An Old Man's Podcast

If you are a fan of cruise vacations, you are not alone. There are many of you out there and looking in from the outside, it almost looks like a cult. God help anyone who doesn't show the same kind of zealous support for cruising. A couple of recent Maritime tragedies has me waking up to my own skewed view of the world. This may hit home with you as well, and you also may find it kind of embarrassing. Winning and happiness are like peas in a pod. There really isn't much of a difference between achieving both. That will be the topic on "Mindset for Happiness". Comedic routines have changed quite a bit over the years. Not just the dialogue and the subject matter, but one old reliable form of comedy seems to have faded away. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

On this episode we play some trivia on geography, in homage to academics which are on my mind for this episode.  Why academics? Because sometimes just earning a passing grade should be good enough. While we’re on the subjects of smarts, let’s talk a bit about artificial intelligence. We're told that we should be concerned, almost afraid of AI. I'm going to make the case that most of us have gotten use to living in an AI lifestyle and you are going to be surprised to hear what that lifestyle is. My observations on baseball batting helmets is the basis for a pontificate on my part regarding children's safety through the years. On Mindset for Happiness the topic is faith. Your path to happiness, OR unhappiness, is paved by your faith. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

Featured in this episode are letters from listeners providing some funny stories that will bring a smile to your face. It would appear that the family road trip is an American tradition that dates back for generations. I'm compelled to discuss the bad impact that lying can have on us. You might be surprised to find out who this liar actually is. Rock paper scissors is a fun activity, but I find it applicable to my lifestyle as well. On our weekly "mindset for happiness" I discuss how we need to have a system in place for dealing with the day-to-day grind of life. Because, any idiot can handle a crisis, it's dealing with the day-to-day of life that's difficult to do. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

I know there are a LOT of fans of cruising out there. I would like to be, but I just can't get there. When you here my story of personal torment and how I survived, you may agree with me. The ports in the southern Caribbean were great, the shows and activities on board fantastic. All of the people were wonderful. My problem, was with something else.... something completely unavoidable. I'm not sure if it's repairable, but I came off this cruise a different person. I don't even look the same as I did when the ship first set sail. On this episode I also tell the story of some great states to road trip through and places to stop, as well as avoid, along the way. #alabama #huntsville #georgia #atlanta #florida #tennesee #chattanoga #nashville #kentucky And our regular episode fun activity of playing trivia, will be based on travel. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

On this episode, I discuss the history of Father's Day and the importance of fathers. There are numerous gift suggestions, if you're stumped on what to get to celebrate a father or father figure for. And we play some Father's Day trivia. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

On this episode our favorite guest, 9 year old James lays out the perfect summer schedule for us kids of all ages. We don't want to miss any fun and excitement this summer! We'll also play some summertime trivia. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

