House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[Ohwell]

53 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

 I thought it was a good idea to make the son's room in the basement because that was a small house, and using all the space like that was efficient.

I forgot about the son (who also seemed like a nice kid).  I'm sure a boy his age just loves living separate from his parents.  Kind of like a junior bachelor pad. 

[msmarjoribanks]

3 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I liked the Boston couple, they seemed nice and were not demanding.  And I loved that the guy didn't want white cabinets.  I figured they'd take the first house, the fixer-upper.  I'd like to see more episodes of people with modest budgets looking for houses. 

Totally agree with this as well.  I find it more interesting when they have constraints and have to make tradeoffs or do a fixer-upper, and I also agree that it's better when it's not all about having 4000 sq ft or the most trendy finishes and style elements.  I like it when they are happy and excited about even imperfect places.  This is especially true for younger people -- I can't imagine having assumed I needed the most expensive-looking place or refusing to make tradeoffs when I bought my first place.  I was just excited to have an in-unit washer and dryer.

[chessiegal]

We liked the Boston couple too. When I told my husband I was surprised you could get houses in their price range south of Boston, he said he looked the town up, and it was closer to Providence than it was Boston. The other thing that stood out was I didn't hear a single "Where is my...…….?" I heard phrases like I prefer or I'd rather. More like these HH please.

[Empress1]

On 10/18/2018 at 7:03 PM, msmarjoribanks said:

I find the ones where people have a big enough budget to get basically everything they might want in their chosen location bore me.  I find the ones where they have more constraints more interesting.

I sometimes like it when they're looking in interesting places and want historic houses. There was a couple in ... I want to say St. Louis? It was the two men and one of them wanted a "Sunday fun day car." And I thought all the homes in their target neighborhoods were gorgeous so I liked looking at them - they were all older, no new builds. They had a big budget.

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

We liked the Boston couple too. When I told my husband I was surprised you could get houses in their price range south of Boston, he said he looked the town up, and it was closer to Providence than it was Boston. The other thing that stood out was I didn't hear a single "Where is my...…….?" I heard phrases like I prefer or I'd rather. More like these HH please.

Boston and Providence aren't that far apart - I've known people who lived in Providence and commuted to Boston. There are commuter trains that go between them. The wife did say that two bathrooms was a deal-breaker for her - but then they ended up in the house with one. You could tell (I think they even said so) that they were just glad to be able to own. She said they'd been priced out of Boston proper, so I think they were just grateful that they could own something, which was really refreshing.

Edited October 19, 2018 by Empress1

[msmarjoribanks]

59 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

I sometimes like it when they're looking in interesting places and want historic houses. There was a couple in ... I want to say St. Louis? It was the two men and one of them wanted a "Sunday fun day car." And I thought all the homes in their target neighborhoods were gorgeous so I liked looking at them - they were all older, no new builds. They had a big budget.

Yeah, that's the exception for me too, but even there I think they had a much more reasonable budget (maybe $600K?) vs. some of the "we can spend $1 m" ones), and I was super impressed by what you could get in St Louis for that price.  But I do like it when they look at interesting/different places or when it's a place I'm kind of interested in.  I thought the "MCM by a prominent architect in Palm Springs" one was interesting too, even though they had a huge budget.

I know I've mentioned Restored a lot but one reason I liked it so much is that the houses he was restoring were very often quite modest ones.  I found it very interesting to see what he could do with them.

[tvrox]

I thought it was weird that the Chicago couple thought the roof deck was good outdoor space for their kid and dog. It was a large deck with a great view, but I think its more of a place for large adult parties. The kid might easily slip through the slats of the deck. And there's no grass for the dog to go to the bathroom in.

[Ohwell]

2 hours ago, Empress1 said:

The wife did say that two bathrooms was a deal-breaker for her - but then they ended up in the house with one. You could tell (I think they even said so) that they were just glad to be able to own.

