I think that’s sensible given her age. I appreciate that you’re not activating a cellular line of service yet here, because that constant sense of being connected everywhere you go is the pathway to the addictive nature of this.

My family is going on a cruise ship over the holidays. The cruise line has an app that…

My older kids got their first full-time phones in high school between the ages of 14 and 16. Prior to that, beginning in middle school we would sometimes loan them one for a short duration if they were traveling with relatives, staying out somewhere late, or like circumstances. They’re both grown now, and my…

I’m not advocating spanking, but otherwise these guidelines are about as helpful as a wet paper bag with a hole in it.

I clicked this story thinking we’d be discussing Presidente Brandy, which is appropriately enough made in Mexico and accomplishes the same amnesiac end for a lot less money:

This was a great write up. I’ve been a fan of this film since I was 12 years old.

We were planning to have Chinese food for dinner one night. My wife wanted to make it from scratch, but my youngest son - who was 10 at the time - wanted us to use a P.F. Chang’s store bought kit instead. In spite of our best efforts, he always had more of a preference for pre-packaged foods than fresh made ones, so…

In my office at work I have a small shelf on the wall upon which is displayed a set of Star Wars characters from the Galoob “Micro Machines” line. All of these figures were made in the 1990s, and none of them are over 1" tall, but that doesn’t stop some of my older co-workers from sometimes remarking how they “totally…

My bio-dad was both a chain smoker and had a rather serious hoarding problem, which only got worse once he divorced his second wife and all the kids were gone and there was no one to keep him in check. So all of his vehicles (he owned over 20 cars and trucks at one point), whether running or not, constantly smelled of…

Ironically, where I live in Albuquerque is also an increasing hotbed for car theft. I guess we must have more older car thieves knocking around instead of those kids today with their dang smartphones and their Rolljams who’ve never dealt with four on the floor.

CP on price alone. I had an `87 I paid $1500 for in 2000. I never had, or have had, a car with better MPG than that one, but not to the tune of 8 grand.

So much winning...
Granted, it will be a Pyrrhic victory but (shrug).

I had zero contact with my bio-father between the ages of 5 and 19, and was raised my whole life being told he was likely either “dead or in jail”. When I reunited with him, he was neither of these things (had never even been arrested), but he was a mentally abusive, self-absorbed, and somewhat lazy pothead incapable…

When I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, which is home to a Kawasaki plant that used to produced Jetskis and (I think) parts for the Voyager touring bikes, I heard they had the obverse of this problem. There were a bunch of Harley riders who worked at the plant and insisted on having an “American Motorcycles Only Here” lot, …

Make sure the drama club has a bucket. They can use it to help build a new performance stage for the security theater.

While I am no stranger to liver, I recently attended my first “offal party” with some families along with my own that had just purchased a freshly-slaughtered cow. After the beef had been distributed, the offal had been held onto by one of the stakeholders (“steak holders”?) for purposes of hosting an offal barbecue. I…

I was 12 years old (early 1980s) when I had liver and onions for the first time, courtesy of an aunt I was staying with for a few days. I had been dreading the meal all day long on the basis of nothing but the kid-level pop cultural perspectives which dictated that I wasn’t supposed to like it.

When I took my first…

Here’s mine (not my pic, but the same model). A few year’s back I inherited my father’s 1976 Bicentennial Edition FXE Super Glide, which was produced with this limited edition tank. My dad had the foresight to realize that this tank should probably be preserved, and quickly swapped it out for a pair of fat bobs. I…

Following an expected layoff at an IT job I held for 5 previous years, I signed on with a fellow named James who starting up a local IT support firm of his own. I was brought in with the idea that once the business was built up adequately I would be regarded as either a senior partner or potentially a co-owner of…

I can remember a time when a phrase like “life beyond bars” was used in reference to a how a parolee was adjusting to freedom. Now it seems like it’s more applicable to reminding people that sometimes they have use their own brains rather always banking on a sustained connection to the Hive Mind of the internet.

Long time Trekkie here. And for those occasions where I still sometimes wear something in public bearing the symbol of Starfleet, I will not brook hearing any of my conservative friends ever make fun of me for it again.