I just figure as time goes by, it'll get a better idea. It did record "The Hours" for me, which was wonderful. And "My Beautiful Laundrette" which I haven't watched yet, but I think I'll like it. And it's introducing me to A&E and HGTV shows that are similar to my beloved "Location, Location, Location" and "House Doctor" and such.

I just don't quite get where it decided I'd like Spanish language TV. Now, if I wanted to spring for the Russian language channel (too expensive) it would really help my progress (my manicurist is helping me re-energize my vocabulary--it's been 25 years since I studied).

It is a complex system involving your season pass selections, your wishlists (IE you can tell it to tape anything Kevin Costner ever made or tell it to tape everything about WWII, etc.), and your thumbs up/thumbs down selections. I also think it pays attention to what you record but not on season pass and when it picks something for you it notices whether you actually watch it or just delete it immediately.

Mine has pretty well learned that I don't like watching things in Spanish but it still thinks that because I watch CMT and VH1 that I'll enjoy BET and Gospel which just aren't my cup of tea. Of course because the OH and I share the Tivo and have agreed to not give anything a thumbs down that the other person likes we have a very diverse programming list, it ranges from Dawson's Creek (mine) to Stargate SG1 (his) to Friends (mine) to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (his).

BoDiva, My Beautiful Laundrette is one of my favorite all-time movies. I remember when it first came out, it seemed like every one paid attention just to the love story aspect of it. Now that I've watched it again recently, it seems to be much more about class, race, ethnicity, and the general idea of finding the place where you belong. But hey, I must say, the love story is good too. I think the back room/champagne scene is one of the sexiest love scenes ever done in a movie.
Daniel Day-Lewis is such a wonderful actor. Try watching My Beautiful Laundrette with A Room with a View (came out about the same time) and it's just amazing to think it's the same person.
It took me a couple of viewings of MBL to get all the dialog and what was happening - the accents are sometimes rather thick for my ear - but I didn't mind watching it again at all!

A newbie to the site and locker here. I definitely subscribe to this theory, even though I live in Sioux Falls, SD. I do have a dog and a three year old, but as another poster said my dog too is a type.

My comment to this qoute is fairly simple, why else would we have prisons? I work at one and I can tell you this is a HUGE reason I lock everything (car, house, bike, garage) all the time.

I don't lock my apartment door if I'm doing laundry in the building (4 flights down), and if I'm running to the store quickly, I'll only lock one of the two locks I use on the door (there are three). I never lock one of the locks because I use the theory I heard Ellen Degeneres use in a stand-up routine long ago: if you keep one lock unlocked, if someone tries picking the locks to break in, they'll always be locking at least one of the locks.

I do have my door set not to lock automatically when it closes, mostly to make sure I have my keys with me when I leave. If I have to lock up behind me, then I definitely have my keys.

I grew up in the suburbs of Long Island in the 70s, and once my mother started working, the doors were always locked, even if there was someone home during the day. It amazes me when I hear about people who never lock their doors.

The Hops chain restaurant down here used to make killer bee bloody marys, but they got lazy and started using a mix. Here's their listing, but I omit the beef drippings and the barbecue sauce and like it just as well:

One large can of V8 juice, 1/4 cup Worchestershire, 1 tablespoon horseradish, 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, 10 drops Tabasco, 1 teaspoon of celery salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1/2 cup beef jus. (She actually wrote down "1/2 cup au jus" which cracks me up). Vodka, of course. Garnish with lime and celery.

I'd think if you started with spicy V8 and added a pinch of horseradish (the floaty bits you mentioned, most likely), Tabasco and celery salt until you got it the way you wanted it, you'd be golden.

Well I was born and raised in NYC (with a detour to NC for a year) and I lock everything, house, car, bike, etc. However, I'm an anti-bar and security alarm person. I just feel like bars on the windows and doors is like living in prison. So my house has bars on the first floor windows (those at ground level) but you get a pass if you are trying to use a second, third or fourth floor window (although I still keep them locked).