And I think the husband did say something about adding a bathroom later on?  He was a big hunk of a man and he did look like he could do a lot of repairs/additions to the house. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm not sure where it was, but on the episode they showed a couple who wanted to move the master suite to the basement, so the wife could have an office, and the husband could have a collectibles, or toy room as his wife put it.      How anyone expects me to think that the basement master suite or guest room is going to be acceptable as living space when the windows are those small, basement windows that are not legal egress.       Everywhere I've lived with basements doesn't allow non-conforming windows on living space, only when there is an egress window, and when the windows are like the tiny old basement windows, that can't be counted as a bedroom.    The one house the same couple looked at that had an outside staircase to the basement, and looked like there was an interior basement staircase too, so I don't understand why they used the outside entrance.     

Edited October 20, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[msmarjoribanks]

1 hour ago, tvrox said:

I thought it was weird that the Chicago couple thought the roof deck was good outdoor space for their kid and dog. It was a large deck with a great view, but I think its more of a place for large adult parties. The kid might easily slip through the slats of the deck. And there's no grass for the dog to go to the bathroom in.

I think they also noted the park next door, which does mitigate the lack of yard. Problem with the roof deck is that it is not private.  Chicago code on decks is pretty strict, so I suspect there's no chance of a toddler slipping through the slats.

Just watched the new Boston episode, and enjoyed the couple, but I coveted the third place, although I would have done some work. Figured they'd pick the first, but kind of wanted to see them pick the third.  I hope they can figure out a  way to add a second bathroom.

Edited October 20, 2018 by msmarjoribanks

[ehall1052]

On 10/16/2018 at 7:37 PM, ehall1052 said:

I felt like the Naples couple were auditioning for their own Fixer Upper:Florida show. 

I’m quoting my own post... I was talking to someone “in the know” about this couple and their realtor, and yes indeed, HGTV is thinking of having them in a new show. I hope the women work on those Minnie Mouse voices.

[Neko]

8 minutes ago, ehall1052 said:

I’m quoting my own post... I was talking to someone “in the know” about this couple and their realtor, and yes indeed, HGTV is thinking of having them in a new show. I hope the women work on those Minnie Mouse voices.

Dear god, why?  They aren't cute, and the wife has stupid ideas.  Won't be watching.

[Kemper]

Why yes, HGTV, let's add another Couple to the lineup of couple/brothers/siblings to your already tired programming.  

We cannot ever see enough stainless steel, subway tile, dark wood floors, muted-color walls, open-space living room/kitchen, no neighbors who can be visible, houses bought to flip with no apparent inspection beforehand, "dated finishes",mid-century modern fanatics, sectionals (usually gray) (grey?), entitled buyers, snippy buyers, horrible-speaking-voice buyers, obnoxious wives, pain-in-the-ass husbands, children who run the famly, etc.  You get my drift.  lol

I, too, love when the couple is looking at old houses and seemingly accepting of some limitations the vintage houses may present.

19 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I sometimes like it when they're looking in interesting places and want historic houses. There was a couple in ... I want to say St. Louis? It was the two men and one of them wanted a "Sunday fun day car." And I thought all the homes in their target neighborhoods were gorgeous so I liked looking at them - they were all older, no new builds. They had a big budget.

Boston and Providence aren't that far apart - I've known people who lived in Providence and commuted to Boston. There are commuter trains that go between them. The wife did say that two bathrooms was a deal-breaker for her - but then they ended up in the house with one. You could tell (I think they even said so) that they were just glad to be able to own. She said they'd been priced out of Boston proper, so I think they were just grateful that they could own something, which was really refreshing.

Sorry, I don't know if you can "quote" just a paragraph of an existing comment.  Historic houses, no matter the shape they are in, are House Porn to me...I love when the buyers look at these.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Oh goody, another boring bunch of jerks on a flip show that will have an episode played on some obscure time period, and then rerun all of the time.   

 I'm sure the California couple on HH Reno where he was a firefighter, and she was a medical device salesperson (obviously boob implants), and were definitely auditioning for the bling Kartrashian demographic of house flipping shows, and she was always in some exotic attire, and full makeup, including foot long fake eyelashes, and posed through every scene.   She also had the vocal fry Minnie Mouse voice.     

[KLovestoShop]

Just watched the Georgia couple, where at the beginning the wife said “Tell me I’m pretty.  Tell me I’m pretty. Tell me I’m pretty.”   When you have to basically beg your husband, is it really worth anything?  And what is it with all these people wanting mid-century modern houses in places where that style doesn’t exist?  

