2 Goals for my post in 2024

 As a follower of Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm,  I know it is WAY past the date that I can wish anybody a happy new year.   All I want to do is acknowledge, and I think that is allowable, that it is a new year and I have a couple wishes for my blog for the new year.  I Dont call them Resolutions, but rather some goals I hope to achieve here in 2024. 

First, I want to continue my steadily increasing number of posts to get it to 24 for the year 2024 and have the second or third best year for number of posts since the early years.  If you can see how many posts I have every year, I had the most in my first full year of posting. It was still a lot for a couple years after that, but always a couple fewer. Until it went way down in the later teens down to the worst 3 for the year.  Geez what was wrong with me? 

One of the "good things" about covid was I got to writing again.  I got to writing more posts and since covid my posts per year has steadily gone up.  In 2023 I nearly got it to 2 a month to make it 24 for the year.  But I missed it.  For 2024 I want to hit that 24. 

You may think that is rather shallow, to write to reach a goal, but it is more like keeping myself going on the task.  My task has always been to document me taking care, or not taking care of, my daughters  as they grow up.  I have always thought that I did more than ordinary fathers and spent more time with them, but sometimes I did/do not. This might be one of those times as I am working in my store 5 or 6 days a week.  Still I want to document that.  It is like a public journal.  

In that sense also, as I have said at least 5 times, and recently, but want to say it again, my writing is not really to entertain. In fact many times my writing will be boring and uninteresting to you or any reader, but that is ok by me.  Because a journal is often boring and only interesting to the writer.  If you want to read, great. Again, it is a public journal.  I am not looking for numbers. I am aiming on documentation. 

In that respect I think it is better to keep the task going and write more to document more.   Twice a month is very reasonable.   So, my first goal and probably a goal to keep me going is to get 24 for the year, hopefully at least 2 a month. 

2.  To add 5 more meals to my repertoire of suppers I can cook that my daughters will eat. This is more difficult than it sounds as my younger daughter is a very finicky eater at this time in her life. I have every hope that she will be better when she gets older because as my older sister reminded me, she too had been a very picky eater when she was young but is eating now as an adult well enough.  Although she is nearly a vegetarian, she still eats meat and eats all the meals placed in front of her. So, I think my younger daughter will expand her tastes also. Just unfortunately for me, at this time, they are very limited.  

I dont know if limited is the right word.  Its not that she only sticks to a couple meals, its just that she doesnt like to eat a lot of things.  Lets see, green vegetables, carrots, mashed potatoes, but not cooked or baked potatoes or french fries.  Curried food.  She likes some Thai spice foods but not others.  She doesnt like any type of beans.  This makes it difficult for Mexican foods.  Although my wife has made a beanless chili con carne for her.  She doesnt like chick peas which I have recently discovered not to mention no cauliflower.  

My other daughter used to like my chicken wings, but not any more.  Neither of

them want to eat pork meat dishes.  That knocked my barbeque pork out of my repertoire.  My older daughter objects to me making any Thai or curry dishes because it is "not in my heritage".   

Both of them eat some but not other fruits.  One daughter eats bananas, the other not.  One watermelon the other no.  Like that. And to cap it off, one doesnt like dark chocolate, the other doesnt like white chocolate.  Go figger.  They will both claim that if they eat the chocolate they dont like they will throw up.   

So.  You want to talk about a daunting task.  

That said, I think there are some openings for meals.  Hey, give me a break if they arent the most exquisite of meals, but... give me some leeway.  

Sloppy Joes.  I have always wanted to do this meal.  I never really ate them when I was a kid although they were in my periphery vision.  They were always around. I am very good with the sauce for this meal, so I think it will be a simple thing to transfer my spaghetti sauce to a sloppy joe.  

Yes, some form of chili. I dont like to copy my wife, but in this case I have always wanted to make my own chili. My mother always made it and it was very good and she had no heritage for chili, and I really like chili so I would like to make it for the whole family.  

I have in fact added a couple of Thai dishes to my  own repertoire, like this one pictured, red curry chicken, but they were rejected by both my daughters.  agh.   I got these dishes from a cookbook written by an Austrian sportsman cook, so I dont agree that it has to be in my heritage for me to try.  Therefore I think there must be something I can make to my liking that has thai spices such as curry or ginger and noodles and can be liked by my daughters. But havent discovered it yet.  

