, dad bought a portable black and white (another Zenith!), and put it on top of the console, so out TV table was actually a TV.  That piece of furniture, emptied of the tubes and other workings, is in the basement right now.  My sister keeps claiming she wants it, but we have yet to figure out how to get it to her.  Or maybe we're not really trying. 

I bought my first color TV at Kmart to watch Gone With the Wind when it was first broadcast.  A 13 inch set that weighed a about a million pounds.  It lasted a really long time, long enough to take it and set it up in my office at the theatre, then when we got a new one there, to take it upstairs so the ushers could enjoy it. 

Now we have TVs in the living room, the bedroom, the upstairs office and the kitchen.  Mr ebk keeps threatening to put one in the bathroom, but so far hasn't actually done it.  Let's keep it that way. 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

 When that TV died, dad bought a portable black and white (another Zenith!), and put it on top of the console, so out TV table was actually a TV.  

Reminds me of a Jeff Foxworthy bit.

"If you have a working TV sitting on top of a non-working TV, you just might be a redneck."

[mojoween]

Before the economy shit the bed the company I work for had the most awesome picnics and one year I bought a sleeve of raffle tickets for twenty bucks and left with a 32” flat screen TV.  At the time, even one that small was wicked expensive because they were still relatively new.

It hangs in our bedroom because the hubby needed a 55” in the living room, heh.

When I was little, my dad bought a new TV before Super Bowl XIX that had a remote control and that was fantastic for us girls who no longer had to turn the knob!  The remote had five buttons too - power, channel up/down and volume up/down.  He kept that TV for over twenty years until there were no longer repairmen who could come out to fix it.

Edited July 4, 2018 by mojoween

[bilgistic]

49 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Reminds me of a Jeff Foxworthy bit.

"If you have a working TV sitting on top of a non-working TV, you just might be a redneck."

My parents had a working microwave sitting atop a non-working microwave on a little wheelie cart with cabinet doors. I think the non-working one was the one we grew up with; it had dials instead of buttons. We had to turn off the window A/C unit in the bedroom before turning on the microwave or the circuit would flip, which meant a trip outside to turn it back on at the breaker box. I don't know why it was outside.

[peacheslatour]

48 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Before the economy shit the bed the company I work for had the most awesome picnics and one year I bought a sleeve of raffle tickets for twenty bucks and left with a 32” flat screen TV.  At the time, even one that small was wicked expensive because they were still relatively new.

It hangs in our bedroom because the hubby needed a 55” in the living room, heh.

When I was little, my dad bought a new TV before Super Bowl XIX that had a remote control and that was fantastic for us girls who no longer had to turn the knob!  The remote had five buttons too - power, channel up/down and volume up/down.  He kept that TV for over twenty years until there were no longer repairmen who could come out to fix it.

When I was in high school my mom went out and bought a small TV for the kitchen. We wanted to watch Rhoda's wedding and my dad insisted on watching Monday night football. We watched the wedding in the kitchen. I remember being amazed that my mom could just go out and buy a TV on her own because stuff like that was always my dad's bailiwick. But then again she had her own interior design business so I guess she could buy whatever she damn well pleased.

[Brattinella]

Bailiwick!  Good one!

[chessiegal]

My husband had an acquaintance who said he and his wife had allowances so they could buy whatever they wanted with that money. I looked at him and said my allowance was our joint checking account. Of course, we were both working, and by the time we retired we were at the same pay grade in the federal government, so we were making exactly the same amount of money. 

[peacheslatour]

46 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

My husband had an acquaintance who said he and his wife had allowances so they could buy whatever they wanted with that money. I looked at him and said my allowance was our joint checking account. Of course, we were both working, and by the time we retired we were at the same pay grade in the federal government, so we were making exactly the same amount of money. 

Right? You either trust your partner with finances or you don't get married.

[friendperidot]

sorry, but after marriage to an alcoholic, I will never trust another living soul with my money. And none will ever tell me what I can spend it on ever again.

Editing to discuss men doing laundry from commercials that annoy, etc. Yesterday, I was at the laundromat, there was a young man doing the family laundry alone. I know it was the family laundry, I saw him loading the bras and underwear and he'd never be able to fill those bras out! I made a comment that I loved seeing a man do the family laundry. He told me he was just getting on with what needed done. I loved that. To me, that is what marriage and a partnership should be, just whoever getting on with what needs doing.

And it does tie back to my first comment. Marriage should not be one person trying to control everything the other does. I admit, to doing my part of trying to control the drinking. I finally found Al-Anon and learned other ways to be. Then I got rid of the husband, but only after trying to make it work. Another hard lesson, one person trying does not make a marriage, it takes both trying.