I lived in Albany for five years for work and remember not too long after my arrival, there was a story about a great crime wave that was sweeping through Clifton Park, a suburb of the city. There was a reporter standing on this one block talking about how seven or eight homes had been targeted, with most of the thefts occurring in cars parked in the driveways of homes. He does two minutes of conversation with homeowners and local law enforcement before the throwaway line "Of course, all of the thefts occured in unlocked vehicles". I'm sitting at home thinking "What the hell??? Of course, they stole your shit if you left it in an UNLOCKED CAR!"

I usually lock when I leave the neighborhood but leave the doors open when I'm just up and down the street. I've got 2 rottweilers who do a very good job of letting me know when someone is approaching the house. They know where everyone on the block should be and at what time so if someone comes home later than usual, they get a big woofing lecture. It takes them a week or so when school gets out to figure out that it's ok for the kids to be out and about after 9 pm. They're actually big babies who like nothing better than an ear scratch and a butt rub but they take their job pretty seriously and I feel very safe when I'm home alone or out walking.

There are times that if I see the door to door magazine ripoff artists, or anyone else I don't want to talk to, I'll let the dogs out just so that they can be seen (I've got a corner lot) while the salespeople canvas the neighboorhood. Yep-I'm an evil bitch sometimes. But it works and I don't get bothered.

I, in general, am a door locker. But when I'm at home I could easily walk in and leave the door unlocked, or even open (or course the screen door swings shut). MrKate and I live in the 'burbs, now, and I generally enter through our back deck door, so it's not like it's in view of the whole neighborhood.

MrKate, however, is fastidious about locking doors. If I've left the door unlocked after we're both home, he's reminding me that I forgot to lock the door (I didn't forget, I just hadn't seen the need to, yet). Amazingly, he is more likely to have the door unlocked when one of us isn't home (so that we don't have to unlock it when we get there).

MrKate, I may have mentioned, is a police officer. I feel safe. Him? Not so much. Of course, though we live in nice suburbs where the neighbor I don't think has EVER closed his garage door (and stores all kinds of goodies inside) and the only people roaming the streets are maybe kids playing flashlight tags and your scattered Mormon missionary, MrKate's beat is in "the rough part" of the city proper, where he deals with murders and such on a weekly basis. So I will cut him some slack. But I won't always remember to lock the door.

Fucking server ate my post. When when when will I learn to compose in Word, then cut and paste?

Anyhoo, thank you, Hexele! I’m going to buy some V-8 and celery salt when I go out later. Believe it or not, I have a can of Franco American “Au Jus” gravy in my pantry. No shit, it says simply “au jus,” but that’s Franco American for you. Heh. The ingredients do list beef stock as the first item, so yeah, it’s in there. I’m kind of afraid to read further than that. I think Hubby bought it by mistake for some other recipe. I think I’ll try your recipe as written first, then deviate from there.

Pollen is killing me! It was hot last night, so I slept with the fan on high and woke up with puffy, red, swollen eyes. I also didn’t jump on the allergy medicine bandwagon early enough, and now I have a sinus infection that is migrating to my lungs. I want to go to the walk-in clinic to get some antibiotics, but I’m afraid they’ll tell me I’m not sick enough because I don’t have a fever. But I can’t afford to get that sick; I’ve got things to do. It’s 88 degrees, (only 51% humidity, which I find hard to believe) and I’m cranky as hell. Bring on the cold front and thunderstorms!

I think I need a bloody mary.

I lock my front door if I'm just going to the backyard, unless my husband is home. I'm pretty much a compulsive door locker. The door is always locked, unless my husband doesn't lock it when he comes home. He grew up mostly in West Africa, and they had a guard at night, so I guess that's why. (Of course, he also doesn't turn off lights. It's like he doesn't even know they're on.)

I grew up in a town of 6,500 people and now live in a town of about 39,000 people (which is big to me) and can't go to sleep at night unless I check the doors. The door that goes down to our basement room even gets locked. (The back door and entrance to the garage, also locked, are on the other side of that door.) I have on occasion accidentally locked my husband down there. Once I left the house. He was not happy. All windows are also locked. If I come home and the front door is unlocked, I'm very careful about going in. That happened once in a less good neighborhood, and I made one of the neighbors stand outside while I went in and checked it out. If I'd actually met him before, I would have made him go in with me.