There are a couple recipes sent to me by my sister she discovered in my mothers apartment in her recipe lists.  I remember the dishes and would like to re create them. I dont think all of them will be accepted by my daughters, especially the stuffed cabbage, but those will be more a pride thing to cook what my parents cooked and what I remember from my childhood and may or may not have liked.  I cant remember if I was thrilled with my moms stuffed cabbage, although by the time I was an adult I know I did like it.  

If I am lucky I ll get four new dishes from the above choices.  If not lucky... two.  

We ll see.   At any rate, I am up for the challenge.  If they dont like something but it is still good or made well, then it is still somewhat of a victory as a new meal for me to eat and a feather in my cap of cooking.  

I think these are reasonable and doable goals to have.  Sometimes the point is to not put the bar up so high so in fact it is easy to jump over it.  I am not one for making impossible goals, but rather possible goals.   

Over and out for 2024.   Please join me and read my blog when you can.   

Thank you

There is a new wave of deep house on the circuit.  On of my favorite labels for the new deep house who I think do a very good job of it is Bondage records. An awful name, but great music.  Of the bondage stuff I am deciding that one of the best artists on the roster is Marcus Homm.   

My younger daughter came to me with her list of music for studying and doing homework by and well, it was like McDonalds music. Tasty but without nutrients and not so great for the body.  The Bondage label and Marcus Homm is not empty easy listening calories.  There are so many good nutrients in this music.  So even if you just want passive background light listening OR you want to be an active listener, both are possible with Bondage and Marcus Homm s album "After Dark" 

Christmas : I get it. Two sides to the coin.

 It is really a 50 50 coin toss.  I am talking about my teenage daughter.  I mostly stay calm (unless it is a school night and it is after 11pm and she still isnt close to ready for bed. ).  I guess there are two sides to that coin.

On one side,  I dont get angry or am not terribly bothered by her behavior.  Basically she only thinks of herself.  And a lot of that is because of the development of the prefrontal cortex in the forebrain.  It controls your, "planning, prioritizing and  decision making" and is basically the little kid screaming "me me me" until it develops and is able to act rationally and make better decisions. Such as, it is not too good to just live on McDonalds and potato chips. Or, making the decision that you should really get better sleep than between 3.30 am and 1pm every day.  Granted it is Christmas vacation, but we should get back on a schedule that fits what you have to do.  Right now the cortex in the front is going haywire, from what I understand, and there is a lot of irrationality and anger even.  So, I try to stay calm and say, this is not how she will be when she is 23 or 26 years old.  It is the last section of the brain to mature. 

On the opposite side of the coin, it is in fact exactly what a parent should be doing by guiding that irrationality and trying to steer the person back into "safe" waters. In fact the parent has to be the one who says, "well living on potato chips and McDonalds is not really a good thing, even for a week".  We still have to say, "You are acting irrational and I think it would be best if we changed these things so you dont destroy yourself or become sick in some way and even stay healthy."   

N.Wallenda across Niagara

AND you have to do that without upsetting the irrational brain (the teenager) and make them run away screaming "I hate you telling me how and when to do everything.  Clean my room, do my homework, eat fruits, get to sleep on time, nag nag nag".   It is a tightrope wire  to walk.  

I got mad at my daughter before Christmas for something I really really was disgusted about and I yelled, "You go back and take care of it.  You have to know the difference or we have to teach you the difference between right and wrong and this is very wrong, so go back and fix it"  And she yelled at me as if I was the bad one for yelling at her.  But I couldnt take it lightly.  I had to make sure that she knew for sure this was a "wrong".  Also I didnt want people saying, "well it was the parents fault because they didnt teach her the difference between right and wrong". No siree Bob.  For the record, what she did was wrong and I told her so.  And she said, "yeah yeah yeah, I ll take care of it".  I hope she did.  

And another thing. 

When I got a really nice pair of pajamas for Christmas, I really needed them, I said, "thanks a lot GUYS (referring to both my daughters) for giving them to me. I really needed them and they are nice."   And in a minute my younger daughter asked me why I had said "guys" plural.  Oh.  It was just you who got them for me? My 12 year old.  My older daughter didnt get me anything.  She probably didnt get anybody anything.  Her mother gave her an electric guitar, I will give her a legal piercing when she wants it and I got her an MF DOOM LP.  It s not like she got coal in her stocking and her parents are the Grinch who stole (her) Christmas.  Christmas still came and she made out well but didnt contribute much herself, if anything to others.  

