Two Decades, Two Disasters

My sister-in-law Brenda was flooded out of her ground-floor apartment near Atlanta during the heavy rains earlier this week. In addition to the water, there was also runoff from a nearby sanitation facility, so everything the water touched is a total loss. We have photos of rooms where the waterline is halfway between the floor and the ceiling. A refrigerator was tipped over.

Brenda was living with her two daughters, both in their 20s now, and one daughter's two children, both under the age of 5. They have moved temporarily to stay with Brenda's oldest daughter and her 9-year-old. Brenda's on disability, and given their living situation, we expect they'll be able to get assistance from FEMA.

Ironically, this is the second time something like this has happened to Brenda. The time before was 10 years ago, almost to the day. That time, she took a vacation with her daughters and returned home to discover her house burned to the ground as the result of an electrical fire. Once again, they moved in with the oldest daughter.

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Sharing the Good Stuff

Thanks to Too Many Tribbles.

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Of TV and Comedy, Pratfalls and Walnuts

[Edited to add, months later:  Apparently I'm the only person on the planet who didn't know what "jumping the shark" means -- I could have trimmed this post considerably by simply using that phrase.  Live & learn, I guess.]

My husband Carl watches reruns of Family Matters in the mornings. The sound effects are unmistakable -- the dulcet tones of Urkel and the audience members with their high-pitched "Woooooooooo!" every time two cast members kiss or even make reference to the topic of sex (in this case, the key word was "lipstick." Whatever...).

Hearing those sounds this morning gave rise to a lot of random thoughts about comedy and TV.
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