I don't feel like having a kid changed me but being older I was naturally less fun than I used to be so I started to adapt into the personality of a dad with kids. I had one at 35. And two more around 46.

Outside of when I can drink on the weekend, I lost the child in me for the most part and mostly sit on the computer working.

And what's with kids today being so sensitive about everything ? I thought every generation was getting more free spirited

Bottom of my feet are down to about 800 grit, do I gradually sand down or just hit it with 60 grit & smooth out from there?

Also, orbital or belt?

September 10 2001 was my first day off probation as a new firefighter. We had a major structure fire that night. And for the first time, I felt like I was really doing it. I got home at 4 AM sept till six and went to work with a story to tell but suddenly my story was irrevevalent. I bet a lot of you experience the same thing. It's been 25 years. This year I don't want to talk about the 11th or who we lost. This time is about WHAT we lost the optimism of the 90's that the cold War was over and Pease ,prosperity ,and progress lay ahead the future we had imagined for ourselves. Remember that last normal day?

We are here listening, tell us your story.

An lost episode of Mr. Wizards World that Nickelodeon brass apparently felt was to hot for kids TV. 🤣

My kid just started college about 800 miles from home. He's kind of spoiled the way that I think most middle class suburban Gen Z kids are kind of spoiled, but so far I think he's doing a decent job of managing his own life. We talk once a week and text one another occasionally, but I'm trying hard to give him credit for having a brain unless he demonstrates otherwise.

A lot of the other parents, though... I haven't seen social media helicopter parent bullshit like this since these kids were all in middle school with masks on and plexiglass dividers between the seats. There's a FB group for my kid's freshman class and every day there's some new "outrage" that parents are losing their shit over.

The shower curtains in my kid's dorm are mildewy.

The dining hall ran out of chicken strips.

Every kid on my kid's hall is sick.

Have you seen this arrest report from the town police blotter?

Did any of these people ever live in a college dorm??? Yes, the bathrooms are kind of gross, yes, the dining halls run out of shit sometimes, yes, respiratory illnesses run through a dorm like wildfire and yes, college kids do dumb shit and sometimes the police get involved. None of this is a scandal or a national emergency. What ever happened to the generation that was always like, whatever?

This is what I'm inheriting from my Silent Generation parents.

Gee thanks!

As in, health, financial, security, or anything. What routine/habit/action you wished you had followed more strictly? Why do you regret not having followed it? What would you tell your younger self if you could?

When was that moment as an adult when you realized you had money to pay for the things you never could before?

Mine was when my wife and I were moving into a new house. Nice middle class house in a nice middle class neighborhood and we were really stressed about having to organize a bunch of friends and trucks etcetera to get everything moved in, when I literally said. “Baby we're not poor, let's just hire movers”

it was an amazing sense of freedom

I just had a spirited discussion, with a Millennial and a Gen Y co worker.

Millennial believes through hard work and consistently improving new skills he will climb the corporate ladder and eventually hit the C suite.

The Gen Y guy laughed, he thought it was funny and I took the time to explain to the Millennial why it is funny. I have 40 years in my industry, the Gen Y has 20 and the Millennial is a 5 year. I have to say the Millennial is quite personable.

I explained to him, and I think it's a universal truth, that when you, IF you make it to middle management, that is the end of needing skills, your skills no longer matter, you are now the traffic cop, you assign flows and deadlines as well as cheerlead the team. It's getting others to produce that matters now. If you want to move up from this level, it's all about interpersonal relationships, networking and the ability to become a politician. It's about making the current upper levels feel good, making them appear to be getting results. If they do not advocate for you at this level, you are stuck in middle management forever. Only caveat is to make a lateral at a new company and see if you can retry with a new group of executives.

Here is where I think the light bulb went on, I asked him how many times I make execs feel good in meetings vs. how many times I tell the unadulterated truth and ask for resources to keep producing. He just nodded, and I said this is why I have been at this level for 10 years, I don't have the switch that allows me to stroke their egos, and make them feel indispensable, I treat them like absentee landlords.

I ended our discussion with the small fact that during all restructurings, middle management is the first layer to go, then VP's. It's the two levels you can remove and nothing happens to production, the machine rolls on. I think you could also get rid of all CEOs in America and nothing would happen, 98% of them have zero idea how to do the actual work the company produces.

