Small Talk: No Pun Intended

[alegtostandon]

Hi Everyone! Thought I would introduce myself...I am 'alegtostandon'...I have no idea how I came up with that name, has no meaning to me. 

 

I live in El Mirage, AZ (a small farming community about 20 miles west of Phoenix which turned into a growing residential area about 10 years ago).  I have lived in the Phx area on & off since the mid-70's when my mom moved us here after my parents divorce.  Growing up, we lived in several different states due to my dad being transferred for his job, but do say that I am from Chicago area, was born there & still consider the outlying suburbs my hometown area. 

 

One of the areas we did live in growing up was Houston.  We were only there for about 2 years, this was in the late 60's & I was only 7/8 yrs old but remember it very well. 

 

Steff said:

 

"I got really caught up in Bill and Jen when they moved to Houston.  That's where I grew up, so I get a kick out of seeing stuff around town.  I made my kiddo watch last week just so I could prove to him that there really is a train in Herman Park, so the pics of him on it were real..."

 

For some reason, my quote icon is not working, hope I don't get in trouble for not quoting correctly, but Steff, when you mentioned Herman Park, it made me remember, my brother was born in Herman Hospital, are they anywhere close? 

 

Both my husband & myself are 'reality TV Junkies', myself more than him.  I watch any and all reality TV.  He is particular about his. We love Big Brother, Survivor & Amazing Race, and watch those together.  He also loves the fishing reality shows.  I love the TLC & Bravo shows. 

 

I, too, am an animal lover - Have 2 cocker spaniels, Greta (12 yrs) and Hannah (4 yrs) plus 2 parakeets.  My "dogs" are my girls.  I also love working in the yard and have a year round tan to prove it.

 

I am so glad to have a site to come to after TWoP...one of my favorite things to do is to snark on a show & I love reading others posts and their opinions. 

 

Look forward to getting to know all of you! I have been sneaking over here since March trying to get use to the layout and how it works. 

 

Snark On!

Edited June 1, 2014 by alegtostandon

[4leafclover]

Hi alegtostandon and welcome!  Hermann Hospital is in the great Texas Medical Center and Hermann Park is a large, sprawling park that lies just adjacent to the Med Center between that, the Museum District and Rice University.  

[watchdog]

For some reason, my quote icon is not working, hope I don't get in trouble for not quoting correctly, but Steff, when you mentioned Herman Park, it made me remember, my brother was born in Herman Hospital, are they anywhere close?

 

Another Hermann Hospital baby here!

 

Hermann Hospital is in the great Texas Medical Center and Hermann Park is a large, sprawling park that lies just adjacent to the Med Center between that, the Museum District and Rice University.

 

The Houston Zoo is there, too.  The train they rode in the birthday episode goes around part of Hermann Park.

 

In the episode from a few years ago where Jen and Bill were invited to throw out the first pitch at an Astros game and went on a picnic with some of Jen's friends from work so Jen could "practice" throwing the ball with their friends' schoolage kid... that was filmed in Hermann Park.

 

Since I mentioned Houston locations, the scene where Bill and Zoey are in the hospital "cafeteria"... that looked like the food court on the 3rd floor of Texas Children's Hospital.  It's a well-kept secret from St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital/Texas Heart Institute which are connected via walkways to TCH, and at no time when I was there were there ever more than a handful of people present.  (Someone commented on TWoP about Jen going into a cafeteria with her compromised immune system.)  It looks like a miniature mall food court with a Subway, pizza, and 3 or 4 other places.  There are plenty of tables and chairs for people to spread out.

 

The only sources I could find for food in SLEH were the hospital cafeteria (a real hospital cafeteria with all the horrible smells and gross food choices that go with it), vending machines, and the neon-lit McDonald's smack dab in the middle of the first floor across from the admissions office... until a staff member told me about the TCH food court.  It's the strangest thing seeing a McDonald's in the middle of a major heart hospital/clinic.  I always figured it was a collaboration with McDonald's to create more patients for Texas Heart Institute.

