Jan 30th 2013 08:05 am An Expert Forecasts Doom!


Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
Welcome to the Arlo & Janis Economic Newsletter. Dire conditions forecast! The flea-market industry, the second largest sector of the economy behind usury lending, is going to collapse within the next few years! If your portfolio is over-exposed in the area of flea markets and consignment shoppes, divest now! The huge demographic known as the Baby Boomers is aging and has already begun to look around and ask, “What th’ heck do we need with all this crap!?” This trend will accelerate in coming years, and the second-hand industry will be flooded with inventory. Not even the demand created by young consumers who depend on the second-hand sector for survival will be able to absorb the inevitable glut of stuff. Subscribe to the Arlo & Janis Economic Newsletter for more detailed analysis and predictions such as this.

Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

86 Responses to “An Expert Forecasts Doom!”

  1. billinbossier on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:11 am #

    You are really speaking to me on this. My house is the junk capitol of Louisiana.

  2. llee on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:13 am #

    You are so funny! Also, probably right…..

  3. sandcastler on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:20 am #

    JJ, another trend you might want to research is Harley-Davidson Motorcycles. They are largely owned by Boomers, there will be a day coming when they will be Garage Hogs.

  4. JDS on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:30 am #

    Careful what you say there Sandcastler
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ2INWJwa38

  5. Jean in Dahlonega Ga aka Trapper Jean on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:34 am #

    Oh lordee, just think of all the specialized, single-use kitchen gadgets there will be!!

  6. Jean in Dahlonega Ga aka Trapper Jean on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:36 am #

    Does anybody know what’s going on over at Go Comics? The “we are updating the site for you” sign is up, and has been since last night.

  7. sandcastler on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:38 am #

    JDS, not meaning any offense. Just looking at the age bracket the owners occupy, at some future date there will be a large supply of used Harley’s for sale. Extrapolate.

  8. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:56 am #

    Several of you have been discussing perceived vs. actual age. Here’s Chs. Dickens on the subject, from Anu Garg’s A.Word.A.Day this morning:

    Dickens, Charles (1812-1870). Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks. A130130 [One reason why some people in their 30s or 40s get carded: emb]

  9. Nancy in Bucks County on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:06 am #

    We rent our Harley. We don’t have to wash it, service it, garage it and we get our choice of bikes with matching helmets, rain gear (just in case), all for about $100 a day. We’ve rented in Texas, Virginia, Penna., and Montana. Highly recommend it.

  10. Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:37 am #

    Oh, no! We have everything tied up in the flea market! What in the world are we going to do with 10 million fleas if the market collapses?

  11. Bill in Paducah on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:57 am #

    Ha! Love that paragraph Jimmy.

    Already did my mid life motorcycle thing and sold it a couple of years ago (really enjoyed it, but just didn’t have the time to ride.) Didn’t pick a Harley because I need my ears for trombone playing. Might try the rental thing once though.

    In other news, leafy vegetables are the leading carrier of food borne illness. Guess that means no more lettuce on my jumbo cheeseburgers!

  12. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 10:05 am #

    Ms. Curtis, please forgive my on-line friend again, for using the word “extrapolate”.

  13. Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 10:19 am #

    Keep it up, Ghost, and we’ll be hearing Italian, such as “Inflagrante!” Which Speel Check refuses to acknowledge. I know what that is, though, since John and I were caught there a couple of times. I’ve been clicking on that JOIN line in Jimmy’s text but the link won’t take me to wherever I need to go to join. No, Ghost, I do not need you to tell me where to go. Ms. Curtis, where are you when the Nation needs you most to protect the Empire! Wait! Forget that, I’m reading a Ken Follett book and that stuck for some reason.

  14. Ginger on 30 Jan 2013 at 10:25 am #

    I hate it when Mindy reads. In addition to the infuriating manner in which her lips moves as her finger slides ever so slowly across the page, usually trailing some foreign substance that resembles…oh, forget that. I hate it because she becomes so contentious and obdurate. And she mumbles things like, “Filthy pederast!” And that’s a bother since I don’t think the words appears once in the Classics Illustrated issue of “The Scarlet Letter.”

