I’m a big fan of Lake Balboa. Excellent paved walking path around the lake, lots of people so doesn’t feel dangerous. Hazards: an unreal amount of bird poo and not-nice bathrooms - both avoidable.

I wish that Pan Pacific park didn’t have such yucky bathrooms.

I think it’s pompous. YMMV or you might be going for pompous.

Oh, thank goodness!

West of La Cienega, South of Mulholland Drive/Malibu, North of LAX.

West Valley does not count.

We rent apts about 1 mile away, unfurnished, and our rare 1 bedrooms are in the 2900/range. This doesn’t seem totally outrageous for the neighborhood if being close is your top priority.

This was my thought too!

YTA… but I get it. I think this is a small bit of assholishness you can both live with and get away with. It’s both understandable and not-nice.

Ukuleles are great and very easy to learn. I think about a $100 investment could get you started: an inexpensive ukulele (I like the waterman: bonus waterproof!), a digital tuner (very important with cheaper instruments - they go out of tune much faster than better instruments) and (this is optional) a popular song fakebook - shows lyrics and chords, not sheet music. The Rise Up Singing books (there are 2) are excellent. Then print out an easily available chart of chord fingerings. Some chords on uke are harder vs easier, but a lot of free online chord sites allow you to transpose to get to an easier fingering. I tend to substitute E7 for E on ukulele, and I also have a capo if the easier fingering gets me out of my vocal range.

Easy chords: am, a, c, all forms of d, em, e7 (slightly hard at first), f, g. Thousands of songs you can play!

Same story for guitar with a slightly higher price point and degree of difficulty. (Different array of chords to start: am, a, c, d, e, em, g)

I have taught myself both instruments with zero lessons — mostly play uke these days (it’s easier, did guitar first) and it a huge source of joy in my life! Learn simple songs you already know and love! (Have never understood why most music instruction is so formal and classically based … these are great skills, and certainly more impressive/pretentious … but if you’re looking for a hobby and self expression, the DIY route can be much more fulfilling!)

Same boat. Good yarn is not cheap, and the stuff made with cheap yarn is not so nice!

Have this guy sign paperwork & produce a sample, then use a DIY IUI kit (not a turkey baster, but same general idea, like a long skinny baby aspirin syringe.) Wanting to do it the old fashioned way is a red flag … this is not free, but under $150.

Honestly, I would rather save the wedding couple about $1000 and forego the stupid favors. I like wildflower seed packets the best, and anything with candles and/or matches the least.

Delicious! But wowza, do they make you fart!!!!

Daughter’s Deli is so good!

I do the bookkeeping for some apartment buildings including security deposit refunds. I definitely include a receipt for every single deduction that includes the address as phone number of the vendor: it’s the law where I am.

Our leases list carpet as having a 7 year life, so that after 3 years on new carpet, a tenant would never be responsible for more than 4/7 of replacement cost if it was beyond cleaning. It’s unusual to damage carpet this badly, but it does happen - besides burns/candle wax/pet damage, sometimes people try to clean a spot and use a product that leaves a bleached spot. 90+ percent of the time, the carpet either can be cleaned or is older than 7 years if it needs to be replaced. We do a walkthrough before move out to give tenants the chance to fix stuff or at least be aware, but sometimes there’s stuff we can’t see because of furniture or the tenant leaves junk that needs to be hauled away, leading to additional charges.

I honestly don’t know about the additional $500. This is exactly why I pull out the original lease every time I do a return just to avoid a mistake like this. I think I would not respond at all and wait to be taken to small claims court, which I think is unlikely to happen unless this is his only rental unit, and his margins are super slim. We had one tenant who did so much damage that he owed an additional $800 on top of his security deposit (very very bad dog.) I checked the boxes on the form that said he should send us a check, but we never pursued it … not worth the hassle. He knows better than to use us for a housing reference.

Tech support! Digital natives are amazing!

We cannot “hold it.”

Sushi-Go

(Regular deck of cards: Solitaire)

While I am perfectly fine ignoring celebrities and/or not acknowledging fame at a party, my husband likes to go for an appreciation of something obscure… ie “You killed it on that episode of the X-files!”

Assuming you meant mise en place, but with much more theatricality, bravo!

Yes. But within reason … a $100 reduction of asking price happens fairly frequently… $200 not so much (usually results in offer of $100 reduction.) Anything over $200 seems like a bad bet/prospective tenant can’t afford it.

Go to the Trails on Fern Dell. It’s in Griffith Park. Bonus points if you walk to the Observatory (one of my fave LA tourist places). Trails feels cozy and neighborhoody/local even though it’s outside.

Jiya is really great! Here are some other short, easy to pronounce girl names of Indian-American friends/friends’ kids: Gita, Sita, Mira, Mina, Amara, Preeti, Tana, Tahia.

This may be a tragedeigh version of the Indian name Jawaharlal. Did your aunt and uncle watch the ‘80s sitcom Head of the Class?

That is exactly how I feel.