Wirecutter's Pick for Coolest Refrigerator/reezer

Wirecutter has dubbed this 4-door Samsung Bespoke refrigerator/freezer as best of breed. It has no handles, makes two kinds of ice, dispenses water inside into a pitcher and as bottle/glass filler, and the lower right compartment can be switched from being a refrigeration unit to a freezer unit and back again. Also, the doors can be refaced for a nominal cost. While our Samsung Bespoke, being only 3 doors, does not have the switcheroo compartment (which lowers the cost by several hundred dollars), it as everything else, and we could never go back to any other model refrigerator/freezer.

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Staying in Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco)

We have been staying at a gorgeous and comfortable high-rise condominium called Tessoro every mid-April for years. Unfortunately, the unit we've stayed at was sold, so we had to find a new unit. Fortunately, putting "Tessoro at Rocky Point" into Airbnb, VRBO, and Castaways Vacation Rentals brings up no shortage of units. What's great (and amazing) is that there are units where a $200 deposit will hold the place until 30 days before your start date and even a place where no deposit is needed. Just be sure to read the descriptions carefully, especially as to washer and dryer use,  study the pix carefully as to dining space, and confirm what floor the unit is on. 

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Voicemails for Isabell (2026 Movie on Netflix) and a PS Advanced Note re Solo Mio on Hulu

While I liked Voicemails for Isabelle, actually ending up liking it a lot, no one else would like it or should watch it. I rated it as "Not for Me." It's totally predictable and unduly sappy, not to mention concocted from the beginning and at every turn. Plus, there were some unneeded and overdone raunchy scenes, foul language, and disgusting imagery. All that said, I found many of the people so compelling (even though stereotyped) that I continued through to the end. Here's all you need to know about the plot to not watch the movie: Jill leaves voice messages to her deceased sister telling her about her chaotic life as a prep chef and problems on her dating front in San Francisco. When he is issued a new work phone, unbeknownst to Jill, a handsome, successful, and good guy begins to receive those voice messages.

PS re Solo Mio on Hulu: We have it on solid footing by a reliable source that, albeit predictable, Solo Mio on Hulu is a hoot, and is only 90M. We should have a full review in the next day or two.

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Lens Crafters at Macy's in the Biltmore Fashion Square

Whether it's got the best prices or selection I have no clue. But for customer service, Lens Crafters at Macy's in the Biltmore Fashion Square cannot be beat. It's not only low-pressure, but promptly responsive on any follow up needed by phone. Also, they carry Nuance Audio hearing glasses, which is what I ordered.

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Iran War: Total Loser With No Good Way Out

Text of Letter to NYT: While the number of U.S. casualties in the Vietnam war were in the 10s of thousands, and those in Trump's Iran war thankfully (for now) are under 20 deaths and under 600 injured, by every other metric, Trump's war has been the biggest losing war in our history. Before Trump took office in 2017, there was a nuclear deterrent agreement in place and the Strait of Hormuz was open. As a result of having launched this war, Iran will not open the Strait to free and unfettered passage and will not give any meaningful assurance even to delay its nuclear enrichment program. So, Trump has managed to do as much harm to the world's order and stability in the Middle East as he has to our democracy, economy, culture, and environment. As Lyndon Johnson described his entrapment in the escalating Vietnam War, he felt like "a hitchhiker caught in a hailstorm on a Texas highway: I can't run, I can't hide, and I can't make it stop." Trump is as or more bogged down, with no way out. But perhaps most distressing, unlike 1968 where the crescendo of anti-war fervor led to a a president's declining to seek to say in power, that Trump's approval rating remains above 30%, and Trump is seemingly pre-occupied with other things from a ballroom and reflecting pool to the 2020 election, tells us how lost our nation is.

