Month: September 2016

Fall TV

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It’s that time of year again where all your favorite shows (hopefully) return and new ones become available. It’s strange this year for us since we no longer have a DVR so we actually have to make a point to sit down to watch when the show actually airs and sit through commercials (oh the horror)! Although truth be told if we could just be a little patient we could watch all of our shows whenever we want since they show up on Hulu (or On Demand for the CBS shows) the day after they air. In any case, here’s what we’re watching now.

Big Bang Theory, The (CBS, Mondays but moving to Thursdays) – We’re starting to lose our enthusiasm for this show. I think no matter how clever a show’s premise is after awhile it grows a little stale. Also, I can’t help picking apart certain facets such as questioning why a character like Sheldon would even have friends or what makes Leonard and Penny work as a couple when they have no common interests. At this point I wouldn’t be terribly heartbroken if the series was cancelled.

Bobs Burgers (FOX, Sundays) – Still loving this show. I can’t decide who I enjoy more – Gene or Louise. I really loved the latest EP where H Jon Benjamin voiced the yellow toy. It sounded like the character Phillip on O’Grady (which was also voiced by him).

Brooklyn 99 (FOX, Tuesdays) – Still very enjoyable and one of the shows I look forward to the most because Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher (who plays Captain Holt) are hilarious. I love their dynamic.

Designated Survivor (ABC, Wednesdays) – I don’t actually care for this new show starring Kiefer Sutherland but Joe has decided to continue watching it so I’m listing it.

Goldbergs, The (ABC, Wednesdays) – Still fun to watch due to the nostalgia invoked from growing up in the 80’s. Barry is my favorite character.

Good Place, The (NBC, Thursdays) – Really love this quirky new show! Heard about it in a discussion thread and caught up on the first three episodes on HULU. Definitely part of the regular rotation. I would be bummed if I found out it was cancelled.

Impastor (TV Land) – We saw this being advertised on a different channel and decided to see if it was on HULU which it is. We started watching the 1st season and are really liking this quirky show. I’m guessing we’ll be all caught up by the end of the weekend since the 1st season is only 10 episodes. I’m glad there’s a second season that just started airing.

Kevin Can Wait (CBS, Mondays but moving to Thursdays) – I’ll be surprised if this lasts the full season; Kevin James seems to play the same character in every thing he’s in, but it’s cute enough to watch since it airs right after Big Bang.

Last Man On Earth (FOX, Sundays) – Still liking this, but not so much that I’d be sad if it was cancelled. We hadn’t even noticed there was a new episode available until I happened to spot it on Hulu.

Middle, The (FOX, Tuesdays starting October 11) – I’m sure we’ll enjoy this one like we did the past.

Modern Family (ABC, Wednesdays) – Still amusing, although not as much as the earlier seasons.

Scream Queens (FOX, Tuesdays) – I wouldn’t really miss this show if it went off the air but it’s entertaining enough to watch when nothing else is on.

Other Shows I/We Watch When The Mood Strikes Me

Awkward (MTV)
Married (FX) *
Shark Tank (ABC)
SNL (NBC)
You’re The Worst (FX) *

As you can see, we prefer the half hour sitcoms to most anything else. Not a big fan of drama or reality, although I do miss watching Dateline and 20/20 now that I don’t have any days to myself. I used to listen to them as I cleaned house back when we had a DVR.

* Technically we won’t be watching the FX shows until the latest seasons show up on Hulu since that channel isn’t in our package.

CategoriesTV

Rude Offer Up People

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Last Friday afternoon we went over to a friend’s house so Joe could help set up her new cable box and make sure her router was secure. She had posted on Facebook looking to pay someone to do this so it was nice to earn a little extra money. Afterwards we stopped at Walmart and bought a new basketball for only $5. The two at home won’t stay inflated and there’s some nice empty courts at two of the parks we like to frequent and I’ve been wanting to shoot some hoops. Of course with the colder/rainy weather lately I haven’t had the chance to actually try out the new ball yet.

We also ended up at Sonic for dinner and had corn dogs because we eat like children sometimes. Case in point, later the same weekend we made Velveeta mac and cheese with cut up hot dogs.

