The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

People

Maybe You’ll Read The Other Letters

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Maybe you’ll read the other letters and we’ll have a real conversation about what is in them.

Maybe it will be one of those naked honesty conversations we used to have with regularity and we’ll get deep into the muck.

Maybe we’ll find what was lost and maybe we’ll lose what has been discovered.

Lots of maybes and lots of reasons why exploring some paths again would be different now than in that time that way.

Maybe we’re so very different it has caused a fracture that cannot be repaired or maybe fear of what could go right is stronger than the fear of what could go wrong.

Lots of maybes with no way to answer without walking through the door and diving into the pool.

The Love Story Revisited

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There was a time when I would receive emails from a few readers asking for updates about the love story and for information about when the next chapter would be written/shared here.

Been a long while since the last one so I am not certain whether the reader(s) who wanted such news are still around or what the last update they saw was.

I have some ideas about what sort of update to provide and have played around with how to present it but obviously haven’t yet done so.

Some might ask for clarity on whether I am waiting to hear back from the readers or if I intend to share something new here regardless.

It is a reasonable question and one I could answer but probably won’t.

Yeah, that is the kind of mood I am in. 😉

Not a bad one, not by a long shot but I am sort of enjoying the warmth of this particular feeling. We all have our secret worlds and sometimes we choose to live in them for a bit longer because we can.

Sometimes the king and queen require their time to be their own so they can have a moment to get reacquainted and rebalanced.

It is good for all parties and what is good needs to be watered and nurtured so the trunk stays strong and the roots well fed.

Two Souls In The Present

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Somewhere in the 1,930,938,784 words here you will find the story of two souls outline and a variety of parts and pieces that are tied into it.

Seventeen, 28 or 50 some years of burning love produced and prepared in a sort of a jigsaw puzzle format floating in cyberspace.

Intermixed are the comments, emails and questions that have asked for insight and or answers but have yet to be given.

It is not clear yet whether an update shall be shared here or left as is in other places but it is safe to say that something will happen and when it does you will discover it.

Or at least that is the expectation, that you will show up one day and find something that offers a beginning and a middle but probably not an end but the reasons for that aren’t to be shared today.

Flying The ‘Friendly’ Skies

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People say you shouldn’t write when you are jammed for time because you might make some silly errors but I don’t follow that advice.

Mostly because I think there is a certain beauty that comes from not having time to question your muse and his/her idea for the words you’ll put on paper.

I am jammed now because I have to finish packing so I can catch a flight in a couple of hours.  Got to build in time to toss the clothes in a bag, drive to the airport, park and then walk through security.

It is not high on my list of desires, flying, that is.

I don’t like it very much anymore but I do it often enough I am pretty good with the drill. Still, post 9/11 flying is a task and it is not made any more enjoyable by seeing videos like that one from United.

Flying The ‘Friendly’ Skies

I often remind my children that our attitude has a big impact upon how our days go and am doing my best to just smile and stay loose today.

The more relaxed I am the easier it becomes or so I tell myself.

It works most of the time, but not all.

Have I mentioned how happy I am not to be flying United today. Can’t say I am interested in paying for food, blanket, ticket and a beating.

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I didn’t get as much sleep last night as I wanted to because I had to make sure I talked to the kids before my flight today.

Since they are two hours behind me and were busy until quite late it meant I didn’t finish speaking with them until after midnight.

Most of the time I don’t think twice about that because I am good at sleeping on planes but this flight is all of an hour so I am not sure if I’ll be able to catch as long a nap as I might like.

But I’ll do my best and maybe some lucky person will get to hear me snore. 😉

I kind of feel badly about it because no one wants to listen to someone snoring and yet I need the rest. Since I am unlikely to see these people again I’ll just let it go I suppose.

That reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend who asked how many social conventions are lifted if we are with strangers.

The answer for me is not many.

You won’t catch me clipping my toenails on a plane or engaging in other personal behavior like that, especially since I have seen it on flights before.

I don’t gross out easily, but that just makes me go yuck.

Reading Material

Been a while since I provided links to other posts here and since I won’t be able to update for a few days I’ll provide a list you can dig into if you so choose.

Here is a short selection of posts to get you started:

An Uncertain Certainty
Words Are The Death Of A Blogger
A Father Describes Parenting
A Father’s Burden
How Sister’s Helped to Train A Father of “Daddy’s Girl”
Inside the Blogger’s Studio- A Dream, Er Nightmare
The GermoPhobe
What I Dream About
I am In Love
Becoming a Dad
Dad’s Most Important Job
A Decade of Dad
Grandpa
Donuts
Why Your Post Sucks and Everyone Hates Your Blog
Of Dads and Daughters

See you in the comments. Back with new material later this week.

P.S. The post before this isn’t bad, try giving it a read.

The Great Social Media Crash Of 2017

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I shouldn’t be writing this blog post of taking time to read Facebook, pin things on Pinterest or Tweet at the Conman-In-Chief.

