Original A's Profile

You can buy very good greek olive oil in 3 and 5 liter cans at Titan Foods in Astoria, and a lot of local food stores. You can also use a can opener to make drainage holes very easily.

I think its pretty clear that while there are some survivor benefits payable, there are other needs that are not capable of being satisfied, the most significant of which has been identified as health insurance.
I think its inspirational that so many food bloggers have banded together to help this person (and other people, the charitable effort has not been limited to this cause). I think she has said that the benefits received for her kids would cover the mortgage and maintenance. It is likely much less than his income actually contributed to their family unit, so you should not presume that its a 1 to 1 wage replacement. In addition, one should not presume that social security will be available for her at all when she hits age 67.5, and you don't get two monthly payments.

These look like mugs I saw at Graham and Green in london in 2005 or so - try them. Send the picture. I believe there were matching plates and they also came in silver. They were not heavy chunky mugs - they were more like a mug shape done in fine china.

I admit that I introduced chocolate Special K to my kids to get them to eat non-totally sugared cereal. I have since been adding dark chocolate to Kashi cereal, and its a reliable way to make sure they get enough fiber in their diet.

When my kids were little, we used to let them play with painters tape. On many days, we arrived home to things like this, and all the adults would spend days creeping around to preserve them. Favorite toys, books, household implements would all end up caught in the web. My son even used to make a sippy cup holder in his, for convenience. All of the hassle and annoyance just slipped away when I walked in the door.

I'm actually scared to use the cleaning button (my oven is a dacor (i didn't pick it) and I have 3x paid $135 for a new thermostat when my husband burned stuff on the broiler). What exactly happens in a self-cleaning cycle? It heats up really hot and burns everything to ashes, is that the idea?

I nominate Renegade Cabaret for best use of a fire escape.
http://www.renegadecabaret.com/

As a long time reader, its nice to hear that one member of the AT editorial staff actually keeps books.

Um - the creepy 19 and counting family? They can totally afford those kids, and could even before the show. They live pretty well totally without government assistance and debt. That big 7000 sf home? no mortgage, paid in cash, the built a lot of it themselves on weekends, they used to take no govt assistance of any kind, including no public school. They manage their existence primarily by operating businesses and by acquiring their possessions through second hand shopping, mostly at auctions. Their theme is getting what they need without paying full price and without going into debt. Those kids have visited more of the US than any presidential candidate and that was before the TV show. And their ethos toward recycling and fixing things instead of throwing them away used to be a more prominent part of their show, before they acquired their gas guzzling "magic bus". There was an interview with the mother a few years back and she said that one reason they did the show was because they wanted to share their religious philosophy but also, they wanted their kids to see the world and air travel was too expensive. And on their foreign trips - they do a huge amount of charitable work. Their religious philosophy is extreme and unappealing to most, but I do think that people should know that they are not living on the public trust on a day to day basis.

Just remember that nothing requires you to leave "good" knobs there - you can switch them out for ikea when you go.

This is a cookie cutter home depot cabinet job with white appliances. this isn't like stainless steel with demonstratively sleek and modern handles, so you don't need to sweat on whether your knobs go with the appliance handles. the doors to the top cabinets have an arch, and the bottom doors look like the mill valley line, so I don't think your tops are going to look so great with a super modern knob. You don't have to invest in expensive knobs, but looking is free!