Saturday morning we stopped at the library so Joe could donate blood. They really did a number on his arm this time: he’s all bruised. I was like “welcome to my world” since that happens to me every single time and why I am not donating any more (besides almost passing out last time).

After that we decided to check our town’s Oktoberfest since admission is free before 4 pm. It was ok but not terribly exciting, just as we suspected. We shared a pork schnitzel sandwich and a soft pretzel. The pretzel was a disappointment but the sandwich was pretty good. Not sure if was $7 good though.

That evening we borrowed Captain America Civil War from the library and ordered Lou Malnati’s thin crust pizza using a gift card. I don’t know why but the thin crust wasn’t nearly as good as I remember it being so we’ll be sticking to their deep dish from now on.

Sunday we put E’s old bed frame and mattress up for sale for $50 on Offer Up (an app). He hasn’t spent the night here in months and likely won’t again so we’re turning his bedroom into a workout room. Not five minutes from posting I had three interested parties. At one point I believe it was over ten! I tried to be fair by messaging the first person who contacted me explaining they had to take the frame AND mattress and asking if they were still interested and then waiting, but they didn’t reply. After over an hour I moved onto the next person on the list with the same message. After three people didn’t reply back I was getting rather annoyed so I decided to send the same message to everyone and include that they needed to get back to me ASAP since there was a lot of interest. The guy who replied the quickest said he could be over within fifteen minutes. Once he arrived and he and his wife checked the bed (turns out the frame was a bit damaged on the side that was against the wall) and paid us, I marked it as sold in the app. This apparently sends a generic message to all the people who had messaged me that says “I have sold the item”. Well, one woman responded “to someone else” and then about three minutes later wrote “fucking bitch”. Wow. Now, I get that she wanted the bed, and she did reply to my first message about ten minutes after I sent it, but what the hell? She didn’t reply faster than the guy who bought it so you snooze, you lose. I don’t believe she originally messaged me before he did either. In any case, I didn’t bother responding and instead just reported her for using foul language and blocked her. Some people!

Hair What?

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Last Thursday (9/22) I decided to head to Great Clips to get my hair cut. I called them first from the parking lot when I got off work to see if the girl I like (R) was working that day and the lady who answered said yes. She also said something about checking in so I gave her my name and she kinda laughed and said “I can’t check you in over the phone”. Ok, then speak more clearly next time. She was nice about it, but still. Also, she could have told me I could check in via their app so that when I got there I didn’t have to wait over a half hour behind two other people who had checked in online and requested her as well. Not only that but she was seriously off her game. She usually cuts my hair perfectly but the right side was longer than the left and when I pointed it out she told me that’s because I wear my hair parted to the right. Uh, in that case that side would be shorter, not longer. She supposedly fixed it but when I got home it was still considerably longer and noticeable (although Joe claimed no one would notice but me) and was driving me crazy. Not only that but the left side was cut choppier so the two sides didn’t look the same at all. To add insult to injury it was the first time I’ve ever paid full price ($14 plus $3 tip) because I didn’t have a coupon.

The next morning I blow-dried my hair to see if the unevenness was still noticeable and it was, so I marched over to a different Great Clips with my receipt in hand. I got there before they opened and was standing outside with an older gentleman who was pretty friendly. Once we got inside I explained the situation to the woman (C) and even though she said it didn’t look uneven to her she could understand how it would bother me if it did to me. Then as she started brushing my hair and looking she remarked the back was uneven and basically just gave me a brand new overall cut. Obviously this made it a bit shorter than I was originally going for but it looked so much better once she was done so I didn’t care. I feel bad I didn’t tip her even though the cut was free per their guarantee. I took down her name and will be going to her from now on. It was funny because she asked me why I didn’t go back to the original location and laughed when I said I was afraid I’d run into the girl who screwed up my hair.

Later that weekend we went to Sally Beauty Supply to buy developer, dye, and some accessories like a new applicator bottle since we threw out the old one last time Joe dyed my hair as it was getting pretty nasty. Joe ended up dying my hair cinnamon brown on Sunday. I didn’t like it at first but it’s already lightening up a little and I like it much more now. I really think I’m going to go with a mousier lighter shade of non-red brown next time though since I think it would look more natural on me.