Edited July 5, 2018 by friendperidot

[janie jones]

My husband had an acquaintance who said he and his wife had allowances so they could buy whatever they wanted with that money. I looked at him and said my allowance was our joint checking account. Of course, we were both working, and by the time we retired we were at the same pay grade in the federal government, so we were making exactly the same amount of money.

Right? You either trust your partner with finances or you don't get married.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see what trust has to do with it.  It seems to me that the "allowance" is just what the couple budgeted in as frivolous spending money.

[peacheslatour]

An "allowance" is what children get for doing chores. If you trust your partner you spend the money you have as one unit. Major purchases should be discussed. We have a joint checking account, we pay the bills every week. If I need something I buy it. If he needs something he buys it. Neither he nor I dole it out nor do we ask permission. It's our money. We have never fought about money. Married 38 years, have no debt, own our home free and clear and have a rental house. If you have the same goals and complete trust in your partner money is never an issue.

[Browncoat]

I give myself an allowance every month.  It helps keep me on budget and also on track with savings if I have a finite amount of money to spend freely or frivolously each month.

[janie jones]

On 7/9/2018 at 3:11 PM, Browncoat said:

I give myself an allowance every month.  It helps keep me on budget and also on track with savings if I have a finite amount of money to spend freely or frivolously each month.

Which is what it seemed to me that couple was doing.

[smittykins]

Unfortunately,  I had to say goodbye to my kitty on Wednesday.  She had increasing neurologic issues, and the vet suspected a tumor in her brain or spinal cord. 

Rest well, sweet girl.

 

[Annber03]

Oh, no :(. I'm so sorry. 

That's a lovely picture of her. 

[frenchtoast]

I'm so sorry, @smittykins. 

[Brattinella]

Oh, @smittykins I am so sorry!  Big hugs coming from Brattinella!  She was a beautiful girl.

[Browncoat]

I'm sorry, @smittykins! 

[Prevailing Wind]

Condolences from me, Bosco & Stella.

[bilgistic]

@smittykins, it looks like you had a beautiful bond with your sweet girl. I'm so sorry.

[mmecorday]

So sorry to hear of your kitty's passing, smittykins. Simon, Ezra and the rest of my feline crew at home send our since condolences.

[CoderLady]

@smittykins, I'm so sorry. Please keep remembering all the good things and the love.

[funky-rat]

@smittykins:

I thought we knew each other from several other places.  That just confirmed it.

I saw when you posted last night about China.  Tabs and Sylvester send their sympathy, and some extra purrs.

[ABay]

Sympathies, @smittykins.

[peacheslatour]

Hugs (((smittykins))).

[QuinnInND]

I'm so sorry, @smittykins.  ((((hugs)))) 

[smittykins]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words.  I know she’s now playing with my previous kitties, Mittens and Pumpkin. ❤️

[friendperidot]

I'm so sorry about your kitty. I've had too many friends lose too many pets in the past month. Every one of them is a sad loss.

[Bastet]

@smittykins, I'm sorry to hear about your loss.  It's just awful, always, to let them go, even though that means we can spare them more suffering.  What a lovely picture capturing the cat/person bond in one moment.  I empathize - in general, and as mom to a kitty with adorable nose freckles like your sweetie had.  Riley and I will hold you in our thoughts tonight as we cuddle up.

[mojoween]

@smittykins Mookie Wilson and I send all of our condolences.  

[bilgistic]

2 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

Somebody needs to tell Dennis Haysbert that Park is not the most common street name in America.  According to Google, it's the fifth most common name.  The most common name is Second Street.  Not First Street, because some towns use Main Street instead of First Street.

 

2 hours ago, Browncoat said:

My home town did not have a street called Main Street.  The primary street was Park Ave.

Here it's Trade and Tryon streets, which were historical trading paths. (Tryon is really the "main street".) They are the center of downtown, except it's called "Uptown" because the junction of the streets is at a higher elevation than the surrounding area.

There's a long major secondary road named Park Road, and a Park Avenue that's in an upper-middle-class residential area.

[Browncoat]

@bilgistic, do you live in Charlotte?  Once upon a time I lived in Raleigh for a short time after college, and I had several friends in the Charlotte area.  I still live close enough, though in Virginia, that I’ll drive to Charlotte if I need to fly somewhere.

[bilgistic]

Yes. I've been here 25 years. I was born and raised in Winston-Salem.

I'm ready to move. Well, I'd like to live somewhere else; I don't actually want to go through the act of moving.

