Ray's House of Love (Volume II)

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Maryn

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Parallel lives once again, with two of you. Sassy, I've been fighting a descending gloom with no basis for a couple of weeks now. Everything's just too hard, you know? That or too expensive.

Which brings us to cable. Mr. Maryn and I joined the new millennium (hot damn, I spelled that right!) half way by getting a digital TV, mainly because even with his contacts he couldn't read subtitles or scrolling weather alerts or sports scores. So now we have this super TV and it's time to rethink cable packages. Naturally, they don't let you pick a la carte, like they should. I don't watch E! (keep those fuckin' Kardashians away from me!) much, but I'm like that with a lot of the channels, yet I watch them enough that I don't want to say, "Drop it."

So we're balancing various combinations of phone, internet, Netflix streaming, a lower tier of cable, and streaming directly through the laptop connected to Hulu and the various networks. It gets so complicated, though!

Maryn, just not all that bright
 

sassandgroove

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I brought up dropping Directv and just using netflix and streaming and broadcast tv but Hubby loves his TV, so I dropped the subject instead.

He's the one that wanted the HDTV but I must say, it sure is purdy.
 

BeatrixKiddo

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I loved Hulu until they started charging for programs they used to let you watch for free. That irked me.

We used to have Netflix too, until they raised their rates and then my bro cancelled it.

We used to have cable, until they raised their rates and then my mom cancelled it.

Now, all we have is a digital converter box so that we can get just basic channels once the analog disappeared.

I just rent whatever cable shows we don't get, because we got so fed up with the rising rates for everything just to watch a few shows on a few channels that required certain packages.

If I'm really desperate, I try to find "free" TV shows online, but they're getting harder to find since many of the "free" sites hit your computer with spam, viruses, etc. I just wait and rent. I haven't tried Redbox yet. Heard good things about them. We get a good deal through our local video store but it's gradually raising its rates too. One of the few video stores left open in the area.

Who knew TV was going to be so expensive one day? I never saw this coming as a kid.
 

Maryn

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Since I also watch TV on the treadmill (when I can force myself to, anyway), I'm glad at the shortened shows when I'm watching on DVD, dismayed when watching broadcast TV, since it's hard to keep moving during such long ad breaks.

I'm finding the length of one episode of Firefly is good. Far less than an hour, easy to fit into a typical day, and long enough since I've seen it that it's fun all over again. When that's done, I'll have to find another series, I think.

Maryn, only TV and DVD at the 'dreadmill'
 

BeatrixKiddo

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Firefly was an excellent show. I just can't get into Castle. (Sorry Nathan Fillion fans.)

I'm one of those weird people that still likes commercials.
I guess it's because I liked using them as "breaks" when I ran to the kitchen, bathroom, etc, when I was a kid. I'm still stuck in that pattern.

Beatrix, old habits die hard.

Here's hoping more sun heads your way, since some folks have been feeling extra blue lately. We're getting rain and cold tomorrow. Bah.

:Sun:
 

Trevor Bruhn

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Omigosh. I wrote a post here mid-afternoon, I thot it was ok and tried to stick a wink icon in the text. The dang icon popped up beside the title bar and I could not take it off there without dumping the whole message.
Anyway: I was going off on Maryn's signature line, "madness is....whispering, is there room for one more?" in terms of what happened to me this a.m. as I decided with utmost determination to clean the apt. Digging up an old, used toothbrush, I scrubbed corners and places a guy would never bother with (but you wimmin see em, dont ya?). Was going great guns cleaning, until this idea to jazz up my WIP with a resistance group to the near-future matriarchy. I called it the Chuck Norris Brigade. Would go into my post on SYW erotica as a plot device to build some tension. Maryn, would it be ok if i sent this insert to you in a pm; would go in a part you critiqued once.
Trevor, resolving to scrub the refrigerator shelves 1st thg tmw.
 

Russ Mars

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Digging up an old, used toothbrush, I scrubbed corners and places a guy would never bother with (but you wimmin see em, dont ya?).
I can't begin to say how many floors I've scrubbed with a toothbrush. I was gonna say, Ya gotta love boot camp, but no, there's nothing lovable about it.
 

Maryn

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Sure, Trevor, send it along, with a refresher about what's going on around it, because I'm old and my memory sucks.

Not sure how long it'll take to get back to you, but probably not long, because I don't seem to be writing a damned thing these days.

Among my frustrations as a housewife in a poorly-constructed house is that the water that's on the brush when I'm scrubbing corners and edges disappears. Nothing in this damned place is truly sealed, including tile. Lately I want to forget fixing everything and just get out of this place. Somebody else can gut the bathrooms and start over, replace the kitchen floor and the staircase, redo the stoop and front walk, and rewire the circuit box.

