Oldest NFL Rivalry Causes Mini Civil War

Arguments will break out today in offices and homes throughout the country as the stage is being set for the oldest rivalry in the NFL to battle it out in Chicago.


The Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears, two top contenders in the Black and Blue division made up of the Packers, Bears, Vikings and Lions, meet twice during the regular football season and cause commotion that can only be described as short lived civil war across the country.


It's brother against brother, husband against wife, coworker against coworker as team pride takes precedence over work tasks and tasks around the home and yard alike. And this year the game has national attention because it is played on Monday night. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?


Grandma is ready in her most comfortable Packer sweatshirt. Fans of da Bears are being identified and spammed on Facebook.


Usually, Grandma promotes understanding and tolerance as a way of successfully living in society, but on the day when the oldest NFL rivalry go head to head Grandma just joins in the fray.


It's time to fire up the grill and start the party. Cooking up some perfect steaks and brats? Slice some cheese to go along with that.


Grandma Butts Inn and says go ahead and argue. I think today should be a football holiday.

Old Farts take the First Step Forward

Yesterday Grandma was kind of cranky. I'd just read a piece in the NYT about people over 50 expected to not be able to find jobs in their lifetime if they were unemployed. In case you missed the post "Old Farts Should just Give Up?" feel free to read it before you go on.


So, Grandma did what Grandma does. I decided to just butt in and give some suggestions to those who are worried about job prospects as the economy recovers. I came up with a few ideas:


Did you know that there were places to learn online? FOR FREE? Yep. You can watch video lectures from several well known higher learning institutes. Lifehacker has compiled a number of places offering free online education for of us not quite ready to live a life of imposed retirement.


Whitson Gordon writes in his article Where to Get the Best Free Education Online:

"While most online resources won't grant you a college degree, there's a lot more to the internet than Wikipedia when it comes to learning. Whether you learn best through video or text, want to take a year-long course or just to touch up on a few topics, there are more than a few places online that can give you the full experience. In fact, there are enough that it can get quite overwhelming, so we've rounded up the best resources to make it all a bit more manageable. Here are some of the best places to get an education without ever leaving your computer."

For those who feel the time is right to jump into the freelance world and work from home, the internet offers a lot of people who have a lot of tips and experience to share.


For example, Suzanne Alicie writes a blog called Work From Home: 

"All about work from home opportunities and methods of earning from the comfort of your sofa. No scams! Only real work from home opportunities."

I follow this blog because it has so much information that I really find helpful.


I write a blog about freelancing called The Frustrated Freelancer  that you might want to check out just in case you think writing full time is a picnic in the sun.


The person who wants to find a way to get by while they're looking for employment will find a way. Especially the folks in Grandma's generation.

Old Farts Should Just Give Up?

The New York Times has an article that says if you're over 50 and unemployed, you might just become old enough to collect Social Security before you ever find a job.


Huh?


I'm thinking the NYT should get ready to print a retraction. These young whipper snappers don't know what the hell they're talking about.


We were raising our families during the recession of the 80's, and we did it successfully. We can do it again. You see, WE HAVE EXPERIENCE in making a comeback. Most of us were raising young children during that time and we managed to keep them fed, clothed and they grew up to be responsible adults. When the line a the unemployment office wound around several blocks, we looked for other options.


When somebody 'moves our cheese', we don't waste time crying about it. We start looking for it, and in addition, we know enough to look out for the better cheese we might find in our search.


Give up, my butt.


It's time to show the NYT that Baby Boomers can make quite a BANG when they decide to make something happen. Start keeping stats on the over 50 crowd that start their own business and end up hiring a person to help here and there. 


Keep stats on us washed up has beens who'll keep plugging away because WE KNOW HOW to keep putting one foot in front of the other.


While the younger crowd looks for a job that 'looks good' on their resume, we'll be talking about day jobs at the temp agency. We'll expand opportunities networking at the places we volunteer. 


We'll try new things because we know better than to let anyone tell us our horizons are shrinking.


NYT. Don't mess with us. Spend your time polishing up your resume, instead, because, in case you haven't heard, print journalism is in trouble.


And that's all Grandma has to say. (For Now)

Dear Grandma, If you like to give advice maybe you can help me

Grandma has been asked a question in the comment section of her very first post. I don't even have to butt in. Thanks, reader who wrote:

If you like to give advice, maybe you can help me.

My husband started a weekend lawn service to help us pay the bills. He did pretty good over the summer, and I thought we'd have some extra money to enjoy life. Now he bought a $7,000 tractor for his lawn service. He says he can use it to do other stuff for customers like plow snow during the winter.

I got mad and bought a leather couch just to teach him a lesson. It only cost $5,600. Less than his tractor. Now he's mad at me.

How can I let him know that I put up with him being gone almost every night during the summer and most weekends, leaving me here to clean the house without any help and I deserve a break, too. We really can't afford the couch, but we could if he would take the tractor back. He is being really selfish. The couch looks great and all of my friends love it and tell me I should be a decorator.

Taken for Granted

September 4, 2010 4:36 PM

Dear Taken for Granted,

In my opinion, someone is being very selfish here. Childish and vindictive also come to mind. What have you done to help the family budget lately? A few extra household chores?

Where is your brain, child. You spend money you don't have because you're mad that your husband is trying to make extra money that you need? It doesn't sound like his tractor is a toy or display piece, but an investment in his business. Instead of taking the winter off, he's planning to go out in the cold to earn extra money.

You complain about being left to do the chores. Have you offered to ride along and help in with his lawn business? Not only would you spend time with him, jobs would go faster meaning more money with less time.

If yard work isn't your thing, it's not mine either, have you thought about a second job of your own to pay for your expensive treats?

If a second job isn't your thing, have you thought about just cutting down on expenses?

I hope you saved the receipt for the couch and make arrangements to have it picked up and your money refunded as soon as possible. I also hope you let your husband know that you feel left out but that you understand what he is doing is for your family. He sounds like he takes his family responsibilities seriously.

Grandma


Do you have a comment or question for grandma?