The car is also always locked. My parents used to not lock their car, but started after someone tried to steal the radio. Probably a kid. A lot of high school kids walk home from school past their house. The would-be thief didn’t get the radio and really didn’t damage anything even. It was a 1982 Monte Carlo. When I had the car and my future husband put in a better radio for me, it took two hours to get the old one out. Not a good car for working on yourself.

So I’m just back from two weeks in Estonia and trying to get caught up on things. I came here first. Work can wait.

M. Darcy


Yeah. That’s how I felt. I really don’t like math. I’m not bad at it exactly, although I never had anything higher than algebra II/trig almost 20 years ago, but I don’t like it. I did well in high school, but it never interested me at all.

Mama Tiger


When I have to add or multiply numbers with two or more digits in my head, I have to picture the problem the way it would be written and figure it the same way. My husband (who was an engineering major for a while, then went into languages, but now works in computers) thinks I’m nuts.

raku


I just turn to the aforementioned husband and say, “How much?”


On the subject of dorm life and roommates, my best friend and I are forbidden to live together ever. We were roommates our freshmen year and almost killed each other. So our senior year, we decided to move off-campus together. Why? We were stupid. It was not a good idea. In all my years in school, I had one good roommate. We liked each other, but had separate friends also, so we didn’t see each other constantly. I also lived with one girl the RA told me to watch because she might be suicidal and another who said she was deaf (and got lots of sympathy and attention), but then miraculously got her hearing back halfway through the year. She also borrowed clothes constantly. The good ones.

Tried the bloody mary recipe. I added extra horseradish, pepper, and about twice the hot sauce. Then I added five more drops of hot sauce to my individual drink, as well as a touch of worchestershire sauce. That's it! Hubby agrees. Thanks again.

On locking doors: I always lock my doors, even during the day and when I'm at home. It's a habit for me and the family. No need for bars, but the security system is basically a moral imperative. Some would say that I'd be going a little overboard for securing everything 24/7. Basically, the way I see it, what's the big positive on leaving everything unsecured?

Basically, that's how things have been while living in the suburbs and in the city. Ditto for the car.

Wheee. I just ordered DirecTV. (Everything that Mr Rabrab and I really want to see of the Olympics is on MSNBC,CNBC or Bravo: it was Dish, DirectV or no Olympics for the Rabrab house.) Just got off the phone with them, as a matter of fact. So, for you DirecTV owners out there, I've got a question that I didn't expect an answer from them on: Is the "Protection Package" necessary? Without it, I've got the manufacturer's one-year warranty on the equiptment, with it, I've got 72 dollars less in my wallet at the end of the year. Do you have it? have you ever needed it? If you don't, have you had problems that make you wish you did?

About locking up, I guess I'm pretty casual about it. I don't generally lock my truck when I'm at home, and I often forget to lock it when I'm parking it somewhere away from home. When I got my first car, it was a convertible, and the third rule of owning a convertible is never lock it!
(The first rule is always wear your seat belt, and the second one is always drive with your headlights on, even during the day.) But locking a convertible is totally useless is the top is down, and almost as useless if the top is up, since if somebody wants your stereo and the top is up and the doors are locked, it's faster to go in through the top. And it's a lot more expensive to replace a convertible top than it is to replace the stereo. I sold that car a long time ago, but the habit stuck.

My rule of thumb, Rabrab, is that if something is shoddily made and likely to break, or is improperly installed, those problems are likely to show up within a year's time. I generally think all extended warranties are a scam.

Word, word, and word. Good rule of thumb! Companies never honor extended or lifetime warranties. They just find excuses under the gazillion exceptions to not service your computer/furniture/whatever.

I am buying some living room furniture, and I refuse to get sucked into the "lifetime" warranty from this company. I read horror stories on the Internet about customers trying to get repairs done under what they thought was the lifetime warranty, only to be refused by the company for some stupid reason. In one ridiculous instance, someone was told that she was no longer protected by the lifetime warranty because it was purchased too long ago.

Apart from there being a lot to cover for the short people, there was also the matter of me working seven midnights for the first time ever, and requiring Zron and the short people to out of the house so that I could sleep on Sunday. So far it hasn't been too bad, but it's only been one night. I let you know hoe I'm doind next Sunday.