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, KLovestoShop said:

Just watched the Georgia couple, where at the beginning the wife said “Tell me I’m pretty.  Tell me I’m pretty. Tell me I’m pretty.”   When you have to basically beg your husband, is it really worth anything?  And what is it with all these people wanting mid-century modern houses in places where that style doesn’t exist?  

“Tell me I’m pretty” was soooooooo weird. I’m guessing it’s a game they play? Otherwise, she sounded very Single White Female without the stalker girlfriend. They got a pretty nice house for $243,800. The husband is going to do the renovations. He sounds capable. 

[Neko]

I liked the husband from the Georgia couple, but it was weird that his preferred style was mid-century modern.  I expected him to be a rustic guy, or a farmhouse guy.

[edie3]

On 10/18/2018 at 11:59 AM, Empress1 said:

What was up with his hair? So distracting!

It reminded me of Eddie Munster.

[Ohwell]

10 hours ago, edie3 said:

It reminded me of Eddie Munster.

That's it!

[laredhead]

The Georgia woman should be so happy to have a husband who evidently adores her, cooks, and is handy with remodeling.  I was yelling at her in the reveal to pick up a scraper and help him remove that floor.  They don't have children to watch, just a dog.  Put in some sweat equity and help him out a bit.

That narrow bathroom was something else.  Even a small framed person would have trouble squeezing past the sink to the shower, and if you bent over to brush your teeth, your backside will hit the opposite wall.  I wanted to see how many smokers and grills that guy had.

Edited October 21, 2018 by laredhead

[LittleIggy]

16 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Just watched the Georgia couple, where at the beginning the wife said “Tell me I’m pretty.  Tell me I’m pretty. Tell me I’m pretty.”   When you have to basically beg your husband, is it really worth anything?  And what is it with all these people wanting mid-century modern houses in places where that style doesn’t exist?  

She sure didn’t strike me as a “city girl.” ?

[msmarjoribanks]

I missed the "city girl" one.

Watched the rerun from last year with the Atlanta "cool girl" and British guy (Pat) couple.  I predicted they'd take the third place (the semi cool semi MCM ranch in suburbia) while preferring the second place (craftsman in or near the city).  The loft cool girl thought was cool was just impractical.

Edited October 22, 2018 by msmarjoribanks

[buttersister]

On 10/20/2018 at 12:53 PM, ehall1052 said:

I’m quoting my own post... I was talking to someone “in the know” about this couple and their realtor, and yes indeed, HGTV is thinking of having them in a new show. I hope the women work on those Minnie Mouse voices.

As insufferable as those women’s voices were, his attitude was just as unattractive. OTOH, bad hosts broke my Food Network addiction—it’ll work here, too. (Heh, such a long time ago.)

[ehall1052]

Re the Gainesville, GA couple: how can someone with multiple smokers live in a neighborhood? Sure, the first time the neighbors smell brisket smoking on the grill, it would smell great. But day after day, week after week? That would irritate me. We live down the street from a restaurant which has a huge smoker like his and every time we drive by, you see and smell a ton of smoke coming out of it. I would not want to live next to that!

[LittleIggy]

Palm Springs: I loved their dog! ? The renovation was really nice. Funny that even the realtor was bearded and bald!

[Empress1]

7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Palm Springs: I loved their dog! ? The renovation was really nice. Funny that even the realtor was bearded and bald!

Yeah, they could all have been brothers! Their renovation did turn out well. I don't think I've seen a Palm Springs episode where the budget was less than $1M.

[laredhead]

I also liked the Palm Springs episode, but I don't think there is any way that they spent only $30,000 on that renovation.  Maybe the designer guy did a lot of the work himself, like renting a lift and painting that living room, but flooring isn't cheap, and the bathroom looked like a complete redo.  On another note, in the reveal scene in the kitchen I realized the backsplash is exactly like the one in my kitchen.  They ran theirs vertically, while I ran it horizontally.  I built my entire kitchen color scheme around that backsplash, and went with tones of beige, brown, and cream instead of the grays that he used.  It was my splurge on a tight budget, because it was a bit pricey.

It would have been nice for them to have found a place with a view of the mountains from their outside space.   

