The value of my apartment has doubled in ten years and is pretty much guaranteed to hold its value, and the monthly cost of mortgage+maintenance is less than the monthly cost of rent for the same place, plus I get a tax deduction for the mortgage and the maintenance fees. Seems like a pretty good case to me.

Ha! Some kids NEVER forget ANYTHING. If you let one of them think they can have a rainbow unicorn for a pet, you could easily spend five years of daily fits they you haven't given it yet.

Real Estate in Manhattan has been rising steadily since the 70s. The housing bubble didn't much affect real estate values here, either.

My 14 year old niece just finished her Health class (she did it as a summer program so she could take two electives next year).

I saw a girl in Bendel's who looked SO FAMILIAR. She was too young to be a classmate, and I was trying to figure out if I used to work with her or if she used to date a friend of mine.

Ahh, Cold Duck. That and Lambrusco were my parents' go to booze.

Find a local small non-profit that does something you are interested in (music? art? film? animals?). Call them up and tell them that you are learning how to code and would be happy to build an application for them for free. I promise, someone will be grateful to take you up on that offer.

The guy in charge of my department about 10 years ago was known to be a disgusting handsy guy who liked to hold your upper arm with his fingers against your boob, look down your blouses and say gross things. We all knew about it, and advised new female hires to be sure to never be closer than 3 feet to him so he…

Mix sour cream with a little sugar. Comes out like a tart version of whipped cream and is incredibly delicious on strawberries!

I think she's too boring to bother divorcing. Seriously, that girl has got to be one of the dullest celebrities alive.

Not sure what planet you are from, but "birth control chemicals to treat a condition" are NOT always covered. And, that's what Sandra Fluke was testifying about.

Perhaps you should read Sandra Fluke's actual testimony, since you pretty obviously have no idea what she said. (hint: she wasn't playing the victim)

A bunch of years ago, in a heavy rainstorm, I heard loud meowing outside my apartment window. I looked out and found a sopping wet cat desperate to come in. I am NOT a fan of cats. I brought it in and got it something to eat and called the local pet store in the morning to find out what to do with the cat. They…

Agreed — if they just told her to get out, they were completely wrong. If they offered her the private room and treated her like any other customer, I think they did about as well as they could.

Oh, man, I don't know. That's all I've got.

I'm going to try for a defense here again. I admit to struggling with this issue because it is complex no matter how simple you try to make it seem. I also am starting to think the only real solution is to have completely private dressing rooms for all, because I don't know how else to make everyone feel OK in this.

I am not misunderstanding anything. I do not think you can make any sort of blanket statement about what a male crossdresser might choose to wear in any situation. And, again, this is leaving it up to the store to either decide by what the person is wearing / makeup / hair or to ask for specifics or to just allow…

I dunno. I don't think that this is about attraction (or not completely). I think it is about the body shame and feeling judged of the other customers.

So, the store needs to quiz the customer and ask "are you a woman or are you a cross dresser" ? How would the store know which is which? The gender you identify with is about what is inside your head, which the store and the other customers cannot see. So, they either have to ask you, make the call themselves and…

Yes, but doesn't that leave it up to the store to decide which situation it is? Does the store clerk have to size up the person and decide if this is a man being a creep or a trans woman who is very early in transition?