My mother is visiting

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/30/2018 at 01:46 • Filed to: None

Which means endless hours of the Food Network , HGTV, and Animal Planet. “Ooh, you’ve got to watch this. I saw it last week, ” doesn’t mean we can change the channel. It just means we get running commentary. I came home from my gig hoping to watch F1, and instead I sat through an episode of Chopped Jr. and now we’re watching Too Cute about kittens. The idiotic anthropomorphic commentary is causing me to lose brain cells.

I love my mom, but please, s hoot me now.

DISCUSSION (41)

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 01:58

I know the feeling when visiting my parents. Every time I have to watch an episode of Hawaii 5-0, I feel myself losing brain cells.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 02:06

Too Cute is great show, ok. The commentary is brain numbing, but the shots over power the commentary.

ttyymmnn > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
06/30/2018 at 02:07

We finally had to mute it

MrDakka > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 02:24

Food Network is probably your best bet, especially if Good Eats is on.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 02:40

Could be worse like parents reading RT news headlines and blasting their “ news” at full volume.

ttyymmnn > MrDakka
06/30/2018 at 02:41

I don't care much for any of it. Too much manufactured drama.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 03:02

You know you can watch full episodes of Too Cute About Kittens right here:

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I just watched half of an episode and it killed enough brain cells to turn me into a happy moron.

pip bip - choose Corrour > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 07:29

my mum would prefer the F1

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 08:33

At least it isn’t the Hallmark channel. It’s basically one televised romance novel after another, just with less smut. Same story, different package, over and over, often with the same actors/actresses.

Ash78, voting early and often > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 08:53

All of those things are what I call “background sound.” Not bad, not good. I do miss a bit of it since we cut the cable 3 years ago, but you have to ask yourself if anyone would actually seek out House Hunters if it didn’t just come on tv automatically (especially after years of reports that it’s almost all faked).

Not likely. But I only pay attention to the show so I can MST3K it. People who love the show honestly think I’m ruining it by making fun of it. It’s real drama for some people!

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 09:03

Sound s like you have yard w o r k t o d o, o r m a y b e a n a l l day t r i p t o the a i r p ort t o take pictures.

Textured Soy Protein > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 09:51

I would gladly exchange that barrage of domesticated programming for the persistent cable news played at extremely loud volumes that I experience when visiting with the older generation of my family.

My father in law (RIP) was incapable of turning off Fox News. We’d be sitting as a group in the family room having a chat about something or other and the whole time Fox News was on in the background at a volume a little too high to ignore.

My parents watch a variety of stuff, but at too loud of a volume, especially if my mom, who wears hearing aids, is in the room. Thankfully they watch only some news, it hasn’t Fox, and mix in other stuff. Usually a Washington Nationals game for my dad or a Star Trek TNG rerun on BBC America for my mom. The last time I saw my mom watching TNG I told her, “you know, you can watch that on Netflix anytime you want,” and she reminded me they don’t have Netflix. But they do have Amazon Prime and Star Trek is on there too. I need to get her set up with that. My dad will be thrilled.

At my brother in law’s house, it’s always slightly bad pop music from various eras played at too high of a volume over Sonos speakers located throughout the house. It’s like, ok we’re here for Easter brunch and to hang out for a while, can we have 15 minutes where we can talk quietly instead of fighting to be heard over Kelly Clarkson?

Textured Soy Protein > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
06/30/2018 at 09:53

Old people love CBS!

MiniGTI - now with XJ6 > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 10:11

Oh man, not quite as bad but my mother in law ( who I like a lot and get on with really well) spends an insane amount of money she doesn’t have on cable mostly to watch HGTV. “It’s too small” “I’d have to remodel that”.

Worst is my wife starts watching it when we go to visit. I remind her this is why we don’t have cable.

LOREM IPSUM > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 10:30

Enjoy it while you can, because at some point you won’t b e able to anymore because they’ll all be gone.

MrDakka > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 11:29

Someones never watched Good Eats. It’s like Bill Nye the Science Guy but with food. You get some history behind a dish along with some of the the chemistry that goes on in the cooking process.

Certainly better than those competition cooking shows that seem to be all the rage

ttyymmnn > pip bip - choose Corrour
06/30/2018 at 11:47

She would watch it. We’re watching World Cup right now.

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck
06/30/2018 at 11:49

I’ve read a few of those synopses, and yes, it’s always the same, with an interchangeable nanny or jealous wife. Complete drivel, but it sells.

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW
06/30/2018 at 11:50

I would love to go down to the airport, but it’s too damned hot.

ttyymmnn > Textured Soy Protein
06/30/2018 at 11:52

I never understood the need to have music playing constantly. I’m a big fan of quiet.

ttyymmnn > LOREM IPSUM
06/30/2018 at 11:56

Well, there is that. She’s 78, but still in good health. My father, however (they are divorced), is become more frail and they are the same age. I’ll see him in a couple of weeks.

ttyymmnn > MrDakka
06/30/2018 at 11:56

The popular one here are all those food competition shows where people get kicked off the kitchen island. I can’t stand those.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 12:07

A i r p o r t bar then?