Maybe I'm the only one that this happens to. But I kind of doubt it. As a matter of fact,  in observing other people I see this…. well we'll call it a flaw…. in others, making me believe I'm not the only one. For me, because of the way my mind works, I often expect something to be a certain way or I expect something to be at a specific location.  And when things are other than what I expect,  I'm completely out of whack.  I'm Coach Streb and on this episode of the old man's podcast I'm going to talk about what I believe is a common occurrence that throws us off our game and messes us up in life. I'm going to call it  Tunnel Vision.  Heed my warning, missing the obvious can be a real setback for any of us. It's spring and for me that's garden season.  I love planting a vegetable garden and harvesting peppers, tomatoes, green beans, onions, lettuce and all sorts of produce out of my very own garden.  breakfast in the morning with green peppers out of the garden 15 minutes old It's a point of pride when you produce something from your own efforts.  Yes I'm sure it's more healthy as well. I can control what insecticides and fertilizers and what not that my produce is subjected to.  That's a nice feature. But, mostly it's the feeling that I made something.  I always felt like coaching was a little bit like gardening. To build a successful program/a competitive team and help individuals reach their potential I had to do gardening type things.  Put the athletes Into a position where they could grow….. a fertile soil.  When they are very young seedlings (new to the sport), you have to take care of them.  Water them regularly, provide nutrition, protect them from them harm the insects, fungus little critters can do.  And if you take good care of them…. weed out the things that don't belong, not all but many will grow to be productive.  You can apply this thinking of metaphor gardening to whatever it is that you do.  In metaphor gardening, weather that is raising children or building a program or business or whatever it is that you do, you follow those steps and you will be on the road to success.  But in real life gardening, you have enemies. Sure you have competition metaphorically speaking in the gardening of your profession or in your personal life. But I'm talking about enemies that want to ruin you, I don't think we have a lot of that….. I hope we don't have a lot of that in our professional or personal lifes. In real life gardening critters like squirrels and rabbits in particular they are the enemy.  We've been at the current place we live for 7 years now and I've yet to have a decent harvest. Gotten some green beans, and I did have some real nice eggplants. But two of my favorites are yet to be born here where we live now.  That is tomatoes and peppers. Rabbits get in and chew my pepper plants down as soon as I put them in the ground to just a little bit of a nub, sometimes all overnight.  And the tomatoes, squirrels……….  evil squirrels. They'll get in there and pull the baby green ones off the plant and carry them onto my deck where I can see them out the window eatting them while they're looking at me the whole time.  Rabbits are at least considerate enough to not show up when you're around they're sneaky squirrels are arrogant and devious. I hate them. So this year I’ve upped my game compared to what I’ve doned in the past for squirrel repellent.  I’ve used that powder you sprinkle on the ground,  it's supposed to keep the rabbits and deer away…and I've got news for you that doesn't work. At least not with the critters I'm dealing with here.  So this year I constructed a Maginot line if you don't know what that means then you should have stayed awake in history class.  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

Adventure photographer Tom Gose shares his recent adventures to the US east coast with us. Hear of Christmas in Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach SC, a secluded island at North Carolina's Outer Banks, and traveling Main's mid-coast roadway. This trip sounds fantastic and why not enjoy a little vicarious living!!! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

We've all been there.  It started simple and before you know it you are caught in that downward spiral of the out of control household project. Once you venture down that rabbit hole you may start creating curse words to vent your frustration.  It was a simple start, just one little project and before you realize what's happening, multiple new projects begin spinning off.  And long before it ends, you've gotten completely bumped off of what you were originally doing.   I'm Coach Streb and on this episode of The Old Man's Podcast you are going to hear from an old coach more about the insanity that a home improvement project can become. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