 

Several of the destination locations around Houston such as the yoga place, the wig place, the hobby shop, and the burger place are in the west/southwest area of Houston near the 610 loop.  We've seen them fly out of both Hobby and Bush Airports, Hobby being much closer but smaller, mainly a Southwest hub.

 

Bill and Jen live only about 2 miles from her work.  Sure beats the commute she would have had from some of the other places they were looking.

[David T. Cole]

Please leave your TWOP baggage at the door, thanks.

[walnutqueen]

My belated hello to alegtostandon and watchdog - it is nice to meet you.

 

I am really enjoying hearing all about Houston and the shooting locales, and especially the scoop on the hospital cafeteria!  It puts things into perspective for me, like hearing that Jen lives only 2 miles from work.  I'm not the type to discover this on my own, since I stick mainly to these forums and the occasional, ahem, "scholarly research", so I do appreciate all these little tidbits.   ;-)

 

So, I just caught a couple of episodes of a show called Where the Wild Men Are (SCI channel, Fridays), about people who live "off the grid"; the first two were set in Alaska and New Zealand (scenery porn!!!).  I noticed the next episode is set in ... Texas, which may be interesting.  I like learning about alternative lifestyles and different ways of raising children, which is something this show has highlighted, so far.

[Steff]

If you like Alaskan Bush People, do NOT google for more info, you'll be highly disappointed. 

[SistaLadybug]

Hi everyone!

"The Little Couple" is my daughter's favorite reality show and I love to watch with her.  We both enjoy this family - loving the kids, of course, and I, as a grown woman, very much like the love and respect I see between Bill and Jen.

 

As I've said, I'm a mom.  I'm also a government worker, a makeup artist, a bellydancer and a huge reality TV fan.  I look forward to getting better acquainted with you all.

 

Oh!  And I'm from Baltimore, MD.

[Steff]

auntl,  remember when they showed the boys an Iphone & they talked about never seen one, no clue about technology?  The boys run survival websites.  Dad has like 4 or 5 books under his belt.  They did not just fall out of the bush. 

 

Hubby liked the show & asked me to google more info on it.  Now he's all butthurt because it's fake.  lol 

[walnutqueen]

Hi SistaLadyBug - I like your name!

 

Yeah, I pinged on those Alaskan Bush People right away, Steff.

 

auntl - from what I can gather, Where The Wild Men Are is a 4 part documentary series from Canadian tv.  The folks I saw lived in very remote areas and had been doing so for years.  They were quirky and unique, but not your typical reality tv famewhores.

[walnutqueen]

The idea of sharing a thought with even one other person who watches an obscure little show like that makes my heart soar like an eagle, auntl.   There are so many shows I watch that would barely get a single post, much less multiple posts per episode, but I think they're so cool - so I talk to myself.  A lot.  Sometimes while I'm grocery shopping, and not necessarily just about tv.  :-)

[walnutqueen]

auntl - the Alaska science nerds were all kinds of awesome, but I agree about the first boat ride on choppy water - talk about endangering the life of a toddler!  The second try was much more to my liking - water like glass.  I think what impressed me the most was how the kids took to the lifestyle - the little boy seemed content to amuse himself and just be with his parents and learn.  How the parents made treks like that with TWO kids in real nappies?  Yikes - they have some stones!!!

[BizBuzz]

Hello everyone!  Since I migrated over to PTV from that other place, I have searched for a Small Talk forum that I could feel comfortable in and call home.  After all, Small Talk isn't about any show in particular, but it houses a group of people that share common interests and they gab about things that are not necessarily about the show.

 

Quite honestly, I don't watch TLC, but like all the other mods around these parts, I watch this forum ... many, many times a day.  ::giggle::

 

And through osmosis, I know more about this show than I know about the shows I watch faithfully.  HA!  And another thing, I feel like I know you all, more than I know my off-line friends (ok, a little exaggeration, but still).

 

I connected this morning with one of your prolific posters, totally about an interest we share in that we happen to have an addiction to the like button.  In doing so, I realized that for the most part, there are a lot of you here that I share interests with, and so I am wondering if I could settle in here with the rest of you and call this my go to home for everything not so much tv?

