Posted on 10/28/2005 8:20:07 PM PDT by RightOnline
No big deal to hardly anyone but me, but today.....ol' RightOnline turned the Big Five-Oh. The Half Century Club. Halfway to centenarian and greetings from the fat guy on the Today Show......
I just thought I would take a few moments, after a thoroughly wonderful day, to share a few things I've picked up or things I've reflected on today with my beloved fellow FReepers (and you ARE just that, beloved ......well, as a group....some of ya.....well.....)
1. Whatever 50 is supposed to feel like, I don't feel it. I lift weights 5 days a week and am in better shape than when I was 25. So there.
2. No gray hairs.....nary a one. I feel cheated. I've earned plenty.
3. Nothing.......absolutely, nothing......is more important than your family. My lovely wife of nearly 28 years who has put up with me all these years and still looks 20 years younger than she is, my seven children who have ALL made me proud (ranging from a 26-year-old 2nd Lt. in the Army leading a Stryker platoon to a 4-year-old hooked on Spiderman and Batman). Cherish them, people, and keep them close.
4. Republicans don't have a corner on morality or good ideas or decency or common sense. It's merely that Democrats lack all of the above.
5. I've been playing rock guitar since I was not quite 14. Production and marketing have moved ahead rapidly since the late '60's music industry, but today's music that passes for "rock" largely sucks. I'd take "Live at the Fillmore East" to anything that has been released in the last 15 years.
6. Have a job? Great. Keep it and do the best you possibly can at all times. Have a career? Even better.......just make damned sure you enjoy it. Aim to work for yourself, but plan for it like you've never planned for anything in your life.
7. The most fun I ever had professionally was when I was flying for Uncle Sam (I'm an AF Academy grad). The responsibilities I had as a pilot in the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War have been unequalled in all the intervening years. I don't say this out of regret or a sense of loss; I say it from a sense of pride and to encourage young people to seriously consider the military in their younger years. It'll help you tremendously.
8. Don't number your close friends in the dozens. That's disingenuous. Number them in a small handful and keep them very close, no matter how far away they live.
9. Don't try to keep up with the Jones'. The Jones' are idiots. Set your own goals, care what YOU think, and live well within your means.
10. Love your God and His Son and try your best to live for 'em. You'll fall short as we all do (you wouldn't believe what my church puts up with from me). I WILL say that Jesus took a bullet for me, and I'll never, ever forget it. He'll get my best.......for life. I hope you feel the same.
I've been on this Forum for seven years now, and it's better, more vibrant, more interesting (if a tad less cerebral....no complaint there) than it has ever been. God bless all of you, God bless your families, and let's continue to have fun kicking Lib behind on a regular basis. See ya over the next 50......
A wonderful post full of wonderful thoughts!
All the best wishes for you as you reach this milestone and the next chapter in the book of your life. I hope we're all here to congratulate you on your next 50th birthday mark (I know I plan to be)! Happy Birthday to a Fellow FReeper!
Many special blessings to you and yours in all your years ahead.
lol - Well, you're a given....;-)
Older, wiser, more vanity threads under your belt.
:))
We all got a real kick out of the fire-hose-required birthday cake.............lol.......:)
And they think they're so tough....
Again, you go, Girl!!!
Well thank you SO very much. What's equally gratifying is that my oldest son (the aforementioned oldest son who is a 2nd Lt. in the Army) is stationed at Ft. Lewis, right down the road from you, and is not only a fellow FReeper ("Future Snake Eater") but one hell of a man and true Conservative.
He also happens to be married to a perfectly lovely lady who is a brilliant programmer and also a fellow Conservative.
They give me hope for the future in more ways than I can say.
God bless.
I'll being at a certain milestone myself in a few years, and I get frightened when I catch myself saying to some kid "Baseball's not the same game it was when I was a kid."
I used to hate hearing that from dudes who were 20 years older than me.
However, that phrase is true for every man who reaches a certain age, and I'm there! ;)
Doesn't matter what the calendar says. You rock. Period. Don't ever lose sight of that. :)
Ya know, bud........seems the "club" here on FR is even bigger than I realized. LOL.......Thank you. Appreciate it.
Watch it, Dude...Air Force (a.k.a. RightOnline) is all the "force" I want...or, for that matter, need! ;>}
Thank you so much. God bless you and yours.
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I was there the Friday night of the two-night recording...The Fillmore East was a regular spot for us in the very early seventies...big fun and nobody knew really how special it was.
I'm truly jealous. You just have no idea........
But remember - we learned to play Zep solos with LPs/cassettes before anyone had dreamt of "online transcriptions".
And, everyone there was high; it was impossible to breathe the air and stay straight. Guys would light up a joint, take a hit and say good-bye to it knowing that another one was on its way down the row anyway...a very different time.
Two years later I was tending bar at one of the last true jazz after hour joints in midtown...that was legendary....(then I went on the force).
SO true. I play entirely by ear, and first learned by listening to the radio, then the odd LP or two or three, then cassettes, 8-track. Computers.....Internet........tab.....??? Didn't exist.
I will NOT go gently into that dark night. Never surrender, Never!! ; )
Precisely. :)
Have I slept with you? I could have sworn you were a woman.
LOL.......see #118 and you'll have your answer.
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