    Ms. Curtis, I know you aren’t real, but have I incited you to riot and indignation yet? Oh! I feel so effusive I think I’ll swoon!

  15. Norm in Utah on 30 Jan 2013 at 10:32 am #

    Mindy, this could get interesting. And you didn’t include your caveat that those are stories for yet another day, so we look forward with bated breath to reading about your exploits soon.

  16. Mindy from Indy on 30 Jan 2013 at 10:50 am #

    Just spent way too much at time at work, but I had to add a p.s. to yesterday’s strip. Received a call for my boss from another location. I hollered for the boss, adding, “it’s Misty,” and continued with (holding the phone so Misty could hear), “what is that you’re supposed to say, play Misty for me? Isn’t that a movie or song or some nonsense?” From the phone I could hear a squeak of laughter and “I can hear you you know.” I tried to plead innocence, but for some odd reason she didn’t believe me. :-D

    As for Boomers liquidating their flea market stock, I say bring it on. I’ve always wanted a used-once Ronco food dehydrater, a set of Tupperware with missing/extra-in-the-wrong-size lids, an electric organ with the stuck A#, and one of those jackets with that extra strappy-thing at the collar with the two snaps on it. And just in case any of the Villagers fit the Boomer demographic, please note I say this in jest; my aunt is seriously considering listing a wooden spoon and plastic cooking fork in her will. They are known as THE wooden spoon and the bacon fork, and everyone wants to use them when they are cooking. They are like a good fishing lure: they look like they’ve been to hell and back, but you wouldn’t dream of using anything else because the results are so good.

  17. Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 11:02 am #

    Whuh-oh! The PC Gremlin ate my Mindy Plea, Norm!

    Mindy, you made me stop and think, but if you see a Poliel’s Pocket Fisherman in there with the Ronco, hold on to it for me, please!

  18. sandcastler on 30 Jan 2013 at 11:16 am #

    ^°^°^°^°^°^ fits Boomer group by birth year; my behaviour and actions spread across the Gen Y, Gen X, and Boomer range. :-)

  19. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 12:18 pm #

    Lady Mindy, are you poking fun at my Members Only jacket? If so..bad girl!

  20. Norm in Utah on 30 Jan 2013 at 12:32 pm #

    sandcastler-

    I think I belong to the same club you do.
    I always say-
    Everyone has to grow older; there is nothing you can do about it. Some people choose to grow old. Then there are those like me who refuse to grow up!

  21. Robin in FL on 30 Jan 2013 at 12:37 pm #

    My niece once worked for HD in their insurance dept. She muttered something once about it being depressing knowing that their product was so often used by survivors.

    Standing by for incoming rounds from motorcycle riders.

  22. Mindy from Indy on 30 Jan 2013 at 12:45 pm #

    Ghost, That’s what those things are called? All I know is I always see [men of a certain age] wearing those jackets. I’ve always wondered where they find them. (Next to the double-knit polyester slacks, Panama Guayabera shirts [my grandpa's personal favorite], and the grey with the your-choice-of-red-or-blue-detailing Velcro shoes was always my guess.) What is the point of the flappy thing?

  23. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 12:56 pm #

    Lady Mindy, “that extra strappy-thing at the collar with the two snaps on it” served a very important purpose. It told everyone that one was wearing a Members Only jacket!

    You’ve actually seen one being worn in recent years? The last one I remember seeing was in like 1984.

  24. David from Austin on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:07 pm #

    Mindy from Indy,

    I know exactly what you mean on the cooking fork and spoon. I wrangled my mom’s cast iron skillet and cast iron griddle from my sisters. My two daughters are already arguing over who gets the cast iron when I’m gone. I’ve tried to reduce animosity by buying and seasoning a skillet for each of them. I season cast ironin the oven at 500 degrees with the lightest possible coating of lard. Dependind on the iron, I may coat 6-10 times. I also start by stripping any factory finish using oven cleaner. I think the best finish results if the iron is completely bare and the polymer layers built as thinly as possible.

