Meeting with the Thursday Morning Guys

Every Thursday morning I try to meet with a group of men teachers that have been meeting for about 20 years. They are all retired, as I am. Most are between 70 and 80 years old. A friend of mind very close to my age also meets with this group.

It is an interesting group. Everyone pays their own way and usually there is no comment about what anyone orders unless it is significantly different that what he usually orders. A couple of guys order oatmeal with all the additions, (fruit raisins, walnuts, brown sugar (don't tell their wives) and milk. A couple of the guys only order fruit, but once those has taken to ordering a half waffle with his fruit. He gets a take out container to drag home the waffle to his wife (I suspect). A couple of guys order country potatoes and scrambled eggs. My order varies on the whim but it is usually a half waffle, a couple eggs and a small meat portion. It could be ham (my latest choice) or sausage(two) and the eggs can vary from scrambled to poached.

The purpose of the meetings is conversation. Politics are usually avoided as some of the folks tend to listen to or watch the inflammatory channels and after the intial statement from these sources there is really not much to discuss.  In other contexts my discussions with a right wind set seems to crumble after the shock headline to a simple statement that goes something like this..... but isn't true that we will lose status in the eyes of other governments for all the things we have done. It all wraps up in their imagination that the US is dependent upon other nations for our status by what we do or do not do. I guess I am over that. Or status can by screwed up so easily.

So with politics off the table what is there to talk about.  Today one guy was talking about the concept of how the new houses were being built in his neighborhood. One of them was 2600 sq feet with a three car garage out in front that allowed two cars to be slotted. So actually you have a 4 car garage. He was amazed that there was a significant slope sliding from the back car to the font car which would allow for easy conversion to a new room if wanted later. The lot that this house was on was pretty small. They were asking 394K for it.

Today we heard the horrors of putting your 403K into your trust. One guy said that when a death occured the trust is bound by the state to cash out the 403K directly. This brings up taxation issues that wouldn't occur if the 403K were maintained outside of the trust.

Another guy was excited because his driver won the NASCAR race at Indianapolis this weekend. Jeff Gordon has won more NASCAR races there than any other driver in its 20th year.  He was pretty excited that he won because he was given the key to the city earlier and was predicted by his crew chief that he would win prior to the race. He did not have the pole position to start, just a mighty fine car for that race on that day.

One guy had tales of his father running accountancy for the Fresno boxing events in the old days including a brush with Don King.  Everything was cash. I entered into the conversation with a tale about my boss who sold his house in Livingston to a drug dealer that paid him off in cash, and then was hauled in to the courts to describe how his was paid for his real estate and whether or not he received a discount for his cash payment. The courts found fault with the realtor for the transaction.

The credit union board member had a tale about getting paid 4300 dollars for a used car on a weekend. He arranged payment in the lobby of the open credit union and when she finished counting out the 20s told him it was a stick up....ha  ha... he had to admonish them that it was not a good place for a joke of that kind with the cameras used for security in the lobby.  

We heard the foils of a to do list from a landlord that came just after a tenant had caught up with her rent. It was just a laundry list of little things.

There were some reminiscences of times in the classroom but it seems that these guys are living more in the prospect of the future than the glories of the past. It is a very good group to see each Thursday morning.