Perspective, that’s a great separator of humanity.  We all see or experience pretty much the same things.  It is that journey through life that molds our perspective.  Everyone’s look at the same world is a little bit different.  As an Old Guy who has been there, done that… even has the T-shirt…… I have seen all sorts of things, crazy things, things that can keep you up and night as they continue cycling through your mind out of control.  And as an educator, for nearly 4 decades, my perspective is shaped by that very field one that is quilted into our society…. Teachers and coaches are in the middle of things and really have their fingers on the pulse of our world.  We see things in a way that others might not see. What’s on The Old Man’s Mind  What we do in our daily lives really isn’t that much different from everyone else living anywhere else.  We work, we play, we raise our family and live our life.  The way we do those things is the difference between people, if they are across the globe or across town, either way. In this episode I’m going to be pointing out some observations of mine that will illuminate what I believe are some of society's ills… I would like to submit, for your consideration, my thoughts and concerns on some important topics. So I saw something at my own home last week that was remarkable to me as well as somewhat disturbing. I noticed a young man walking up to my house. I was pretty sure I knew who he was, we had scheduled a service to detail the car. I wasn't expecting anyone at this particular time and thought well maybe he is just early.  Now at some point I'm going to have to clue you in on something, so let me do that right now. He was a young black man. Which could have meant he was walking up to my house because he had the wrong address. We have a family next door to us from Kenya and the African American couple across the street who recently moved in having retired and came back to St Louis from a long career in Hawaii. So the chance that this young man was at the wrong house was very real. Neither of those families have lived in their homes more than a few months and the visitor could easily have been a relative coming to visit.  I remember when, and not all that fondly, that dealing with bullies seemed like it was a part of growing up.  In grade school, my dad had to actually pay an older kid to walk to school so I’d arrive safely. He got me into wrestling hoping to give me some hope of being able to fight back. All that said, I do worry a bit about these kids these days, and this is going to sound crazy, it’s because they are not being bullied. Now I'm not saying bullying is a good thing. It has never been a good thing, but it has always been a thing. Bullying never goes away…. Mostly because bullies don’t think they’re bullies.  They feel like they are strong, they are assertive, just me being me is what they’d say. We go to great lengths to keep school age children safe, to keep them free from being bullied, and that's kind of what I'm saying is the problem. The fact that bullying never goes away cannot be ignored. When I was a school administrator I spent more time dealing with kids being bullied or being bullies than I did with any other topic. I am not saying dealing with bullying was a waste of my time, it was not and it was real and many kids struggled through adolesence because of it.  Maybe because it was frequently dealt with topic, it seemed to be something that kids would go to right away. They weren't getting their way, they didn't get something that they wanted, they wanted to control someone or some situation, all they had to do was utter that word bully and everything stopped to address the issue.  “Mindset For Happiness” Do it the right way “Uncorrected errors will multiply.  Someone once asked me if there wasn’t benefit in overlooking just one small flaw.  “What is a small flaw”? I asked him. Don Shula --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

What comes to mind when you hear the word “Cheers”. Likely,  you picture a bar, based on that great 80’s sit-com. The kind of place where everybody knows your name.  Movies tell us there are places like that where a man’s wife knows where to find him.  Ah yes, a bar that you can say is “my place”.  That's something I've never ever really had. A place that the Brits would call a "local", a community social center really. I've never had or lived in a location with a neighborhood bar. It wasn't an experience that I got to have in the years that I would have most enjoyed it. The neighborhood bar, pub, tavern, whatever you want to call it,  was once a common cultural custom back  in a time when people lived, shopped, and entertained themselves in the neighborhood in which they lived.  Where you had Friends and according to many movie scenes, where  your wife knows where to find you. In these modern times, neighborhoods are accessed and traversed via car….. We’re all spread out in the suburbs.  Cars and bars, not a great combination for obvious reasons. Just like watching cheers, you always kind of felt a tug for that neighborhood place where you had friends… and  you watched a game together and experienced life, usually the better parts of life, together. I think that's why that show, Cheers,  was such a great hit, because people either could relate emotionally to it because it was in their life or because that was the kind of experience we were looking for. But, this episode is not about cheers. It's just about that neighborhood bar, which is why the reference to that great TV sitcom cheers is so apropos. You may not be a tavern visitor very often or at all. Your social home base could be a coffee shop AKA friends, another example of taking this concept and making a great TV series out of it. I believe that those two stories strongly support my assertion of our drive to be in a social group.   Drinking coffee or libations…. it doesn't really matter. The VFW hall, the Laundry Mat, a park……… somewhere outside of our own home… We need a place to make our social energy flow.  And I have complained about this before, there just aren't too many places in our community that you can get that. People are living in vast suburban neighborhoods which are mostly homes and maybe a gas station or a quick trip and possibly a grocery store nearby, if you're lucky.  Our sprawling modern subdivisions do usually have a relatively nearby social center point….  Like a  tavern or a coffee house….. places where people will just naturally migrate to and form friendships and social bonds, Food for thought, where is your social home base? Do you have one? Do you feel as I do that it's important to have that social home base? If you are thinking to yourself that the answer is  “my home”, the man cave or my outdoor living space, that’s great, but do you have people over?  Is it just you and a few close family members?  That might actually be the opposite of socialization that I’m arguing about. So what are we waiting for, if you are missing this essential aspect of socialization in your life.  Or you want to improve in this area.  Then find THE place. Make those friends, build those social relationships.  And if you do, make sure you tell everyone there to listen to the old man's podcast. On I remember when, there was a certain weekly magazine was a welcomed arrival at our home. That was the TV guide, our best read publication. On Mindset for Happiness, work on your weakest links, and don't worry about your strongest. Is Torture a viable tool for disciplining kids? I found an idiot who appeared to think so. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