[Empress1]

25 minutes ago, laredhead said:

I also liked the Palm Springs episode, but I don't think there is any way that they spent only $30,000 on that renovation.  Maybe the designer guy did a lot of the work himself, like renting a lift and painting that living room, but flooring isn't cheap, and the bathroom looked like a complete redo.  On another note, in the reveal scene in the kitchen I realized the backsplash is exactly like the one in my kitchen.  They ran theirs vertically, while I ran it horizontally.  I built my entire kitchen color scheme around that backsplash, and went with tones of beige, brown, and cream instead of the grays that he used.  It was my splurge on a tight budget, because it was a bit pricey.

It would have been nice for them to have found a place with a view of the mountains from their outside space.   

The renovation-happy one was a designer, so maybe he got good deals on the materials.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I loved the Palm Springs episode, but I would have chosen the second, single family house, and improved it a little at a time.      The stairs in the one they bought are going to get harder with age, unless they want to put a stair lift in or something.    And they should have taken the cactus out of the patio space, before someone, or Diego the cutest dog ever, get nailed.  Unless they were plastic cactus?    They do have very realistic looking plastic ones.    

I had to laugh at how alike the two house hunters, and the realtor looked.       I thought it was funny that the one house hunter and realtor were so short compared to the other house hunter.   When the tall one kept complaining about ceiling heights in the first condo (which I totally hated), the other two looked amused, because they were just fine with the ceiling heights. 

The modern house that they bought looked very familiar, and I'm guessing that it's a big complex, and I know I've seen similar new builds on TV a few years ago, and they were brand new and doing upgrades.      I guess they're now resales, but still very attractive.  

Edited October 23, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[LittleIggy]

I worried about the doggie and the cacti, too!

4 hours ago, Empress1 said:

Yeah, they could all have been brothers! Their renovation did turn out well. I don't think I've seen a Palm Springs episode where the budget was less than $1M.

When they stated their budget, I was like “Good luck with that!” I didn’t think you could by a shed for less than a half million in PS.

I agree with the tall guy about that cement floor. It looked like an motor oil stained floor in an auto repair garage!

[Empress1]

40 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The stairs in the one they bought are going to get harder with age, unless they want to put a stair lift in or something. 

When the older guy complained about not wanting stairs I remembered that his partner said Older Guy was 20 years older than he was, so I did think they should be more conscientious about the stairs. Not everyone has trouble with stairs as they age but since the older one flagged it, I wondered about it.

[chessiegal]

If you watch the show "Desert Flippers" which features a couple that flips houses in Palm Springs, you'll see plenty of houses under a million. I've seen them sell houses in the $400-700K range.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I agree that there are a lot on Desert Flippers that would have suited the two men, had plenty of land for the adorable dog, and wouldn't have stairs.     I've seen houses on that show for $250k on up with great pool and entertaining spaces.    Please forgive me for saying entertaining, but I'm sure the two men have great parties.    They should have contacted the Desert Flippers duo, and bought a house from their inventory, and could still go on House Hunters.   A win-win for the production crews.  

[Ohwell]

2 hours ago, Empress1 said:

When the older guy complained about not wanting stairs I remembered that his partner said Older Guy was 20 years older than he was, so I did think they should be more conscientious about the stairs. Not everyone has trouble with stairs as they age but since the older one flagged it, I wondered about it.

I thought it was kind of snarky that the "younger" guy had to mention that his partner was 20 years older.  Frankly, he didn't look that much younger than his older partner. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

If the modern house they bought was in the area I remember from a previous show, it's very centrally located.       Looking at those stairs made my knees hurt.   Also, as Diego the dog ages, he won't like the stairs either.

[Neko]

Just watched the Indianapolis episode.  I thought it was weird that the one wife's twin sister would be moving in with them...she mentioned working for the same company as her sister, too.  I know twins can be close, but doesn't the sister have her own life?  I guess she could move out at any time, but she said she'd be paying rent, so who knows.

[laredhead]

I couldn't believe the Indianapolis buyers bought that huge fixer upper.  My lord that was some bright paint on the walls, and the ceiling paint in one room looked horrible.  They are going to need gallons and gallons of Kilz to hide those colors.  Evidently location played a huge part in their decision, as did the large back yard.    

