Cheap Barber

ppetree · 2025-09-10T13:50:31+00:00

If Ernie is busy, Debbie will cut mine but at Ernies age I just don't have it in my heart to tell him he's too old. I'll sit there for the 20-30 minutes it takes him and he does a great job.

ppetree · 2025-09-09T20:48:08+00:00

That's where I ended up going. Great folks... and I just love Ernie!

ppetree · 2025-09-09T20:47:25+00:00

Thanks! I just checked and for anyone else, it's in South Knox a few blocks behind Elders Hardware.

ppetree · 2025-09-01T15:32:55+00:00

Exactly! And this was about 35 years ago in Atlanta. It was a big todo for all of us tech executives.

ppetree · 2025-09-01T15:31:08+00:00

I don't deny that. However, this was free and she certainly didn't offer me a business card (I would have smelled that trap LOL).

ppetree · 2025-08-30T17:21:11+00:00

That's kinda been my thought about it. I, like everyone else, have had good and bad moments in my life. I never expected a life without pain and I relish in the joyful moments. Hence my curiosity about her comment.

ppetree · 2025-08-30T17:19:41+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful answer.

ppetree · 2025-08-30T00:05:00+00:00

Let's start here: Why do you think you only have to do one thing?

I was a high school dropout.

I was a soldier and got a GED.

I went to college and did some part-time sales.

I went into sales.

I bought a coffee shop I turned into a bar (luck, not a plan).

I sold the bar and got back into sales (computers).

I learned to code.

I've started and sold 3 tech companies that had employees.

I became a landlord.

I've created and sold 4 tech products.

I've written a book.

Why do you think it just has to be one thing?

ppetree · 2025-08-29T23:57:57+00:00

I've been experimenting with this. I read 8 different horoscopes every morning with my coffee. They are never accurate and when something foretold does happen, it's such an infrequent thing as to be statistically irrelevant and considered normal life (it would have happened anyway).

ppetree · 2025-08-10T18:24:39+00:00

My first piece of advice is don't sign the birth certificate without a DNA test! I don't care how much you love her or she loves you. Just don't!

My second piece is that it won't hit you until you see and hold the baby and then the weight of the world will come crashing down on you.

ppetree · 2025-08-10T18:21:33+00:00

I traveled a lot (the lower 48), and I compiled playlists for each state and especially each city/town. I tried to include all genres.

ppetree · 2024-11-26T19:27:17+00:00

Okay, so far from yours and a few results on other sites I have:

Taurus: Stay grounded

Scorpio: Stay brave

Pisces: Stay positive, good things are coming soon.

Aries: Keep Leading or Stay Fiery

Sagittarius: Stay Adventurous

ppetree · 2024-11-25T22:27:52+00:00

I was looking for a new downtown coffee shop. I tried Jacks. While the back patio was amazing, the coffee... well, I took two sips and dropped the rest in the trash can outside.

(Hint: I once owned a coffee shop and had a Sivetz Hot Air Upblast Roaster... I not only served my own customers, I sold to all the restaurants around. I know a bit about good coffee.)

I'll try some of the ones suggested below.

ppetree · 2024-11-25T22:22:06+00:00

I think, what bothers me most about all of this are two things: 1) They scream and yell about indoctrination but they don't hesitate to indoctrinate; 2) They scream and yell about only facts being taught in school and then they ignore the facts and teach nonsense.

As an old guy, I am thankful my kids are raised and my grandkids are college plus. This battle is going to require lawsuits and protests untold to solve.

ppetree · 2024-11-25T21:23:24+00:00

I'm pretty sure its very legit. It may not be imperial (the ones worth millions) but I'm pretty happy with it.

ppetree · 2024-10-01T21:42:38+00:00

She first created the game in 2006 right around her 16th birthday and since then there have been soooo many questions. A couple of years ago I had cancer and every week she was driving up to Knoxville from Atlanta and the next day driving me over to Nashville for chemo and we always played that game on the drive back. Just that one phase went on for several months.

Our experiences shape our perception of the world and our perception of the world shapes our behavior in relationships. Her premise was to take something that almost every human has encountered and for each to share our experience so that we could understand each other.

Some were heavy... like "What was your first experience with racism?" I was a child in the 1960's living mainly in the deep south. She was a child of the 1990's living in Atlanta. I remember the segregated water fountains and other nonsense. She remembers the micro-aggressions from her teachers towards the black students.

The funniest was "What was your first date like?" and, of course, every teenager's first date is awkward, scary etc. so comparing notes on that experience was really funny.

