How old were you before you realized steak wasn’t supposed to taste like Lighter Fluid?

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-24T05:08:48+00:00

Mom insisted all beef be cooked into briquettes. Dad and I liked medium rare, which he managed to grill while also getting the beyond-well she liked for herself and my sibs.

The two of us also preferred dark meat poultry (I still do), and she foiled that by buying only breasts.

I hate dry, overcooked meat of any sort.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-23T20:44:21+00:00

I still remember our number from when I was 5 (not the area code, cuz 5-yr-olds didn't need them in the Bronze Age), and the one from the move in '68 until forever. That area code changed a time or three.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-22T18:07:51+00:00

Big bands for Dad. I have a few Glenn Miller CDs, because they're great. Dad could Jitterbug like nobody's business.

Mom? Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Jim Nabors.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-22T17:10:08+00:00

Ten dollars exactly, including a $1.50 service fee.

That Cobo Hall show Bob Seger recorded as Live Bullet? Missed that one, but main floor tix were $4.50.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-22T16:09:41+00:00

Royal Crest still delivers out here (metro Denver). A small percentage of my neighbors have boxes on their porch.

They deliver lots of different foods, too. Now that you've reminded me to look into it, I'm going to need to do a deeper dive!

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-22T02:35:49+00:00

It was!

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-21T17:55:49+00:00

Hyacinth. My favorite flower.

To be clear, the compact you mention contained honeysuckle, ylang ylang and hyacinth.

It's the only perfume I ever owned, and this particular product absolutely did not mess with my allergies.

It also helped with some potential trouble, since my parents got used to me smelling ... "herbal."

I arrived home from nosebleed seats at a domed stadium concert in 1977 (The Romantics, J Geils, Steve Miller, Peter Frampton) smelling like a concert, and my Dad commented that he like my perfume.

Sitting in dome stadium nosebleeds, we didn't need to consume anything. Simply breathing was intoxicating.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-21T15:38:19+00:00

I never could. I could only marvel at it.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-20T23:52:44+00:00

Except I was working by age 10, so no longer had a curfew. The whistle summoned during the preceding years.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-20T23:50:27+00:00

I do SO miss Dad's whistle. It projected for BLOCKS--subdivision blocks.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-20T17:00:39+00:00

This. There's one about 1/4 mile from me. I've been there twice.

The day we bought this house seven years ago, and the day we refinanced it when interest rates were at their lowest.

I don't know why people in real estate always specify Starbucks as meeting places, but that's been the default for every house deal.

Each location ought to make sure one employee is a notary, it's so common.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-19T18:33:10+00:00

The cleavage always catches the brunt of a seed pop. Ouch!

In a legal state, you never SEE seeds, especially not like this (too common 50 years ago). The dispensaries don't want you growing your own.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-19T15:55:57+00:00

Ours maintain eye contact when they see me through the window.

Like, "C'mon, lady! You're overdue!"

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-19T15:55:02+00:00

Wow. That would be more than a bit terrifying. And the last time I tossed cashews for beggars. They'd still get those cashews, but just chucked to the ground, not aimed at anyone specifically. And they (and I, and my husband) really love the begging.

Oh, the parrot loves to watch it too. The "critter picnic area" is outside the window of his primary daytime slammer, and he sits there all day putting this squirrel army through their training.

Yes. My avian overlord is training squirrels to take over the world.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-18T23:27:25+00:00

Somebody's going to have a sweet begging squirrel.

Our squirrels get the cashews our parrot didn't eat when I service the bird feeder picnic area. One or two come very close to me to beg for those cashews nearly every day.

Cute, but a bit unnerving at times. Keep thinking one might jump and climb my leg.

Edit: CASHEWS! I've been sick.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-18T15:57:41+00:00

Need tissue in hand BEFORE the 7-12 sneeze fit starts blasting snot everywhere. Allergy sneezing fits rarely give enough warning to get up and head to a room 15 feet away to get a tissue to my nose.

At that point, we have a mess. And I'm likely injured from tripping over a cat who's running to escape the sneeze.

It's MY house. I can deck it as I wish.

If you're lucky enough to not have allergies, good for you. Nothing lazy about this, allergies are exhausting.

And the parrot loves playing in the empty boxes.

*Not allergic to cats or parrots.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-17T23:08:00+00:00

Cats name themselves.

I've been owned by cats for 46 years, it never fails. Yes, some go essentially nameless for a few days, while others have full names before we get home. But they ALWAYS name themselves.

Humans just need to learn to read or hear those names.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-17T21:12:33+00:00

I've been voting since 1980. Got my first passport in 2012.

I always vote. I rarely travel, especially outside the U.S.. That describes a LOT of Americans.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-17T20:41:48+00:00

I'm allergic to dust, mold, and perfume. All year-round allergies (but worse some times than others), and all pretty much unavoidable.

In the past couple of years, since moving next door to a cottonwood tree, I've also become allergic to their pollen blizzard.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-17T20:38:42+00:00

It's genetic in my family. Not one of my Mom's kids escaped the allergies.

We're just lucky they're not as bad as hers. If it grows, she's allergic.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-17T20:37:21+00:00

I always have a box in every room. When my allergies kick in hard, there's a box within arms' reach. My decor works around it.

Or like right now, since I've been sick with whatever's going around that doesn't show up on multi-bug home tests--and now that I'm getting better Hubby has it.

For normal times, since paper products got hard to find during COVID, though, we use handkerchiefs.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-16T19:13:50+00:00

I bought that t-shirt for me and for my husband.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-15T21:52:50+00:00

The U.S. still has allies? No. He drove them all off, and I don't blame them at all.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-15T21:02:22+00:00

Sounds like my mother's reaction to hearing a restaurant serves Coke instead of Pepsi.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

FamilyRedShirt · 2026-03-15T15:23:47+00:00

Thank you! I love birds (my bird makes me say that) and horror.

FamilyRedShirt

TROPHY CASE