Generation gap

I have no problem getting old, I mean, what is the big deal? Everyone gets a day older every day. I have had the opportunity, through my many career choices, to work with people who are much younger than me. And over the years I have worked with some interesting people. I have also developed some special relationships with some great people. I have mentioned in earlier posts that I once owned a restaurant. When I finally pulled the trigger and closed the joint there were five people working for me. Now most people look at a failed business venture as exactly that, a failure. I choose not to and I'll explain why. I still keep in contact with them, I have attended some of their weddings. Knowing that they still think enough of me to share their most special day, well, how can that be a failure?
There have been some very funny moments which is the point of this post. The looks that I have gotten after some comments were priceless. I remember telling my staff one day that I was thirteen years old when we got cable tv. I bet dinosaur bones have not been looked at that way. The conversation took place one day about taking a date to a movie and then turned into every ones first movie date. When I said that mine was Top Gun, a girl asked, "That movie was in theatres?" The best had to be the day a new kid named Josh was making a delivery. He backed his hatch-back to the front door and we loaded him up. When he closed the trunk I noticed the Led Zepplin sticker on his window. It immediately reminded me of the line from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, "All you have to do is put in side two of Led Zepplin four and she's all yours." Now that may not be the exact quote but his reaction was priceless.
"What does side two mean?"
I then realized that CDs have only one side and my reply, "Just forget it." Last I heard he was living in the Bahamas playing the guitar, he is a hell of a guitar player.
We all get older and you never know when someone may be looking to you for advice. That's when I just listen. You shouldn't be surprised but if you sit and listen long enough everyone will tell you everything. That may be when you relate a personal story or just give advice that you think is right. We may not all have children but you never know when you might have to be a parent. I have an advantage in that department, the sun rises and sets on my parents, they're good.
And if you're my age and want a funny reaction, just tell someone who is much younger than you, how much you paid for a gallon of gas when you were in high school. Sixty-five cents for a gallon of regular, that's right there used to be this stuff called regular (leaded) gasoline.
My staff asked me one time what my first job was. When I told told them it was driving a slide of tobacco using a mule in Granville County, well I think you can guess the outcome of that one.

Always remember so you'll never forget

I watched a television show the other day that put me in mind of something that I have not thought about in a while. Where was I on September 11th 2001? I was a month or two away from my restaurant's one year anniversary. It was a beautiful day, as usual I was running around trying to figure out how two keep two nickles in my pocket to rub together. That's what I did every day since the place opened. Two ladies walked in and asked if I had heard what happened. The television that I had planned to mount in the cafe that was still in the back room was showing the aftermath of the first tower collapse. I then called my father and asked what he had heard and he said the twin towers had been hit. He was in his car and was listening to the radio.
"Well one is gone." I remember telling him. He did not believe me. It took me a few minutes, but he then realized what was happening. I then set up the TV in the cafe and then the second tower collapsed. I then sat and watched, along with a couple of handfuls of customers the replays of that morning's events. The tower being hit, the towers burning, people jumping out of them, and then the towers collapsing. Awful.
I remember driving home that day, it was a gorgeous day. The sun was setting, you know how it is in the fall. The orange sky with a purple hue and not one contrail from an airplane, which usually cross the sky like tic-tac-toe games. That was eerie. The world felt so small at that point. I felt so small at that point. As I drove I listened to the radio and heard the replay of the members of the House and Senate singing "America" on the steps of the Capitol. I pulled off on the side of highway 43 and wept.

At some point that day I received a phone call from a friend that I will never forget.
"Well, what do you think?" He asked
I snapped right back, "I think we are going to war."
He laughed and repeated my comment to someone else in the room and they both laughed, I was pissed.
"Going to war with who?" He managed in between giggles. "They don't have a country. It's not like they have a navy or an air force."
I took just a second, befuddled that someone my age could be so naive. "Well, you better believe that we're going to war with somebody."