As to locking doors. For the first five years we lived in our current house we didn't know where our front door (the one accessible entrance) key was, so we only locked the house at night before bed and when we were going to be away over night. Even though we now both have a front door key on our car keys, the same rule applies. I just don't worry about it that much.



We have a friend who just walks in to people's houses after knocking on the basis that if you didn't want her to do that you would lock the door, it makes Zron a little crazy, but he's learned to live with it. She's been my friend for over 25 years so I'm used to it. Interestingly the person it disturbs most is her husband and when she comes to our house with him, he makes her wait until somone answers the door.

I think hoe you're doind is pretty clear right now. You're doind great, honey, just great!

Heh. I do that too - when I was in law school I had roommates, and they regularly got messages from me to track me down at the bar on the corner to let me know when they got home so that I could get back into the house. Now that I live alone, I made sure to set my locks to not automatically lock. Plus, when I'm running to the garbage chute or putting laundry in the machine, it just seems silly to take keys in case the door shuts behind me.

I had my locked car broken into just over two years ago. They smashed the drivers' side window to do it. Ever since I haven't bothered locking the car. If they want in, they'll find a way. Why let them vandalize my property at the same time?

Incidentally, they didn't even take anything. Just rifled through my glove box, left Canadian Tire money all over the seat, and took off.

Maybe their goal was vandalism and not stealing?

Also, you might want to check your local laws to be sure you can do this because in some places it is illegal to leave your car doors unlocked (I think the fine they slapped you with in my town was $60).

Just out of curiousity- has anyone else around here been digging out their copies of the Indiana Jones movies lately. I just realised that, since this season began, I have had two weekends of watching them all in a row. I think it might be that the pacing of TAR is so similar. It didn't occur to me until now that that was the reason I was craving them.

I get an Indiana Jones vibe from the promo for this week's episode, so I can see that, Zivra.

Speaking of which, Happy Tarsday, everbody! The 7 days between shows seems so long, I don't know how we made it through months without it.

Rabrab, I've had DirecTV for about the last three years. I bought the dish through Circuit City, and they tried to put a hard sell on me for an extended warranty. I said no. I never had any problems whatsoever with the dish that I bought. Also, a few months back I decided to pull the plug on cable (yes, I had both satellite and cable for a few years), and had to upgrade my dish so I could get local channels and a dual-tuner thingy. DirecTV replaced my dish (equipment and service) for free, plus they gave me local channels for free for six months for being a good customer. I think the extended warranty is likely not worth it.
I have to say, DirecTV has the best service of any large company I've been involved with in recent years, maybe ever. If you call with a request or questions, they answer the phone promptly, with a real human voice, know the answers to your questions, fill your requests, and are nice in the process. Their service people they have sent to my house have all been very professional and painstaking in getting the work done exactly right and leaving it so that all I have to do is press the "on" button. I don't think I will ever go back to cable.

ETA - woo hoo! I'm a video archivist!

Happy TARsday, everyone! I'm with you, TPorter -- I have no idea how we made it so long between TARs, when waiting a week seems like cruel and unusual punishment. I think they should upgrade TAR to a Big Brother-like level of coverage -- break each leg down into three hour-long segments and show us lots and lots more than week, and more often, too!

Okay, a girl can dream. But with TAR6 and TAR7 in the future, anything is possible. Reach for the stars, I say!

What?! There are places with laws that you have to lock your car doors?

When I was in high school I drove a 13 year old behemoth of a Pontiac. The driver's side door lock broke. And the handle, so it would only open from the inside (like a reverse child-safety lock). I had to leave my car unlocked... it wouldn't lock! I even left the window down most of the time (unless it was going to storm) so I wouldn't have to climb over hump from the passenger side.

Is this a US locality law? How would it be enforced? Do traffic cops walk around trying doors and ticketing those cars that open? I just don't get it. My poor little mind is blown right now.

Totally craved and satified here! I assume you have the trilogy box set with the bonus material. I love watching about how they decided to do what in each film. Plus who can resist the combo of Harrison Ford and my personal favorite director of all time?

Incidently, I think the TAR folks may have pilfered the Amazing Yellow line from the plane trips in the movie(s). Has anybody else ever noticed the similarities?

