There is that. They still won't fit my budget, but I might be able to get one or two.

Well, it was a chemistry set aimed at kids from like 6-10, or something, so there was nothing super-dangerous in it. In high school we got to use dangerous stuff, yeah. (Though the one time we had to evacuate AND the time that blackened the ceiling of the brand-new chem lab were both my teacher's fault.)

Her social security number was part of the doxxing, though.

I suspect things have changed legally. (Though I just checked for the state where I grew up—Georgia—and they still don't have laws specifying ages. They have guidelines produced by the Department of Family and Children's Services, but even the department acknowledges that these are just guidelines and there can be…

Sadly, where I live, apparently we have to add, "unless their parents want to avoid possible trouble with the law," since children under 12 aren't allowed to be left home alone, even for short periods.

Where I live, it is illegal to leave a child under 12 at home alone/unsupervised. (I just looked that up, because I wondered.) I was left home alone for short periods of time (like half an hour) from the time I was about six, I think, but that was a long time ago.

I wouldn't have drunk the cleaning products, but my parents were concerned, not without justification, that I would start mixing random shit together to see what happened. (My parents were wise enough to tell me I could do that with my chemistry set, OR with stuff from the pantry [not at the same time, just in case],…

Well, he mentioned cold watermelon, and watermelon is much, MUCH better at room temperature. Or at "this was out in the garden [in Georgia in summer] five minutes ago" temperature.

I can get behind the low ranking for honeydew only because it IS so hard to find a ripe, perfect honeydew, especially if you can't find locally-grown ones. Perfectly ripe honeydew is marvelous (though I am partial to canary melons, myself), but the stuff usually found in supermarkets is not good.

Oh yes, persimmons. LOVE them. They do not fit my budget these days, but I love them.

The best apples I can usually find in the store (or COULD, before I moved to Canada), are Honeycrisps. The best apples I have ever had, ever, were Kikus. I am not really an apple person (I don't hate them, but if there is literally any other choice of fruit, I will take it), but for the two weeks those were in my…

No, I don't think people have to make cases for why they don't like something. They're allowed not to like it. I don't really care if people don't like romance novels. It's saying that they're all crap that I don't like.

I've already found my alternative solution, but thanks.

There's a huge difference between "I don't like X" and "X is crap," though.

Because apparently they don't like icky girls in their barbershop. As I said, a lot of them would do it—I specifically chose places that didn't have "for men" in their name—but were really, really rude about it. One of them actually told me, "Next time, you need to find a place that can cut women's hair." Another…

Here's one who has had one frequently in the past. I don't now because with my current (very short, very basic) haircut, I can get by with getting it cut every 6 weeks or so, as opposed to every 3-4 weeks, but I used to always have a buzzcut. And even when we both went to the same place (it was a Great Clips or a Cost…

I wish I could find a barber who would cut my hair. (Okay, I'm sure I could get most of them to. But the one in my neighborhood, for example, has "Haircuts for Men" as part of their signage, and the ones I've tried in the past would cut my hair, but would be a real jackass about it. (I don't have one now, but I…

No, I haven't, but I should! We're planting dandelions in pots next year for cheap greens for our rabbits, because they love them but (a) we don't have a yard, and (b) they cost $2 a bunch, on sale, at the supermarket. And I'm not paying $2/bunch for WEEDS. Obviously I know humans can eat them, but I never have!

Okay, the trick with casserole is to think of it as a method, not a recipe. A basic casserole is (more or less): a protein, a starch, some other stuff (usually vegetables), a sauce of some variety (mixed with whatever spices/seasonings/herbs you want), and an optional topping. So, for example, last week I made a…

His parents are hoping that kindergarten will help. They have a thing in the spring for the 4-year-olds, where they can (optionally) come in in the mornings for a couple of weeks (they have their own little class, taught by a couple of the kindergarten aides) to get them used to the idea of school and let them meet…