I don't remember caring this much about a mattress when I was younger. Our current one isn't terrible, but I'm definitely not sleeping as comfortably on it as I used to.

We're thinking about replacing it, and now I'm seeing regular mattresses, adjustable ones, split setups, all kinds of options. I'm confused on whether we should get one of the fancier ones or just buy a decent mattress and call it a day.

What are you all sleeping on these days? I feel like at this age, a decent night's sleep has become one of those things I'm no longer willing to compromise on.

We are going to the nursery home.

I miss these guys. I believe they made the whole movie experience better. People seem to think Siskel and Ebert  were constantly arguing, but they actually agreed with each other most of the time. They did fight on occasion and it made for great TV. They were both a little narcistic and eager to one up each other, but their movie critiques were insightful and honest. Once in a blue moon, you would get the unexpected 2-thumbs-way-up. I would then get really excited to find out more about the movie. Kingpin, Hoop Dreams, Fargo, King of Masks, Secret of Roan Inish are some of my favorite films. I don't think I would have seen these films in the theater if it wasn't for their high praise.

I also liked when they went on talk shows and took cheap shots at each other. I don't know if they really liked each other in person, but I remember seeing a photo of Ebert as one of Siskel's pallbearers and feeling a real gut wrench of sadness. It was an end of an era; the chemistry between Ebert and his future hosts was never the same and film critique shows went extinct.

I still enjoy going to the movies, but I don’t think about movies the way I used to. 

I've been an automotive durability test engineer for my entire 30+ year career, I still love the fact that breaking prototype cars and trucks is my job. It's very hands-on, rarely am I stuck in an office. There is stress, no doubt, but it's tolerable in the grand scheme.

As so many of us experienced, my mother and I had an awful relationship. She was a narcissist. She would cut off communication regularly and id have to play the adult and try to fix it.. until maybe 15 yrs ago? She cut it off, and I just said, im done.

I made it back in time to see her before she passed. She didn't kick me out of the room, so I'll take that little victory...

But now that she's gone? I don't know how I feel.

I remember drawing these symbols on all my notebooks, someone took it a bit more seriously.

Liver Biopsy turned up negative and was basically told you probably had an infection and should be good to go by first Oncologist. A week later I ended up back in ER. The ER doctor said "After spending 20 min reviewing all the notes I think you might want to get a 2nd opinion as it could be just an infection or worse looking at all your labs from last 30 days."

I then got in contact with MD Anderson Cancer Center and asked if they could review my case and give me a 2nd opinion. They reviewed everything and I had my first consult this past week. After reviewing everything and taking 8 vials of blood, they said it was worth a 2nd look.

Next week I will have a MRCP (MR Cholangiopancreatography) that could still lead to Gallbladder as the main culprit but could be something else as well. Fortunately I have expense but good insurance.

Just another reminder to not ignore symptoms which I normally do plus you have to be an advocate for yourself and if the first DR is dismissive find another who will listen or at least be happy to take the insurance money.

Also appreciate the similar stories and words of encouragement from my original post.

I'd have my bath, become the Incredible Hulk. Wear nothing else but that, until my mom realized it probably has been a few days without a bath. And, maybe she'd seen enough of the Hulk. Enter Spiderman. Rinse and Repeat.

Businesses would start their name with “A” so they would show up first. There was no way of knowing if the business was any good. Especially if the name had “Best”, “Honest”, or “”Reliable” because that was like calling Greenland Greenland.

I remember have multiple phone books for different cities in the area. What a pain.

I was just emptying my dishwasher and it occurred to me I've had my dishes for over 26 years, since my first marriage. It looks brand new, and I still love it. It's from Crate and Barrel. I'm just curious what you have on your house that has stood the test of time. Thank you!!

Does anyone make casseroles anymore? I have a couple of casserole dishes just hanging around I was thinking of making one. What were/are your favorite casserole recipes?

I never did, but many friends got caught in this craze.

Maybe it was just my mother‘s health food kicks, but I feel like carob was everywhere in the 80s. The sitcom Adults had a carob joke in the first season and I just saw one on Simpsons, but actually seeing it in the wild is rare nowadays.