[Prevailing Wind]

Living in Decatur, GA, our main streets are Ponce de Leon and Clairemont (spelled Clairmont once you're out of the city limits) but the city next door - whooo-hoo - I bet y'all can guess... PEACHTREE!  Almost all of the outlying suburban towns have a street called "Atlanta Road" because it's the one that takes you to Atlanta. Forget Rome; all roads lead to Atlanta. (We DO have a Rome, GA and an Athens, GA, too.)

[peacheslatour]

4 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Living in Decatur, GA, our main streets are Ponce de Leon and Clairemont (spelled Clairmont once you're out of the city limits) but the city next door - whooo-hoo - I bet y'all can guess... PEACHTREE!  Almost all of the outlying suburban towns have a street called "Atlanta Road" because it's the one that takes you to Atlanta. Forget Rome; all roads lead to Atlanta. (We DO have a Rome, GA and an Athens, GA, too.)

Fun fact. Margaret Mitchell, famous for writing Gone With The Wind, was run over and killed on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. The same street Scarlett O'Hara lived on when she stayed with Aunt Pittypat in the book.

[Spunkygal]

This commercial doesn't irritate me or anything but it got me to thinking. A guy wakes up before anyone else, orders groceries from the Walmart app, picks up said groceries and cooks and serves breakfast to wife in bed. Does anyone really like to eat in bed? I don't. He served her fluffy waffles, fruit, fried egg, juice. Heck, if I am going to dig in to that, I want to be sitting at a table where I don't drop a morsel and where I can show that plate of food who's boss! I never thought being served food in bed sounded like a treat. 

[bilgistic]

I've been known to eat in bed while watching TV, but I'm single and have no one to judge me but the cats. "Breakfast in bed" strikes me as a couple-y thing, and I think there's a kid or two in the commercial. No one's making me breakfast, unfortunately.

The thing I noticed in that commercial is the guy doesn't take off his robe to go to Walmart. I guess they have curbside pickup or something similar; I don't know. I don't shop at Walmart. I've certainly taken a movie back to the outdoor Redbox in my jammies under the cover of night, but something about him not taking off his robe makes me laugh. It seems like it's more cumbersome than anything.

Plus, I've only ever known one man in my entire life who has worn a robe.

[Prevailing Wind]

As soon as I wake, I'm dashing to the loo. I'm up already, may as well sit at a table for breakfast. Breakfast in bed never appealed to me, either, except when I was a little kid with some sort of ailment. Then it was a bowl of Cream of Wheat. Big whoop.  NOW I'm too wide for those trays to fit over my hips, anyway. Bwahahahahaha.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

Does anyone really like to eat in bed?

No, but I can't eat when I first wake up (it would make me feel nauseated), so I'm not going to mess up the bed again an hour or two later (assuming my cat actually got up to let me make it in the first place) so I can crawl back in it to eat.  If I didn't have that issue, though, and someone brought me breakfast in bed, I still don't think I'd like it for the reasons you don't -- I'd much rather be sitting at a table than trying to keep a tray of food/drink from jiggling too much and spilling on my sheets.

[LoneHaranguer]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

A guy wakes up before anyone else, orders groceries from the Walmart app, picks up said groceries and cooks and serves breakfast to wife in bed. Does anyone really like to eat in bed? I don't.

Maybe she prefers eating in bed to seeing the mess he made in the kitchen, or waiting until he's cleaned up and the food is cold.

[QuinnInND]

6 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I've been known to eat in bed while watching TV, but I'm single and have no one to judge me but the cats. "Breakfast in bed" strikes me as a couple-y thing, and I think there's a kid or two in the commercial. No one's making me breakfast, unfortunately.

The thing I noticed in that commercial is the guy doesn't take off his robe to go to Walmart. I guess they have curbside pickup or something similar; I don't know. I don't shop at Walmart. I've certainly taken a movie back to the outdoor Redbox in my jammies under the cover of night, but something about him not taking off his robe makes me laugh. It seems like it's more cumbersome than anything.

Plus, I've only ever known one man in my entire life who has worn a robe.

Walmart has curbside pickup now. But yeah. I wouldn't want to go in a robe, just in case something happens. Like you get a flat. Fun city changing your tire in a robe. 

[LoneHaranguer]

14 hours ago, QuinnInND said:

Fun city changing your tire in a robe. 

Maybe he's got LM's roadside assistance.