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Cautionary Note When Picking an Index ETF

As Jason Zweig explains, Index funds that seem to invest the same way are performing very differently this year. The stock market’s identical twins are looking like opposites. You might think market-tracking funds that track the same part of the market would produce the same returns. They don’t. Just look at exchange-traded funds that invest in large, fast-growing U.S. companies. Sure, they all hold lots of technology and AI-related stocks, such as Alphabet or Nvidia. But their recent returns are drastically different. So far in 2026, the performance gap across large-cap growth index ETFs from Invesco, iShares, State Street, and Vanguard is staggering. The iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF is up 4.6%, while Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth has gained 24.3%. That gap isn’t unique to big growth stocks. The difference between the top and bottom performer among leading value ETFs, which invest in indexes of big, cheaper U.S. companies, is 11 percentage points this year. For investors, this is a reminder of two basics: You can’t judge a fund by its name, and diverging even slightly from the broadest exposure to stocks can give you startlingly different results.

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Getting Doctor Input re Medical Test Results and a PS re Doctor Appreciation

"Thanks" to patient advocacy groups, the patient, through their portal or otherwise, will get the results of any medical test as soon as they are prepared. As a lay person, the patient should avoid interpreting the results. But, as a patient, the patient is entitled to have the doctor advise them as to what the results mean and what, if anything, should or needs to be done as a result. Unfortunately, in many instances, and it's becoming more frequent, the doctor ordering the test will be remiss in reviewing the result or communicating with the patient. There's no assured remedy, but here's our advice: Once you see that the test results are in, send a portal or phone message to the doctor that the results are in, and request hearing back as to what, if anything, needs to be done follow-up wise. If that produces silence, keep sending portal messages and leaving phone messages, and if the test was ordered by a specialist, get in touch with your PCP and have them press the specialist for a response. 

PS re Doctor Appreciation: When a doctor has gone out of their way for you, just as when anyone has gone out of their way for you, at a minimum, a note of appreciation not only is warranted, but should be sent without fail. It also is easy now to have a gift delivered (e.g., wine within an hour from Total Wine), so there is no reason to hesitate going that extra step. Be assured, while many doctors get the abuse they deserve, many, indeed too many, do not get the tangible appreciation they deserve.

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Position of the Co-Chair of the DSA: You Decide How This Plays in November

In Shannon Bream's interview with Megan Romer, national co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, you might expect some evasive or euphemistic answers regarding their policy goals. Ms. Romer's answers were neither evasive or euphemistic. Here is an excerpt of that interview:

Bream: “Just give me sort of a true or false on these. Abolish the Senate?”

Romer: “True.” Bream: “Replace the presidency and Supreme Court as we now know them?”

Romer: “Yep.” Bream: “Abolish ICE?” Romer: “Absolutely.”

Bream: “Abolish borders and give amnesty to anyone currently in the United States illegally?”

Romer: “As a long-term plan, yep.”

Bream: “Defund the Pentagon?” Romer: “Absolutely.” Bream: “Abolish prisons, at least in large part?”

Romer: “Yeah—again as part of a long-term program, yeah.”

Bream: “Government or public ownership of most large corporations?”

Romer: “Yeah, absolutely.” 

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What Is GM Doing With the Bolt?

Given its low price and high performance, the 2027 Bolt has been named Car and Driver's 2026 EV of the year. As the Arizona Republic reports, that level of popularity won’t save the subcompact electric vehicle. Despite the upgrades from past models and rave reviews, the car is still planned for a limited run, which will last 18 months at General Motors’ Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas before it is replaced by production of the gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox starting in 2027 and the next-generation Buick Envision it currently makes in China in 2028. All I can figure is, much like Trump minting limited "collectibles," GM is producing not a car but a "collectible." GM's frequent abandoning product lines was the principal reason we didn't buy a Bolt in the first place, but announcing abandonment before the product line even begins is a head-scratcher for the ages.

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The Additional Cost of Going to Prison

Going to prison meant many things: an immediate loss of freedom, bruising reputational damage, and powerlessness over how it would affect my family. It also meant that, for the first time in the decade and a half since I first got a smartphone, I’d be forced to disconnect. In this interesting piece, P.G. Sittenfeld explains further.

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