  25. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:09 pm #

    Speaking of a blast from the past, yesterday as I approached an auto from behind that was stopped at a traffic signal, I became more and more puzzled as to what it was. I finally got close enough to realize it was a Cadillac Catera, possibly a 2000 model.

    I couldn’t see the driver, but, as it often does, my mind furnished the missing details…white guy, high-side of middle age, dressed in Full Chicago, whose cologne arrives two minutes before he does. We’ve all known guys like that, haven’t we?

  26. Mindy from Indy on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:11 pm #

    Ghost, Try every day. I’m telling you, that look is now OWNED by men [of a certain age] who probably last bought clothes in the mid 80s. They are always in neutrals (grey or tan) and always worn open (as I’m not entirely certain they would zip around expanded waistlines.) I’ve heard of Member’s Only, but never realized the conncetion. They’ve always been “grandpa jackets” to me. Oh, and if, IF, they they are in jeans, they are almost always vintage Wrangler with the fade line at the ironed-in pleat.

  27. Symply Fargone on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:17 pm #

    Sandcastler there is always a Harley or two sitting in my garage, course that is cause I can only ride one at a time :) I agree thee will be a massive sale on these though. So many people “think” it would be cool to own a bike and go out get one and find out it is not for them, then there are all these bikes with 2000 miles for sale. No worries that is how you get them for less than they are worth :)

    A bit late for yesterday’s topic, but my Mom took up computers in her late 60′s and became the desk top editor for her monthly newsletter at the Zurich International Women’s Assoc. Over the years her skills improved to the point that she urged me to get SKYPE so we could talk(and video) for free across the Atlantic. Raelly miss her face and calls now…….

    Enough I have a Celtic’s game tonight (Mark in Boston, I’m the guy in the cowboy hat that gets on the Jumbotron every now and then) and like Rajon Rondo(sniff) I am Symply Fargone!

  28. Symply Fargone on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:18 pm #

    M from I lol

  29. sideburns on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:26 pm #

    Jean, I can’t speak for anybody else, but I follow Alton Brown’s advice: No unitaskers in my kitchen except for a fire extinguisher.

    Mindy, there’s a reason your spelling checker doesn’t like that word: there’s a space missing. It’s supposed to be “in flagrante.”

  30. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:26 pm #

    Lady Mindy, maybe you should try running with a younger crowd. :D

    Ever seen the leather version of it? Combined the worse of Full Chicago and “Staying Alive” disco fashion. I remember seeing some on the rack at J.C. Penny back in the day. Probably where they stayed.

  31. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:31 pm #

    If you’re going to be caught “In flagrante,” try to make it being caught “In flagrante delicto.”

  32. sandcastler on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:35 pm #

    Mindy from Indy, I never understood people who ironed jeans. Could be I am still in rebellion from having to “break starch” in the Army.

  33. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:43 pm #

    Sorry, Ms. Curtis. I momentarily forgot that being caught “in flagrante delicto” commonly means being discovered having sexual intercourse.

    With or without benefit of foreplay.

  34. Mindy from Indy on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:46 pm #

    Ghost, My friend’s dad used to wear one when he was alive, along with those jeans, and shoes. The people I see wearing them now remind me of him. I see all kinds, and I’d rather see that the the stupid baggy pants thing. Then again, I have enough tragic school pictures and questionable fashion choices in my background that I don’t point too much. Heck, the socks I wore yesterday are old enough to drink. Back when your socks *had* to match your top exactly, I owned most of the Crayola chart. The odd color socks have traveled through three states, five towns, and several more addresses. Now? Pffffft, who cares? No one sees my socks, and they are practically brand-new (so to speak).

  35. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:54 pm #

    sand, once passed the time waiting for a flight at BNA shooting the, ah, breeze with an MP from Ft. Campbell. Told me he had to break starch three times per shift when pulling front gate duty.

    Lady Mindy, try mixing the odd socks. Crayola Cerulean on one foot and Crayola Caribbean Green on the other would be cool.

