Ooo! I had a Chevette like that in college. It was a ‘79 I think. One day on the way to school, I went to downshift, and the entire shifter came off in my hand. Not just the knob, the entire shifter. The spot welds that held the mechanism to the floor had all failed.

It looks and sounds like a slightly improved Crispy Colonel, which was already a very tasty chicken sandwich. I wonder if you can get it with their honey bbq sauce? I really like that sauce. You could get a Crispy Colonel dripping with it, and it was glorious!

Worst series finale ever

I think that’s a common way of thinking. A lot of Chicagoans call Joliet “Southern Illinois,” but to those of us actually in the southern half of the state, Joliet is basically part of Chicago.

We’ve had a tradition for the past few years of making something a little out of the ordinary for Christmas, so this year I made beef wellington. Lots of work, but it was delicious! I intended to roast potatoes to go with it, but forgot to buy potatoes. We had some turnips in the fridge, so I roasted them with carrots…

My grammar OCD is screaming in my head. It should be “...effected a different outcome,” or “...affected the outcome.”

My mom is a thrift store and yard sale shopaholic. When we lived halfway across the country, she would send us...stuff...she’d picked up. Just all kinds of stuff. We really learned that lesson about “little ears” when our oldest daughter, about 4 or so at the time, told my mom on the phone, “Granny, you need to stop…

I like to listen to the audio of old British comedies while I’m out walking. Fawlty Towers, Black Adder, Are You Being Served?, The Thin Blue Line, The Vicar of Dibley, lots of others. Just as funny to listen to as to watch, really.

(I realize this post is old, but I didn’t see anyone suggesting this.) I’ve fought flea infestations in the past by making these traps. They work really well. I started with a chick feeder as pictured, cut a hole in the top big enough to suspend a nightlight inside, then put some water and a drop of dish soap in the…

When I got pulled over for not having the front plate back on yet after fixing the damage from hitting a deer, I swear the state cop looked like he was 18. I'm getting old. :-(

Our world travel has mostly been visiting our children when they’ve lived overseas. Still have one daughter living overseas now. We’ve had some very good food on those trips! Shawarma in Dubai. I can make a decent facsimile, but it’s not quite the same. Sirnica in Sarajevo. Kebabs and wine in Tbilisi. Had some…

Clearly you need to incorporate yourself!

For me it was always Banquet instead of Swanson. The old-school ones in aluminum trays were certainly better. You really can’t get crispy fried chicken in a microwave the same way as in an oven.

I remember one Thanksgiving when my mom asked my sister to check the pumpkin pie and take it out of the oven if it was done. It wasn’t at all done, still more like pumpkin soup—and my sister dropped the pan. It landed completely flat on the open oven door, then a perfect wave shooting from the edges to the center of…

How about the sketchy voice recognition with the TI 994/A? I remember it being kind of frustrating to try to play that baseball game where you had to say “Swing!” at the right time.

Or as an alternative to the maple syrup, a good aged balsamic vinegar.

I’d be willing to give it a try, but honestly it looks kind of dry. It seems like it needs some kind of mayo-based sauce or something in the mix?

I hated eggnog as a kid, and I can’t figure out why. I mean, it’s essentially melted ice cream! I’m not much of a drinker, but now I do like a glass of good eggnog with spiced rum in it.

Interesting. I don’t have that problem in my yard. I wonder if it’s grass type, or leaf type, or something else that makes a difference? I have maple and oak leaves, and not a fancy lawn, with a little Bermuda, but mostly a “mutt” combination of things. Lots of some kind of small sedge, which is often considered a…

If you do that you need to mulch them with the mower, or else they’ll almost certainly kill the grass. I’ve mulched my leaves for decades now. It’s so much easier than raking, burning, bagging, or anything else. After you run over them with a mulching blade on the mower, they basically disappear. Granted, if there are…