Archive for the ‘personal’ Category

Assorted Thoughts on Lunch with My Brothers, Dinner with My Son Under the Fedora: Marriage, Money, Traps and the value of Time and stuff Under the Fedora

Posted: May 18, 2024 by datechguy in American Success Stories, culture, personal, under the fedora
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Yesterday I went to lunch with my two older brothers. The oldest of us is 74 the middle turns 70 this December and I’m bringing up the rear at 61. We are all very different but we have one big thing in common, one marriage very long. I’ve been married 36, the middle one 39 years and my oldest 54 years. That’s a combined 129 years of being married without a divorce.

I’ve failed at a lot of things in life, but marriage is something all three of us have aced.

Of the three of us my oldest brother is the best in managing money and avoiding debt. In fact he said he had done so well lately he insisted on paying for lunch only asking for a fiver to make the tip come out right. He’s not what anyone would call “rich” but he’s doing OK and his children, grandchildren are pretty much set. He was once been asked what was the secret of his ability to make smart financial decisions and avoiding debts.

His answer, getting married at the age of 20 and having a daughter at 21 forced him to be prudent with his cash and make good decisions to keep his family going.

So many people run away from responsibility at 19 and 20 saying they have their whole life ahead of them but the reality is that if you run toward responsibility when you are young you won’t end up living with your parents with a bunch of college debt and no prospect to have a house.

It’s ironic because that’s the trajectory of George “Georgie” Cooper in Young Sheldon. He ends up getting married before 20, having a child before twenty and having to, while raising his own family help keep things together for his mother and sister with his fathers sudden death and eventually grows up to be, as the older Sheldon describes him “A loser who sells more tires than anyone in Texas”.

My brother never got rich but he also only had the one marriage, advantage Tony.

One of the reasons why neither of my brothers are rich is that both while civil servants who worked for the state for decades were incorruptible. Both had plenty of opportunities for graft if they had chosen to take them and had temptation put out in front of them in terms of money and women etc but turned it down.

They were wise enough to recognize these temptations as traps because once you cross that line those who know you did or find out you did own you. I suspect this drives a lot of the corruption in both the state and federal governments , people crossing the line, people who want favors using that to gain more favors. That’s how a Joe Biden and a Nancy Pelosi become multi millionaires on a member of congress’ salary.

I also suspect this is why Joe Biden and the left is so determined to crush the middle class out of existence. A person who is content with a middle class life isn’t owned by others and can’t be easily manipulated.

I arrived second for our lunch yesterday and found one of my brothers sitting outside in the beautiful day for us and sat with him. I had just had a VERY annoying experience in solving a problem that shouldn’t have existed that had put me off and relished the chance to vent about it to my brother outside of other people’s hearing. It was just what I needed at the time.

One of the hardest things about being the generation whose turn it is to die is you start to run out of people to vent to. You don’t have parents or elders for advice because you’re the elder and the number of people who you’ve known all your life decreases with age as people start dropping dead.

I suspect I won’t have both of my brothers for more than a few years at most. So I plan on taking advantage of this and having regular bi-monthly lunches with them while we still can.

My youngest son realizes this dynamic as well. He walked over to the house after his work yesterday and we spent a hour chatting and then hitting the local 99’s to watch the Bruins be eliminated from the playoffs on a late goal with under 2 minutes (their specialty) It was two hours of talk, chat and company and I found myself talking to him about the times my dad would drive me to the nearest comic book store in Harvard Square which was 60 miles away (this was in the 70’s when such stores were rare) those were good times. My youngest is a lot like my father, gregarious, cooks up a storm and seems to be loved by everyone around him and he seems to recognize the value of this time we get together while it’s still in play.

That’s wisdom.

One of the few really bright points about the cuts and work and my current shift. My best mass window is the 6 PM mass right after work on Sunday which happens to be the mass my sons attend together weekly. So I am spoiled in terms of time with them lately. Of course at the end of a 10 hour day that starts a 5:17 AM I’m not up for much

Today however I have off, alas my wife will be working but both sons are free so we’ll be heading up to Manchester on a road trip to the Tycoon Arcade (we talked about them during my Pintastic ne 2024 coverage)

While my youngest is into the pinball scene my oldest oldest isn’t a big arcade guy but again it’s the time together that is of value. Last weekend DaWife and I went with him to help setup at a New Hampshire Renaissance Fair where he was volunteering to spend time with a friend. The time together was of great value and as he grows closer to a decision on a vocation within the church these times together become of even more value because if that what he is called to such times will likely cease to exist.