 

Looking forward to getting to know you all, albeit less voyeuristic like.  ::giggle:

[Jellybeans]

Hello BizBuzz, I like your user name... for a moment I thought if I "liked" your post, I'd get a boost in my wallet. Where that thought came from, I do not know.

I have to share my good news somewhere... might as well be here. :-p My cochlear implant was re-programmed this morning (just call me the Borg Queen) to something very different and wowzie.... let's just say I am sooooo happy I can hear much, much better!

YIPPEEE!!!!!

[Lillybee]

That is good news,Jellybeans. Something strange happened to me the other day. I came home to find a bouquet of Shasta Daisies near my front door. I have no idea who left them there.

[LegalParrot81]

WOO HOO, Jellybeans!!!

 

Hi BizzBuzz, welcome to the asylum.  LOL

[walnutqueen]

Hi BizBuzz!  Put up your feet and relax a while; this is a nice little place.

 

Jellybeans - my virtual palms are bloodied from doing cartwheels on the driveway for you.  That must feel like getting glasses for the first time and actually seeing stuff!  Or better - I haven't gone deaf (or totally blind) - yet.  ;-)

 

Lillybee - you done went & got yourself a Secret Admirer.  Or a dyslexic flower delivery person. OR a stalker (eek! too much ID channel).

 

LegalParrot81 - you say asylum, I say sanctuary.  :-)

[LegalParrot81]

 

LegalParrot81 - you say asylum, I say sanctuary.  :-)

LOL....for me, someday's it's one or the other or a little both.

[MrMattyMatt]

 Where is MrMattyMatt? I always enjoy that posters comments.

I'm back!  I was on a little trip out of state.  I need to catch up on the last two episodes and I will be commenting away! 

[walnutqueen]

Matty welcome back.  I haven't been "out of town" since 2001, so now I'm jelly of you, too!  heh.  I guess it is a Green Day.

[Jellybeans]

Welcome back Matty! I never get to go anywhere except...to ugh, Lowe's... Costco's (it is not the bomb everyone says it is).

I want to go somewhere. Pffft.

Edited June 4, 2014 by Jellybeans

[MrMattyMatt]

I live in Florida and was visiting my sister in Michigan.  It was hotter there than here in FL!

[Jellybeans]

I live in Florida and was visiting my sister in Michigan.  It was hotter there than here in FL!

I haven't been to FL since I was ten and I have never been to Michigan. I must not get out much. LOL.

[Lillybee]

Before she passed my mom used to live on Ft. Myers Beach. I was able to go about every two years.

[Steff]

Growing up in Houston, Texas and then moving to Georgia, I laugh at folks here who whine about the heat & humidity.  Most folks don't realize just how close Houston is to the Gulf & just assume it's like Dallas (UGH!).  I tell them it's more like Florida, where 100% humidity doesn't mean it's raining.  It means it's Effin' HOT and STICKY! You go from your air conditioned house to your air conditioned car to the air conditioned store & hope you don't melt in between the a/c stops. 

[Bella]

Growing up in Houston, Texas and then moving to Georgia, I laugh at folks here who whine about the heat & humidity.  Most folks don't realize just how close Houston is to the Gulf & just assume it's like Dallas (UGH!).  I tell them it's more like Florida, where 100% humidity doesn't mean it's raining.  It means it's Effin' HOT and STICKY! You go from your air conditioned house to your air conditioned car to the air conditioned store & hope you don't melt in between the a/c stops. 

 

DH used to have to take business trips to Houston, and he hated the weather. A friend of mine lives there now and goes on these long morning walks, gardens, etc., and I don't know how she does it without melting.

[walnutqueen]

Just please tell me it wasn't the Upper Peninsula, Matty, because somewhere in the recesses of my memory, there was a guy with a Michigan family; it was a traumatic relationship and the end of an 80 acre anywhere (even UP) dream ... :-)

 

Ooh, and they all said "acrosst", which was completely fantabulous to those Canadian ears of mine. 

 

OK - now auntie walnutqueen discloses the most tenuous and possibly lamest connection to Florida story ever ...  On my penultimate trip back to Canada (Our True North, Strong and Free), I chose the most magical fishing lodge within our budget & itinerary, and as a result, met an ex-cop from Florida in the next cottage.  We had SO much fun.  Which is unremarkable unless you happen to remember a story about a rampaging elephant in Florida that a cop shot a long time ago - YUP, it was him. 

