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.

My Trump Running Mate List, My Dark Horse: John Kennedy

Posted: May 17, 2024 by datechguy in election 2024, elections, politics
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This is final part of my of my series on my list of the best choices for Trump as a running mate:

  • Choice one: Ron DeSantis is here.
  • Choice two: Ted Cruz is here
  • Choice Three Sarah Huckabee Sanders is here

Today I select my dark horse choice. Somebody who is no nobody’s radar who I think would be a great surprise pick. Before I officially name him (although if you read the title of the post you know) let me remind everyone there are two things that any person who wants to make this list needs to qualify.

  1. Can’t be from the same state I’m going to be slightly loose with this because “can’t be from the same state” can mean either:
    • Not born in the same state OR
    • Not living in the same state at the time of the election
  2. Must be hated by the left almost if not more than him because if he was to take a “deep state” running mate or a person like Nikki Haley he might as well, as I’ve noted before hang a target on his back with the words “assassinate me” in bright luminescent paint.

My dark horse choice, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana

Of all the choices I have submitted this is the least likely. Senator Kennedy doesn’t have a national following, except perhaps online, he is from a state that couldn’t get more solid for Trump and at age 72 would actually give the left an advantage in terms of the age of the VP.

But Kennedy has a lot going for him

  1. His folky disarming manor disguises an incredible intellect that can analyze a situation in a flash
  2. His ability to find the key point in a situation as demonstrated in hearing after hearing would be invaluable for any administration.
  3. His style would both be effective on the stump while not overshadowing Donald Trump (an attribute that the Trump campaign would love).
  4. Based on his hearing performances I presume he has a first rate staff that can come with him in the job.
  5. Because he is not considered a strong presidential candidate on his own there is not likely to be intrigue against him as VP
  6. Can you imagine him on a debate stage with Kamala Harris? It would be criminal slaughter.

And again because of his age a selection of Kennedy would not be a defacto endorsement of any potential presidential candidate for 2028 which would be an incentive for all those potential candidates to not stab Trump in the back during a 2nd term.

If there is a weakness of all the candidates I’ve listed he is the weakest in terms of “Hated by the left so much they won’t kill Trump.” No doubt they left despises him and his manner might make them briefly consider it, but only briefly because I suspect if Trump died in office he would not only be an effective president but one who would give the left fits.

I suspect even the most idiotic leftist would figure this out before deciding to try to knock off Trump.

again he is a dark horse so I don’t think it’s likely he would be picked, but I suspect he would be a whole lot of fun.

There is only one weapon that is effective against liberals

Posted: May 16, 2024 by Jon Fournier in Uncategorized
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Have you ever had the misfortune of debating liberals on social media?  I have far too often.  I never intended to, not once.  It was simply the unfortunate consequence of my continuous bad habit of posting stuff on social media that contradicts established progressive orthodoxy.

There is nothing that provokes a leftist more fanatically than encountering a social media post that they do not agree with.  They immediately engage in a holy war against that post.  The main objectives of their crusade against speech they disagree with is to bully the offenders into silence.

When provoked by ideas they disagree with liberals engage in the ugliest and most mean spirited personal attacks against those that dare voice them.  The absolute worst thing you can do if you find yourself troubled online by rabid leftists is show anger.  That is what they crave the most.  They are like puppies starved for attention. Deny them your anger.  Always maintain the moral high ground.

Combating a liberal’s usual diatribe with facts and logic is just as useless as shooting a werewolf with traditional lead projectiles.   They are completely immune to those weapons because they have been indoctrinated for decades by our abysmal educational system.  They have been brainwashed into believing that reality is subjective, all that matters to them is what they believe and what they feel.

The only truly effective weapon to use against liberals is ridicule.  One common side effect of progressive indoctrination is the erasure of their sense of humor.  The brainwashing hypersensitized the part of the brain that leads to the sense of being offended.  .

Facts and logic dressed up with non-mean spirited and humorous ridicule is the deadliest weapon you can use when engaging in verbal combat with liberals.

My Trump Running Mate List, Choice Three: Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Posted: May 16, 2024 by datechguy in election 2024, elections, politics
Tags: , , ,

This is part three of my series on my list of the best choices for Trump as a running mate:

  • Choice one: Ron DeSantis is here.
  • Choice two: Ted Cruz is here

Today we go for our 3rd choice on the list of possible running mates for Donald Trump. To remind everyone there are two things that any person who wants to make this list needs to qualify.

  1. Can’t be from the same state I’m going to be slightly loose with this because “can’t be from the same state” can mean either:
    • Not born in the same state OR
    • Not living in the same state at the time of the election
  2. Must be hated by the left almost if not more than him because if he was to take a “deep state” running mate or a person like Nikki Haley he might as well, as I’ve noted before hang a target on his back with the words “assassinate me” in bright luminescent paint.

Choice three is Sarah Huckabee Sanders Governor of Arkansas.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders might be a surprise to some to be on my list here. Unlike Ron DeSantis or Ted Cruz she has neither served in congress nor run for the White House in the past. She has only served in her current position since 2023, and as an actual pol has a resume that could be said to be inferior even to Barack Obama at the time of his election and of course she would not be considered a “glamorous” choice as a woman on the ticket.

All of this is deceptive, Sarah Huckabee Sanders would not only make a Trump ticket stronger than any other woman being considered but brings an invaluable skill set and a type of experience that most candidates simply do not have.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders had to deal with the most hostile press that here has been. She had to be the point woman for a president who the media has hated more than any other and she had to do it on a daily basis. She not only handed the press well and with class but she did so even as she was being pilloried by Saturday Night Live. She became the face of the Trump administration as much as any person other than Trump could be and she was a calm and reassuring face.

Moreover she was cool under fire both before the press and when attacked elsewhere such as at the Whitehouse Correspondence Dinner and when she was kicked out of a restaurant with her party for the crime of dining while openly conservative.

Of course she had help, growing up the daughter of a governor and working on his campaign for president was an education. She understands office and running for it, and as demonstrated by her first year as governor of Arkansas knows how to govern.

Yet she clearly puts her children first as a mother should and her willingness to make plan solid decisions is something that mothers across the country can relate to.

And God help the democrats if they go after her looks again, the number of votes it will drive her way is incalculable.

Can you picture her on a debate stage with Harris? Both DeSantis & Cruz might be hit for humiliating a woman but that charge would ring hollow with Sanders

And as for our two requirements, being from Arkansas qualifies and boy is she hated by the left, both for serving in his White House and being unflappable against the best of their attacks. It of course helps that she is a solid Christian in reality as opposed to being called “devout” by the press.

I suspect that is the thing the press hates about her the most.

Finally she again is assassination insurance squared, not only would they get a devout Christian who knows how to deal with the media but the left would go nuts if the first woman president was a conservative republican.

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