MartyFunkhoosier

I had just started college when I first head of the internet. 1993. I have very fond memories of going to a computer lab on campus to log on and get messages from something called Cobra that was all text prompts and stuff. And there was some way to “chat” with friends if they were on, too. I had gone to middle and high school out of country and my high school friends were spread out over the whole country, so this was amazing technology for me.

One of the reasons I love the band, Conan. Their singer/guitarist is 49 and they are absolutely crushing live. Same with the band, Whores. Their guitarist/singer won’t reveal his age but he looks to be one of us too and they absolutely kill live.

Mortgage on a modest house. No student loans anymore. I make $108k and my wife is disabled, does not work and does not receive any benefits of any kind from federal or state. No credit card debt. Can’t really travel with her disability so we don’t do much but she spends money like it’s going out of style, so I’ll never be able to retire and will have to die at work.

I don’t vibe with crowds unless I’m going to see a band, which I do 1-2 times per month on average. I do like to “explore” otherwise whether that’s riding my bike around or walking. I am a homebody for sure and have two 15 year old dogs at home, but I tend to get restless and want to get out of the house, too. I live in boring suburbs so I find myself driving 20 mins into the city for walks or bike rides so I have interesting things to see.

I go to an average of 1-2 shows per month. None are stadiums, they’re all small clubs. I spend $20-$30 for tickets. I always remember where I park. Almost always home by 11:30 or so. 🤭

Since Covid and with more people in more cpu tries having more wealth (good things, don’t get me wrong), the more popular destinations are just packed to the gills. I lived in Rome in the late 80’s and early 90’s and it would be busy in the tourist areas for a few months in the summer, then very calm. That doesn’t happen anymore, it’s wall to wall tourists 12 mos of the year.

Yeah but you’re also here talking about how much free time you get and how other support staffers are bragging they only work two days per week, what do you expect to happen? I’ve been teaching at the college level (WAY easier than high school and earlier) and IT, HR, the business office, only serve to annoy the F out of teachers and make everything harder than it needs to be, so for you/them to also brag about how easy it is, how it’s a lot of pfaffing around time, how you don’t work most of the week, sucks to hear.

Every teacher in the country would like to wring the necks of the support staff you’re talking about. Teachers work their asses off for relatively crap pay (and I’ve never seen benefits like that, but OK) so to see people who generally make their lives even worse brag about “working two days per week” is a real insult. I am unlucky to have an office by our HR department and I’ve never seen a more worthless group of people getting paid for literally nothing.

I teach postgraduate college and all my students have parents younger than me and I’ve been in my profession longer than the majority of them have been alive. I like it, though. Just a simple reminder of different phases of life. They’re going out three nights per week drinking and socializing and etc and I’m at home sitting in the sun reading and wondering if the basil plant clippings I took a week ago will root in their new pots. And I’m ok with that.

My rotation is wear like hell, if they get holes, stains, gross, start to fall apart, then they are relegated to “work shirts”/“around the house” shirts that don’t leave the house. Technically if they graduate from that step then they would become dust rags but that hasnt happened yet

Nowhere for me, unfortunately. Wife stopped working at 46 because of neuropathy in her legs so I’m sole income earner and I’m a teacher so it’s not like I’m pulling down mid 6 figures. I’ll be in no position to ever retire or do anything pleasurable for the rest of my life unfortunately.

I’ve never been a big sports or stadium concert person, but I do go to metal shows in clubs on average once a month, always front row and center still at 51!

We don’t have kids but a friend who does drives and picks up their kids from school. Best school district in Kansas but they don’t have bus service everywhere. I think they live close enough there is no bus, but far enough away they can’t just walk. Something weird like that.

Not as weird as the Gen Z resurgence of Acid Bath and Crowbar. Crowbar I get, they’re fucking awesome, but I always thought Acid Bath sucked and they are BLOWING UP. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I love music and have tons of band shirts from going to shows. Ask me “name 5 songs…” of bands I’ve listened to for 30+ years and I’ll have trouble answering. I guess my “tism” is I’m mostly there for the riffs and I can’t remember lyrics or song titles to save my life. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’ve seen some girls in mom jeans and big grandma glasses and I think they look cool. 🤷🏻‍♂️

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29395756/ Average of 89,444 ER injuries related to lawnmowers in the USA annually. I’ve never met a person who had a lawnmower related injury and I’m 51 but I guess it happens. Average age 46, mostly males.

Criticizing Israel

Wife disabled and can’t work, I’m a teacher at college level with no pension or the like so I will work until the moment I die.