That’s also one of the advantages of not actually having a machine, it gives an excuse to do something and makes such a trip more enjoyable. Because when it comes down to it no matter what you have, whether it’s pinball machines or games or anything else it’s pretty much stuff and how much of the stuff you have do you really use on a regular basis? One of the best parts of getting older is the realization that stuff does not bring happiness. It can be the basis for a pleasant memory but it’s the memory, not the stuff that produces the smile.

I made some pleasant memories with my brothers yesterday. I’ll make some pleasant memories with my sons today. Take my advice and if your day is free or if you have a free day coming up, use it to make pleasant memories with people you like while they are available. It will pay a higher dividend than any of the stuff you aquire.

Bidenomics Strikes and a Shake of DaTipJar

Posted: March 6, 2024 by datechguy in Blame Biden Administration, economy, personal
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In yesterday’s Under the Fedora I mentioned both that the reason I had not made it to CPAC lately was my full time job and also how DaTipJar has been falling short to the point where this will likely be the blog’s last year.

Well it only took 24 hours for things to get worse.

Things have been nasty at my work for a couple of years. The normal peak seasons at Christmastime that were crazy during the Trump years lasted less that a week. We closed two warehouses in the area and every single temp worker at our place was let go.

All of this despite the insistence of the media/left that our economy is absolutely fantastic and we need to thank the Biden Administration for it. Well I’ll give them this much, I do give Joe Biden/Obama credit for the economy we have. I got another dose of that economy last night.

Yesterday we were told that my shift, the 2nd shift is to be eliminated. I don’t know what my new shift is going to be but the end results at minimum are

  1. a 4% pay decrease
  2. Daily mass at best eliminated for 3 days a week and at worst eliminated completely
  3. A 67% chance that I’ll have to give up both running the parish Adoration and my two hours
  4. The joys of early mornings and rush hour traffic
  5. And not only a shift no longer corresponding with my wife but because she sleeps in a recliner due to hip issues an excellent chance of waking her each morning and disrupting her sleep every day.

At my age and with the economy we have there is not much I can do I’ve done two of the three things that can be done.

  1. I’ve arranged a Mass with all of us at the company as the Mass intention.
  2. I voted for Trump today when I had the chance.

The only other thing I can do is ask you to consider hitting DaTipJar and or Sharing this post for that purpose. I’ll cut back and we’ll get by the best we can.

But if you would like to give a hand it would be most appreciated.

The Tale of Norman the Invisible Christmas Gnome A Slightly Weird but True Christmas Story Update: That’s GNORMAN the Gnome

Posted: December 25, 2023 by datechguy in fun, personal
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11th Doctor: Yes, I know that, Rory. I’m not exactly one to miss the obvious but we need everything we can get. Okay, Cyber weapons! This is basically a sentry box. So headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by the locals. Never underestimate a Celt.
Rory: Doctor—
11th Doctor: Hush, Rory. Thinking. Why leave a Cyberman on guard unless it’s a Cyberthing in the box but why would they lock up one of their own? Okay, no, not a Cyberthing. But what? What? Oh! Missing something obvious, Rory. Something big. Something right slap in front of me. I can feel it.
Rory: Yeah. I think you probably are.
11th Doctor: I’ll get it in a minute.

Doctor Who, The Pandorica Opens 2010

The Sunday before last I went to the supermarket with DaWife getting various things we needed for Christmas. As we were leaving there was a pile of large plush Christmas Stuffed Animals at the checkout for a rather low price. My wife immediately noticed a large three foot tall Gnome and game him a big hug, bigger than the ones I’ve been getting lately and went on about how cute he was.

She was working that weekend and left by 1:45 to go to her job. I also work every Sunday but this Sunday the fellows who ride with me had a different ride so instead of leaving early to pick them up I left early to get the Gnome. I didn’t have time to bring him home and I figured my trunk might be dirty so I buckled him into the passenger seat and took him to work with me leaving him in the car.