Not many days go by that I don't remember that conversation, because we did go to war. Twice. And nine years later we are still there. Now I know that no one has "forgotten" about that day. But I think people don't like to think about it. The world changed that day. September the 11th, 2001 changed everything.
And as I sit here typing this, I think of philosopher/novelist George Santayana's quote, "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it it," I wonder if there is someone sitting in a cave planning the next one?
Oh, by the way, he is the same guy that wrote, "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

I'm wearing green but pinch me anyway, please

Okay, so I go to bed last night and I have a dream that my 89 year old grandfather, who has Alzheimer's, is missing. It is one of those dreams that feel very real, which if it is a bad dream, can be very unsettling. So I am not exactly the best employee at work the next day and I am sent home early. I drive two hours to see my grandfather, who is sitting in his chair like he always is. We visit and eventually I get a bowl of ice cream, I ask him if he wants some, sometimes he says yes, sometimes no. This time he says yes. We sit and talk, his repetitive questions are more frequent now, I still answer them like I haven't heard them before. He can remember, give or take a day, how long it has been since my last visit, which are more infrequent now I am sad to say. He asks if my father still works at the post office, which he never has. The stories he remembers with amazing accuracy are from his youth, which is kind of cool. Those are the stories I really enjoy. We sit and talk for a while and then I walk into the kitchen and my mother is there.
"What are you doing here?" She asks.
"Just having a bowl of ice cream with Pa Pa." I reply, yes at my age I still catch myself calling him that.
She gives me an awkward look, "But he is still missing. What are you talking about?"
I turn and quickly walk back into the room only to find my empty bowl of ice cream.
I wake up a little disturbed. It was all a dream.
Maybe it was my homemade spaghetti sauce I ate before I went to bed. Maybe I'm going crazy.
Today is St. Patrick's Day and I will be wearing green. But please still pinch me to remind me that I'm not dreaming.

Just a thought

I know it has been a while since my last post but in my defense I have been working about 60 hours a week. It seems to me that there has been a lot of loss lately and as we all get older we will have to deal with more of it. Now, I am, in no way depressed and I don't think there is anyone else in my life that is either. But life has a way of giving us examples on how to deal with it and how to act before our time comes. I will always remember a story I read in the News & Observer some time after 9/11. It was about a man from North Carolina who was in New York that morning. He was late for a meeting near the World Trade Center and snapped at the bell-hop because he felt the man was not trying hard enough to get him a cab. The building he was in collapsed and he was trapped under a stairwell, thinking he was going to die. All he could think about was how he treated that man at the hotel. He thought to himself that he was going to die and that man thought he was a jerk. He then realized, that if he made it out alive he was going to treat everyone as if he would never see them again. What a great philosophy. That is why I always tell my parents that I love them every time I talk to them. You never know. Always try to be a positive influence when ever you are around others you may never get another chance.

Christmas Movies

I have had serious connection problems lately and have not been able to post anything new. I wanted to post some Thanksgiving themed movies but since this is Thanksgiving eve I will mention a few and then give the Christmas list.
Scent of a Woman, great movie. It takes place over Thanksgiving if you have forgotten.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles, if you have kept up with me on face book you know this is my favorite Thanksgiving movie.

Driving Miss Daisy, I know this is a stretch but the last scene in the nursing home is on Thanksgiving Day. This ending along with the end of Field of dreams are the only two movies that still make me a little misty-eyed.

Okay Christmas, these are in no order, but you have a month so check them out.

The Family Stone, funny, I never in my life imagined I would be writing but Sara Jessica Parker is pretty good.

Just Friends, hysterically funny.

A Christmas Story, yes you get 24 hours of this on TBS or maybe TNT, but it is so much better without commercials. Check TCM's listings this month, they may play it. After Ralphie says the F--- word and the old man tells him to get in the car, notice the ever so slight grin on the father's face.

Fred Clause, Vince Vaughaun and Paul Giomatti, good combination. The scene where Fred is at therapy with other brothers of famous guys is classic.

Christmas Vacation, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on the tuba as Eddie empties the "shitter" into the drain is priceless.

It's a Wonderful Life, the classic. I started watching this movie every Christmas Eve many years ago. Past jobs, which usually involve retail, had always kept me at work late on Christmas Eve. I would get home exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do is drive somewhere so I would always leave Christmas morning. This movie is old but there are many messages about life. The scene where is the run on the Building and Loan, during the depression, George(Jimmy Stewart) turn to look at a picture of his deceased father. There is an embroidery on the wall also. Through the magic of DVD and the zoom feature, I was able to read it years ago. "All you can take with you is what you have given away."

