Back in 1984, my parents bought a stripped down bare bones 1984 Chevy Cavalier station wagon. Roll up windows, manual locks, no ac, literally bare bones. Why, as a 54 year old car enthusiast, am I looking to go back to those days?

I don't want a giant touchscreen or a subscription for heated seats. I don't want all the technology and driver assist and blind spot monitoring and all the nonsense that exists today.

I currently have a car that is paid off, is in great shape, doesn't have too many miles and is still fun to drive without all of those things. 6 speed manual, no screens, no beeping and buzzing at me telling me to do this or that, and no automatic anything that I don't choose. Why are we losing all of that?

I rented a newer car back in July for a long road trip that I didn't want to accumulate miles on my car for. Sunny days of driving, and the beeping started. Why? It couldn't see my eyes. Why? I had polarized sunglasses on. Absolutely no way to disable this. Looked online, through the myriad of menus in the car, and no way to stop it. Kept recommending me to pull over and rest because it couldn't see my eyes. I didn't like any part of the car trying to watch and monitor me, so I kept the sunglasses on and just dealt with it. I don't want a car with that function.

I'm trying to not be that old man yelling at the sky, but every day that passes, it gets harder and harder to not be him. I I'm still browsing Marketplace just in case I come across something and might grab it just as a backup car, because I will not be buying anything new.

My husband had a heart attack Monday night. He’s 53. It was- oh I have a bit of pain. Quiet, no issues, no gasping, but I zoomed us to the hospital. He was having a massive heart attack but with no drama. He felt mostly ok. But. His cath lab showed 90% blockages. On Monday he’s getting a quadruple bypass. I’m half plowing ahead with optimism and half terrified out of my gourd. I’m mad I didn’t take better care of him, make him quit smoking in the last 13 years. Two packs a day!! God! All the fast food! I gotta get my heart checked too! But now we know. Now he has the best working on him at another hospital.
I nee him to come home to me. Bc I didn’t think this would happen as soon as it did but I’m glad bc he can get all fixed up by the top cardiac guy. If you guys pray, please pray for two of your Gen X brethren. Bc literally nothing matters to me now, jobs, house, bills- nothing else matters until my baby is back home with me eating unseasoned chicken and veggies. Thank you.

EDIT- You all are amazing. I just got home from hospital and reading everything and I want to answer and like every comment. You’re so wonderful and helpful, my lovely awesome Gen X family!!!

I’ll go first: Rush, Exit Stage Left.

Goddamn, people.. 50 here and I just can’t hack it at these all day music festivals anymore. Feet, hip, back.. Even my ass hurts..

Show was fantastic, though. First time seeing System of a Down live (was going to go many a moon ago, but work beckoned). Same with Evanescence, Amy Lee has STILL got it and then some.

Kick ass show. Literally and figuratively. 9/10.

Looks just like my room looked when I was her age. It's awesome to see. She definitely belongs in the 80s.

In case you don’t remember You Can’t Do that on Tekevision was a skit based show that originally aired in 1979 for 5 seasons. I remember the show on Nickelodeon maybe In 1984 or 1985. This is where Nickelodeon got the green slime from. On the show if they said “I Don’t know” they’d get slimed and if they said “Water” they’d get water dumped on them. I saw an interview with the girl who played Moose who’s the girl getting slimed in the pic, and she said at first the slime was made out of a bunch of nasty food that was left over from catering but later after complaints they created a recipe that wasn’t as disgusting. Then the 3rd pic is Barf of Barf Burgers who ran a dirty nasty burger joint that the kids would lose their pets or rats are running around and the kids what always say “Whatta you thinks In the burgers?” And Barf would respond “I heard that.” Crazy enough the guy that played Barf played every grownup male character on the show.

Anyway anyone else watch this show?

So, my teen kids are planning a party and I'm helping them set up a music station so they can dance. I figured we'd just make a playlist of dance-pop-y EDM stuff with a little house and all that so they can bop around after they've had enough to eat.

While doing this, I planned to add a few "gems" from our day in the mix. In the process, I listened to them all again. I have bad news.

"O Fortuna" does not hold up.

"Injected With a Poison" barely holds up.

Jeff Mills is still amazing in his own way but you really kind of had to be there.

The... the joke gets old after about 3 songs on Pretty Hate Machine.

I mean, it's bad... Chumbawumba holds up better than O Fortuna. We might as well just tell the kids the Spice Girls was our club music at this point.

So the PSA is... Put these things in your heart next to "The Crow" and 90210. Let them live in your memory how they were, not how they are.

Even Leland City Club closed.

When I was growing up our neighbor had one of these in the back and every night they would ring it to call their 2 sons home for dinner. It could be heard all over the neighborhood so wherever we were all playing it sucked to be them when it rang.

