Order of the Phoenix was the worst offender to me.  The section on the giants almost made me give up on the series.

I think PoA is arguably the best HP movie, but I also think that it was such an impressive improvement over the first two films that it is more memorable to many people.  The other films had a higher bar to pass, and so they stand out less as the series goes on.

I think that's an excellent question.  I may ask my sister one day, if I decide I want to never talk to her again :)  She was telling me how she knew all these people working in the insurance business who were going to lose their jobs and homes because of this.  I didn't ask for an explanation, since the holidays are…

Really!  That is so awesome!  Where did you get it?  I am looking at various ones online but feel like I should go to a store to try things out.

That's it, I'm buying a plane ticket ;)  You have to at least try it - just don't make it a regular part of your menu!

Don't they deep fry butter at the Texas State Fair?  I would not do well there ;)

I've definitely been slacking, part of which I'll blame on preparing for the shutdown :)  I've been taking the dogs out a lot hiking, but ran/walked just about a mile last night after 2 weeks of nothing.  But I still feel better than when I started a few months ago.

There are times I swear hauling around pet food and cat litter is the only exercise I get!

And remember that you don't have to memorize everything.  While you are learning this you can make a small cheat sheet notebook to leave in your glove compartment.  Or get those colored tape things to flag the pages in your owner's manual.

@avclub-1ef83ff6aceb6847da6c91867e20611b:disqus Yea, I'm one of those 800,000 people.  I just wanted to point out that when people think this doesn't affect them, it probably will if it goes on for a while.

@avclub-ae1846aa63a2c9a5b1d528b1a1d507f7:disqus I second the water idea - I was doing C25K for several weeks before I brought a water bottle.  Like Monkey Boy said - you don't have to drink a lot but it really helps if you breathe through your mouth and get really bad dry-throat like I do.

Learning how to take care of your car is such a great idea.  Knowing how to jump-start a car is also a great skill.  I once stopped to help a guy in a truck and he said "I've never seen a lady jump-start a car before."  It also may be the only time I've ever been called a lady.

@avclub-22eda830d1051274a2581d6466c06e6c:disqus That Japanese cannibal guy makes my blood boil. 

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT???

Should have scrolled down before posing my comment.

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT???

I went trap shooting a few weeks ago - the first time I ever shot anything, and it was lots of fun.  I got 3/25 targets so I was pretty happy with that.  My sister shoots all the time and told me that she has never hit a moving target in over 500 attempts, so I have massive bragging rights now.

That is interesting to know.  There really are so many people peripherally affected by this. 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/th…

I was supposed to be on a plane yesterday so I had to plan for both going on my trip and not going on my trip. So I am organizing the study as best I can from home and trying to enjoy the nice weather.