Maryn, frustrated
 

Russ Mars

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Ponderable: Why do so many sites include a "like" button for comments, but not one for "annoying as hell"? :Shrug:
 

sassandgroove

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yeah, iknow what you mean. Even our reppies are only "I appove" now. We used to be able to say "I disapprove" but some people were abusive of the privilege.

actually what I want on facebook is something to go along with "like" where someone posts they are ill or sad or having a bad day - becuase I don't "like" the situation but I sympathize.
 

Russ Mars

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I know what you mean, Sassy. I sure don't like to press "like" when someone mentions some problem or another they're having.

I hate to admit I sometimes wish for a "poof, they're gone" button.
 
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Maryn

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Speaking of gone, if anyone is a friend o CactusWendy's, look for a thread on her. Sad news.

Maryn, sobered
 

Trevor Bruhn

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Nothing in this damned place is truly sealed, including tile
That would make anyone groutchy!:poke:
And thanks, Russ, for PMing me on the right way to stick icons within the message.

Trevor, squeaky-clean with a whole weekend of local events coming up (craft beer festival, seafood chowder tasting competition, sailboats all over the harbor, etc.)
 

Russ Mars

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That would make anyone groutchy!:poke:
And thanks, Russ, for PMing me on the right way to stick icons within the message.
I'm not surprised it made me grouchy, but I am a bit dismayed the grouchiness has lingered for 40 years. They should mention that in the propagandized recruiting posters.

My pleasure to lend a hand with icon procedure. :)

Trevor, squeaky-clean with a whole weekend of local events coming up (craft beer festival, seafood chowder tasting competition, sailboats all over the harbor, etc.)
Oh, you're really making me miss the Pacific Northwest, especially Whidbey Island.
 

Maryn

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I don't know if I've shared here that I've been eating much healthier than I have in the past. Last night, I had a dream which involved me having to move to the Diet Dorm in a big hurry, and trying to hide both my stash of junk food and my sex toys from the students who were helping me.

Maryn, hoping that's good for a chuckle
 

Maryn

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"I know exactly how many cupcakes I have in that box!"
 

pandora1983

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I won't speak about the toys...too much to say lol.

Maryn, I knew I liked you. Firefly was amazing. One of my favorites of all time.

Howdy folks. Just playing with the kid today. Not a lot to do since it is 102-104 outside today.
 

Maryn

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We expect to break 50 today! (Actually, I think it should be 50 by now, so maybe we'll hit 54.) And Thursday we'll reach 80. Spring is so weird.

Mr. Maryn and I did our five miles. To the great pleasure of us serious coffee drinkers, the county parks department has now opened its restrooms, so the second half of the walk is as comfortable as the first. I am not a fan of ducking into the bushes, especially when there are no leaves on said bushes, so I really prefer a closed door and actual plumbing. When I can get it. A few years ago, somebody at county parks accidentally left one restroom open all winter, and instead of it being what they fear (and the reason they close them), a place for illicit sex, drug use, and target of vandals, it stayed clean all winter. People brought in hand soap and toilet paper, somebody brought a single rubber glove, sponge, and spray cleaner, and it was fully usable and never got anything worse than muddy footprints. Why can't they do that every year? I walk all year except when there's ice.

Maryn, whiny baby
 

Moon Daughter

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In regards to the television topic from yesterday, I've been thinking about canceling ours, too. Right now we're on a promotional deal, but eventually we'll be paying over 130 for internet and cable. Internet is 40 bucks, so 90 to watch TV is just a little ridiculous, especially since it's one of the basic packages. Netflix sucks, too. Most of what I wanted to watch was not available for streaming since that's all I had signed up for. What to do, what to do.
 

Maryn

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Hi there, Moon Daughter. As we speak, Mr. Maryn is signing us up for some cable TV-digital phone-internet package that should save money overall.

If I didn't watch a fair amount of TV, I might not want to keep cable. But I'm pretty tired most evenings, enough that I doze off if I try to read, so TV it is.

Whether Netflix streaming has enough for you depends a lot on your tastes. Its movie selection is far less than stellar for anything made in the last half-dozen years, but it's got a fair number of TV series I haven't seen. Mr. Maryn and I have to reach agreement on what I'm free to watch without him and what he wants to see, too, so I shouldn't get into it alone unless I'm happy to see it all twice.

We're doing Weeds together, and I'm doing My So-Called Life and Rescue Me without him.

We're finding it a mixed bag re-watching movies from the 70s and 80s. Some are every bit as good as we remembered them, and others are just silly now.

Maryn, who really loves movies
 
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