I get it though.  I am not upset.  Again, its her "me me me, I am the important one here" cortex brain in the lead thinking about herself and not others.  Sometimes even adults have problems thinking of others over themselves.  It is a tough case.  So she is a teen ager.  I got a nice pair of pajamas, I gave myself two CDs and a new pair of walking boots I needed for any more snow and a box of instant coffeees (from my worker) which I drink every day.  I really dont need much. I have everything and in more than enough amounts.  Its ok.  Seriously for the rest of the year I dont have to get myself anything (maybe one more pair of pants) and I can concentrate on disappearing my debt.   So, its ok daughter. 

Well.... sort of.  Mostly.  

I am a bit hurt to tell you the truth on the other side of the coin.  I mean even my worker got me a ten pack of instant coffee. It was a really nice gesture.  Couldnt my daughter have at least gotten me something small?  A big bag of potato chips or a chocolate bar?  Just some notice that she tried and she thought of me for five minutes and thought, "boy, he might like this."  I know she doesnt have much money (because if she has it she is buying herself McDonalds and potato chips) but I would have settled for a very small token gift even.   One day she could have forgone her potato chips and gotten her old man a small gift for Christmas.  

But I get it .... mostly.  She just isnt thinking of others right at this juncture.  I have to lightly guide her through and make comments and footnotes to her behavior and her lifestyle.  And Christmas is about the spirit and not about the gifts even if our modern world has made the giving of physical gifts the center of Christmas.   Its not.  

So there are two sides to the coin. And while one side may be the better and more rational, understanding and forgiving,  there is also the other side which is more hurt and a bit of pain.  

But, it will be better next year, or the year after that.  I m ok with it.  Mostly.  

Respect and Responsilbility for the new year  2024.  Hopefully more happiness and joy than pain and hurt.   But there will be all of them.   

These moments, few and far between

 It is great to have a teen age daughter when they arent complaining.  A couple moments happen once in a while when you just sit and listen and think, "wow, this is really nice".   I guess maybe it happens more when you get together after they are grown adults and you sit and have a coffee or breakfast with them, but that is after the times are gone. And that is probably once in six months if that.  

When you are all at home living together, there arent actually many moments when your teenagers will be sitting with you and talking to you. Maybe with Dad less.  Maybe with mom more.  I have had a couple when mom isnt at home and is away for the weekend. 

But two weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised when everyone was home and we were finishing dinner and it was just me and my teen age daugther and she suddenly had the urge to talk to me about every kid in her class.  She told me how she relates to every pupil and why they were friends or why they werent friends.  I found that very nice, to say the least. 

"What happened to your really good friend who slept over here a lot last spring?" I asked her.  

"Oh we had a falling out because she really thought I was doing crystal meth which I am not." 

Oh.  Um..... Well anyway it was really nice hearing about every student in her class.  I just sat there and listened quietly.  In fact I felt at peace.  

Its not that we dont have conversations, but in fact it is very difficult sometimes to get a teenager (daugther) to open up for a conversation.   Most of the time, it is more like "fine". "yes" "no, not really".  Or even the total anti conversation maker, "No, I am not going to discuss any of that. I dont want to"    

I guess mostly when I want to have a conversation, she doesnt.  She clams up and takes her meal to her bed or bugs me and looks at her telefon during dinner which is against the law here.  

I guess that is the answer which I have to abide by.  When she wants to have a conversation, she will open up and start talking.  I just have to play by her rules and let her pick her time for a conversation. If I want to talk over dinner, I might often not get it.  It is tough sometimes sitting quietly at dinner.  Dinner was always lively and loud when I was growing up and there was no end of conversation. I miss that.  But its not like I can force it upon them. I have to let them start speaking when they want to.  

(not my daughter)

If I start with a "how was school" and I get an "eh, it was ok" "boring", end of conversation, then that is what I have to accept.  I get it. I dont like the quiet, but thats that.  

