I Got Carded!

I vow to purchase all of our groceries for as long as I live from Shoppers Food Warehouse.

Yesterday the lady at the local stored asked me for my driver's license! I immediately asked her to marry me. I explained that I wanted a wife who would think I was still young enough when I was 90 years old!!! She never did answer me.... But, that's probably ok as I'm already married.

I'm looking forward to my next visit to that store and buying some brewskies.

Lastly, my family thinks I look silly in this tie-died tee... but I don't care, I have my image to maintain. :-)

Sad

My friend Barry M apparently couldn't deal with his life any longer. A mutual friend called me this morning and told me he committed suicide last night.

Barry was one of my first customers when I started my computer wholesale business. I met him in January of 1986. He enjoyed giving me business in the beginning and often talked about it when we ran into one another. We both missed those exciting days when a 20Mb hard drive was huge news!

I rarely saw Barry or his family, but coincidentally ran into his two sons, who are in their young twenties at a local watering hole just 3 weeks ago. I was blown away at how much they had grown up. I've known them since they were tweeners.

I asked about Barry and they told me he wasn't doing well. They said he was depressed and struggling over a decision by his wife to leave him. I asked them both repeatedly to tell Barry I said hi, that I loved him, and to have him call me. A few days later I sent an email to the older son to be sure he had my contact info, but I never heard from any of them unfortunately.

Obviously I wish I had taken the initiative to reach out to Barry, but I really didn't think he wanted me around during this crisis. We weren't that close.

Just sad. No mid-life is bad enough to justify suicide in my opinion.

I'll be back soon with some lighter things to post about. Meanwhile keep your chin up and make the best of your situation, whatever that may be.

Mid-life crisis worst for men in late 30's

I came across this article about a UK research study where over 1600 people were interviewed and the results seem to match up well with my personal experience. Check it out at: Mid-life Crisis Study.

Comments?

Harry Potter in his Midlife Crisis - Rated R

Parents - this video is rated R. It's ok for a PG-13 movie, but I thought I'd err on the side of being careful.

Harry Potter 25 years from now in the midst of his midlife crisis! :)

Video is a few minutes long and some of you will be able to related to Harry's issues.

The Awesome USS New York

Here SHE is, the USS New York, made from the World Trade Center




USS New York

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.

It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite, LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, "those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence," recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. "It was a spiritual moment for everybody there."

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the "hair on my neck stood up." "It had a big meaning to it for all of us," he said. "They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back."

The ship's motto? "Never Forget"

Please keep this going so everyone can see what we are made of in this country!
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Kevin Driving

Well, it's been a week and Kevin hasn't wrecked. He got a job too! California somethingerather. He got a raise on his second day! He seems to be enjoying it and that has to be a great thing for establishing his views on work for the future.

Here's a pic of him driving off to work! ;-) Actually a pic taken by me from my gocart at Massunutten, a resort here in VA.

Seems someone else has figured it out!

I ran across this post and agree with a lot of the assertions. Freedom is taken for granted and freedom is dang expensive too!

Summer Livin

Kevin gets his drivers license

OMG - Our 16 year old, Kevin, got his drivers license today! At this very moment on one of the 2 most dangerous driving days in the U.S. (July 3rd and 4th) he's out there driving MY car.

He's the kid in the pic to the right. Just a kid. Driving.

Hopefully he'll have an angel watching over him as he navigates these crazy roads of Northern Virginia. He's a good driver and has good instincts and his friends seem to be straight too so I think all will be well.

Next... Kevin gets a job.... :-)

Another midlifer...

Every so often I come across a post from someone else who is in the midst of midlife or just coming to the realization that they aren't getting any younger. This one is interesting.
You can click on the title of this post (Another midlifer) to read the post at:
http://topblogmag.blogspot.com/2007/06/huh.html

30 year reunion!!!

As much as it pains me to talk about it my 30 year high school reunion is coming this October. 30 years! I don't know what makes me feel older the 30 year reunion, my 23rd wedding anniversary (this past Saturday), or my 48th birthday a few weeks ago.

I try to pretend this aging thing doesn't bother me, but it just does sometimes. It's just the speed at which it all goes by that disturbs me. I mean they're talking about the 10 year anniversary of Princess Diana's death. 10 years like THAT!!

Can it be slowed down?

Are you younger then you are?

I sure don't feel or act my age. Like the lady in this pic I think many of
us are still kids at heart. It sure makes living more fun!

A brief introduction before I get started

A brief introduction is in order.

About me - David

A dad, 47, 4 boys - Brian 18 - Kevin 16 - Dustin 14 and.. Colin 4. Married to Kathy for 22 glorious years.

I'm an entrepreneurial soul always bored with what is and wondering what could be.
I sold my first big business and moved over to Maui for 3 years before returning home to Northern VA. I think that intensified my midlife "issue" a bit.

It's not easy to start and grow a business, sell your baby (business), sell everything but your shorts and flaps, move to Maui, start a Hawaiian restaurant (Tiny's of Maui) and have to pull the plug after it fails, sell everything AGAIN and move back to Northern VA.

Try it, you'll see what I mean.

Add to the mix an oldest Son who is a special needs guy that requires A LOT of care and you have the ingredients for a blog title Midlife. Which I launched in 2001 but never really launched.
Oh well... here's to getting started with the 2nd half of life.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Cheers,

David

Enjoy Life Before It’s Too Late

From AdventureDad:

There are some phone calls you never want to receive. The worst would be hearing your child involved in an accident. Second worst would be hearing about a close relative involved in a disaster. Last night we got a strange call from my wife's best friend who lives in our building. She asked to drop off her daughter, my sons favorite friend, for a few hours because of an emergency. Turns out her husbands brother had suddenly died in an accident.

Having kids has changed my behavior in these situations dramatically. The first thing I do after reading or hearing about someone dying is finding out about children. Any children involved? Young? Old? While reading about some diseased person in the papers, I always read the last lines first to find out if there were any young kids in the family. My only explanation for this is I can imagine how terrible it would be to split up a family through a disaster.

There were two young kids in this family. Nice kids, I've met them both. The circumstances of the death are still very vague but kind of irrelevant.

Many years ago I was not good at enjoying the day or thinking about how I one day would be old and unable to do many of the things I do today. My wife and kids have helped me a lot in this area and so has 9/11. I saw the buildings from my window and even though I didn't panic or get shocked, the event did have an impact on me. The simple message was we never know what will happen tomorrow. That's why it's so important to do many things early in life. To enjoy life and not postpone everything until tomorrow or next year.

I don't want to be 60 or 70 years old and unable to play tennis, golf, or travel around the world. I might feel great at that age or I might be dead. That's why I try to do as many of these things today.

It's good to be reminded about this every now and then. I do think people are getting better at this. But it's still common to hear people postponing important things indefinitely. "I don't travel now but when I retire I will see the world", "I work a lot now but I will spend time with the children later", "I'm obese but in a few years I'll get in shape", "I don't have time for hobbies now but will when I retire in 15 years". This is stuff I hear all the time. It's unfortunate thinking that might lead to disaster.

Dying is always sad but if you live life to the fullest it feels a little less of a tragedy. Rotting away at work, not seeing the kids, and then dying seem like a terrible waste to me.

AdventureDad

Ok it's time now

After scratching my head since 2001 trying to figure out what to say on my blog I'm giving up. I'm going to post about what OTHER people are saying about midlife and the midlife crisis (or is it mid-life?)!

If you have something you want to share please send it to me and I might post or I might not.

Thanks!

David
P.S. I'm 47 now! (YIKES!!!)

Talk about a BAD day!!!