 

I said it was a lame connection!  :-)

[BizBuzz]

Hey!  I am in Florida!  Northwest Gulf Coast, right by the beach.  Feel sorry for me.  ::giggle::

[MrMattyMatt]

I live in Venice, probably a bit more south BizBuzz

 

WalnutQueen No it was not the UP, but I have know a yooper or two in my day!

[Lillybee]

I remember once when visiting Mom in Ft. Myers Beach the air temp was 98, humidity 98 and the water temp in the gulf was 98. I am no longer used to the humidity, though.

[joanne3482]

I went and tried my first (and only) 1/2 marathon at Disney in February. I had been training here in TexAss (said in that voice from Miss Congeniality) and since it was February I had been training in 29 - 40 degree weather. It was 74 with almost 100% humidity. It was MISERABLE. There were heat advisory signs all around the start of the race. I got picked up at mile 8 (they pull you off the course if you are not making time). I just could not do it. I downed probably 4 beverages at every water stop. 

[Jellybeans]

My family lived in San Antonio and my kids called Texas "TexAss" in a not so nice voice. My parents had a couple of retail stores at Artisans Alley. I left a swimming pool full of sweat there when I left and I will never return. I do not miss it.

Once, there was a family of possums found in the neighboring store. Possums! What?

[BizBuzz]

I grew up in Hawaii (I know, feel sorry for me again) so I was used to warmer weather all year long.  But coming to Florida the first time back in the early 70's and my first experience with dealing with humidity and I was like, OMG.  Why does the air feel so heavy?  How do people live like this?

 

I have also lived in desert California, where you walk out of your house and if feels like you opened your oven.  I lived in California for almost 4 years and had the worst asthma I had ever had in my life.  I will take the humid air over the dry air any day.

 

What I don't like, and those in Florida can maybe relate, is the stinking rain over the last couple of years?  I know so much of the country is living in drought, but we have had so much rain and flooding, it's not funny.  Which has increased the frog population, and I think I am in the midst of some plague of biblical proportions.

 

::giggle::

[4leafclover]

I've never lived anywhere but SW Texas--I can only say that because of the horrific humidity, when I'm 108 years old I won't look a day over 50!

[leighroda]

It's funny, I live in Ft.lauderdale (just north of miami for non Florida peeps)and before I moved I was worried about the humidity (even though I'm no stranger to humidity being a houston native)... But although it is humid here ironically my hair does wayyy better here, than it did in texas

[walnutqueen]

BizBuzz - where in Hawaii?  I lived in Lanakai and then Kona for a brief stint in the early 80s, happily in the less humid climes I cannot bear.  My scientist boyfriend at the time accurately diagnosed me with lizard syndrome (i.e. I have very poor thermoregulation).

[BizBuzz]

@walnutqueen, I lived many places in Hawaii, from Salt Lake, to Red Hill, to Hawaii Kai, to Kaimuki to Waikiki, to Kahala but never on the Windward side.  I am imagining you meant Lanikai?  I actually have family still living in Lanikai.  Never on any of the other islands, although I visited them often. 

 

HA!  I tell everyone here in Florida that I am a lizard, I was meant to lounge on a rock in the sun.  I am also solar powered, so all this rain lately sucks for me.  BTW, I have a gecko tatt on my right ankle.  ::giggle::

[mbutterfly]

I'm back!  I was on a little trip out of state.  I need to catch up on the last two episodes and I will be commenting away! 

MrMattyMatt, glad you are back. Someone PMed me to see whether I knew where you had gone (and hoping you hadn't left us for good). 

[4leafclover]

I have family in Hawaii which equals a free place to stay but I still can't bring myself to fly!

Edited June 6, 2014 by 4leafclover

[MrMattyMatt]

I have family in Hawaii which equals a free place to stay but I still can't bring myself to fly!

