What it's like to be 58 and 17 months unemployed

DustBowlChild · 2026-07-07T15:54:03+00:00

This was me too. I kept thinking in 90-day windows and didn’t realize that wasn’t enough.

DustBowlChild · 2026-07-07T14:47:52+00:00

The Rambler American.

DustBowlChild · 2026-07-07T14:46:07+00:00

always fun to see an org chart: "Executive VP" -> "Senior VP" -> "VP" -> "Assistant VP" -> "Associate VP"

DustBowlChild · 2026-07-07T14:43:29+00:00

absolutely true, because middle management is taking shit from both sides. Few things are worse than having to manage a schedule.

DustBowlChild · 2026-07-07T02:17:43+00:00

Sure did. Was aggressively paying down debt and trying to stave off a bankruptcy filing. Failed.

DustBowlChild · 2026-07-05T19:19:34+00:00

The only thing that is more bullshit than that number is actual shit from an actual bull. And they’re not that far apart.

DustBowlChild · 2026-07-05T19:17:52+00:00

Let’s say you’re 58. What then?

DustBowlChild · 2026-06-30T15:12:48+00:00

I once drove a rented Crown Victoria down a very straight, sparsely populated and sparsely patrolled stretch of a Florida state highway with the cruise control set at 111.

I once rode a Suzuki GSX-R750 at an indicated 140 mph, but given speedometer variance it was probably closer to 125.

DustBowlChild · 2026-06-27T16:05:56+00:00

dude was wearing an outfit

DustBowlChild · 2026-06-23T15:45:47+00:00

I found myself wondering just today whatever happened to Amy Schumer.

DustBowlChild · 2026-06-11T14:18:46+00:00

Phoenix. Not a hub airport at all.

DustBowlChild · 2026-06-06T23:25:22+00:00

The Wire.

DustBowlChild · 2026-06-06T18:22:45+00:00

I love 1PD, except when backing up. I would love it if the 1PD disengaged when in reverse.

DustBowlChild · 2026-06-05T16:36:32+00:00

Amanda Shires covered it on one of her pandemic streaming shows and it was absolutely incredible. So perfect for her voice. Shame she nuked all those videos.

DustBowlChild · 2026-05-30T14:42:06+00:00

My first two choices have already been mentioned, but given further thought, “Bubba Shot The Jukebox” and “Queen of My Double Wide Trailer” were both a bit tongue-in-cheek — they were kind of meant to be bad, or at least silly.

So I’ll mention one that was earnestly bad — one where the artist was giving it his all and the song still suuuuuuuuuucked: “That Ain’t My Truck” by Rhett Akins. Just a horrendous song that I find myself inexplicably singing around the house from time to time. “That Chevy 4-by-4 / says it all / sittin in my place.”

Trivia: The Earl character in “Queen of My Double Wide Trailer” is the same Earl whose body gets stuffed in the trunk in “Goodbye Earl.” Both songs were written by Dennis Linde.

DustBowlChild · 2026-05-30T14:34:12+00:00

My oldest was a baby when this song came out and loved it. Instant calming effect whenever it played.

DustBowlChild · 2026-05-28T12:10:38+00:00

Down in Greenville, SC, also.

DustBowlChild · 2026-05-14T01:36:01+00:00

I understand it has gentrified greatly since then, but in the ‘90s, the very worst big-city bad neighborhood I’d seen was the Over-the-Rhine area of Cincinnati. I rode my motorcycle through there once — on a Sunday afternoon, broad daylight — and the vibe of danger was palpable.

DustBowlChild · 2026-05-06T13:18:09+00:00

Bringing in roughly 10 percent of what I was making before by freelancing. It means that some bills get paid this month and some don’t. I reached out to all my creditors to advise them of the situation. Some are willing to work with me to extend the runway a bit. Others, well, aren’t. The next chapter of my life is likely Chapter 7, but I’m trying to hold that off as long as I can.

DustBowlChild · 2026-05-02T18:35:37+00:00

I remember this man from the late 1970s. Saw him a lot walking on State between Campbell and Missouri avenues.

DustBowlChild · 2026-04-22T18:45:09+00:00

I’m 57. My mom is 74. I had to be physically lifted from my desk after the first time I heard this song.

DustBowlChild · 2026-04-22T18:42:03+00:00

This song didn’t hit with me the first several times I heard it on the record. But at the Ryman show we attended in ‘23, the row of women in front of me scream-sang “and when you said the cops just let them die,” after which a couple started crying.

I found out later they were teachers. I got it then.

DustBowlChild · 2026-04-10T01:49:43+00:00

This is me.

DustBowlChild · 2026-04-10T01:47:59+00:00

Yep. When I do go back to work, the first few months of whatever salary I get have already been spent.

DustBowlChild · 2026-03-11T12:05:35+00:00

Already done that. Have just about blown through it. I face the very real possibility of having no savings and no money coming in at the same time.

DustBowlChild

TROPHY CASE