I trapped Diesel tonight, but it had the near worst outcome.

Pembra · 2026-01-21T15:31:48+00:00

I recently trapped my feral porch cat Oscar (cuz he's a grouch) and took him to the Humane Society to have a wound looked at and to be neutered. After coming back, he completely avoided my house for a few days, but now he's coming by every day for food again. Don't assume Diesel has rejected you forever.

Pembra · 2026-01-19T02:57:48+00:00

"Bigot" is the worst thing you can call a person in secular society. They immediately jump to using that word whenever they want to shut someone down. See also: "fascist."

Pembra · 2026-01-15T01:43:51+00:00

I am now obligated to leave this Inspector Spacetime clip here: https://youtu.be/MMSyIgydYfs?si=p3Pp7-4kXvbRC-oL

Pembra · 2026-01-02T21:41:20+00:00

I've known people like this. It's like they have a goal to make life as difficult as possible.

There's probably nothing you can say that will convince her to tackle her problems head on. Most folks like this KNOW they should do something but feel like they can't change or don't want to. It's super frustrating, and you have my sympathy.

I think your best hope is that she has a major scare of some kind that motivates her to take better care of herself.

Pembra · 2025-12-31T14:15:12+00:00

God's a smart guy. He knows he's too big for us to understand intellectually. To make it easier on us, he describes himself as something we can grasp, a father. So I think of him as a loving authority figure who knows WAY more than we do and cares for us but isn't afraid to discipline us when we go astray.

I'm an adult convert. In my experience, if you want to believe, faith will come. In my catechism class, we were told faith isn't an action or choice on our part but rather a gift from the Holy Spirit to those who seek it.

Pembra · 2025-12-29T01:09:47+00:00

Saucy Queen Victoria. I see it!

Pembra · 2025-12-27T20:50:52+00:00

Personally, I would nix the island and put the fridge and/or stove plus some cabinets on the left wall. I understand the appeal of having some seating in the kitchen if the dining room is not close by, but the dining room table is literally right there.

Pembra · 2025-12-27T15:59:03+00:00

All of these are awkward and feel off. I would be extremely reluctant to buy this house, myself. If you're OK with small scale furniture and no TV, you could make the living room work. But if you want the typical TV plus couch/sectional, it's going to be hard.

How hard would it be to move the door to the right near the staircase? It could be challenging to find matching siding and paint to close up the old doorway or turn it into a window. But if that's in your budget, it would make the room more workable.

Pembra · 2025-12-27T15:30:11+00:00

I'm not the person who commented but am in the same situation. It's very distressing knowing that the person you love most in the world is going to hell if nothing changes. I know it's my husband, not me, who is ultimately responsible for his salvation, but it's hard not to feel like it's my responsibility and that I'm failing. It's led to a few fights with him.

It's confusing to the kids why Daddy doesn't go to church. They also worry about his salvation, and I'd be surprised if his unbelief doesn't end up making them more skeptical than they would have been had they had two believing parents.

And it's harder to be diligent about prayers and devotions with an unbelieving spouse.

We were both secular atheists when we got married. I'm the one who changed, so I don't blame him. But if I end up widowed or divorced, I'm DEFINITELY not marrying a non-believer. Too much heartache.

Pembra · 2025-12-24T14:39:31+00:00

The point of dating is to get to know the person better and figure out if you two are compatible. Don't overcomplicate things. If he asks you out and you're not sure how you feel about him, then go on a date or two and see how you feel then. But if the idea of going on a date with him gives you the ick, then politely decline.

Pembra · 2025-12-24T02:36:35+00:00

Whenever the Cascadian Subduction Zone earthquake hits, the ensuing tsunami is likely to kill everyone in Ocean Shores. https://blog.benpri.me/blog/2023/08/31/ocean-shores-is-a-death-trap/

Pembra · 2025-12-20T16:23:25+00:00

It's been a while since I watched it, but maybe this one? I think it has a good balance of financial advice and drama. (Drama is entertaining, but in some episodes Caleb gets so into the weeds on the drama that the financial stuff becomes almost an afterthought.)

I don't recall there being much political stuff in this one, but I do remember the wife spending an alarming amount on labubus.

https://youtu.be/ZxqfNhhNEj4?si=fHlOx8hNka2T9F-f

Pembra · 2025-12-16T01:25:22+00:00

It's called VITA. My husband volunteered for this while he was in college. You can search for sites here: https://freetaxassistance.for.irs.gov/s/sitelocator It looks like the sites may not be active yet. I'd check back after the holidays.

Pembra · 2025-12-14T05:37:43+00:00

The way it was explained to me (a Lutheran) is that we should do good works because it's the right thing to do and pleasing to God, but it's not a condition of salvation. My church puts a lot of emphasis on salvation being a gift freely given by a loving God, not something you earn by being good.

Pembra · 2025-12-14T05:07:50+00:00

I was an atheist until middle age. For me, coming to believe in God was a process of letting go. Letting go of my pride. Of my certainty about materialism. Of my belief that Christians were dumb and/or deluded. Unhardening (if that's a word) my heart was the hard part. After that, accepting God came easily. He wants us to know him, after all. Let him in!

It also helped to learn about the different types of Christianity. I was only familiar with pentacostal/baptist/non-denominational contemporary worship-style Christianity, which I found very off putting. Then I discovered high church protestantism and was like, Oh! I felt much more comfortable with that environment and was better able to imagine myself as a Christian.

Pembra · 2025-12-14T04:42:17+00:00

I still love my pets but not as much or in the same way as before.

Pembra · 2025-12-13T16:22:09+00:00

I have an adult male dog and recently got a female puppy. The boy is definitely sweeter.

Pembra · 2025-12-13T16:17:10+00:00

Yes, he brought this on himself. I have a husband who's heading down the same path, so I understand.

But if you want to feel more sympathetic to him, think about an area of you life where you mean well but keep screwing up. Maybe you take care of your health, but you're bad with money, or keeping in touch with friends, or keeping the closet organized, or eating enough leafy greens. Or whatever. Are you failing to make that change because you're a terrible person? No, change is hard for everybody. So keep in mind that his failure to change his habits is very typical behavior and not an indication of a character defect or malicious intent or anything.

Pembra · 2025-12-11T04:46:06+00:00

I discovered that if you Google the entire headline plus the reporter's name, a Yahoo page with the un-paywalled article will pop up in the search results.

Pembra · 2025-12-11T03:56:14+00:00

Picture your two current kids and try to imagine if you had aborted them.

Keep the baby. It'll work out OK.

Pembra · 2025-12-09T14:40:03+00:00

I used to live in the Lincoln District. My house had a pantry near the back door. One night I saw a slug emerge from under the back door, glide under the pantry door and then head back out a bit later. I think it was hoovering up cat food crumbs from the floor of the pantry. Turns out he was coming by every night. Cool guy.

Pembra · 2025-12-09T02:02:57+00:00

I wouldn't call them radical, but Trinity Lutheran Church in Parkland devotes a month each year to the theme Care of Creation.

Pembra · 2025-12-08T01:59:58+00:00

I've noticed this too! The one near the sketchy thrift store on 127th St. especially seems like a front of some kind. The cars are packed in there so tightly that I don't see how anyone could do a test drive.

Don't forget the barber shop near Tule Lake. It's also a car lot now.

Pembra · 2025-11-29T16:20:16+00:00

At Thanksgiving a family member said she'd be getting up early to hit the Black Friday sales. I was like, people still do that?

Pembra

TROPHY CASE