I can’t explain it, but most days I’m friendly. I encounter a person and am compelled to strike up a conversation and then find common ground and then explore similarities and experiences. Before I know it we are “fast friends”. People have remarked upon this conduct. Some positive, some wonder and some negative. Whatever the source, I c …
Do you remember The Invisible Man? In that H.G. Wells book a scientist invents a way to become invisible. Well today our youth oriented society has relegated many of my vintage to virtual, if not actual, invisible status :( Have you ever noticed how many people look through or just ignore you? Have you ever noticed how older people have adopted t …
Before the Stoned Age, in my college Freshman year I met Stuie and we became fast friends. I mean Hardy Boys friends! We had so many incredible adventures which are not appropriate to describe in a Family newspaper (despite the fact that the Statute of Limitations has expired) :) We are original members of the Charter Syracuse University Bad Boys …
I’m a slave to Routine! For example, see last week’s Friday With Fred blog Cafe’ Con Leche :) Am I OCD? Who’s to say? One person’s poison is another person’s medicine :) I was once very lazy and came to the realization that I needed a reformation. In the process of reforming myself I developed a daily morning through night routine which serves …
My friend’s daughter Allison calls me “Uncle Fred” and she’s in her last year of Girl Scouts and she’s got it in her head that she wants to go out in a flourish and what better way than to set the record for Girl Scout Cookie sales! Being a good “Uncle”, I’m all in and, of course, gave her an order, but then last Friday her dad was on our weekl …
The thing that makes me most anxious is flying :(Not the fear of flying (crashing), but the days before agony of worrying about COVID, the weather, cancellations, delays or diversion. The sleepless night before. The too early wake up, the getting to the airport early, waiting on line for boarding passes, checking your bags, clearing security, the …
Our granddaughter Maggie came home from college for the holidays last week and stayed with us due to illness in her home. Her stay was highlighted by our parenting her through previously scheduled LASIK eye surgery. Was she nervous? Was there anxiety? Were there thoughts of backing out? Of course! She’s so down to earth. So human. So natural …
One of my favorite “getting to know you” conversational tools is to ask a person to tell me their life story in 5 minutes or less and then listen intently for reusable nuggets. An ancillary benefit is, if the person is worthy, he or she would then ask me to tell mine. Try it. You’ll like it :)
The following is based upon a student interviewing someone he considers “Successful” for a class assignment. The interview question was “How do you define success?”I was struck by so many of the following responses which were packed with what I consider valuable, sage, advice:Each point of your life you think about success in terms of the next obj …
It amazes me that so many people are reluctant or afraid to be vaccinated. Or have other ill advised reasons. We are suffering an ongoing worldwide Pandemic and all the science points to vaccination being the path to herd immunity . And we are so fortunate that vaccinations are available (and free to boot). Being of a certain age, we were in the …
Last Friday night we had a Boys Night Out reunion. It was the first time a disparate group of my friends congregated in about 2 years and, of course, the 9 guys in attendance were thrilled to be together (in person)!One of the guys, David Rubin, asked the Right On question as to how the Pandemic has affected our lives and there were many different …
In Key West there is a practice called the “Local Discount” of 10% for “Locals”. We somehow qualify and appreciate it. Usually we are noticed as “Locals” and automatically receive it. When we are not, I sometimes request it. A discount is certain amount or percentage deducted from the usual or posted price (a whole blog could be written on wh …
In the sports world, being benched is not a good thing as you are taken off the playing field and assigned to “riding the pine” and hopefully motivated to think “Put me in Coach I’m ready to play!” However, in real life, a lot can go on while one is sitting on a bench (even, I suppose, in sports). As pictured, the center of Key West society sits …
When I was young, except for sports stories and related trivia, I was pretty empty headed. And maybe that was a good thing, as there may now be less useless information clogging my cranial band width. Passing on how I got from there and then to here and now (maybe a story for another time), it is indisputable that I presently suffer from an unq …
No wonder Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is our richest billionaire (pre divorce)! One of my quirks is that I save credit card chits and check them against my monthly credit card bills. We have a Master Card and an American Express card. While going through this ritual I noticed that each account had a charge for Amazon Prime. I eventually got around t …
Fridays With Fred
A perfect way to send you into your weekend