To be totally contradictory, in fact as I was writing this post, my daughter came into the kitchen where I am writing. She has covid right now unfortunately, and mostly stays in bed.  But she had to get onto the conversation of some goods we got from a fairplay store or something like a goodwill store maybe.  I cant explain it. Anyway, there were these religious sayings on the goods and it creeped me out a bit. It felt like I let the 7th day adventists into my house to sell me goods and their goods did the talking instead of the people.  My daughter started yelling at me that religious sayings are on lots of stuff and I shouldnt be creeped out.  "Let there be light" is kind of a ubiquitous saying.  Still it made me feel uncomfortable.  And she got on me that i was anti educational.  How that got me tagged as anti educational is beyond me. I told her in half joking half real tone, "please go away". touche.   

i guess I cant always have my cake and eat it too.  These perfect conversations are few and far between.  

I was listening and reading about Husker Du all weekend again. One of my favorite all time bands.  This album first blew me away when I was 15.  Just..... whoa...  My teenage daughter is 15 now. I wonder if she will get blown away by an album this year.  Or something on Spotify,  Yeah right. 

What are words for?

 

"When no one listens anymore."  

Words from Missing Persons, 1982.  But they aren't true for me because I listen all the time.  I am a good listener.  Most people don't listen, this is true. I can see it on their faces, they are just waiting for the second to jump in and talk about themselves and say something that came to their mind as they heard a few words from you.  From that point, they aren't listening.  

But I have to listen because my brain is wired like that.  I am able to listen to lots

of music. I have to listen, that is why I often cant listen to music when I am writing because I have to listen to the music and I cant pay attention to my writing.  I am hardwired to listen.  I guess really a lot of people's brains arent wired to listen. So they dont know how to listen to music nor do they listen to people when talking.  

What does this have to do with being a father at home?   

The problem is is that often the words are used in a derogatory fashion.  Words are used to build barriers and be divisive.  They arent used to come to an understanding and a conclusion.  They are used to deride.  I hear this.  

Take my subject of music.  When someone doesnt use your word or the accepted word for a group or a noun it usually means they are trying to take over the subject and make it theirs for what they want to do with it, which is usually to put it down.  

Emo used to be a type of music big in the first decade of the 21st century.  Short for emotional music.  That was something good.  BUT, it came to be bad.  All the bands that were emo tried to distance themselves from the style, like "my Chemical Romance" and MSA maybe.  Who knows why it became a bad term. It fell out of fashion.   

Anyway, Now more than once it has happened to me that teen agers call the rock from earlier decades, from the 80s and 90s emo. They call ALL rock emo.  It is a putdown because emo has a bad reputation so they are being derogatory toward the older generations music.  In our terms, it was rock, hardcore, punk, whatever, but not all of it was emo. Not much of it was emo.  But now they say "you listen to emo?" Since emo was made into a derogatory word, they are implying that all that music from earlier decades is also not good, it is emo.  

Its the same thing when Trump steals the agenda and puts a derogatory name on one of his challengers and then that name sticks and the trait of the name is adapted to the person.  "sleepy Joe", "send her to jail Clinton".  The teen agers just like Trump are sticking on a derogatory term to belittle the others.  

Thus words are used to create divisions.  Not as a force of understanding.  I dont like this. 

"Millennials expect life to be easy."—"OK boomer."

BOOMER is the other word. For decades there were the baby boomers.  There was nothing wrong with that term.  It was well recognized as those born between 1945 and 1964  and that big growth spurt when there were A LOT of babies being born, mostly after the war.  It grew out of the term baby boom.  Nothing wrong with that.  And baby boomers knew who they were and had no problem with being a baby boomer.    

But now, the teen agers call anyone "older" a boomer.  Basically 30 and above. I had no connection to the baby boomers and yet to my daughter I am a boomer.  

I dont like that.  Ok, boomer.

Again, it is used in a derogatory manner to put older people down and talk in terms of us and them. Kind of like Jerry Rubins', "dont trust anyone over 30".  Now anyone over 30 is old.  They are boomers.  We are us and they are boomers say the kids.  Dont trust the boomers.  Kill the boomers.  

It all becomes part of the divisions that are taking place in the US and probably all over the world.  

So here, words are used to create an us and them and not for co operation and understanding. 

I find this very bad.  I think Hitler did this with his propaganda machine. Is this what words are for? I always thought language developed from a necessity for people to understand each other better.  Now the opposite is happening.  This isn't what words are for.  

I could only listen to music when I was putting in pictures.  But I rediscovered the REPLACEMENTS.  1984 "LET IT BE"  was a fantastic album.  