It was raining that evening so the problem was how to sneak him into the house. I took off my sweater and wrapped him in it and carried him onto the back porch where there was a large Gnome sized empty box that contained the Christmas Tree that is now permanently set up with what used to be our youngest son’s room but is now our permanent Christmas room. I tossed him in quickly and folded the sides so it could not be seen.

When I came in I was the one surprised as there was a Pinball machine in the den (A 1988 Williams Taxi). I had expected a rental for Christmas but not a week early. I also noticed a large blanket on the side of the machine next to the bookshelf that wasn’t there before. DaWife explained that it was the blanket he used to cover glass as it was brought in (a common thing when moving a pinball machine to help prevent it from being shattered and also if it does break to keep the glass from scattering.) and the fellow decided he might as well leave it there as he would need it when he took it out.

That gave me an idea, the next morning when DaWife went to the washing machine, in the covey of the kitchen I rushed the Gnome in put him in the space between the bookcase and the old entertainment center and tossed the blanket over it. Even with her sleeping directly across from the Pinball machine (she has back issues and sleeps on a recliner I sleep on the couch next to the recliner because what’s the point of being married and sleeping in a room alone) she would not be likely to notice something odd with the blanket thinking it was just over some clutter. I was right, she never noticed it.

The pinball machine gave me my plan, after she went to bed on Christmas Eve I would prop up the Gnome on the pinball machine standing up so when she woke up on Christmas day it would be the first thing she would see. When her sister came on Christmas Eve for dinner I showed her the Gnome under the blanket and explained my plan. She grinned and approved.

My sons were both over for Christmas Eve and decided to spend the night. We went to midnight mass and when we got home they went upstairs to sleep while DaWife got comfortable on her recliner. I waited on the couch watching the recap of the miraculous Patriots win over the Broncos but actually waiting for her to fall asleep so I could set up the Gnome. Finally at 2:30 AM I heard her snoring but to play it safe I waited till about 3:15 AM before I set up the Gnome in front of the black glass wondering if she would wake up in the middle of the night and see the gift.

I woke up at 7:38 AM with a bit of a cramp and noticed she was still out like a light. I decided to go to the 8 AM Christmas Mass since I normally go to daily mass anyways so as quietly as I could I made my way out of the room, got dressed and went to Mass. When I got home I parked in the front of the house and coming in the front door I noticed DaWife’s chair empty but the Gnome still set up on the pinball machine.

Confused I came in and saw her at the kitchen table waiting for the water to boil for her coffee and having banana bread. I asked her how her new friend was and she looked at me very odd asking what I was talking about. Trying not to sound incredulous I made conversation and realized that she somehow had not seen the giant 3 foot Gnome right in front of her when she woke up. I kept hinting that she was missing something but despite my efforts I couldn’t talk her into going back into the den. She simply looked at me confused and slightly irritated.

Eventually one of my son’s woke up and came down stairs and noticed the Gnome I signaled to him to say nothing but we started making remarks that indicated to DaWife that she was missing something she still had no clue. Even when I called him into the room and had him take a picture of the Gnome with the Pinball machine she didn’t get it still sitting at the kitchen table sipping her coffee and watching her phone. This is the picture he just took from the recliner my wife sleeps on. The hands on the bottom right are my hands typing this post.

The 2nd son also came down and I also signaled to him to say nothing and he played along. It is now 49 minutes since I came home as even as I type DaWife still hasn’t noticed the Gnome, ironically as I finished typing that sentence she walked in and finally saw it and then I repeated the story to her as I just wrote it. She hugged it named him Norman and finally understood why were were all confused. She insists that I note that she

  1. Was running to the bathroom
  2. Didn’t have her glasses on

And for the sake of peace in the house those things are duly noted

It was not an expensive gift and the you didn’t see it bit took less than an hour but if my sons ever find wives and we have grandchildren for the rest of our lives we will tell them the story of Norman the Invisible Christmas Gnome who Nana couldn’t see right in front of her.

Now if that story isn’t worth $15 bucks I’d like to know what is.

