In my experience, it's not unreasonable to hope this situation will get resolved, but it's going to take a lot of time and perseverance on your part.  This sort of thing totally sucks.

My 66-year-old mother, inspired by her recent discovery that she likes Mark Lanegan, announced that she'd like a tattoo on her hand.  I can't decide how serious she's being, and whether I should encourage it.

That's terrible!  I'm so sorry.

I make chili about every 10 days, because if I make an enormous pot of it, and stretch it with rice, it'll make lunches for my sister and me to take to work for the next week.  I generally use ground pork, and whatever kind of bean from Rancho Gordo that I've got on hand.  Although this week's chili was made with…

@avclub-39ffe0b5809a15fcc7637b21b3026a72:disqus Whoa — I've never seen deep-fried pickle spears.  That sounds fascinating.  The place I get my fried pickle fix is a local brewery/restaurant, and they just do chips.

I would rather just periodically replace my floor coverings than vacuum.  ::shudder::  And if you have non-carpet floors and let them go long enough without sweeping/vacuuming, the dust bunnies get big enough that you can just pick them up with your hands.  That's way easier than doing fussy housework.

@avclub-d542a3419c3ad57206a96bcc86155ebc:disqus Unglazed ceramic tiles set in a rimmed baking sheet apparently works as well as a pizza stone and is a lot cheaper.  Of course, this was a tip I got after I purchased a pizza stone, so I have no idea if it's actually a good one.

Oh god, I love deep-fried pickles SO MUCH.

Oh my GOSH!  Those are so cute!  I think I like the grimacing eyepatch one the best… or the upside-down bat. 

That's so cool that you've got a classic, no-nonsense Singer!  I can't machine sew at all.  I don't know how people do it, but I suppose it would be easier with a machine that has only one stitch.  I make quilts, but by hand — that way I can stitch while sitting on the couch in front of the TV.  Of course, I only do…

I'm having a very adventurous day — I've got an apple to go with my lunch.  Normally I view apples with the same suspicion kindergarteners view sandwiches with the crusts still on them; I can't really deal with all that skin and the apple being whole and I'm such a baby ohmygodIneedtheskinscutoffandthefruitinpieces…

Sounds like she's leaving out the best part.

My sister who knits likes to make baby blankets for friends, because it always seems like it should be a quick project.  And then it always ends up not being quick, so the projects tend to evolve from being described as "the baby blanket" to "the stupid baby blanket" to "the stupid fucking baby blanket".  We now just…

For real?  That's so cool!

The Thrive Home Furnishing ads are doing a good job on me.  I stare at them all day and think, "My couch is so ugly compared to those."  I'm so easily manipulated!

This news is making my childhood crush on Disney's cartoon Robin Hood even stronger.  Not only is he a dashing, chivalrous archery stud, he's also a science genius and/or Magneto!  (Except when he's facing south.  Then he's just a dolt.)

This news is making my childhood crush on Disney's cartoon Robin Hood even stronger.  Not only is he a dashing, chivalrous archery stud, he's also a science genius and/or Magneto!  (Except when he's facing south.  Then he's just a dolt.)

I could watch the opening credits sequence on a loop — I just love 'em.  I remember seeing this in the theater and thinking it would be awesome if those credits started a trend.  More movies should do that.

Oh my god, the trumpet factory!  That was BY FAR the best of all the factories.  I mean, the others are great, but the trumpet factory was sublime.  (It made me really want to work at a trumpet factory, actually.)

There are so many things that I learned on 3-2-1 Contact that still make me think immediately of the show when I encounter them in real life.  The one that sticks with me the most, though, is when they played a record with a cactus needle; I lived for three years in Arizona and thought about that every single day. …