Shamed 1 (because there probably is much more to come)

 

They say that new parents have it tough. They dont know how to handle being parents and everything is new and kind of scary.. Phffff, big deal.  The tiny baby is going "goo goo gaa gaa" and at the most spitting at you or throwing up a bit on you. At the worst you lose a little sleep by the baby crying all night long.  Big deal I repeat.  

The modern teen ager has the ability to denounce you, dare you  (make my day parent, go ahead an hit me), make you so small that you might as well disappear.  Its Suicidal tendencies first hit in reverse, in which the child is coming to the parent and saying, "we are worried about you, we think you ought to get yourself committed".  And you STILL have to support them.   (Did you understand this all?)

Back in the day, my day, we would never have shamed my father.  He was a philosopher and intellectual to boot and that just does not work.  But maybe we still did, a bit.  Maybe some behind his back.  I think the only thing we could laugh at was that he didnt know much about modern music nor TV.  But big deal, he didnt know who Mary Tyler Moore was or the Six Million Dollar man or Charlies Angels.  Not much to shame a parent over. 

My cousin started giving me warning signals some years back. He is a bit older than myself and has grown children now.  I think he wrote some stories or did some personal jokes about being the but(t) of some of his childrens jokes and being made to be an embarrassing idiot by them.  Maybe not that harsh, but basically not wanting to be seen with him because he was embarrassing.  

I just still cant quite believe it because in my workplace I see lots of parents who come in with their kids and the parent is in no way ridiculed.  The child and parent are either equal, both looking for some music they dont have in their shared collection, or the parent talks about some great band that the kid should know. 

So, am I the special case, or the norm? 

I listened to hip hop back in the early 90s.  But even that doesnt help with my daughter who is hip hop specialist.  She doesnt know or care who Chuck D and Public Enemy is/were, let alone Boogie Down Productions, Third Base or De La Soul.  Although we can both agree on NWA s Straight outta Compton.  But why should I be trashed by her that I didnt know who Tyler the Creator, King Von, or these lame UK garage hip hop acts were?  I am willing to learn and listen, but even in that acquiesence, I lose my face against her because somehow I am admitting that I am stupid.  Ach du lieber.  

generation gap

Several months ago, I wrote a post in which I claim reverse generation gap and I queried over whether it was possible to NOT have a generation gap.  And.. I dont think it is.  Man, even if you listen to the same style of music, the music of the 90s is 20 years behind her time.  She may listen and like one Bob Marley song, but I have heard every Bob Marley song ..... 10543 times and how can I explain that I dont want to hear any "no women no cry" anymore.  

It just doesnt work.  But it must, I have seen examples of where it has.  Or is it in fact none of these kids want to be seen within 10 yards of their parents (dad) in their home town, but in another visiting town it is ok?   Maybe.  

A week or so ago, my daughter said, " Dad, I am not trying to be mean (that is a scary red flag right there, if you ever hear that from your kids, close your ears and run away), but you ought to buy some of these cook books that mommy has. Get your own.  You know these with simple recipes? "    Was the most biting "you suck dad" comment I have had to come to grips with. As if i was a complete incompetant and couldnt make myself a salad without burning it.  Which just is not true as I have about a ten recipe repertoire now.  But boy was it a stinging barb of a comment.  

This is what your nice little goo goo gaa gaa babies turn into.  So, my new parents when you complain that parenting is scary and the child wakes you up at 2am crying and you dont know what to do... I am telling you, you will have another chicken to roast in 15 years and those problems will cut you down to size to a small peanut.  So take the bit of vomit on your nice clean shirt as a sort of trophy and wear it with happiness, because in the future........ oh.... I shudder to think.  I am warning you now.   

It took me longer to finish this post because I was reading every night till 1.30 or 2am.... Raymond Chandler books

Shrinkage as caused by the teen ager

 Now that it is nearly Winter I can stop posting about the summer and talk about current topics. Or maybe this is just a general topic and not really current.  

When we were in a Wal Mart mega store my daughter suddenly made me very afraid. She asked me if I would buy her some sort of lipstick  or some cosmetic.  I dont recall what I said if I had the chance to say anything before she pulled the cosmetic out of her pocket and sort of post threatened me that if I had said no, she would have stolen it.  

Wah..... T.F?   

Now, a) I dont know if she would have actually stolen it, maybe she would have taken it out at some point, as she in fact did, and put it back or had me buy it, or b) maybe she realized that she could still get caught and didnt want that and was going to produce it anyway and not really steal it. 