Flu Shot & Festivals

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Saturday morning we stopped at Chick-fil-A for breakfast (we each got a sandwich for free via their app) and then headed to the doctor so I could get my annual flu shot. With the new insurance I had to be careful not to discuss any health concerns with her otherwise I’d have to pay for an office visit whereas the shot is completely free. It was the quickest (5 minutes) doctor visit ever!

Afterward we had some time to kill so we headed over to Willowbrook Wildlife Center to look at the animals. I swear every time we go there they have a new pair of rats. What I’d love to know is what happens to the previous ones. Are they adopted out? Do they die? I’m half tempted to call them and ask. In any case, this girl (well, she wasn’t super young but not old either so I’d say somewhere between 28 and 38) was telling me about her pet rats. I mentioned I had some too but instead of engaging in actual dialog she just kept talking at me so I quickly made an exit. It’s astounding how self-involved people can be. Here I thought I was about to meet someone cool and like-minded but just like pretty much everyone else they were more concerned with talking than having an actual conversation. That was a bummer. What wasn’t was that we saw both flying squirrels which is unusual since they are nocturnal and hide in their nesting box during the day. I could have stood there for an hour just watching them jump around and eat but we had an event to check out.

The College of DuPage is across the street from the nature center and Joe had learned they were hosting a food truck festival. They even had discount vouchers ($15 for $10) but I waited too long to go online and try to purchase one so they were sold out. Despite that snafu, I was impressed with the number of trucks there.

What I wasn’t impressed with was the lack of signage directing people to the festival. It was back in a hidden area of the campus and the only thing that even remotely caught one’s eye was an arch of balloons over the pathway leading to the event. There weren’t any signs about the festival until you were well on the path towards it. WTF? Why wouldn’t they put that in the parking lot or one of the main streets that go past the campus? Did they not want too large of a crowd? It just boggles my mind.

Regardless, we found it, and our first stop was Happy Lobster where we each got a junior happy lobster roll ($20 total). It was pretty decent, although I think the roll itself was what saved it from being flavorless. The lobster roll we enjoyed in Boston in 2012 still reigns supreme. After that we shared a beef empanada ($2.50) from Grumpy Gaucho’s food truck which was just meh. By that point we wanted something sweet but much to my disappointment the Beavers Coffee & Donuts truck wasn’t open yet even though it was already 12:30 and the festival started at noon. You’d think they’d be a little more punctual for an event particularly if they want to sell coffee. Luckily our patience paid off and I was the first one in line when they did open. I got a small box of 9 mini donuts ($4) and asked them to put their free sugar toppings on them so that we had three powdered, three cinnamon, and three chocolate. They have all sorts of crazy toppings you can purchase for $1 each but I must say the free ones were plenty good on their own and the donuts just melted in your mouth since they were still warm. Definitely the highlight of the event.

Sunday after a large breakfast we headed to the CS Barks Festival in Carol Stream where we watched the frisbee and agility dogs. Lots of people brought their own dogs so that was fun. I didn’t bring my camera because I wasn’t in the mood to try and get photos and I’m glad I didn’t since the frisbee dogs weren’t so hot this year.

Sunday evening we enjoyed a second viewing of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. That movie is hilarious! We rented it from Redbox on Tuesday evening when it was released but wanted to see it again. This time we got it from the library and were able to access all the bonus content too including deleted and bonus scenes, a gag reel, and some of The Lonely Island’s music videos. I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying a copy of the movie at some point because it’s just that funny. I love Andy Samberg! I wish he’d do more movies.

Gizmo’s 2nd Vet Visit

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Gizmo’s follow-up vet visit went well. The vet didn’t hear anymore crackling coming from his lungs so we got refills on his medication and added the herbal supplement that might halt or even shrink the mass in his belly. We had the option of doing another x-ray but this little guy has cost us enough already (almost $300) so we declined. For whatever reason he doesn’t like eating the regular rat food anymore so I ground up some baby carrots and mixed it with the food and he’s been eating it that way. I also bought some baby food today (peas and sweet potatoes) to add the ground up food to so he can have some variety.