I can get angry, I’ll admit that.  That’s probably true for most people, getting angry is a common Human emotion. But we fight it, rightly so, hoping to be happy more often than we are angry. Kind of a low bar I guess.  We probably should be shooting for virtually 100% of the time being happy and only being angry as little as possible. I don't know about you, what sets you off, but I do know what sets me off. And if I can just remember to avoid what it is that sets me off, I can significantly diminish the amount of time I spend angry and therefore become much more happy. So there's your old man's tip. Shop around on tickets and don't just assume that whatever ticket broker you're using has the cheapest tickets. Remember, every dollar saved is a dollar you can spend on another beer. If you are a single adult male over the age of 50 and you are will to try to can dance, you can become one sought after commodity at one of these dance clubs. I think it'll give some of my friends out there some hope that one day you can the sought after guy. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

It seems to me that people oftentimes just can't leave a good thing alone.  There are so many examples of a project, business, company… any kind of human endeavor that is successful.  That has found a winning formula for their product or service.  And then, the powers that be decide to make drastic changes.  The kind of changes that completely knock them off the course of success and into a downward spiral of failure. They couldn't just leave things well enough and as result, something that was once doing well is now floundering for its very existence. I'm all for continuous improvement, but if you have a hit, a success, then you've got a winning formula.  Keep your tweaks small, don't overhaul something that is clearly successful. Like the football coach whose team moves down the field on the ground, get into the red zone and throw 3 in-completions then kick a field goal. If the off-tackle is working, stay with it. Same with life. If what you are doing is working then keep it working. Adjust a bit, change some simple things up a bit.  Maybe run the ball to the other side of the field, mix up where you go and see if you can find a soft spot to capitalize on. I know, I know a successful "formula" doesn't mean you don't evolve.  Change is, of course, inevitable AND healthy.  Embrace it, but don't let yourself go crazy with it. Seek advice from people you trust… from your customers even….. Surveys on that. It's a feeling I guess, not the science of successful business but the ART of being successful professionally.  Some people just seem to have an eye for that sort of thing. Sharpen your vision, do research and ask questions. I believe that is really an important skill in leadership that we miss in education but comes out in the school of hard knocks.  Knowing when to leave a good thing well enough alone. Please Subscribe and/or Leave a review and pass it on OR Subscription Service I remember when going to a movie was a much bigger deal. Now, we stay home, watch on our giant screen with surround sound. it's a shame really because the big screen at a theater, not to mention IMAX, can entertain unlike even the best TV's can.  Been to several new releases the past 6 months, the biggest crowd was barely more than 20 people.  And that crowd, there's not a lot of young people. Pains me to think about all the entertainment joy young people are missing. Movie theaters are dying.  Ones I've been to need updating and frankly aren't all that clean or very well kept up. Working at the theater was once a prime job, but no one wants to work at a job anymore. Poor service and out of things.  Happiness doesn't happen accidentally.  To achieve happiness is to realize your goals… your dreams.  And to do that, to be truly successful, you need to have the proper mindset. Organization, one thing I always took pride in.  One thing I always looked to improve on as well. John Wooden "Without Organization and leadership toward a REALISTIC goal, there is NO CHANCE of realizing more than a small percentage of your potential. He's saying we have no chance for success if we're not organized. Problem is, you may not realize it. Working like your hairs on fire and your butt is catching (being disorganized) may become your method of operation.  It's your daily do and you don't even realize it. Get and honest self-evaluation, a previous topic. Work with a trusted team who don't fear being honest with you, also a previous topic. Start with organization and then be disciplined, yet another previous topic, to find success, and therefore happiness. The great coaches and successful people I've admired and emulated all were super organized. I've always tried to be that way as well.  I've found that when I am successful…. When I'm well organized, it's a "boost" to my morale.  Being organized feels good. Same token, if I'm in a quagmire, disorganized and overwhelmed.  That's really downer and literally makes me feel depressed. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