  36. Ursen on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:54 pm #

    Most of our biggest junk collection comes from out living family members. We MUST have such and such of so and so. It really is out of hand. Not only that we have one small out building of collectible comics, and books, and Christmas stuff we can’t put out because of destructive pets and a small house. And just plain collections of STUFF. In our life we moved first from this house, 2 bedrooms, to several other 2 bedroom houses and a trailer. On to 3 bedroom houses, to an 8 bedroom house, back down to a trailer, on to a 3 bedrom, on to 4 bedroom house, back to this 2 bedroom house, where we started. And random junk seems to follow each move. This we know, we have never seen a Uhaul behind a hearse, so it is time to get rid of stuff if it means throwing it away.

  37. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:58 pm #

    Oh, that reminded me… sepia tone cartoon panels today. Cool!

  38. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:58 pm #

    Lady Mindy, do your socks drink rum, too? :)

  39. JDS on 30 Jan 2013 at 1:59 pm #

    @Robin in FL – No argument from me. I’m pretty sure that most every motorcyclist would acknowledge that motorcycles are indeed dangerous. But then, I also have a hang glider in the garage. Haven’t used it in decades, but it sure was fun flying it off the cliff above Makapu.

  40. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 2:02 pm #

    Dave Barry once wrote that his clothes made a statement…and that statement was “I dressed in the dark.”

  41. Blinky the Wonder Wombat on 30 Jan 2013 at 2:23 pm #

    Bad storms ripping through the SE right now– let’s be careful out there!

  42. Mindy from Indy on 30 Jan 2013 at 2:33 pm #

    Ghost, No. They’re lightweight socks. :-D

  43. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 3:30 pm #

    So you’re saying your socks drink only Lite Beer?

    Remember the joke about light beer. ;)

  44. Mary in Ohio on 30 Jan 2013 at 3:43 pm #

    Ha! Back when everybody was selling their HS rings and Grandma’s silverware, another teacher and I agreed that we’d be set when the value of Melmacware and old periodicals went sky high!

  45. Mark in TTown on 30 Jan 2013 at 3:44 pm #

    Mindy, way back before Christmas you mentioned the Popiel Pocket Fisherman. I ran a search then and found you can still buy them. I posted the link here but don’t remember exactly when or what it was. But try your designated search engine of the day and you can probably find it.
    Blinky, you are so right about the storms. Although it was worse here this morning. At 8 it was still as dark as 530, when I got up, and it looked like God left the shower running out there. And then we started getting the thunder too!

  46. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 3:53 pm #

    What’s Melmacware, Mary? All I remember about Melmac is that it was Alf’s home planet, the one that was destroyed in the freak boating accident.

  47. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 3:56 pm #

    “I feel so effusive I think I’ll swoon!” Really, Ginger? Spoken like a true (gender specific noun’s whereabouts presently unknown).

  48. Nancy in Bucks County on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:01 pm #

    Ursen, I agree. My sister took the treadle (?) sewing machine when my aunt passed. She has never sown a thing in her life.
    When I moved last year, she took the spinet organ that I was ready to put at the curb. Yep – she can’t play a note.
    I never leave my mother’s house empty-handed. She’s 82 and always giving me the stuff she just can’t throw. I take it home and throw it away for her.

  49. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:03 pm #

    BTW, Mindy, the Gremlin was made by Dodge, not PC. Is this you standing in front of yours?

    http://www.roadie.org/gremlin2.jpg

  50. Norm in Utah on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:21 pm #

    Sandcastler,

    While I have never and will never ironed jeans, 22 years taught me to enjoy the feel (and sound) of breaking starch.

  51. Mindy from Indy on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:27 pm #

    Ghost, No beer passes my door – yuck! The socks are strictly temperance. :-)

  52. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 4:33 pm #

    Beer does indeed pass, Lady Mindy…frequently.

  53. Virgin Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 5:00 pm #

    Uncle Ghost, shall we set a date to go fox-hunting at Middelton Farms? I know that last jump bruised your ego, still it is time you remounted and gave it the ole tally-ho.