Take a cruise there. :-)

[walnutqueen]

BizBuzz - yes, I meant Lanikai - such a pretty beach.  Our first New Year's Eve there, we went skinnydipping with some friends and were in the water at the stroke of midnight when all the lights in the back yard of the house we were near came on and a party spilled outdoors.  Guess who had to go up the beach to get all our clothes?  Yup, me, because I was the nude beachgoer of the bunch!  Hope that wasn't your relatives I shocked.  :-)

Edited June 7, 2014 by walnutqueen

[4leafclover]

 

 

I have family in Hawaii which equals a free place to stay but I still can't bring myself to fly!

Take a cruise there. :-)

 

Are you kidding?  The only thing more frightening to me than gliding through the air in a metal tube is floating on the water in a steel vessel!  I have issues....many, many issues.....

[BizBuzz]

The prime reason I left Hawaii for good was because of the flying thing.  You are on a small island about 600 square miles in an ocean that is around 60 million square miles and the only way to get anywhere (fast) is by plane.  I used to never be afraid of flying when I first lived there.  Then, I experienced quite the harrowing experience via an air pocket drop, saw a flight attendant basically go hysterical, and ever since then, I am like, no way.  It takes an act of God to get me on a plane now.

 

@walnutqueen, in Lanikai, everyone knows everyone.  Did you by any chance know the Millers?

[BitterApple]

Once you have one bad flight it's hard to get back on a plane without having a panic attack. I was a flight attendant for seven years and nearly quit after a flight I was working got caught in a severe thunderstorm. Passengers were screaming so loudly the pilots couldn't hear ATC on their radios. And this was on a 150 seat Airbus, not a little puddle jumper. Worst experience of my life to this day.

[walnutqueen]

That sounds absolutely terrifying, BitterApple.

 

BizBuzz - I don't remember names (or much of anything these days), but it is pssible.  I worked with folks in the sportsfishing community, mostly the billfishing tournament set.  I also spent many hours on Lanikai Beach, mostly all alone and communing with the ghost crabs.  It was very quiet there on weekdays.   :-)

[MrMattyMatt]

Happy Father's Day tomorrow to all the fathers!  

[Bella]

Kids and potty-training anecdote:

On a vacation a few years ago, I was in the ladies room at a zoo. In the stall next to me were a little girl and her mother, and the little girl was frantic and terrified - "I'll fall in, I'll fall in!!!" The mom kept reassuring her, but it didn't work. So I pitched my voice real high and said, "I'm the magic bathroom fairy! You won't fall in." There was stunned silence from the other stall, then the mom said, "did you hear that? The magic bathroom fairy said you won't fall in." The little girl sighed, then let loose with what sounded like an epic pee. As I was leaving, they came out of their stall and the mom was struggling not to crack up laughing.

[walnutqueen]

Much as I hate to admit it, auntl, I am probably going to DVR it.  Just out of curiosity, where is the Specials thread?

 

 

ETA - Bella, your zoo potty story reminded me of the outhouse story Charlotte told on a Father's Day special Alaska:The Last Frontier.  Eiven rigged a motion sensor to a tape recorder in his Dad's outhouse.  It cackled like a troll and said "Give me more treasure" whenever anything went down the hole.  :-)

Edited June 19, 2014 by walnutqueen

[MrMattyMatt]

I think they didn't want that book you mentioned to be discussed here.

[ZoloftBlob]

I think that is why auntl made a forum in genre talk....

[walnutqueen]

I watched a quirky little documentary on PBS recently which may be of interest to some of you. 

 

P.O.V. - "My Way to Olympia"

Who better to cover the Paralympics, the international sporting event for athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities, than Niko von Glasow, the world's best-known disabled filmmaker? Unfortunately — or fortunately for anyone seeking an insightful and funny documentary — this filmmaker frankly hates sports and thinks the games are "a stupid idea." Born with severely shortened arms, von Glasow serves as an endearing guide to London's Paralympics competition in My Way to Olympia. As he meets a one-handed Norwegian table tennis player, the Rwandan sitting volleyball team, an American archer without arms and a Greek paraplegic boccia player, his own stereotypes about disability and sports get delightfully punctured. Official Selection of the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival.

 

http://www.pbs.org/pov/olympia/full.php#.U8F-DyDn9lY