Our Old Dad
Family life, slow travel, playlists, and advice from an old dad.
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Latest posts
- 2000 or So Things — November 2026: 67 In, 2 Out
The first monthly playlist update: 67 songs added, two removed, and 1,726 total. The ones I forgot, the ones that left, and a good reason to hit shuffle.
- Grandpa Bought the Beer
When their parents went out of town, two boys I knew had a reliable way to get beer: bring Grandpa. Parenting my own kids makes that memory look different.
- The Cloud Is Just Another Box
A box of printed photos became a cloud of digital ones. Somehow I've ended up with the same job all over again.
- 2000 or So Things
A giant, living playlist for my kids: songs that still move me, a lot of overlooked favorites, and one instruction—hit shuffle.
- The Teacher Who Thought Nobody Was Listening
A forgotten story idea from the summer of 2020, when remote teaching, empty classrooms, and an eerily quiet world made me wonder whether I'd died and nobody had told me.
- Ode to Assholes
Sometimes an asshole does you a favor by making you leave. I only had to cross a couple of ball fields to find somewhere better.
- Why Aren't You Complaining?
I've been called a complainer for most of my life. But I've also fixed a lot of problems. Why aren't more people complaining about what doesn't work?
- The Napkin
A fictionalized story from the early '80s, when a fraternity road trip became an exercise in terrible decisions, bad explanations, and trying not to laugh.
- Whose Garden Is It, Anyway?
I built a tropical garden, gave two Rottweilers the perimeter, and spent months trying to keep them out of the beds I'd put there.
- Straight Greats No. 6: Pink Floyd Had Four Perfect Albums in a Row
Pink Floyd made four perfect albums in a row from The Dark Side of the Moon through The Wall. Of those four monsters, Animals is still the one I pick.
- I Hate Everything but I Need the Money
Forty years after cheering for overtime at Andersen Consulting, I’m staring at the same old bargain: I hate what success seems to require, but I still need the money.
- Don’t Shoot Me. These Handcuffs Keep Falling Off.
Toy manufacturers spent nearly a century making handcuffs safe for children. The NBI apparently went one step further.