Living in a "good neighborhood" can mean many different things to many different people. For me it's more about what else can be found in that neighborhood. Not so much the people The places really.   The way neighborhoods look in our country has changed a lot in my lifetime. A good neighborhood will have some very specific things. Many of those things are hard to find, because they're located as a conglomerate in one central location, or just don't exist at all. It is neighborhoods, and what they have or do not have, that is on my mind for this episode. On My Mind is complaining about my neighborhood's deficiencies. Looking for a hardware store, it's a 20 minute drive one way.  Liquor store, I don't even know where to go I've made the trip before (looking for creme de mint for the subscription episode). So a "quality" neighborhood has certain things……… gas stations, markets, restaurants, a "local", dry cleaner and alteration, auto repair shop, a movie theater, pharmacy, banks/atm, barbershop/hairdresser….. lesser things like a jewelry store, watch repair, sporting goods, how about a cobbler or a haberdashery?!?!?.. specialty sorts of things are nice. Much is taken over by the big grocery stores, they deal in meat, produce, baked goods, even a hardware section and pharmacy.  In smaller communities it's the Walmart that carries the entire load of anything, anyone would want. For decades, in urban areas, there was a speciality shop for everything.. walk out the door and turn one way or the other to a bakery, butcher shop, produce market, hardware… whatever. Society got mobile, went to the suburbs and became more spread out, our needs went from a short walk to a short drive…… spreading way out more as time goes by. Specialty stores (mom and pop) went to the wayside.   Big became better. And neighborhoods changed as a result while the automobile became indispensable. Demand determines supply, so as the demand for local neighborhood "things", like liquor stores and hardware stores diminished, so did the number of such neighborhood things. I grew up a suburb kid, but as I can recall our neighborhood was well stocked with easily accessable and neccessary stores, markets, and such. I guess mail order, like the behemoth Amazon will only exasserbate the issue.  I hesitate to say problem, because for people other than me, it doesn't seem to be a problem.  I guess I could of gotten Creme De' Mint delieverd to me from somewhere. So, yes, I do miss the good ole' neighborhood. I'm sure that concept is gone the way of the woolly mammoth, gone and never to return. On “Mindset for Happiness” the topic is how important discipline is to achieving our goals. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support

As you know, travel has been going on.  The podcast went on.  I prefer to drive, never in much of a hurry.  I like to stop when I feel like it, maybe to see biggest ball of twine.  My propensity for driving is probably really a trust issue.  My second favorite means of travel is by rail, but where you can go is limited.  Flying is the last option for me. It's of interest to me just for going from "here to there" when speed is required. I don't like flying.  I get the physics behind it, that doesn't scare me.  I don't trust flying, specifically whoever is the pilot. Let me fly and we'll be fine.  Am I a pilot?  No, but I won't know if the one getting paid to fly the plane is either until we get there…. or it's too late.  I don't trust very many people on the ground, and not any at 30,000 feet.  When I travel by driving I get to see stuff, stop for a wine tasting, an interesting local meal, and get some of Grandma's jam at a roadside stand.  Not on an air plane.  Both of us drive, we'll typically go two tanks of gas a day so 600-800 miles… just depends.  My wife's a good driver, it's not fair to unilaterally say all women are bad drivers, that isn't true. It's just that they are "directionally challenged".  Get off the road for a pit stop and most women have no hope of finding their way back to the highway and going in the correct direction.  Put gal in phone booth (if you know what one of those are… substitute closet) then spin her around a few times and she has no hope of finding her way out….. she would use her phone for directions. By the way, real me don't usd a GPS. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theoldmanspodcast/support