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  1. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    I got nothing against people who wouldn’t know which end of a horse to feed decking themselves out in the flashiest, spangliest, gaudiest “cowboy” drag this side of the Grand Ole Opry. Some people can actually dress that way without looking ridiculous. And some can’t. I have little doubt most of...
  2. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    My go-to shoe repair guy in Seattle, where it has been known to rain on occasion, strongly recommended rubber soles. Leather is fine for Italians, he said, but if you want soles that last, in this climate, go with rubber. Angel was the fellow’s name. His eponymous shop was (is?) up on Capitol...
  3. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    It’s curious that “Western” wear is popular among a certain subset of the population a good deal east of the West. It’s something of a cultural identity signifier. The country music scene has a lot to do with it, I suppose. I worked as a ranch hand, more than 40 years ago. We didn’t wear cowboy...
  4. tonyb

    So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

    One of our mutts is on two prescription medications, the other is on five, plus a prescription diet. The “new” cat (we inherited an 11- or 12-year-old, as best the vet can figure, cat, and a few hundred more bucks in veterinary bills, so far) is not yet on any meds, which is one small...
  5. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    As long as we’re making jokes at the expense of the states in the heartland … Q: Why is it so windy in North Dakota? A: Because Montana sucks and Minnesota blows. (But Montana doesn’t really suck. It’s among my favorite places. And I have relatives in Minnesota. My Dear Old Ma was born...
  7. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    I’ve long speculated that digital technologies could be the salvation of those charming little settlements out in the middle of nowhere. A person can buy just about anything online now, can read any book or periodical or see any movie from the comfort of her home, just about anywhere in this...
  8. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    I’m not normally a big fan of the flatlands, but there can be a beauty in the seeming desolation. We drove through the Texas panhandle on our way to and from the Big D three summers back. The area of southeast Colorado, the western Oklahoma panhandle, a corner of New Mexico and the Texas...
  9. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    Have you seen the new Nebraska Tourism ad campaign? The slogan is “Nebraska. Honestly, it’s not for everyone.” I lived in Lawrence, Kansas for a couple years in my childhood. Got an aunt (she’s still kickin’, last I heard) and cousins living there still. Some Kansans would argue, convincingly...
  10. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    “What’s this ‘we’ sh*t, masked man?” — Tonto, to the Lone Ranger, as they are being surrounded by Indians out for blood. “The Taming of the West,” “How the West was Won,” etc., etc. That was the steady diet fed us post-War kids, and not just in popular entertainments. Our schools positively...
  11. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    McMurtry made clear that his treatment on the subject was short by necessity, seeing how little about the fellow’s life is verifiable. Even the whereabouts of his earthly remains is unclear.
  13. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    ^^^^^^ The Peter Principle, eh? I have Indian relatives by marriage who had a tradition of hosting at the family’s auto-wrecking yard a celebration on the anniversary of Custer’s demise. I don’t know if that tradition continues, seeing how I haven’t lived around there in more than half a...
  14. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    I first visited what was then called the Custer Battlefield in 1969. I toured it again in 2000. A car trip in fall of 2019 took me right past it, but my travel companion and I decided against spending the 20 bucks (I think it was) for admission. But we bought postcards and refrigerator magnets...
  15. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    Last month, when my cousin from Wisconsin and his husband were visiting, we went to the Buffalo Bill gravesite and museum, a fairly short drive from here. It occurred to me that Buffalo Bill, once among the most-celebrated people on the planet, may gradually be fading into obscurity. William F...
  16. tonyb

    Vintage roadside

    ^^^^^ You just know that the hamburgers from today's fast-food outfits scarcely resemble those sold at the Street Car Cafe 80 years or so ago. Hardly the same species at all.
  17. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    According to Experian, on average credit card holders owed, at the end of 2020, a combined $5,897 in credit card debt. If I’m reading it correctly, this is for all consumer debt — bank cards and store cards. This was down from $6,629 at the end of 2019. So it appears that whatever the financial...
  19. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    ^^^^^^ Sears was the first to extend me credit, when I was 19 or 20 (these are getting to be distant memories, so pardon the inexactitude). I bought a component stereo, paid it off over a year or so. This was well before the Discover card days. The Sears card, the physical item itself, was...
  20. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    ^^^^^ Which is among the beauties of honest competition. The customer can go elsewhere, and at some point s/he just may.
  21. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    Mine had dipped below 800, until I made that one-time credit purchase. There are many perks to using credit. The issuers see to that. Who wouldn’t take a 1 percent discount on most purchases and larger ones on certain others? Who wouldn’t want the air “miles”? But just seeing the interest...
  22. tonyb

    You know you are getting old when:

    You get penalized for keeping yourself out of debt. The dewy-eyed bride and I took a helluva long time to retire consumer debt (stupidity accounts for most of that, with a dash of desperation) and student loans. Our credit scores were things of beauty. Having gone through all it took to get...
  23. tonyb

    So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

    I renewed my vehicle’s annual registration online, from my iPhone, while seated in that very vehicle. Took maybe five minutes. Not even. The new tabs and registration document came in the mail a week or so later. In this state, there’s really little excuse.
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