  54. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 5:17 pm #

    Thank you, but no, sweetheart. Both the fox and I have better things to do. But thanks for thinking of me. Oh, and the ego is doing just fine.

  55. sandcastler on 30 Jan 2013 at 5:24 pm #

    Norm, thanks for your years of dedicated service to our country. I was just a muddy-boot type who preferred the field over garrison life.

    GR6, knew you were an aviator but, never guessed you for being a horseman. Be damned if I could spell that fancy word for riding a horse.

    I have held lease rights for beer on four continents and they all ran out. ;-)

  56. Mark in TTown on 30 Jan 2013 at 5:42 pm #

    GR6, actually the Gremlin was made by American Motors before Chrysler bought them out. Along with the Pacer and the Javelin. I remember when the Alabama Highway Patrol used the Javelins as patrol/pursuit cars. Cool!

  57. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 30 Jan 2013 at 5:42 pm #

    I believe Melmac was the first or one of the earliest plastics considered acceptable for casual dining at home, mid-’50s or so. A lot better than china of any level with young kids at home. DON’T try microwaving it.

  58. Mark in TTown on 30 Jan 2013 at 5:43 pm #

    Virgin Mindy, I am surprised at your inviting Ghost to “remount”. I am even more surprised he let it pass without comment.

  59. JDS on 30 Jan 2013 at 7:28 pm #

    Mark in TTown – Ah yes, the cars of American Motors (a.k.a. the Kenosha Cadillac). Other fine models at the time were the Ambassador, Hornet, and Matador. And you are correct, the Javelin was one very fast automobile.

  60. Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:09 pm #

    Mark in TTown, the AHP Javelins had 301 CI V-8 and 401 CI V-8 engines, huge for AMC, according to John who apparently had some personal experience with them. [Wasn't AMC the follow-on of Studebaker? And didn't Studebaker make the Avanti which had an even larger engine that set some sort of Bonneville speed record for a stock automobile?] Speaking of Alabama, I watched “RED” today [the comedy, not the one about the dog that got murdered and his owner who went Medieval] and I heard Sarah-Jessica Parker refer to Mobile as “MOH-buhl,” as in cell phone, rather than “moh-BEEL,” as in the-way-it-really-is. Never heard Mobile, Alabama called that. Where’s she from? ANYHOW?

    NOTE TO VIRGIN MINDY: Teasing Ghost may be hazardous to your health, not unlike teasing a large Rottweiler through a fence with a stick; if he ever gets out, he’s going to be on you like beans on rice. [If I have to explain that quaint Gulf South expression...well, I ain't gonna do it.] Of course, have Ghost be on you might well be the thrill of your young, wasted life. [And there I go, outraging Ms. Curtis again, if she's really real.]

  61. Ruth Anne in Winter Park on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:13 pm #

    And now for something completely different… Say what you will about the heat, the humidity, the bugs, boa constrictor hunts, etc., in Florida, but a communications satellite was just launched from Cape Canaveral and I was able to go out into my backyard and watch it rise into the night. By the time it got too small to see through the thin clouds, it was about 350 miles downrange. Ive been doing this since I was a child in the early days of the space program and it still thrills and amazes me. Another kind of stuff that dreams are made of :-)

  62. Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:24 pm #

    Sarah-Louise Parker, sorry…

  63. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 8:58 pm #

    So, Mindy, I take it the slightly-too-slender-but otherwise-incredibly-sexy-long-haired-brunette-with-the-bare-midriff standing by the Gremlin was not you?

  64. Mindy on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:11 pm #

    What slightly-too-slender-but-otherwise-incredibly-sexy-long-haired-brunette-with-the-bare-mastiff are you talking about? Oh, never mind, I found it.

    “Slightly too slender” is she? Oh, yeah, I forgot, you’re a Heffner Heifer Male of the 20th Century! [No offense to the well endowed ladies; merely commenting on the mammary fixation of a certain era of males...from 2300 b.c. to the Tribulation.] I’ll not comment on how you’d find this Mindy incarnation.

