Just found this info, to rain on our joyous juvenile parade:

"The machine used a liquid solvent containing methanol and isopropanol to dissolve and transfer the purple dye from a master sheet onto the paper. While nostalgic, those fumes were volatile organic compounds (VOCs). According to online consensus on forums like Quora, heavy exposure to the evaporating methanol and solvents could cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and headaches"

But far out man, it was groovy to sniff. Did you dig it? Nobody cared eh?

Neil Diamond wrote his own songs, and also music for others. He wasn't really my generation's music nor was he my parents. He wore rhinestones and marched to the beat of his own drummer. I really love him now that I'm older. Photo is from an album that arrived today, Hot August Nights.

I had several of these as a kid, there were cars, boats, clowns, planes, all kind of different themes. This boat was my favorite, worked great in the bath until it didn’t.

I was born in December of 1964 ... so truly on the "cusp" of the baby boom. I never felt like I could relate to any of the boomers I knew because most of them were 10 years or more older than me. And yet my experience growing up was very different from most GenX people that I know. (I vividly remember Apollo, Watergate, and the end of the Vietnam War, but my GenX wife does not.)

Still not sure I belong here because I am one of the youngest people here, so thanks for letting me participate ... and feel like I belong somewhere.

My two friends and I decided to hitchhike home because we were too tired to walk back to the house. I think we were around 10-12 years old. This guy pulls over in an old Ford truck and tells us to hop in the back and just knock on the window when we want him to stop.

We piled in the back and off he went. There was no other traffic on this 2-lane country road at the time. We saw my friend's house approaching so he banged on the window. Nothing. He banged on it again. The guy looked in the mirror and just smiled and kept driving. Now we are all screaming, "Stop! Stop! Stop!" but he speeds up.

He's now going about 45mph on a 30mph paved 2-lane road. My friend looks at me and says, "He's kidnapping us! Jump!" and he leaps out of the truck onto the shoulder and rolls into the grass. Then my next friend does the same thing.

Now it's just me in the truck and one of the kids has hurt his shoulder after he landed and is holding it while the other is screaming at me to jump but I am too scared.

The driver looks in the mirror, and his eyes are all wide and he slams on the brakes and stops. I jump out and as I am running back to my friends I look back and he is out of the truck yelling, "Why'd you jump out? I was going to stop!"

We ran all the way back to my friend's house and never hitchhiked again.

The call to adventure!

I’m getting bored of tv and scrolling. Does anyone have a good book recommendation? Right now I’m in the mood for a fictional novel. I don’t like horror, but I do like sci-fi or dystopian stories. I also like psychological thrillers and even crime novels. It really doesn’t matter the genre, I’m just looking for a good book to read! Any ideas?

Does anyone from Cleveland remember him? He was my dad’s brother and he died today. A TV weatherman, DJ, flew with the Air Force Reserve delivering supplies during the Berlin crisis. He and my aunt were in the movie Summer Rental

It also makes me realize what an oldie I am. Like when I got my drivers license in 1975 a '55 Chev was only 20 years old. These little number games still kind of freak me out.

When you couldn't play with Jarts outside, why not a needle inside?

Reading posts in this sub makes me feel like I’m not alone in thinking that our younger years were so much better than today.

This got me to thinking: will we and younger people ever look on today as “the good old days “?

But for a while there, they were big. I saw them perform at the San Diego Wild Animal Park way back in the day.

This morning I heard "Tears for Fears" on the radio "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and I started going down the rabbit hole of 1985.

• Thoughts of the friends I hung out with (some are dead)
• Thoughts of the car I drove (1966 Chevelle) would now be an antique.
• Thoughts of the older guys I worked with (would be in their 90s now)
• Thoughts of my dog (miss you buddy)

I remember it all so clearly, how can it be 41 years ago?

One of my most favorite gifts to receive.

From my perspective, the biggest difference is the need for instant gratification. I feel the Internet and mobile phones have given them the world at their finger tips in real time.

Getting things done quicker is not bad in many ways, but expecting everything to be that fast is unrealistic IMO.

A previous post got me thinking. I was born in 1959, so I was alive in the decades:

1. 1950s
2. 60s
3. 70s
4. 80s
5. 90s

6. 2000s

7. 2010s

8. 2020s
   So in eight decades, but…I’m not 80. Or even 70.
   So it feels as if it’s impossible that I have been alive in eight decades when I’m in my 60s.