STILL can't make it on your own

Today's strip totally threw me off, as I was convinced it was a repeat of the strip from November 12. It's not quite the same, but I had to look at this before I discovered the difference. The premise is the same, though--wife loaded down with groceries who has to open the front door herself. NOOOO!!!!!! Anyway. I still lack any sympathy. Do people really expect their spouses to be waiting by the door when they go grocery shopping? I understand that this is probably frustrating, but who knows what Mr. Cat was doing. And now that he's actually at the front door, he can help bring the groceries in. It's all good.

I do wish that Al would space these sorts of things out better, though.

Rerun: Eating out after shopping

Interested in today's strip and my thoughts about it? Why don't you go and check out the strip and my comments from February 1.


I will say that (a) those kids should help put away the groceries, and (b) if Dragbutt wants a feast fit for a king, he can feel free to make it himself.

Return of the killer squid (casserole)!

What's bizarre about today's strip is Al's need to point out that Dragbutt is recently retired. It really has no bearing on the strip, which is more about a married couple and a division of labor. Maybe he needed to say this, because otherwise his readers would get up in arms at the thought of a working husband having to clean up a kitchen. (Of course, this is patently untrue, as it appears that the readership of They'll Do It Every Time consists of Comics Curmudgeon readers.)

So why did Catastra have to use all those dishes to make a casserole? Honestly, if she did dirty all those making the casserole, then it's not "simple" and she and Dragbutt are about even on the labor division, I'd say.

Seriously--where did all those pots come from? The more I look, the more I wonder. And if they've been left there for ages as part of a nefarious plot to get Dragbutt to wash them...well, good for Catastra. Dragbutt deserves it if he hasn't been in the kitchen for that long.

Make your own calls, dude

Sorry about the belated posting...work, life, etc., etc.

I'd like yesterday's strip a lot more if it reflected my life--I was totally with Al in the top panel. Sick on weekend? Check. It only lasting a day? Check. I always seem to get sick on the weekend, but be well enough to go to work. He lost me in the bottom panel. I cannot imagine calling in sick on a Monday and saying that I wouldn't be back until Wednesday or Thursday unless I was in the hospital or something. And I cannot imagine calling in sick for my husband if he were just lying in bed, talking to me. Good God. And who would say "72-hour virus"? Also, it's "sniff," not "snif." Clearly Dragbutt hasn't learned the art of the mental health day.

Today's strip takes us into the world of Catastra and Wimpo's dining preparation. What's really scary is Wimpo's "U-ulp!" at the end of his dialogue bubble. He's clearly frightened of Catastra. I don't particularly blame him; she's scary. At least the dinner sounds decent--roast, potatoes, garlic. There's no bad there. No squid, either. Really, Cat should just say that she's tired, period. She's trying to get sympathy from someone who clearly won't give it (understandably). What's particularly confusing is that it looks like the kitchen is totally clean. I'm trying to figure out whether Wimpo is unrolling his sleeves, signifying that he also cleaned up. Then why would Cat have been in the kitchen? Just telling him how to clean? It's a mystery.

Clothing perspective

I'm bewildered by the bedroom in today's strip. It looks like two of those closets are halfway up the wall. I'm wrong, right? My eyes just aren't seeing it correctly. After staring at it for a while, I think they're supposed to be on the other side of the room, and the perspective just seems a little strange.

And obviously Catastra doesn't have anything to wear. Look at those closets! They're full of multiple copies of maybe 2 or 3 dresses. Did she find a couple styles she liked, then bought in multiple colors? And it's a bad call, because those dresses are not attractive. Not that the women in TDIETland ever wear nice clothes, really.

This is kind of a variation on something we've seen before--the couple goes to the grocery store, buys a ton of food, then gets home and decides to go out to eat. Or, maybe it's between seasons. Like other people, I have two groups of clothes--summer and winter. I get very annoyed with my clothing right before I switch. So sick of it all. So I really can't get on Catastra about this. Do guys never look at their clothes and get annoyed?

And Al, please, never ever show us these people in their undergarments again.

Sounds like one heck of a meeting!

I'll be honest: Today's strip made me laugh. Well, not the strip as a whole, really. It was the phrase "cell telly." I mean, really--what's not amusing about that? Oh, Al. So on top of the current lingo.

"The urge to long distance him to the moon" doesn't make sense on a few levels. I realize that he's just going for a phone reference, but it's not like cell phones differentiate between local and long-distance calls. Maybe it's a reference to Catastra making long-distance calls? Possible, but we have no way of knowing.

And again, Cat, if it's pissing you off, just call out Leadbutt for his hypocrisy. Or at least point out that he can use his phone in the house while she's on the phone. It's win-win!

(And I'm including a "Loyal Order of the Caribou" tag, as I assume that's the "lodge" that Leadbutt refers to on the phone. I refuse to believe there's more than one of these organizations in TDIETland.

Soapy restaurants...no, that's not right

It seems that all King Features syndicate comics were out of commission yesterday, and the inability to see what happened in Mary Worth was killing me. Damn you, Washington Post, for stopping carrying that fine comic! Anyway, that means two-for-one today!

Yesterday's strip returns us to the world of soap operas. I've never been a soap fan (other than primetime soaps; I went through a phase with Sisters), other than for a couple of weeks in college. Clearly this woman's problem is that she missed a Friday episode. Absolutely nothing happens from Monday to Thursday; Friday's where the action is at. Of course, Fridays normally end in a cliff-hanger, to bring you back on Monday. Honestly, this woman is probably fine; the soap is clearly going over exactly what happened. I think it would've been awesome if this had been about the soap comic strips. I mean, it's essentially the same concept, but it could be about someone who missed Aldo crashing to his death in Mary Worth.

In today's strip, we learn that Al doesn't understand the difference between simply stacking plates and actually cleaning up a kitchen. Even the addition of wiping crumbs off the tables doesn't even begin to compare to actually washing dishes and pans, etc. I love how the husband's solution to the wife complaining about cleaning up the kitchen isn't volunteering to do it himself (because God forbid any man actually do housework), but to go out to dinner. And "the little woman"? Hold on while I wait for my head to explode. My question is what the heck did these three people eat to result in so many plates? Anyway, this one kind of reminds me of one from last November--I guess it's the combination of restaurants and acting the same at home and while eating out.

By "suburbs," does he mean "Florida"?

Today's strip is another in the suburbs vs. the city series. Swell. Maybe I'm jaded from living in DC, where housing isn't cheap in the suburbs, either, but I don't think people move from the city to the burbs for the cheap housing. Or, the housing might be cheaper, but that's because most people, when retiring, go from a larger home to a smaller home.

Anyway, most of this strip is over my head. I rent an apartment, and thus know next to nothing about condo associations and assessment fees (or "a$$e$$ment charges"). I realize that means higher property taxes, but in the long run, it means you get to sell your condo for more, so that's good. Plus, a pool!

I would also like to point out that those look less like condos and more like bungalows. They are very cute, though.