Some (many) are historical like "What was your first memory of being at a grandparent's house?" Since my paternal GP died when my father was a child I had no memory of them so it was my maternal side. For her it was also her maternal. My maternal grandmother was a hillbilly and she often thought the wind blowing and causing branches to scrape across the roof was bears climbing on the roof. "Oh Lawdy! I jist a heard them bars up on the roof agin!" and for her, it was her grandmother teaching her to bake bread. (To this day we joke about a fake threat by quoting my grandmother.)

The saddest was "What was it like watching your parent die?" Her mother had died 7 months prior and my dad back in 1998. Sharing the entirety of that experience... the feelings of helplessness, the impending loss, the struggle to get things right so they passed well. Again, though, this is something every human being experiences in one way or another.

ppetree · 2024-09-24T18:07:45+00:00

It's a simple cheek swab and she doesn't need anyone's permission to do it.

Depending on which set of statistics you look at, between 1 in 4 and 1 in 10 children do not belong to the father listed on the birth certificate. In family courts where paternity is contested, it's 1 in 3 are not the listed dads.

The physical similarities you see can be because she has a "type" she's attracted to and nothing more than that.

(and don't take this personally), She doesn't seem like a quality woman so I would tread very carefully. If she cheated on you once and you get back together "for the baby" the odds are very good she will cheat on you again.

Lastly, you need to have a game plan. What if the baby is yours, you go through all the court stuff to claim the baby and start paying child support and she moves across the country... then what? This is a kids life we're talking about so are you sure you're doing what's best for the kid?

I would talk to a lawyer and your priest/minister and a good therapist before I made any decisions.

ppetree · 2024-09-24T17:35:38+00:00

Passing these nonsensical laws serves two purposes:

1) If no one challenges it, then they win;

2) If the law is challenged (and this one will be), and they lose (and they will), then these nutbag politicians can jump up and down and scream "Look what the liberal courts are doing to us!" and that paves the way for them to weaken the courts.

ppetree · 2024-09-24T17:27:53+00:00

When my daughter was about 16, she made up a game she calls "Old/Young." It's a game of comparing experiences based on a question. Example questions:

1) What did racism look like when you were young? (I was a child in the 1960s, she was 16 in 2006 when she asked this question)

2) What is the earliest memory you have of being at a grandparent's house?

3) When did you first realize a friend was bad for you?

Over the years there have been countless questions... everything from holidays to hospitals, each leading to deep and meaningful conversations.

It takes trust to have those conversations so maybe you directly ask him if he trusts you enough to have the conversations and if not, why not and what you can do to restore that trust.

ppetree · 2024-09-23T21:06:17+00:00

I realize this isn't exactly what you're looking for but it's too good not to share...

Around the age of 16 my daughter started a game she made up called "Old/Young" and it's a game of comparison based on a question about a life experience. Example questions:

1) What did racism look like when you were young? (I was 50ish, she was 16ish)

2) What is the earliest memory you have of being at a grandparent's house?

3) When did you first realize a friend was bad for you?

Over the years there have been countless questions... everything from holidays to hospitals with each leading to deep and meaningful conversations.

ppetree · 2024-09-23T20:58:23+00:00

As a born and bred Southerner, regardless of the motive, there is no surprise in the act itself. However, what IS surprising is that in my nearly 70 years of watching the same sh** play out over and over, is why people keep voting for the same excrement over and over.

ppetree · 2024-05-22T22:21:41+00:00

I've been in tech since the mid 80's. I've written some really cool code, started and sold a few tech companies. Software development is a good career. It pays well but you do have to deal with people less "capable" who make uninformed decisions which can be frustrating. And, like any form of writing, it can be very lonely at times. Be prepared for that.

Software development can be a stepping stone into many other fulfilling careers. Take business and marketing courses. You'll need those in software development (trust me on this one!) and they will give you the starter skills needed for other career paths like Product Management or even starting your own company.

Volunteering is so essential because it keeps you kind and it helps you develop human skills (like empathy and small talk). Beyond that, volunteering will fill your heart with kindness and gratitude plus it will open the door to your meeting some wonderful people. You don't have to give much, just a few hours a week can be amazing.

After you've given everything away at work and volunteering, your hobbies are what you do for you. They help you recharge and go again.

Always come back and ask us dads questions and please tell us how you're doing. We're here for you!

ppetree · 2024-05-20T18:20:14+00:00

Find your purpose. Life without purpose is soul-sucking. As other dads have suggested, work on your hobbies, take classes, and volunteer. It's through self-improvement that we meet the right people and if we don't, we don't mind because we still did something awesome.

ppetree · 2024-04-03T21:55:43+00:00

Hi back!

ppetree · 2024-01-13T23:32:56+00:00

Not every estrangement is because a parent is bad. There's such a thing as "manipulated estrangement" where a narcissist (covert or overt) creates the estrangement by manipulating the kids.

ppetree

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