I rarely lock my house doors when I'm at home, and never the car doors when at home. I do lock the house when we're going away for an extended period of time, but for running errands, I won't bother. My husband is the polar opposite--he grew up in a cityish place, and I grew up in the sticks, and I think that's the reason.
On another car habit note, do you put the emergency brake on when you park the car? I was taught to just leave the car in gear (I have a standard) and not put the brake on, as it can freeze in really cold weather.) Mr. Hildy puts on the EB as a matter of course, which drives me nuts.
TARsday! Yay! I haven't been near a TV for the past two weeks (vacation. woods. etc.) so I'm very excited to see this episode. Whee!

Welcome back, Hildy -- how was the vacation?

I don't think I have every not put on the emergency brake. And I have standard transmission. I think this was something that was pounded into me in driver's ed. I never heard that about the brake freezing, but I've never lived in super-cold places to begin with.

I've lived in a cold climate my whole life and I always put on my brake too! I think the whole brake freezing up could be a result of worn brakes or a flat out myth. I was always told to put it on especially in winter because of slippery, icy conditions. I guess the thought being that if a car slammed into yours while sliding, it could very well damage your transmission, or make your car go out of gear.

I grew up on Long Island (probably one of the flattest places in the country), and used the emergency brake all the time, since that's how I was taught. However, I don't think I've used it once in the past eight years, and have no idea where it is even located on my mother's current car (the only car I ever drive).

When I was learning to drive I must have been taught by someone to use the emergency brake ALWAYS. Because I did for years. Now that I have a handy hand-brake, I never use it. It just seems silly most of the time. I have used it when parked in the mountains or otherwise on a particularly steep slope (especially in the winter), but that's so rare in my driving.

I do fantasize about using my hand break for a controlled 180 degree spin to elude cops and/or mafia guys. I want to practice, just in case. I have an overactive imagination, methinks.

It was a lovely vacation, and I'm having great difficulty getting back into work mode. I'd rather be back in cheese-doodle eating, chardonnay sipping mode. Sigh.
We did go on a couple hikes, however, which is a big deal as we took the spawn along--they're 2 and 4, and did amazingly well. Admittedly, the hikes weren't very long, and they won't be able to hike the Grand Canyon any time soon, but we had fun.
As for the parking brake freezing in very, very cold weather, I can personally attest that it is not a myth, b/c it happened to me one day long ago, up at Sugarloaf USA parking lot on an extremely cold day. (Somebody else drove my car there and set the brake, unbeknownst to me. Ah, well.) Perhaps parking brakes have improved since then.

I always use the emergency brake. Well, except for the winter after my truck was in a flood. The brake would hang-up until late in the day after freezing overnight. But that had everything to do with water having gotten into the sheath and not the brake itself being prone to freezing. I also was unable to get into first gear and my driver-side seatbelt would get jammed in the open position. I'd have to keep smacking the button or prying it with a pen to get it to disengage from the release position. (Totalling the truck was out of the question, I bought it in California before leaving to attend grad school in Colorado and owed more on the loan than insurance would ever cover in Colorado.)

Anyhoo, it took one full year after I moved back to California from Colorado where the flood occured before the emergency brake stopped sticking on the occasional cold mornings here.

Thanks for the info on the DirecTV warranty. I didn't think that I really needed it, and the rep didn't try to do a hard-sell, at all. I'll probably let it go.

Parking brake? In a standard, always. In an automatic, rarely (steep hills or very, very slick surfaces.)

*snerk* How does she refrain from beating the crap out of you?

With great difficulty. I also don't think it's fair to spelling flame me after I have left for work. [Charla and Mirna]After all, he's supposed to be nice to me. Doesn't he know I'm in a wheelchair?? People are supposed to be nice![/Charla and Mirna]

So I bought a new home computer on the weekend on the theory that I would then get more work done at my actual job.

So far it's not working. Any suggestions? Is it maybe just because it's TARsday?

Yeah, really. Think of all the skid marks she could leave on you, dude.

I haven't found an answer for you, AnneH. I've got equally nice computers at home and work, with equally fast broadband connections, and with the exception of reserving watching the Insider videos to my home computer, I find they're equally useful in accessing all things TAR and thereby equally difficult to actually accomplish any, you know, WORK on. I suspect it's more due to our general obsessiveness level; I'd probably be doingg the exact same things at work if I were on a Pentium 2 with a dialup. Well, maybe not the exact same things, but awful damn close.