Merry Christmas all!

FYI this week I will be starting my post Christmas Fundraiser to try to get the blog into the black for the year. The goal is $3000 and 5 New $20 a month or 10 $10 a month subscribers. If you wish to keep us going beyond the election to our 16th anniversary please considering kicking in at the TipJar button in the upper left.

Update: DaWife informs me that his name is GNORMAN not Norman I regret the error

Five Random Thoughts Under the Fedora: A Side Effect of Texas Success, An inconsistent COVID stat, Good Advice delivered the right way, The Three Second Solution and Groktoberfest Oct 28th

Posted: October 7, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, culture, medicine, opinion/news, personal, special events, Uncategorized
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There is a story about how the special rare style of eclipse that will be viewed from Texas is going to produce issues with Texas’ power grid renewable side because said eclipse will be so long.

This highlights one of the things that sane Red States need to address. As people flee to them the demand on basic services from Electricity to water are going to increase which means you have to build the infrastructure to handle said increases. This means power stations, dams etc which will mean some expense for state budgets.

Of course they might decide not doing this will keep the liberals out.

There was a story out of New Zealand that I referenced briefly yesterday that based on their specialties Doctors were given Covid Vaccine exemptions but only if they did not reveal said exemptions is yet another “post Christian” horror story where the general population was kept in the dark for fun and profit but there was a stat in the story that I must confess throws me off. To wit:

The most highly Covid vaccinated nations in the OECD are in order Portugal, Chile, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Spain and Australia. Their average percentage of the population vaccinated is 91 per cent. Their average rate of excess deaths so far in 2023 is 12 per cent above the five-year historical average.

The least Covid vaccinated nations in the OECD are Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Poland, Estonia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Switzerland. Their average percentage of the population vaccinated is just 63 per cent. Their average rate of excess deaths so far in 2023 is 0 per cent compared to the five-year historical average. In other words, they have averaged a normal death rate.

The great difference between excess deaths is not a surprise but the 0% figure from countries that have a 63% of the population vaxxed is. 63% is a solid majority of the population. I’m no doctor but the math seems inconsistent that there would be no statistical excess deaths given that more than 3 in 5 of the population took the jab if the jab is the cause.

I’d be interested in seeing the historical rates of some of the known COVID jab side effects pre-covid in those countries vs the others and I wonder what the booster rates were in those countries. That might be the difference.

Stacy McCain took on the Trevor Bauer story on great Major League pitcher who insisted on his innocence and had the courage and wisdom to hold out till said innocence could be proven.

While I suspect the lawsuit against MLB will be epic as his suspension cost him tens of millions of dollars the bottom line is that by not embracing the Church’s teaching on marriage and sex Bauer put himself in that situation. However as many young rich men won’t listen to that point Stacy pointed out some basic facts both about there statistical odds of a genital herpes but more importantly a basic fact of life that might make a more effective argument:

If a woman is very attractive, why is she still single at age 27? Why is she still in the dating market? What’s wrong with her?

Now if you’re date her for a while with the thought of Christian marriage you might be able to find out the answer to that question but if you’re out for a quick lay these are the risks you take.

God’s laws aren’t just the right thing they’re the smart thing.

Thursday I was at a stop light in Fitchburg with a large truck on my left next to me. The light turned green and because I was running early I paused before going because our two lanes were going to merge into one not wanting to bottle neck.

It’s a good thing I did because the very next moment a car from the lane whose light just turned red passed just in front of me at high speed, jumped the curb and crashed into a parked car at the bank parking lot where I had been five minutes earlier.

If I had been a second or two faster in moving forward that car would have hit my drivers door square and you would be reading something else this morning.

I seem to have run into a lot of things over my lifetime where the difference between life and death was a split second away. I guess all those Rosaries make a difference.

Finally if you are in the New England area on Saturday October 28th consider Groktoberfest put on by the good folks at Granite Grok .

It will be an excellent chance to meet up with other conservatives. There will be music, comedy, Local Groups and Vendors, food, beverages, Speakers and even a gun raffle. (Ruger 10-22)!

Tickets are on sale now here. I’ll be buying mine before the end of the week.

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