    Actually, the girl in the photograph does remind me of someone, but that topside conglomeration and those billowing hip-hugger bellbottoms have got to go! Isn’t it downright embarrassing to look back at the styles of 10, 20, 30, 40 [oh, forget it!] years ago????

    NOTE TO VIRGIN MINDY: You dress funny already.

  65. Mark in TTown on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:18 pm #

    Ruth Anne in Winter Park, I bet that is an amazing sight and I wish I could watch one first-hand. The only missiles I have seen launched were the Talos from the launcher on the Oklahoma City while I was on it. Those were solid fuel first stage with a ramjet second stage and it was like watching the biggest darn bottle rocket you ever saw take off. Pop, boom, gone!
    No, Mindy. AMC was not the successor to Studebaker. It was the successor to Hudson and one other whose name escapes me. It also made the Kelvinator brand appliances. Studebaker didn’t get a government bailout when it got in trouble and just folded. The Avanti II has been made by several other companies since, though.

  66. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:28 pm #

    It’s ok to have a fixation and still not favor the Heffner/Page 3 size range. De gustibus . . ..

    “> a handful is wasteful.” I think it was wife who introduced me to that value judgment.

  67. Ghost Rider 6 on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:44 pm #

    Hey, slender-brunette-hair-of-unknown-length Mindy, I didn’t mean the slightly-too-slender-but-otherwise-incredibly-sexy-long-haired-brunette-with-the-bare-midriff-and-now-that-I-think-of-it-her-caboose-is-not-too-bad had insufficient boobage; quite the contrary. I just meant I thought she needed something to eat.

  68. Lost in A**2 on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:53 pm #

    Some years back, while visiting Tampa, I happened to see a shuttle launch. I hadn’t known that a mission was scheduled for the day.

  69. Mark in Boston on 30 Jan 2013 at 9:56 pm #

    I have in the corner of my bedroom a stack of holders for 5-1/4 inch floppy disks, holding a couple hundred of them. I really ought to throw them out.

    Unless anyone here wants them.

  70. JDS on 30 Jan 2013 at 10:14 pm #

    @ Mark in TTown: American Motors Corporation (AMC) was formed in 1954 by merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation (remember the Nash Rambler?) and Hudson Motor Car Company.

    Also in 1954, Packard acquired Studebaker. AMC used Packard V8 engines and Packard’s Ultramatic automatic transmission for its 1955 Nash Ambassador and Hudson Hornet models (remember the Hudson Hornet? No, me neither).

  71. TruckerRon on 30 Jan 2013 at 10:40 pm #

    I learned to drive in an Ambassador with push-button transmission and fully reclining seats. Guess I learned more than how to drive, now that I think on it…

    And here’s why I’ll never use a treadmill: http://thebonearchitect.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/treadmill.jpg?w=538

  72. Debbe59 on 31 Jan 2013 at 3:50 am #

    Before we got married 13 years ago, we bought a three bedroom Fleetwood modular home. (There was my son and my husband’s stepson living with us, thus the need for a 3 bedroom) Started moving things in only to discover the kitchen cabinets had no shelves. The cabinets next to the sink had shelves for dishes, but the rest…none. Had to purchase those metal shelves just to store stuff. THEN, the entertainment center….we set the TV on the shelf only to discover it bowed. The TV was too heavy….nasty presswood, all the bedroom, bathroom and closet doors have a layer of cheap looking wood covering that is now beginning to peal away. The doors are a white heavy duty plastic.

    Absolutely no storage area, so the third bedroom is a “quick, open the door and throw it in, we’ll figure out what to do with it later.”

    We are getting ready to clean out my mom and stepdad’s home as they are in the nursing home. Last Monday my sisters and I went through pictures…sigh. I know some of you have already been through cleaning out a home that’s been lived in for 40 years. Not an easy task. My father is still in his house and he’s wanting his four daughters to start going through pics too…double sigh.

    But for all you cat lovers….here’s a treat: http://www.weather.com/family-kids/pets/cats-in-snow-20130117

    Ya’ll have a blessed day……….