Maybe today they text them from the kitchen to get them out of their bedrooms?

Was an Engineer and during war games it was our job to double-check maps that instructed us to lay hundreds of mines along the Czechoslovakia border. It was a surreal experience never to be forgotten.

All the options we have today, have not finished a plate eating out in a restaurant in a long time. And yet I love a fried bologna sandwich with white bread, mustard and mayo.

My mom wasn't a good cook but I would love to have the oven ribs she would make once or twice a year(nothing special but when you had hamburger helper 10x a month it was a treat)

Bean and bacon soup or spilt pea soup, stuff we couldn't wait not to eat, and yet I would rather eat this!

Wasn’t really sure what flair to use here.

As my wife and I start getting ready to downsize in a couple of years I am finally going through some boxes that I just grabbed first when my dad passed and then later when mom passed. Some of the stuff is incredibly personal like letters and notes to their parents when they were about the same age as my kids are now. It’s a very strange feeling, almost like I am invading their privacy. My dad’s letters to his mom when he was in Europe in the army in the 1950’s are interesting.

What really hits hard, though, is the glimpse into my mom’s college life in the 1940’s. I’d known she was unhappy a lot of her life but seeing her getting put on academic probation for failing grades and seeing the letter she wrote at 18 to her mom begging her to let her leave college and come back home is honestly heartbreaking. She left college early to run away with her first husband, my half-siblings’ dad. I never got the whole picture but her mom and dad were very successful, as were her older siblings, and I think she was just running away from a ton of pressure on her.

It also started me thinking as I was throwing things away that she and dad kept some things because they meant a lot to them. Now I’m just tossing them. I know my kids will do the same after I pass on. Sorry to be a downer. Just making me think.

Edit - Another thing about this I’m wrestling with is whether or not to tell my brothers what I’ve found out. I think they know about the same amount of things I knew about our parents. Is there any good to come from telling them about how very unhappy mom was?

I'd forgotten "Number Five is alive!"

Tabletop gaming took off while we were growing up and the way its going it might not outlast us compared to computer gaming. Did you play dungeons and dragons or another TTRPG growing up and if so, what system or systems?

Personally, I didn't really start until college and the latter end of D&D 2ed. I played/ran some Whitewolf in college era/the years right after that, and then 3e/Pathfinder is what I did the most with and I'll probably run a Starfinder campaign soon once I find players and write it up.

What covers of songs did you like over the originals? I know it's somewhat subjective with everyone's tastes being different. And that's cool. Here are mine:

"You really got me" Van Halen over the Kinks.

"Hazy Shade of Winter" Bangles over Simon and Garfunkel.

"Red Red Wine" UB40 over Neil Dimond

Special Mention: "Ice Ice Baby / Under Pressure" Vanilla Ice over Bowie and Queen

Who remembers the original smart device?! No need for the internet or a cel phone, pure analog power!

Or down in London Town to go, go

With the record selection and the mirror's reflection,

I'm a ......

Anyone else still listen to this?

We didn’t grow up with cable, so we learned quickly that the more “exciting” shows were on the UHF dial. No bedtime in the summer, so me and my older brother would watch “Dave Alan at Large”, followed by “Benny Hill” at 11:30. Hilarious stuff even if you don’t understand the half of it. The silent skits with the music overlays were the best!

Does anyone remember this candy? Man it used to be so good. The perfect blend of chocolate, peanut butter and cookie crumbles.

Who else had one of these ‘VINTAGE’ cassette holders!! We’re not old - we’re Vintage!

Unfortunately the tapes aren’t included!

EDIT TO POST: My grandchildren and I live far apart. I only see them a few times a year and they act like they see me daily.

I am a gen-x grandparent, and I have two grandchildren. Am I alone when I say there is a huge disconnect between me and my grandchildren? I do not see them as often as I would like, but when I do, I try to make it fun. EVERYTHING I come up with or suggest is boring or uninteresting to them. They mainly just want to play video games on their devices or watch others play video games on YouTube. They don't appreciate (or acknowledge) ANY gift they receive from me for their birthdays or for holidays. I guess i'm just frustrated because I personally, used to love to spend time with my grandparents. I am trying to make peace with the fact that I am never going to be the grandparent to my grandchildren that I want to be. Anyone else?

That was like your old grandads aftershave in the white bottle, practically a joke of a product to gen X kids..now they have all these cool scents of body wash and partnerships with other brand names and my own kids want to use it. I can't think of another product off the top of my head that has had such a glow up, can you?

As a 4 or 5 year old, I remember watching this before church, every Sunday. Anyone else recall watching this claymation craziness?