That is because Old Jack Steiner has to finish packing for a business trip and this blogging thing isn’t going to help him finish the job.

The thing is that Old Jack Steiner has one hell of a stomach ache which may or may not be related to the trip.

Blame the uncertainty on the beauty of having a dysfunctional digestive system, sometimes you just don’t know.

The Great Social Media Crash Of 2017

Given the enormous anger and rage surrounding the US and much of the world I am wondering if 2017 might mark the year the social media crash.

In other words, will it be the year we run out of energy and time to be outraged and or outrageous on social media.

You might wonder if I am mean that to be tongue-in-cheek and the answer is, sort of.

If I take some of the comments friends and family are making there is some truth to the question of whether it has become exhausting to hang out on some platforms.

As a father I find myself wondering how much of the anger is spilling over and into the platforms my kids use.

Are they seeing/feeling it and if so, what sort of impact is it having upon them?

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When my kids were really little we were very careful about what we said around them because we didn’t want them to be exposed to certain things before they had to be.

That changed as they got older, especially once they got cellphones and computers because once the barn door opened we knew the horses would go running.

That is not to say we stopped monitoring because that never happens but our and your ability is limited, especially in the middle and high school where it is common for kids to have easy access to the ‘Net.

Fight Or Flight

The kids and I have had multiple conversations about when to stand and when to run.

We have talked about figuring out the value of winning the battle and losing the war and vice versa. I have always thought about it as being important, but lately it has increased in value.

That is because when people tell me they find social media to be exhausting I ask why they are still there and what they hope to accomplish.

If you are not paid to be online then your presence is a choice and if that choice hurts you, well you know where this is going.

Anyhoo some have told me they think it is important to keep pushing out certain messages and fear what happens if they take time away from the platforms they reside upon.

My response is always the same, we’re in a marathon and not a sprint. If you want to last you have to find a way to take care of yourself.

It is really not any different from the conversation I have with the kids.

Don’t mistake that to sound like I am saying I am better or smarter than the next guy because that isn’t it.

Hell, I am the guy who likes to argue and will fight for months but as I have grown older I have learned to be more judicious in who gets my time.

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Speaking of flight I have to go finish getting ready for mine.

I used to love flying but it is not something that I particularly enjoy anymore. We’ll save the how and why for a later date and say I hope the plane isn’t stuffed to the gills.

Be good to each other and I’ll see you around the comments.

Did You Sleep With My Mother?

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There is a teenage boy who woke me up many years ago and asked if I had slept with his mother.

It was an innocent question born of having grown accustomed to finding both of his parents asleep in the really big bed and was the definition of innocence.

At the time he had no idea or understanding about how dad had pulled an all nighter trying to finish a project for work and that this is why he found him drooling upon the keyboard.

Dear old dad smiled at his son and tried not to freak about how exhaustion had forced his eyes shut and robbed him of precious work time.

Many years later the situation would be reversed and dear old dad would suggest sleeping in bed as opposed to upon the computer.

“A pillow would be more comfortable.”

The next day dad would have an argument with another parent about what constitutes excessive homework and demand proof that the assignments led to an improvement in critical reasoning and logical thought.

Fallout From A Nasty Election

I have a bad taste in my mouth from this election and it is refusing to leave not because I think Trump is dumber than a broken clock but because of other people.

Because the fallout from a nasty election has led to a loss of compassion and decorum among certain people who used to exhibit it and the lack of civility saddens me.

I am someone who likes and appreciates a good debate and discussion but that seems harder to find.

We have more disputes and disagreements than conversation and that is too bad. More friendships have been killed because of this and more seem to be on the way out.

There seems to be a refusal to listen and or share reasons why we have done as we have chosen to do.

That makes me sad too.

I might vehemently disagree with your choice but sometimes we could find common ground through discussion.

Sometimes we could come to a place where we could civilly agree to disagree feeling that we both made our choices for reasons we could respect.

But respect doesn’t get to play as bigger role and that saddens me too.

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I remember when the other parent told me I was crippling our children by saying they had too much homework and how he was angry when I questioned him.

“There is a point at which repetition is not longer instructive and just becomes busy work. I am not interested in busy work, I want my children to be thinkers.

Fake News

That is another piece of the pre and post election fallout.

If you don’t like the news and believe it shows your side in a bad light you call it fake and expect everyone to nod their head.

It is a way to dismiss discussion and demean those who present information you disagree with.

Without a doubt some news is fake, but not all and we shouldn’t be so quick to label what we dislike, but then again we shouldn’t just like everything either.

Smart people spend time being careful consumers of information.

Time To Go

Got more to say and little time to do it, especially since I am tired enough to fear falling asleep at the computer and this time there is no one to wake me.

That is a temporary situation but the kink in my neck and sore body that would come with falling asleep aren’t so I’ll say good night and see you a little later.