  73. Debbe59 on 31 Jan 2013 at 3:52 am #

    And you can never top George Carlin’s skit on “too much stuff” :)

  74. Mindy on 31 Jan 2013 at 4:21 am #

    Debbe, it was agreed that, after our parents passed away, the residences would simply be burned to the ground, thus eliminating the Too Much Stuff Chase. Sounds like NASCAR, no? In Virginia, that’s not a crime as long as no attempt is made to collect insurance or [Oh! Heaven forbid!] cheat a bank or lending institution out of its money. Of course that didn’t happen but the stock in garbage bags spiked each time. Now, John and I have learned our lessons and we refuse to leave such a mess to our heirs so our “storage” is…Oh! My God! It’s taking over! How did that happen? It’s a monster! We have to get rid of some of this and kill the beast and…aaarrrrggggghhhhhh!

  75. Virgin Mindy on 31 Jan 2013 at 5:49 am #

    It appears that the junk got Mindy. Good riddance.

  76. Ginger on 31 Jan 2013 at 5:56 am #

    The Virgin Mindy is not a nice person. Forgeddaboutit. Let me pose a query worthy of the Great Ghost Rider hisownself. The conversation has dealt with all the “stuff” left around, stuffed hither and yon and a few other places. [Forgeddaboutit, Ghost Rider, don't even go there.] Anyway, does that make us all junkies for keeping it around and letting it grow? Kiss my not-a-foot, Virgin Mindy, by the way and before I forget. I have no idea what Mindy will say. I wonder if she’ll come on later as Not A Virgin Mindy, which definitely has more than one meaning, no?

    Whoops! That just has to agitate Ms. Curtis even more! Shame on me a little bit!

  77. Ghost Rider 6 on 31 Jan 2013 at 5:58 am #

    Not nice, sweetheart. But have a wonderful day.

  78. Ghost Rider 6 on 31 Jan 2013 at 6:01 am #

    That was for VM, but Ginger slipped in between us. No, Ms. Curtis, that’s not what it may have sounded like.

    You have a wonderful day, also, Ginger.

  79. Ghost Rider 6 on 31 Jan 2013 at 6:35 am #

    They should ban stupid opaque pantyhose on the stupid Weather Channel. That would get my day off to a better tart.

  80. Ghost Rider 6 on 31 Jan 2013 at 6:36 am #

    Sorry…better “start”.

  81. Ginger on 31 Jan 2013 at 6:39 am #

    Oh, excuse me, please, Ghost Rider! The very last thing I’d ever want to do would be to come between you and Mindy la virgen! Por favor, perdomame! (I truly hope I said what I intended to say instead of pulling a ((real)) Mindy and stepping on my…no importa.) Adios. (If you’re leaving someone who is truly a noncomprehending dolt, would that be “Adiot?”

  82. Mindy on 31 Jan 2013 at 6:48 am #

    If Ginger got between Ghost and Virgin Mary, would [gender specific pronoun deleted] between a rock [head] and a hard place?

    Forgive me! Forgive me! Forgive me! I just couldn’t resist! And yes, Ms. Curtis, I’m going to burn for that, I know!

  83. emeritus Minnesota biologist on 31 Jan 2013 at 9:14 am #

    “. . . now beginning to peal away.” How do you sleep at night?

  84. Lost in A**2 on 31 Jan 2013 at 10:28 am #

    Actually, Ghost Rider, the typo made more sense. :)

    When I looked at the list of recent items with responses, the title “Expert Forecasts Down” made me think of a duck. Don’t know why, though; eider I’m (slightly) off or blind.

  85. Lost in A**2 on 31 Jan 2013 at 10:28 am #

    Ah. “Doom” not “Down.” So, off.

  86. Dan in SWMo on 31 Jan 2013 at 12:42 pm #

    Melmac is, indeed, a brand name for melamine resin (often simply called melamine), a thermosetting plastic long used for plastic dishes. In looking up the details, I was interested to read that it is not considered recyclable, because it can’t be melted down. Further note: Wikipedia points out, helpfully, that “melamine” is not to be confused with “melanin.”