This one I discovered a few years ago and it is VERY funny, Love Actually, everybody is in this one, the aging rock star steals every scene he is in.

For those action fans, there are some options; Lethal Weapon, The first two Die Hard movies are good and well done, okay, Die Hard 2 is a little weak, it is hard to see James from Good Times play a bad guy.

I have noticed that TV Land plays all of its Christmas episodes at once and there are some good ones.
Now I know that I have left out a bunch but these are my favorites, so enjoy.

Oh yeah, on the subject of movies, the new Star Trek is awesome. If you are any way familiar with this show or the movies you will love it.

Okay, it has been a while, the holiday season approaches. I think it is safe to say that anyone that knows me will tell you that I am a fan of movies. So for the next three months I will suggest movies that go along with the current holiday season. Of course the first on is Halloween, I have never been a big fan of gory movies so there may be some movies that are not on the list. Movies that turn the stomach are not my bag, there will be no references to stuff like Hostel or any of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes. It seems like these "new" horror films only want you to vomit in your mouth, so this may not be your list.





These are in no particular order but if you like feeling on edge in the month of October I think you will enjoy these:





The first three Hannibal Lecture movies The Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal. Watch them in that order, yes Silence of the Lambs started it all but it is hard to beat them in order, they were done well, Hannibal being the worst of the three, Jodie Foster did not like the book, that is why she was not in the last.

Keeping with the serial killer theme, Seven, I have not talked to anyone that predicted how that one ended. Notice how they never identify what city it took place in and the credits roll backwards.

For the dark comic fans I suggest Underworld and Hellboy, great action and as far as Underworld, Kate Beckensail in a skin tight leather suit, enough said.





Bram Stokers Dracula, awesome and spooky. I know Kneau Reeves, but you get past him pretty fast, Gary Oldman steals the show.





Here is a sleeper, Exorcist 3. George C Scott is reason enough to watch this, but the nurse walking through the empty halls because she hears a noise, well you will jump. And the old woman crawling across the ceiling like a spider, damn.





Interview with a Vampire, great vampire tale.





Here's an oldie, John Carpenter's The Thing, remember this movie was very early 80's. Awesome special effects and a great story, dog lovers may not like this one, Wilford Brimley is not selling diabetes products either. Or oatmeal for that matter.





I will recommend the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I write this only because the movie theater in Kinston showed this one night in high school and I was the only guy out of all my sister's hot female friends. The girls were spooked and I was like John Wayne to this bunch so I was protecting them. During the chase scene an employee of the theater ran down the aisle with an actual chainsaw, I screamed like a girl and stepped on all of their feet as I scrambled to the wall. No chance of getting laid that night.





Okay, I guess these are in order, the original Halloween 1 & 2, watch these on the same night. This series started it all, these movies would have been 10 minutes long a piece if Micheal Myers would just have ran instead of walking, but this is why they are so good.





So turn the lights off and enjoy.

Be careful

This is more of a cautionary tale, I have been selling stuff on E Bay for the past five years. I think it is a great way to get rid of the stuff you no longer need or use and a good way to make a little money. I from time to time sell stuff for my friends, I take a small percentage, usually just enough to cover my costs. I was recently sent an offer to join the E Bay Seller's Lounge. Sounded pretty groovy, I envisioned a smoke filled bar with jazz in the back ground, hanging out with a bunch of cool cats talking about E Bay. Now I do not know how affiliated this entity is with E Bay, I e-mailed a complaint about this organization and it is the only time they have never responded to me. Anyway, the membership comes with a disc, I quickly realized that I did not need this "mess" and cancelled the membership. Problem solved, right?? WRONG!!
Somehow my information was passed along to the Product Resource Network, if you go to their web-site you will see E Bay logos all over the place. They send an e mail saying that you have to cancel your membership or your credit card will be charged. You have to call a number, which I did. One of the first things they ask for is account information, I thought it was a scam and hung up. A few weeks pass and I notice a charge, a little over thirty bucks on my account. I call my bank and got a number, which I called and cancelled the account. "Your refund will be posted in 5-10 days," I was told. WRONG!
Now I consider myself to be pretty on line savy, I do a lot of business on line and it is very safe but Product Resource Network is a scam and it looks like they have managed to drag E Bay into the mud with them, buyer beware.