Still, I got very frightened after that and watched her cautiously in the store especially around the small items things like earrings and those things she likes.  I tried to keep a glance on her at all times.  

Two things about this which dismay me quite a bit.  1. I have a store myself, am a small retailer, and although I dont think many people do or can steal in my shop, it is a concern that I have to have to watch people and make sure there are no five finger discounts.  In fact I am disturbed if anything gets stolen. As happened just like two weeks ago when I realize now that these two guys stole a t shirt. I have to pay for it. Usually the person who makes the least money has to pay for it. Usually the people stealing can afford it, as it happened this time that one guy bought a shirt while the other was stealing. They had money enough.  

But I digress.  Sadly.  2. Being that it seems that teenagers are a big segment of

the shoplifters.  Again sadly I can understand why this is.  Of course I do not condone it.  Of course not.  The problem is, teenagers have to explore and try everything that is dangerous and "against" society and everything that they were told not to do from little kid on.  So, drinking, smoking, doing drugs, and shoplifting.   Also, they have to impress their peers.  The teenager who knows the difference between right and wrong and maintains their integrity in the face of peer pressure.... hats off.  Peer pressure is a terrible thing, especially for teenagers.   And also, related to the first reason, they do it for the kicks.  They dont really need it, they just like the thrill.  "Hey, wow, this cost me nothing".  Great, but someone had to pay for it.  Usually the person making the least money has to pay for it, in a small store, or in a restaurant. If someone runs off without paying for their meal, the waiter/waitress has to pay for it.  

I dont think I am going to change anything by writing anything here, so, I am only noting.  

But 55 per cent of shoplifters started when they were teenagers and one fourth of shoplifters are teenagers.  

The statistic that is bothering is that many shoplifters who start as teenagers continue to be shoplifters into their twenties and dont "grow out of it".   And even more loathsome is that these people have trouble finding and keeping a job.  In fact they can become petty criminals. 

So, if you think your teenager is just going through a phase, remember that NOT ALL teenagers are shoplifters and if you dont do something about it, more than, oh, they will change, then you may be helping your child to in fact NOT grow out of it.  

It is always a tough line to follow.  Because on the one hand, and I am contradicting myself now, I realize, your child will not be the same person at 25 as they were at 15, they will have concluded a really crazy growth spurt time of their life.  On the other hand, bad habits formed early, have to be reversed and re wired in the brain.  The sooner they are rewired, the better. 

Since the summer I have not been out with my teen age daughter, so I cant really say if she has carried through on one more bad habit.  She is going through a period of , to paraphrase Rage against the Machine, "eff you, I wont do what you told me to do" and that could mean that she has tried the five finger discount.  I guess I should be a good parent and put it to her again, its just that I think we have gone through some pretty high voltage nagging sessions of "dont do this" "this is not good" that there is only so much nagging that we can dish out and that she can take, that I think for the time, I may not broach the subject.  Yes, another contradiction of all I have said, I guess. 

And then there are times we parents just have to lay off and hope the kids are doing the right thing.  

A rerelease of Plastikman "sheet one" coming out any day now, made me go back to the CD I have of this and listen to it.  30 years old?  

Mistake : No More. 2 out of 3 bad. O Hare is off my list!

This is NOT that terrible O¨Hare airport

 NO MORE.  

Thats it.  I didnt make a mistake, but it was bad again and I wont give them another chance.  Strike Three.  No benefit of the doubt.  

I AM NEVER GOING THROUGH O HARE AIRPORT IN CHICAGO AGAIN.  NEVER. Unless the price is super super good. And even then I will think twice.  

I have been through many airports in Europe and you get them pinned down. This one is good, this one is good some of the time, this one (Heathrow in London) I will never go through again.  

And then you have a limited amount of ways to get to your destination in the US. Philadelphia, Minniapolis, Detroit, Chicago.  

This is the Boardman river NOT Chicago

Now, Chicago is strictly stricken from the list.  It just is a bad airport.  You know, bigger is not better.  Bigger is just more chaotic and more time consuming.  

Let me intervene and tell you how this connects with my general topic of dad 40 per cent at home.  

