THE REATTA LOUNGE

[2seater]

Don’t forget you get a new rate for your Medicare too. I don’t remember exactly the figures last year but the Medicare up charge was 14.5%. Added together for the seven years I have been with that program, rates have increased 55%, which I guarantee is not matched by Social Security percentages. Several years ago when inflation was low, Medicare ate the entire SS dollar increase😕

Edited July 25, 2022 by 2seater

[Padgett]

And for those who saved their whole life for retirement there is IRMAA. The problem is they don't tell you what it is for the current year.

[BlakesReatta]

At night I sleep with my windows open and turn the AC off. If I had a screened in porch I might do what my great grandparents did at sleep on the porch at night. My electricity bill for last month is $159 but that's keeping it warm at like 78 degrees, opening windows at night when it gets below that temperature. Luckily, this summer in Southern Illinois has been pretty darn nice compared to last year. I'm a bit worried about winter because supposedly our electric company is going to have another rate hike in October.

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, BlakesReatta said:

If I had a screened in porch I might do what my great grandparents did at sleep on the porch at night.

Makes me think of many of the old houses that were here in Tennessee in the old days. They had two big porches on the front of the house, one over the other. The one on the bottom was for the front door and sitting in rocking chairs. The porch over it on the top was for sleeping in the summertime. My father told me stores about living that way in the old days. I'm glad I've never had to.

[Ron Walker]

Agree, in the old days, there was also an "outhouse."

[BlakesReatta]

Another thing my great grandpa did that would be foreign to anybody born in this century is he would unplug the television after he turned it off. I think he did that with a lot of electronic devices. This was a man who was born in 1893 in pioneer Colorado. He had a lot of old ways and saw a lot of change in daily life over his lifetime.

[Ronnie]

My how things have changed. During WWII when my father was in the Army in Europe, my grandparents didn't have electricity out in the boonies where they lived. They listened to news of the war on a large, floor model, radio that operated on batteries. He said the batteries were just a little smaller than a car battery. Dad said when he came home from the war there was a big pile of those batteries thrown out in the back yard. Now people get upset if they don't have good cellphone service in rural areas. 🙂 

[BlakesReatta]

Does anybody remember party lines? John Malkovich's family lived down the road from my great-grandparents in Benton, Illinois. When he was a young boy, he liked to get on the party lines and prank people, pretending to be somebody else of course.

 

I can personally do without cell service and be happier and at peace. Maybe I'm an oddball 27 year old.

[DAVES89]

0My grandparents were on a party line and my grandma listened in all the time. They owned a farm and lived 1/2 mile away on the same road as my aunt and uncle lived with their farm. She would get her binoculars out and check out what they were doing.

 Also my uncle's farm had an indoor and outdoor outhouse and no shower.

 They would either get out a wash tub or go to my grandparents for baths. Sometimes I'm the 70s they remodeled and installed a shower and toilet

 

[BlakesReatta]

I think the binoculars was an old time pre-social media thing. You could "stalk" people. My grandmother kept binoculars in her windows to inspect the street daily.

[Padgett]

Heck I remember a TV with channel 1. Everyone had a Zenith Trans-Oceanic "hurricane" radio.

[ship]

When my family moved from CA to MA, my parents bought a 3 bedroom/1 bath model home in a newly constructed residential housing development.  We started with a 4-party telephone line, went to a 2-party 5 years later.  When I left home in 1969, I think we had gone down to a 1-party publicly listed line.

What I've always found amazing is that my paternal grandfather, born in 1884, went from using horses for transportation to seeing a man land on the moon during his lifetime.

 

I also remember my siblings and I had to walk to school and back uphill both ways in the snow and rain!😉

[Ronnie]

2 hours ago, ship said:

What I've always found amazing is that my paternal grandfather, born in 1884, went from using horses for transportation to seeing a man land on the moon during his lifetime.

Reminds me of my father telling me about some of the mile markers in his life. As a child he grew up riding horses in the rural mountains of Monroe Co. TN with no electricity, no phones and no running water. He said seeing a car in those mountains was a rare occurrence and everyone gathered round when they heard one coming to watch it go by. 🙂 

[Ron Walker]

And now we, inevitably, if not by mandate, transition to EVs, like it or not. 

[DAVES89]

If you are talking about California you can still buy hybrids [which is the way I would go].

[BlakesReatta]

I think California also mandated that hydrogen cars could be bought there. The other night, my architecture professor asked if any of us had a Tesla. I just laughed at him. This is a state university mind you.

[Padgett]

California has always been strange. I prefer the right coast though used to make more SoCal POCI meetings than Florida.

[Ronnie]

I don't usually pass along anything that is forwarded to me but this one seemed different. It says a lot about our lives.
-----------------------------------------
The Importance of Time

A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door. It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr.. Belser died last night.
The funeral is Wednesday."

Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

"Jack, did you hear me?"

"Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.

"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.

"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.

"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time.

The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture....Jack stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.

"The box is gone," he said.

"What box?" Mom asked.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk.
I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most, '" Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.

"Mr. Harold Belser" it read.

Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.

"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover.

Inside he found these words engraved:

"Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser."

"The thing he valued most...was...my time."

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.

"I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!"

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away,"

Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

4. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

5. You mean the world to someone.

6. If not for you, someone may not be living.

7. You are special and unique.

8. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you trust God to do what's best, and wait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something better.

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come from it.

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world.

11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

12. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you'll both be happy.

13. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.

Send this letter to all the people you care about, if you do so, you will certainly make someone's day.

[DAVES89]

Good job Ronnie!

 

 My father died just before my 16th Birthday so I too missed out on a father figure and a pretty important time in most men's lives. So fas forward 7 years when I buy my first house and who lives next door? My Mr. Belser. He was the man that came into my life and helped me with many how to projects as he could fix almost anything. I have since tried helping anyone I can who needs a hand. The other Mr. Belser was my first boss who taught me so much about growing into manhood. I didn't find out until later that he too had lost his father at a young age which is probably why he took such an interest in me.

God does help us in ways we don't realize until we are later in life and can reflect on what he has done for us. 

[Ronnie]

Thanks for sharing your story Dave. I had a similar experience when I was young. My mother died when I was 10 years old. My father worked a job that required him to work lots of overtime in the evenings, so I had lots of time alone. My Mr. Belser lived down the street where he ran a small garage in the bottom of a building where his family lived upstairs. His name was Joe Wheeler Crabtree Jr., but everyone called him "Red". He was named for a steamboat named the Joe Wheeler that traveled up and down the Clinch river across the street from where I live now.

 

Red was nice enough to allow me to hang around his garage for hours at a time, especially in the summer when I was out of school and had so much time alone. He sort of took me under his wing and watched out for me to keep me out of trouble. Although I was never an employee, his business wasn't big enough to pay an employee, he kept me busy being his helper as he taught me how to be a mechanic. I helped do it all, including laying on a creeper under the cars when needed. He knew I as mechanically inclined and wanted to learn, so he taught me most of what I know about the basics of being an automobile mechanic. After I got older he helped me get my first real paying job working in a large garage that had an automotive machine shop in the rear of the building. Red has passed away now. Every time I see his son, Joe Wheeler Crabtree III,  I tell him how much I miss Red and remind him that his father was my second father. It makes me feel warm inside when he tells me his father felt the same way about me.