Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for August 26, 2024

She’s always going to make it your problem

good grief, just do it and get it over with! i know it takes some time to sell and buy houses but we’ve been waiting for several years now.

Sure, pass the blame. Next thing you know the kids will be tossed under the bus.

There are strengths and weaknesses in all of us. Finding the way to work them out together is one of the joys of life.

Make up your bloody minds!

From the nit-picking department: The colorist missed Janis’ hand on her head in the last panel.

Can’t Back out now, Ludwig has the can opener already packed

Can relate. Hardest thing about our last move was leaving my beautiful white rose bush behind and the garden. Spend so many hours working on my garden to make it nice. Sometimes I walk past our old house, and those that live there now don’t care about the garden it seems. It’s so sad to see.

♫ Should they stay or should they go? ♫

Yes, you. And if you know what’s good for you, that’s what you’ll tell anyone who asks.

All moves are hard. Thought being this close to my grown kids would cause friction, but it’s been over a year, and there’s so much bliss, I’m glad we’re here!

I’m getting the feeling they are not going to make the move after all. They both have their doubts but are keeping quiet out of respect of the feelings of the other. Personally, I don’t believe they would be happy on the coast.

Maybe he doesn’t have his heart set on moving.

Why are you all so concerned about such trivial errors? The message is now there is doubt. Will there be a move after all.

New pens?

I like the theme of today’s comic. I, for one, hope they don’t move. And I have a feeling they feel the same, ojala.

Adverb

ojalá

She’s using him as an excuse to do what she wants to do. It’s OK; it’s part of what couples do, learn to depend on one another for support.

When I was growing up, I lived in 5 different states, went to 12 different schools, all by the time I graduated. After graduation, I moved to 2 more states, before I settled down, got married, had kids. Now I’m so settled, I don’t even like to leave the house.

Arlo only appears in one panel, but he has a point.

Yep, no move

I feel the same way! I have so many memories here in my little house. I’ve thought many times about moving, but can’t bring myself to do it!

Have you heard of Transference? My ex was an expert at that.

Oh here we go fans. Forget them ever moving anywhere it seems they want to stay planted where they are.

Ah, the truth outs.

Yea, they’re gonna stay! (for now, at least)

Just accept the blame Arlo. Your life will be more peaceful if you do.

Don’t get all sentimental now. Move for gosh sakes!

Either move or don’t. It’s getting boring.

Will they move? Will they stay?

It’s different since they don’t age in a cartoon world. My wife and I will be moving one of these years, we built the house shortly after we were married almost 44 years ago. Kids live hours away, I’m getting too old to maintain my property. Same thing happened with my parents, they moved closer so we could take care of them. It was more of a necessity than a want.

Let me just say that the older you are the more of a big project this gets to be. Having to let go of a whole bunch of things that you’re attached to makes the whole thing not only messy but downright upsetting.

Would you guys please decide already. This is boring.

Now the second guessing starts… the real question is what do they (they?) do when the house is physically, too much to take care of?Live in die in the same place or retire and go someplace to start a new chapter (one that takes less physical work to keep up) and has a more comfortable climate?

And there it is – the shoe we all knew would drop.

Janis really needs therapy.

Wow!! They’re not moving!! I hope!!

So what’s the consensus? Will they move or not?

I still say go help the kids in busy season and then come back home

Oh, come on, just MOVE already…

Please Mr. Custer, I don’t wanna go.

They will never leave.

I understand. Sometimes I miss the yard, the trees, the flowers, the berries. Yes it was all work, weeding, watering and cutting but it was the good kind of work,

Jimmy Johnston is one of the greatest strip cartoonists of all time. I even have the two hard-to-get Arlo ‘n’ Janis book collections he published. But Jimmy, please, please wrap up this subplot. It’s gone on too long.

I’ve been on the “don’t move train” at the start of this story.

I’m done with this strip if they don’t move after all this. If there was NOT going to be a change, this should have been wrapped up in a week or two. I can’t think of one reason not to open up the strip to include more than 2 people and a cat. I’m talking about Arlo and Janis as a comic strip, not as real people. As real people it’s a difficult decision as a comic strip it’s a no-brainer.

Yeah, BABE.

Oh – there’s still hope they won’t move. I want them to stay!

My “big picture” take on it is: A&J have been leading a quiet, almost secluded life. That would certainly change completely (from a plotline perspective) if they moved to be near the kids. It would, in effect, be a very different strip. Even the title of “Arlo and Janis” would be a bit alien.

I think they need to talk about moving again. Each seems to think the other is the one who wants to move. I think it was more Janis than Arlo. He was just going along with it because it was what SHE wanted!!!

These people are starting to tick me off!

Settle down guys, no one leads a perfect life. Everyone is also entitled to do overs.

Husband has been talking about moving probably since we met.

At first it was to Lancaster, PA where he likes to travel since he was a boy. Back in normal years (pre-Covid) we went there about 6 times a year for a weekend, a week in July as would go to a local event in addition to normal what we do there – including buying foods we can’t buy at home), or even just a day (last time we tried this was a year ago April and it took us 6.5 hours to get there instead of 3.5 hours – all time lost on our home end due to construction and no alternate routes).

Then we started going annually to Colonial Williamsburg, VA – we are 18th century reenactors and started going there long before same. He decided we would move there when we retired.

He talks about moving – I look around our house and wonder – HOW? There is so much stuff which we would need to take with us as we have collections of things which are precious to us, even if not of monetary value – my teddy bear collection, his wood shop tools, all our craft business items, all of our hundreds of books… My mom is in her mid 90s – don’t want to leave her.

Heck, I don’t want to live other than here – it has been home for all these decades. I can walk around in the dark at night and not get hurt or fall down the stairs and get to where I am going on the first try. I know that there are 13 steps between the first and second floors and the staircase gets narrower after the 8th step going up. I know that there are 12 steps between the first floor and basement. I can put my hand in my clothes closet, our office supply closet or my bedroom closet and take out the item I want while in the dark.

He grew up in this community. I grew up 20 minutes away. Our college is less than 10 minutes away.

Yeah there are problems – we live on a 4 main road. We have to put up with other “Long Islanders”/“New Yorkers”.

I feel like one of those New Englanders – I (as was he) born on this Island and I plan on remaining here and being buried here (even have 2 different cemeteries picked out to decide between).

This strip has more waffles than an IHOP.