Congrats to pre 1980's children

My sister (born 1965) sent me the following:

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CONGRATS TO ALL THE CHILDREN BORN IN THE 30'S, 40'S, 50'S, 60'S &
70'S!!!


First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while
they carried us.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't
get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored
lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and
when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks
we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special
treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE
actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with
sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...... WE WERE ALWAYS
OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were
back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day.
And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride
down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into
the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at
all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound,
no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat
rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from
dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks
and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not
put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or
rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who
didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem
solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW
TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

(Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!)

Back home

A week of visiting and traveling has come to an end.

Before this past school year began, my ex-wife moved across the country to Virginia. She took my youngest son, Jason, with her. This was his last year of high school (12th grade).

On Wednesday, June 7th, Jason's high school had their graduation ceremony (in Richmond, Virginia, USA). I was really glad to be there. His mother and I cheered him from the crowd.













Jason turned 18 years old two months ago. Being legally an adult, he decided that after graduation he wanted to move back to my house in Arizona. He has acquired too much stuff to just hop on an airplane, so we rented a U-Haul truck and spent all day Thursday loading up his furniture, TV, computers, and many boxes of other stuff.



On Friday, June 9th, we climbed into the U-Haul truck and headed out.




The phone call.
On Saturday, June 10th, my cell phone rang and it indicated that the call was coming from my home in Phoenix. Had my other son visited my house? No, it was a Phoenix Police officer. He said that my neighbor had found my house's front door kicked in and the door was open. The police officer said that they had searched the house and no one was there. He said that the place looked a bit ransacked. I told him that was really my fault since the house was really a mess when I left. I asked him if any police officers were injured climbing over all of the messy stuff that I had everywhere. He laughed and said, "No."

I called my oldest son, John, in Prescott, Arizona, where he is going to college and where he is staying for the summer sessions. John immediately headed for Phoenix (about two hours away). When John got to the house he reported that he did not see anything stolen - - TV's, stereo, and several computers were all in place. I called my insurance company and they sent a contractor over to patch up the front door. After that, John loaded the more important computers into his car and went back to Prescott.

Since we were then anxious to get home and see the "mess" at my house, Jason and I drove longer days in order to get home sooner. We did not really have much of a travel plan but since I rarely travel across the country I had hoped to be able to make several stops along the way. Instead we concentrated on distance each day.

Yesterday, June 13th, we arrived back in Arizona. First we stopped in Prescott to pick up the computers from my oldest son. Then we arrived at home. After going through the patched up door we saw that the house looked mostly like I had left it - - a mess. But there was added mess in the bedrooms where all of the dresser drawers had been emptied out. (Looking for hidden money or jewelry? - - No, not in my house!)

We still have not discovered anything taken during the break-in, except, I would swear that there were two 2 Liter bottles of Dr. Pepper in the refrigerator when I left (because that is Jason's favorite drink), but we only found one bottle in the refrigerator when we got here. So I am declaring that the only property taken by the thieves was a bottle of Dr. Pepper. (I actually told that to the insurance claims adjuster this morning. Along with the front door replacement that should be under my $500 insurance deductible.)

The big project for today is to unload the U-Haul truck. Next project: clean up the house!!!!!

Traveling

For the next two weeks I will be away.

First I will fly to Virginia for my youngest son's high school graduation.


Then,

we will load up a U-Haul truck and move my son back to my house in Phoenix, Arizona. I know that he is looking forward to the excitement of traveling across the country.

We may find an occasional open Wi-Fi access point along the way that my son's laptop can access, but I probably won't be checking blogs or e-mails until after June 15th.