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I remember every morning in the late 90s calling the warehouse toll-free from a pay phone at one of my stores for my schedule. At the end of the day, I would either drive back or call in for the secretary to punch my time card for me.
 
My first job in the 90s was working at a farm over the summer. It was an odd, but fulfilling life. Hard work, but at the same time, the kind of work you don't have to occupy your mind with, so plenty of tme to just daydream.
 
Did you actually resemble Matthew Lillard?

Not really. I am 6’2, about 165, and have had a goatee and mustache since I’ve been 21. One of the drivers joked one day about me resembling Shaggy and I probably said I loved the cartoon. Then he told my sales rep and my manager and then soon everyone was calling me that. “Hey, Shaggy, what’s going on!” I actually ended up looking like Billy Idol more than anyone else.
 
I remember hacking PBXs and wardialing my local area code prefix with the C64 back in the day. We'd set programa to dial the local Sprint LD number and try numbers to find working LD card numbers.
 
My first job in the 90s was working at a farm over the summer. It was an odd, but fulfilling life. Hard work, but at the same time, the kind of work you don't have to occupy your mind with, so plenty of tme to just daydream.

I turned down a job in the mid 90s at a historic farm run by the county parks department. It would have included working as a blacksmiths apprentice among other tasks. I now regret that decision, as I think it would have been a really neat job to have had and I would have learned some skills I could use today. It meant working every weekend and at that time, that was kind of a big deal. I also would have been leaving a not great but stable job for a new one that had variable hours by season.

Not really. I am 6’2, about 165, and have had a goatee and mustache since I’ve been 21. One of the drivers joked one day about me resembling Shaggy and I probably said I loved the cartoon. Then he told my sales rep and my manager and then soon everyone was calling me that. “Hey, Shaggy, what’s going on!” I actually ended up looking like Billy Idol more than anyone else.

Oh, that Shaggy...


nevermind

 
I have only had one nickname and that was "V" when I was in the Marines because Middle Americans find my last name difficult to pronounce. It wasn't bad as far as nicknames go, I dug it. I was pleasantly surprised to find it pop up as the MCs handle in CP2077
 
I have only had one nickname and that was "V" when I was in the Marines because Middle Americans find my last name difficult to pronounce. It wasn't bad as far as nicknames go, I dug it. I was pleasantly surprised to find it pop up as the MCs handle in CP2077
Did you manage to blow up the Houses of Parliament, V?
 
I remember hacking PBXs and wardialing my local area code prefix with the C64 back in the day. We'd set programa to dial the local Sprint LD number and try numbers to find working LD card numbers.
Oh man, my friend and I were really into that with our Apple IIe’s. Phreaking, demon-dialing, hacking, piracy, we spent hours downloading hacked software and never paid a dime for it. Another friend we showed how to do it wasn’t careful and the FBI ended up on his doorstep, but he didn’t give us up. Scared me enough though, that my criminal career ended on my 18th birthday.
 


I thought Power Lords looked so cool in the commercials, but I never had any. Not sure if I ever even saw them in stores...

A few years ago, I picked up the 1983-84 DC Comics Power Lords miniseries. The story was very much written in a manner meant to advertise the toys. The series had some awesome early Mark Texeira art.
 
So, I needed some coffee cups to replace the attrition from the spawn. From my childhood I have one left of the Arcoroc cups I appropriated from my parents when I left home - it would be about 35 years old or so. The other day I found a set of 4 on Ebay for the princely sum of 10 quid, and now I have a set of retro '80s Arcoroc coffee cups.

Arcoroc.jpg
 
Speaking of leaving your kids to fend for themselves, when I was 12 my mother and aunt took me and my sisters (9 and 7) to Vegas. They went to a casino and left us on the streets in Vegas and said that they'd meet us in a few hours. I can't imagine leaving kids that age in an unknown city like Vegas.
 
Speaking of leaving your kids to fend for themselves, when I was 12 my mother and aunt took me and my sisters (9 and 7) to Vegas. They went to a casino and left us on the streets in Vegas and said that they'd meet us in a few hours. I can't imagine leaving kids that age in an unknown city like Vegas.
I was one of those free range 80s kids too. I was 15 or 16 on my first visit to Vegas with the family and banged a 21 one year chick by a dumpster behind a casino. She had short black hair and a spider web tattoo on her elbow, I thought I was in love. I made the mistake of bringing her to our hotel room for more and mom did not like the look of her LOL.
 

I don't know if 20 years back always works, but I think a show starting in 2000 could work. You have the effects on society from 9/11, and war on terror, the growth of the internet (scary chat rooms and creepers, porn, OMG online shops are killing businesses). Lots of social issues that were becoming a big deal then inspire yawns today.
 
I don't know if 20 years back always works, but I think a show starting in 2000 could work. You have the effects on society from 9/11, and war on terror, the growth of the internet (scary chat rooms and creepers, porn, OMG online shops are killing businesses). Lots of social issues that were becoming a big deal then inspire yawns today.


I dunno, the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s are seem like very distinct decades to me - their own identities and flavur. Ever sine the turn of the cntury, it all just seems like "more of the same"
 
I dunno, the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s are seem like very distinct decades to me - their own identities and flavur. Ever sine the turn of the cntury, it all just seems like "more of the same"
Hmm, now that you mention it that 90s flavor continued up to about 2004 and that late aughts (or 2000s, I prefer aughts) taste kind of continued onward to the present. The most defining event of the last 2 decades is probably the pandemic lockdowns. Though a definite trend of the past couple of decades is the ever-increasing corporatization of entertainment.
 
I dunno, the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s are seem like very distinct decades to me - their own identities and flavur. Ever sine the turn of the cntury, it all just seems like "more of the same"

I always thought one would a more accurate picture of each era if instead of counting these decades on the "'0", one split them at the '5', so 1945-55, 1956-1965, 1966-1975 and so on. Social trends, fashions and events just seem to follow that pattern better, in as much as they follow any pattern at all.
 
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I always thought one would a more accurate picture of each era if instead of counting these decades on the "'0", one split them at the '5', so 1945-55, 1956-1695, 1966-1975 and so on. Social trends, fashions and events just seem to follow that pattern better, in as much as they follow any pattern at all.
I think it was comic book writer Steven Grant who said something similar, for example what most people think of as 'the Sixties' was really around '64 to '73.
 
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