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW
06/30/2018 at 12:11

There’s a thought. Unfortunately, all the bars are on the other side of security. Some 20 years ago, my wife and drove up to South Bend for a weeding and then spent a couple of days in Chicago. One of our activities was going to O’Hare and hanging out in the Seven Continents. Does that lounge still exist? I haven’t been through O’Hare in ages.

TheRealBicycleBuck > LOREM IPSUM
06/30/2018 at 12:50

I have to second that. Lost my mom last year. She was only 67. My dad was never around (divorced when I was 3), so even if he were alive, he wouldn’t count. All my grandparents are gone. I had a half-brother, but he died from an overdose a few years ago. I have a couple of uncles left, but they both live far away.

Yeah, enjoy them while you can, even with their annoying habits.

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn
06/30/2018 at 14:21

That p l a c e i s l o n g g o n e a s far a s I k n o w.

You n e e d a p l a c e n e x t t o the a i r p o r t - “P l a n e V i e w I n n” or s o m e thing l i k e that, h a h a!

Stef Schrader > Textured Soy Protein
07/01/2018 at 05:19

Ooh yeah. My dad was heavily into Fox News like that. :( He’d get angry at the TV, too.

Mom’s more into HGTV/Food stuff, thank goodness, and so am I, although we both kinda hate the dumb competition shows on Food. Yooooo that’s what race cars are for. Please don’t make me watch little kids who can outcook me already (admittedly not hard) when I could watch the cars?

Stef Schrader > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/01/2018 at 05:19

YES! My mom loves those movies and I don’t get it.

Stef Schrader > MrDakka
07/01/2018 at 05:20

Yeah, Good Eats repeats long moved to Cooking, IIRC? Now Alton’s the host of a bunch of dumb competition shows on the Food Network that are totally not the best use of his talents. (I’d really like him to explain the dang donuts atop Pikes Peak, for example.)

Stef Schrader > Ash78, voting early and often
07/01/2018 at 05:23

Oh man, I’ve heard it’s as fake as, well, every other house hunting show on HGTV. They line up the one beforehand and pick a couple extras.

I, too, MST3K the crap out of these. Welcome to the club. We’ve got leftover Girl Scouts cookies and a butt-ton of Haribos smuggled back from the land of Good Haribos.

Stef Schrader > LOREM IPSUM
07/01/2018 at 05:27

Yeah. I found my dad’s angry-TV watching habits to be kinda unhealthy, but holy balls, I miss the guy.

(It’s probably the reason why I don’t have cable, though. I can binge-watch HGTV and stuff when I have time and download whatever show it was that I wanted to binge-watch. Then I’ll end up talking at the TV, too, and remember why I don’t have cable. )

Ash78, voting early and often > Stef Schrader
07/01/2018 at 09:42

“Stef Shrader is a freelance auto journalist and puffalump collector looking to give up her lavish globetrotting lifestyle and settle down in Akron, Ohio. Will she choose the fixer-upper downtown loft for $79,000, the Updated Ranch House on five acres for $2.1 million, or the quirky Tethered World War Two Dirigible for $499,000?”

LOREM IPSUM > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/01/2018 at 10:59

Lost my mom 2 years ago this July. I’m still fundamentally broken inside. Typing this, my wife just asked if I was crying, because damned if my eyes don’t get misty whenever my mind thinks of her, my Dad who we lost in ‘05, or pretty much anything even remotely nostalgic.

My son was born exactly one year and one day after my mom died. Bittersweet.

LOREM IPSUM > Stef Schrader
07/01/2018 at 11:04

It's true. On and on it seems to go, but you don't know what you've got till it's gone.

TheRealBicycleBuck > LOREM IPSUM
07/01/2018 at 11:30

Sorry for your loss. My mom passed in March of last year. We’re still working to settle her estate. What gets me are the photos of her that pop up occasionally. I’ve pretty much abandoned Facebook because of this.

LOREM IPSUM > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/01/2018 at 11:38

My condolences. It’s really rough. Not that we expected it to ever be easy, of course, but... w ow. D evastating.

MrDakka > Stef Schrader
07/01/2018 at 12:18

Really? Damn.

So tell me more about these donuts.

Stef Schrader > Ash78, voting early and often
07/01/2018 at 20:35

Noooooope. Hard no on moving anywhere with rust.

Stef Schrader > MrDakka
07/01/2018 at 20:36

Light and airy up top, but supposedly they deflate if you bring them off the mountain. Slightly crunchy on the outside—just barely. Very tasty.

Ash78, voting early and often > Stef Schrader
07/01/2018 at 22:04

Yes, but tethered — no road salt. Just hydrogen. Oh, the community!

Textured Soy Protein > Stef Schrader
07/02/2018 at 10:27

I don’t really miss Food Network. I ditched cable a while back, and while my parents share their Comcast password with me so we can use the various cable channel apps in our Rokus, tablets, etc, the apps for S cripps channels like Food Network and HGTV bombard you with ads even when you log in with a cable subscription. I'm not going to sit through all those ads to watch fucking Cupcake Wars or some other bullshit like that.