I don't know about locking-door laws but someone I know was cited for leaving his car running his driveway when I lived in Lansing MI. Apparently it's illegal in some place to leave a car running with no one in it -- poor guy was trying to defrost the car on one of those stupidly cold Michigan mornings and got a ticket.

I was never ever taught to use my emergency brake, and when I moved to slightly-more-hilly-than-Michigan South Carolina, my roommate was APPALLED. So I tried to get myself in the habit, and ended up several times driving around town with my emergency brake engaged, wondering why my car wasn't accelerating well. Of course I was driving a Geo Storm at the time, so it wasn't like it ever accelerated well.

Is it just me, or why does anything that has to do with flatulence send me into fits of schoolboyish laughter. I'm sitting here in my cube minding my own business, when over the cubicle walls lofts one of the loudest farts I have ever heard. BWAAAAAAPPPPP!!!! It was like a cornet, I tell ya. I kept waiting for the guy to apologize or to excuse himself, but he never did. The girl that sits in the cube near me looked up and we both looked at each other with a "was that what I think it was" look. I'm still laughing inside.

I remember watching Eric farting on Big Brother 3 and thought it was hilarious. Just the way he was brushing his teeth, paused, and cut one was very funny. Is it me, or is there anyone else out there that thinks that farts are always funny?

I have to admit that watching my dog run around in circles as if a monster were coming out of his butt always kills me. He is sincerely terrified of gas.

Thanks, Mama Tiger, it's always good to know that I'm not the only obsessed creature on the planet.

The first thing I did on the new computer? Watch all the Insider videos, of course!

I don't know about that, but I do know it's illegal to have a vehicle running in one place parked on a NYC street, even if you are in it. It's called unnecessary idling. I called the police a few years ago because a giant truck was doing just that right under my bedroom window and the noise from the truck idling woke me at 2:30am. It turns out he was a trucker who pulled into town early and decided to take a nap while he waited for the opening of the store he was delivering to. Since it was hot, he figured he'd keep the engine running and the a/c on. No dice. I got a very sympathetic cop on the phone who sent a car over and got him to turn it off in less than 20 minutes. Thank you, NYPD.

I believe them to be in good taste unless you are in a tight non-ventilated space and of course hilarious when they occur at somewhat inopportune times to other people. My better half doesn't share this view, but she really cracked up when she saw the particular incident you mentioned. Pet animals and their numerous body functions could be a topic to last for days.........Am I right on that?

My golden retriever is the Olympic gold medalist of SBD (Silent But Deadly) farts. He just lies there in all innocence while suddenly everyone runs choking from the room. I have never in my life smelled anything worse than one of his SBDs after he's eaten cheese. Need I mention that he doesn't even get artificially cheese-flavored doggie treats these days, just in case?

Farts are funny. Except when your name rhymes with "fart", at which point it becomes increasingly funny for everyone else, and kinda traumatic for you.

Parking Brake? Used it more on the car I had in college (lever between the two front seats) than the past two (foot apply).



So how do they deal with remote-start systems?

I laughed at your story so I guess I'm "pro-fart". It's especially funny when someone tries to play it off like it didn't happen. I'm a fitness instructor part-time and had my students on the floor one day doing ab work and...well...BWAAAAAP! I tried not to look shocked and bust out laughing, but I don't think I did a very good job since I distinctly remember saying "Omigod!" out loud. From that point on, I promised myself that I would never do that again. I figured there was no point in embarassing my students. Besides, I can always laugh after class.

I lock my doors as soon as I come in the house and even if I'm leaving to take out the trash, which is within sight distance of my front door. I live in the hood, y'all. I aint taking no chances.

I lock my car. ALWAYS. I even stand there sometimes and pretend like I'm engaging the alarm (even though I pulled the fuse long ago and it doesn't work). Somehow it makes me feel safer. I know it's ridiculous, but still.

Remote-start systems? Have we become a nation too lazy to turn a fucking key? I assume as long as it is a very brief time with no one in the car it wouldn't be a problem. Why would someone leave their car running and not be in it for an extended period? That's a waste of precious gasoline.