[chessiegal]

The Indianapolis twins said they worked in construction, so I wasn't surprised they chose a fixer upper.

[mojito]

Quote

The Indianapolis twins said they worked in construction, so I wasn't surprised they chose a fixer upper.

I wondered what they actually did in construction? Not that I doubted their knowledge, I just wondered if they actually worked hands-on. 

They were a unique trio, being 38 and having been in college together. That's potentially a lot of history between them all. 

[LittleIggy]

10 hours ago, Sweet Summer Child said:

Just watched the Indianapolis episode.  I thought it was weird that the one wife's twin sister would be moving in with them...she mentioned working for the same company as her sister, too.  I know twins can be close, but doesn't the sister have her own life?  I guess she could move out at any time, but she said she'd be paying rent, so who knows.

Methinks it would be weird being married to a twin and having the other twin as a housemate!

[ByaNose]

3 hours ago, laredhead said:

I couldn't believe the Indianapolis buyers bought that huge fixer upper.  My lord that was some bright paint on the walls, and the ceiling paint in one room looked horrible.  They are going to need gallons and gallons of Kilz to hide those colors.  Evidently location played a huge part in their decision, as did the large back yard.    

And, painting with a brush as they were doing would take months. They have thing called paint rollers. They must not be very successful in construction. LOL!!!

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Methinks it would be weird being married to a twin and having the other twin as a housemate!

Methinks that the whole thing was weird. The twins, the new wife, the house they bought and their lack of painting skills.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Indianapolis episode certainly was different from the usual house hunters, who only want move-in ready, and whine about everything they see that's 'outdated' to them.    

I hope they love that house, and I hope the have an update in a year or so.    I thought all three women were a refreshing change from many of the other house hunters on here, and I'm sure they'll do a spectacular job remodeling it.      I'm betting that a big project will be getting professional painters to do the final paint job on the house.   My guess is the second the cameras left the painters with paint guns came in to do a neutral paint on the entire place.  

 I hope they also get a bunch of dirt for that back yard, because there were some serious ponding places in it, and the dog is going to love running through the mud, and into the house.     I'm sure the location had a lot to do with their choice.    I liked the first house, but I don't know enough about the area to know if it was in a good location or not.     The third house would have been a disaster, since the dog would have zero room, and the yard was so tiny.   

Edited October 24, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[laredhead]

Tampa to Denver couple, where the wife hates grout because it needs to be kept clean and mildew free.  She's moving from a very humid place where grout lines will mildew fast if they are not sealed and/or not kept bleached/clean/dry all the time, to a place where the humidity should not be a problem.  I get her adversity to grout lines because I live in south Louisiana.  Her fears or phobia about it, probably will not be realized in that climate, but, solid surface counter tops and shower inserts should eliminate most of that and make her happy.  I was surprised to see them installing a fairly dark floor since they talked about their husky dog shedding badly.  Every hair and piece of dust will show on that, but I guess it makes it easier to see it and sweep more often.  I was impressed that they were doing some of the work themselves.  Did anyone else notice how much they resembled each other?      

[juliet73]

I didn't really care for the Palm Springs ep.  The one guy complained about EVERYTHING!! EVERYTHING!  I kept thinking about Desert Flippers too, but there's no way that designer would have someone else design his home.  But I think they could have found a one story with a yard for less money.  

Denver ep:  Her constant nervous giggle was driving me crazy!  And her anti grout obsession was weird!  I understand not wanting to have grout in the countertops or on a high traffic floor, but a backsplash?  What is she/he cooking that food is going to be flying everywhere?  Once in a while I might have sauce that splatters near the stove, but it takes seconds to wipe it off.  As for grout in the shower, I don't get that.  I have 2 bathrooms.  One shower is tiled and the other has a surround.  I use the same product to clean both and it takes about equal time to do both.  One of these days, I want to tile the other because the surround doesn't look nearly as nice, IMO.  And he was annoying with his constant mentioning of the "gear room."  I have a gear room - it's called a garage!  

I liked the house across from the cemetery.  At least it would be quiet.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I have recently had back splash tile installed in my kitchen and master bath, and the grout they used was very expensive ($200 for a huge tub), but never needs sealing, won't shrink, and will always look great.      So there are grout alternatives if that house hunter was that picky. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 10/20/2018 at 6:26 PM, KLovestoShop said:

And what is it with all these people wanting mid-century modern houses in places where that style doesn’t exist?  