I went into teaching so I’ve been getting F’d in the A my whole career and will have to work until the day I die.

Never inherited anything. Bought first house at 25. It was $63,000.

Didn’t know this was happening. I’ve only flown Spirit once, a couple months ago direct KC to Orlando and it was great. Best cabin staff on any flight I’ve been on in years.

Same. It’s because my boss uses it for literally everything and regales us with constant tales of prompts he gave it etc. he has to run all his emails through it to “humanize” them and he gets mad anytime he perceives someone “not liking Chat.”

Influencer = unemployed person or person trying to start a cult following.

The fact that it is still allowed to be used is pretty crazy.

Same. I like to cook and have been cooking for a long time. I cook 95% of our meals. When we do go out it’s pretty disappointing.

I lived in Italy from 7-12th grades. It wasn’t uncommon for parents to leave high school aged kids when they went out of the country for a week or two at a time. Granted we were also taking public transportation on our own all over Rome at age 13, going out to bars on weekends all through high school, etc. It was a pretty safe country and a very safe city for its size, but still lol. I compare to my nieces and nephews who weren’t even able to call a business on their own on the phone without having a meltdown or do anything for themselves, practically. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I never did. Went to high school in a different country that was super relaxed on drinking ages, so I spent every weekend for three years of high school pretty much s-faced going to bars every Friday and Saturday. By senior year of high school I had started to lose A LOT of interest in that and dialed it way back. I was a grunge/metal/punk kid with long hair, docs, etc which wasn’t as ubiquitous as everyone thinks back then. Came back to the US for college and went to a small state school in the Midwest with around 12000 students. The bars were 21 of course, and seemed dominated by a “get as drunk as possible” “frat boy” culture that I didn’t vibe with and that I pretty much had grown out of when I was in high school. Also met a girl in a first semester class and we got serious quickly and she was “alternative” too and didn’t care for the college bar culture so I never went to any college bars or had a need for a fake. My nieces and nephews are all hitting college now and it is funny to watch them jump online, upload a pic to a site and receive a very convincing fake in the mail a week later and it takes zero effort. LOL seems to have taken the sport out of it compared what people used to go through

I’m 51 and I was obsessed with the original V show. Loved it! But I liked anything sci fi. I do agree that TV seemed to have some added layers that is missing today. One episode per week, limited options so you had about a 1 in 3 chance the person you’re talking to watched the same show, etc.

I prefer hot coffee but I’ll bust out a cold coffee once in a while. I have zero patience for cold drip and other methods that take all day but a Japanese style iced pourover can be very refreshing. To me a warm cup of coffee is enjoyable in any weather. Drinks of any kind don’t really seem to cool me down or not, so I’m indifferent to that. I avoid big milk and sugar drinks except on extremely rare occasions. I have a coworker whose interpretation of coffee is Starbucks largest size iced caramel monstrosity and I’m convinced he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if the espresso wasn’t in it.

I am a healthcare professional. One time I was doing g a bunch of work around my house and I had taken a long weekend off. It was middle of summer, hot, gross. I was wearing dirty t-shirt and shorts and hadn’t shaved for a few days and my hat was crazy. Looked like absolute shit. I ran over to Home Depot for the 100th time that day working on a sink repair (iykyk) and I was super hungry so I stopped to grab a bite to eat. The place I stopped had a short line. I got in line, noticed one of my patients was working the register, turned right around and left. My wife was like “I can’t believe you were that embarrassed, who cares?” but it had nothing to do with that. This person puts their life literally in my hands and so for them to see me in my “not at work” mode would’ve eroded the therapeutic alliance, big time lol. I far from “dress up” when I run errands but my bare minimum is “if I run into a patient will they have to find a new doctor as a result?”

My family lived in Italy in the late 1980’s and early ‘90’s and it’s was not like it is now where you can find all the same global brands everywhere. Our school sports teams often had us going onto various US military bases around the country. Orders from friends wanting stuff from the PX to remind the of home were always “pick me up a pair of combat boots and a thing of Strawberry Quick.” LOL strawberry was the GOAT for us for some reason lol

My first one was fine. After seeing so many people here going crazy about it I mentioned it to my provider and she said don’t worry about it. But then I got a call the morning of warning me about thinking twice before doing it around Christmas and then again when I went in for it they were practically begging me not to get it at the holidays. I said “I have to be in top form for my job and I’m off work right now, this when I need to do this” and I had zero side effects whatsoever.

In all fairness those are sugar milk drinks with a splash of coffee.