[funky-rat]

We lost my grammy to Alzheimer's.  It sucked.  It took every last ounce of energy I had to not beat the tar out of a woman we encountered in a restaurant recently, who had a father with memory issues.  Constantly asking him if he remembered things (stuff from his childhood, for example).  Kept giving him choices of food, and getting frustrated when he couldn't make a decision (we always ordered for grammy).  I wanted to go off on her, but just got really sad instead.

[peacheslatour]

47 minutes ago, funky-rat said:

We lost my grammy to Alzheimer's.  It sucked.  It took every last ounce of energy I had to not beat the tar out of a woman we encountered in a restaurant recently, who had a father with memory issues.  Constantly asking him if he remembered things (stuff from his childhood, for example).  Kept giving him choices of food, and getting frustrated when he couldn't make a decision (we always ordered for grammy).  I wanted to go off on her, but just got really sad instead.

Sounds like they're in denial. When my dad began losing it to Alzheimer's we just thought he was getting forgetful. It took about a year to realize the extent of the disease. It's insidious and horrible. Browbeating does not help. She should see a specialist and find out how to deal. Won't make it any easier but at least the poor guy won't be tortured like that.

Edited August 9, 2018 by peacheslatour

[iMonrey]

Quote

I never understand these celebrities with their horrific plastic surgery (Meg Ryan, Reba McIntyre, Joan Van Ark, John Travolta, etc).  They have all the money in the world, figuratively speaking, yet they can't find a competent plastic surgeon?  How does that happen?

It turns out it really depends more on the patient than the doctor. Two celebrities can have the exact same procedure done by the same doctor and it might turn out wonderfully for one and horrifically for the other. It's all in the shape of their faces and their musculature, etc. Bottom line it's risky.

Quote

Wow.  Bribe your kids to eat their dinners.  Great parenting.

It's not the worst idea. My mom got us used to eating salads by trying different types of dressing - some of which were probably something short of "healthy." To this day I eat a salad with every dinner. You can get kids to eat fresh fruit by letting them dip it in chocolate or cream or a little bit of sugar. Maybe not ideal but at least you get the fruit and vegetables into them.

[funky-rat]

15 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Sounds like they're in denial. When my dad began losing it to Alzheimer's we just thought he was getting forgetful. It took about a year to realize the extent of the disease. It's insidious and horrible.

When she was diagnosed, we all educated ourselves.  More than anything, we didn't want to upset her.  We'd order for her at restaurants (we knew what she liked).  We'd try to not force her to make a decision, or remember too much.  And NEVER get mad if she repeated herself, etc.

This woman would point to an old ad on the wall:  "Remember this dad?  When you had a pedal tractor when you were little?"  Dad: "No".  Woman: "Sure you do!".......  This went on and on for a number of topics, including "Do you know where we are?" - NO!  He does not know where you are - why even ask him?

Woman:  "Dad: do you want a cheeseburger?  Or a chicken sandwich?  Or a hot dog?  Or something else?".  This went on for several minutes.  He finally settled on a cheeseburger.  "Dad: do you want ketchup?  Mayo?  Mustard?........".  Then it was "Do you want french-fries?  Onion rings?  Salad?....".  Next it was endless selections of drinks.  I just felt like saying "Give him a cheeseburger.  Condiment packets on the side.  French Fries.  Bottle of water."  She'd also leave him alone for expended periods of time and you could see how confused he would get.

And of course, it was later in the day, and that just makes it worse.  Education should be mandatory for family and caretakers.

 

[LoneHaranguer]

53 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Two celebrities can have the exact same procedure done by the same doctor and it might turn out wonderfully for one and horrifically for the other. It's all in the shape of their faces and their musculature, etc. Bottom line it's risky.

Shouldn't a little structural analysis, taking advantage of modern technology, eliminate any chance of a horrific result?

[andromeda331]

My family didn't realize my grandfather had Alzheimier's for awhile either. My grandmother had died and he took it really hard so we chalked a lot up to that. It hit him really hard and he always assumed she'd outlive him. He said it all the time. His wife just died, he hadn't lived alone in over fifty years, it was really easy to mistake a lot of it for grieving. It wasn't until a year and half later we realized there was a problem. Looking back we don't know when it really started it could have been before Grandma died and we just didn't know because everyone was focused on her because she was so sick that last year. 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

It's not the worst idea. My mom got us used to eating salads by trying different types of dressing - some of which were probably something short of "healthy." To this day I eat a salad with every dinner. You can get kids to eat fresh fruit by letting them dip it in chocolate or cream or a little bit of sugar. Maybe not ideal but at least you get the fruit and vegetables into them.

I got my son to eat broccoli by putting a little grated cheddar on it. Now he eats it without cheese and doesn't think a thing about it. Next: Raw broccoli.