See, you have kids you are taking along.  It is more difficult if they are younger, but still even when they are teenagers you have to calculate time differently. If you have an airport which cant get your documents correct any time and it takes 20 minutes at the checkout counter, you get more stressed out (that always was happening to me at my first stop leaving vacation, what could I do?) If the terminals are far from one another, it is fast walking and more stress to stay together. How long a wait can you or they stand as a lay over.  These and several other questions will decide which airport you go through if you have several choices.  Please make no mistake, choosing the best airport... well is the best. 

Bigger is not better. If you have a big airport, people are coming in from all over

This is my friends former house Not OHare

the world and they are all funneled into ONE customs area, coming into the US or leaving for overseas.  One area.  You want to know how long that line can be? 

I suffer from anxiety, so the more barriers they throw at you at an airport, the more you freak out and dont want to use them as much.  

But who would think that after my last glowing report on O Hare in Chicago, they would totally get it wrong again and totally piss me off and stress me out so my daugthers were saying, "its all right dad, we ll still make it, we will get through"

It started off at the customs again.  How long have they existed and they still dont seem to have it correct?  Man, you would think we were in Tel Aviv or some place with danger and they have to  do a thorough border control.  But the main thing is, they have a line that can stretch and wind for a kilometer or more.  If you are making a connection and have to go through customs, you need more than an hour layover to get through customs.  And that is pushing it.  Two hours. 

Our Lake NOT a customs line in O Hare

Granted the line did move along, not as well as when I wrote my entrance to O Hare a couple weeks ago, but it wasnt NOT moving, that would be Tel Aviv.  And they dont really care when or where your flight is.  They are not going to hurry up "for you".   That is not their concern at all.  Still, I dont know why they have to make a big fuss and time consumption for people GOING out of the US.  Yeah, yeah, move along, you want to leave, no problem by us, fine, have a nice travel, go go go.  But no, it is as fast coming into the country as leaving.  Mmmm, a little faster leaving. 

But really got my goat was the control for getting on the plane.  Yes I know that the limit for water goods is 100 mililiters.  No liquids.  But sauces??  IN a can which cant be opened unless you have a can opener? A sealed tin can?  What can I do with that?  Really, couldnt they just have inspected it and seen that it was totally sealed?  I am going to threaten the plane captain with a can of instant food?  "Take me to Cuba or I will open this can of spaghettios, oh do you have a can opener so i can do that, and make a bomb and blow up the plane".  I was so angry because it was a present for my daughter on her birthday in September and they were taking away a sealed tin can.  Someone please give me a rational explanation for them taking away my sealed can of Spaghettios.  Yes, they inspected it, they could see it was sealed.  Did the man who supposedly made a bomb in the UK use liquids from what?  Cosmetics or chemicals, but spaghettios?  I can make a bomb from the liquid in spaghettios?   

I am not sure if that had anything to do with O Hare, but yes it did, because it is

Busted. They took my spaghettios I was going to hijack the plane with

a big airport and they probably dont make a good paycheck, not that it is O Hare who is paying them, but its a big airport and lots of people yelling at them.  If they can get back occasionally at some poor weak slob like me, it makes their day. I guess.  Well, ok, but he ruined mine and O Hare lost several customers because no one in my family is ever going through O Hare ever again. Even my kids hate the airport. (Dad, why did you book us through O Hare, you know it is terrible).   

I still want to contact them and ask them about this rule, and I will get the last laugh, because I am never going that way again.  And since American Airlines goes through Chicago and not Detroit, that means I wont be booking with American Airlines anymore.  

And lastly, I recommend to all my wonderful readers out there, all ten of you (plus 1000 Singaporeans of late) DO NOT go through O Hare.  Parents travelling with kids coming into the US or out of the US..... DO NOT.  You want to put up with your kids getting antsy in line waiting waiting waiting. And I dont blame them if they do, even I got really antsy.  And then they start complaining and crying.  O Hare is not parent or kid friendly.  NO place to sit while at customs.  No fast line for families with small children.  No empathy or sympathy.  Two hour layover is necessary just to get through customs.  OHare, you suck.  

For once and all O HARE is one if not THE worst airport I have been in and that is with about twenty airports experience.  Thumbs down, stay away, find another way. As Grandmaster Flash says, d-d-d dont do it.  O Hare in Chicago is 

THE END.  

I listened to Dylan's "New Morning"  LP especially "Day of the Locusts" which is about how O Hare airport sucks.  Well, in a way yes.