Too young to be an OMOTM

The Old Men of the Mountain traveled to the Home Front Café in Altamont on Tuesday the 23rd of May. At the Home Front the husband of the proprietress qualifies for a bon-a-fide member of the OMOTM, only he won’t admit it — he claims he is too young.

Tangling with technology

Technology again raised its ugly head, at least for the OMOTM. The electronic advancement was supposed to cut down on the use of trees to make paper, but so far technology has done just the opposite.  Now, everyone makes copies of everything.

One of the many problems the OFs find is that the techies assume everyone is capable of using a computer, smartphone, or tablet. Nonetheless, many of us are not computer or smartphone savvy. Even in the techie generation there are many who cannot comprehend how these devices work.

A few of the OFs have run into the problem of a battery having to be changed in a new car. This is a simple process and does not take many skills to put a new battery in a newer car. However, after changing the battery they find the radio does not work. The OF thinks he has done something wrong. The OFs asked this question at the breakfast: how many of the OFs have read the books that come with a new car?  The answer was 0-zilch-none-nada one. One OF said the salesperson gave him a quick review of just a few of the buttons and gauges and where the spare tire was, and that was it.

Many have gone back to the dealer with the problem and have found out that when you change the battery the radio has to be reprogrammed. “What a bunch of bologna” (or is it baloney) the OF said.  The whole world is getting much too wound up in this computer production. One OFs wife has complained for some time now, “Why can’t we have just a regular on and off switch and let it go at that?”

The OFs who live on the hill talked about being on top of the mountain where things stay pretty much the same.  Then from their perch in the hills the OFs watch all the changes that go on by looking one way to the Hudson and Mohawk valleys and the other way towards Schoharie valley. They notice how many things now look different to them. Not as much to the south and southwest, but more to the north and northeast. Conditions look nothing like they used to look in the forties and fifties. What brought this up was how SUNY Cobleskill has grown.

Growing pains

Most of the OFs knew Cobleskill back when it was only 4 buildings and a 2-year school called the Schoharie State School of Agriculture. Today it is a 4-year school (State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill) and looks like a regular campus. The OFs don’t know if the students come out of here any smarter than they did in the fifties.

Sometimes changes are interesting to see, but sometimes changes are so radical that the OFs are out of the loop, along with other people of the senior population who are left wondering what the heck is going on. Like one OFs mother told him years ago, it is all a bubble and sooner or later it is going to burst. This OF said his mom was right most of the time — if not all of the time. When the bubble does burst it is up to the OFs of all generations to pick up the pieces and start over.

Mechanics

Here we go again talking about engines! The OFs maintain that engines have a mind of their own and the movies about transformers are not that far off. Most engines are factory tuned but the OFs say after they own them for awhile each one takes on its own personality.

One OF said that he had a chainsaw that would not start unless he cussed at it. What? He said that it had to be the right cuss words, too, or the engine wouldn’t listen to him. Say it right, and this engine started on the second pull. If he said it wrong (meaning he was just saying it and not putting any emphasis on the right words) the OF could pull that rope until his arm fell off. He claimed that when he cussed like he meant it, the little beast would start right up. The OFs at the table all related to that and had their own stories.

One OF had a lawn mower he had to kick before it started, and one had a mower that would only make one pass and then quit. The OF said he would then have to give the rope one pull and it would start, make another pass and then quit. This scenario went on all the while he was mowing the lawn until it was done.

Family affairs

The OFs discussed a little bit about families and housing. Some OFs have families that have their kids and grandkids live close to home, some so close they are in the same house, and some only 20 miles away. Others have their kids and grandkids spread all over the country and a few even have kids living in other countries.

When the OFs really become close to the short end of the ruler, if their kids are still underfoot, the downsizing is not a problem — the kids will just take over. When the OFs have kids spread all over (like the winds blowing dandelion blossoms) downsizing becomes quite a problem. While much of what the OFs have garnered through 80 years of living, including items they have accrued from their parents and grandparents, it should be noted that these collections sometimes belong in museums, or at least put into a high class auction, with the lesser quality items in a flea market. This is when downsizing becomes a problem.

The OMOTM would like to take this time to wish the best of luck to Melissa (our hard-working, attentive editor). She was going into surgery about the same time the OMOTM were having breakfast. This is something the OMOTM know about (the surgery part, not what type of surgery it is) so again, good luck and best wishes to Melissa.  

Those OFs who arrived at the Home Front Café in Altamont, and ready to eat, were: George Washburn, Roger Chapman, Robie Osterman, Roger Shafer, Bill Lichliter, Dave Williams, Pete Whitbeck, Jim Rissacher, Harold Guest, John Rossmann, Chuck Aelesio, Ray Frank, Rev. Jay Francis, Gerry Irwin, Herb Bahrmann, Elwood Vanderbilt, Marty Herzog, Ted Feurer, Wayne Gaul, Lou Schenck, Mace Porter, Jack Norray, Karl Remmers, Otis Lawyer, Mark Traver, Gerry Chartier, Ted Willsey, Mike Willsey, Bob Lassome, Henry Whipple, Bill Rice, Jess Vadney, Harold Grippen, and me.