I've been a fan of mid-century modern houses for a long time--well before the current craze.  You know those big white pendant lights that look like a flying saucer?  We had one over our dining table when I was growing up, although ours was more beige.  But that may have just been the nicotine.  We were the real 60s deal.  :-)

Anyway, I've always sought them out when catting around in a different town, and got pretty good at finding them, back before the internet and MCM popularity made finding the houses anywhere a piece of cake.  It's almost like reading the rings on a tree, since they were built in a certain era, so you head out from downtown and "read" the houses as you pass through the years.  You'll suddenly hit them, or sometimes they're just not there and the house styles jump right over that period, and I assume that town wasn't growing during that time.  It's actually kind of fascinating.

[juliet73]

Washington ep:  The wife is a complete b!tch to her husband!  She's a student and he does video game marketing, they look under 30 years old and have a one million dollar budget!  They bought the 2nd house that needs a ton of work and paid $240k over asking!!  I'm sure they'll spend a ton of money on updating it to HER specifications because she "doesn't want to pay for someone else's bad decisions."  Although, the dining room light fixture she chose has to be one of the ugliest things I have ever seen!  It totally matches her personality!!

Edited October 26, 2018 by juliet73

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, juliet73 said:

Washington ep:  The wife is a complete b!tch to her husband!  She's a student and he does video game marketing, they look under 30 years old and have a one million dollar budget!  They bought the 2nd house that needs a ton of work and paid $240k over asking!!  I'm sure they'll spend a ton of money on updating it to HER specifications because she "doesn't want to pay for someone else's bad decisions."  Although, the dining room light fixture she chose has to be one of the ugliest things I have ever seen!  It totally matches her personality!!

When they said how much they paid, I shouted an expletive and startled my cat Neely who was curled up beside me. I didn’t like the wife either. She thought she was so witty and clever. The husband is paying for his own bad decision...?

[laredhead]

The Redmond, WA hubby makes a lot of $$.  Video game developers are well paid, so they could afford a house like that at a very young age.  I like mid century style houses, I appreciated some of the quirks of that house.  They got an acre of land with it too, so the price wasn't as high as it may have seemed compared to other houses.  It was also the perfect place for him because of the separate workshop and area for him.  At least they weren't bickering over 2 sinks in one bathroom, and seemed to be ok with each of them having their own bathroom.  My ex and I did that for years, and it worked fine.  Also no complaints from him about yard upkeep, although I noticed all of the planted beds and thought that was going to be high maintenance.  Guess they can hire a lawn crew.  I wanted to see more of the pond.

There is no way I would have ever chosen the 3rd house where the view from the kitchen was the freeway.  I wonder if that house really was for sale, and if it's still on the market?

[StatisticalOutlier]

At one point, the Redmond people were in a small space and he was in her way, I think, and she said, "Could you not?" the way it can be said real snotty.  Okay, I've been known to do that, but not with witnesses! 

I was pleased they paid so much over asking price due to multiple bids.  I saw one the other day (possibly a rerun) where they said there were multiple bids so they ended up paying asking price, and it was a let-down.  I hate that houses don't just have price tags hanging on them, so paying the asking price is what would happen in my fantasy world, and a bunch of bidding just to get there, or maybe a couple thousand over, grates.  But a couple hundred thousand?  It's much more entertaining to imagine what went on to get there.

 

4 hours ago, laredhead said:

There is no way I would have ever chosen the 3rd house where the view from the kitchen was the freeway. 

I once stayed in a place for several months in the San Fernando Valley west of Los Angeles where the main window I looked out overlooked about a 1/4-mile stretch of the Ventura Freeway and I loved watching the ebb and flow of traffic.  I was up on a hill so the cars weren't whizzing by (or stopped) at eye level, which probably made a difference.  And I knew I wasn't going to be there forever.  But I would just zone out and watch the cars, probably the same way nature lovers enjoy nature.

[Neko]

God, the Redmond wife came off as such a bitch.  Not only did she have this ugly smirk on her face most of the time, she bragged about "stealing" her husband from another girl.  How charming.