Life at Home 08/07/25

People who are still working think that people who are retired have it easy. But certain things like negotiating with a toddler or making coffee are not as easy as they seem. Trust me. But before we go another step, we’d like to give a shout out to John’s oldest granddaughter, for coming up with the idea for this week’s comic. She was visiting John, climbed up on his couch and they had the conversation that became this comic. It’s a kick watching little kids grow up. And when you’re a grandparent you let stuff slide more easily than you did when you were parenting your own kids. When your own kids put their shoes on the couch, you might say something like, “We don’t do that here.” If they came back with a smart response like the “sandals” argument, you might say, “Nevertheless, we take our shoes and sandals off.” As a grandparent, it’s “Duly noted.” And you can’t help being impressed when you see the wheels turning in their heads. At least I can’t. Case in point: I came home last week and my oldest granddaughter was squiggling into the right arm of her bathing suit with the help of her babysitter. When I walked in the door she said, “Grandpa, will you help me put the other arm in?” “Of course,” I replied, “just let me put down the grocery bags.” Upon returning I started to pull the strap over her left arm and she stopped me by saying she wanted the babysitter to do it. I said, “But you just said grandpa, will you put the other arm in?” And she replied, “No, I didn’t say grandpa, I said wampah.” You can’t argue with logic. Especially four-year old logic.

Our second comic deals with coffee making. I don’t know about you, dear readers, but the older I get, the more difficult it is to keep multiple numbers in my head at the same time. Don’t ask me a question involving numbers when I’m busy counting or your coffee is going to end up tasting like mud. And don’t give me more numbers than are necessary at any given point in the day. Don’t tell me to take the 8:42 that gets in at 9:13. I might end up taking the 9:13 when there is no 9:13. Just tell me, “Take the 8:42.” It’s not just older people who have this problem. The problem exists for younger people too. It’s due to cell phones and calculators. We had to learn to calculate by rote. But for them, why on earth would you try to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division since you can just type in a numerical calculation and get the answer back immediately? It’s right there on your screen.

In a previous comic we tackled this problem. If something costs $9.25 and you hand a young cashier $10.25, they have no idea what to do. And this doesn’t just apply to math. I used to have an almost photographic memory for phone numbers. Dial a number once or twice and it was locked into my memory forever. I must call or text John at least 5 times a week, and I still have no idea what his number is. His number is: “Hey Siri, call John Colquhoun,” and Siri calls. She even says his last name with the proper Scottish pronunciation, which is not “Cal-hoon,” But more like “Ca-hoon.”

Now, what was I saying? I forget. Meanwhile I have to catch the 11:42 that gets in at 12:13. Or is it the 12:13? Have a great weekend and please keep your shoes AND sandals off the couch, okay?

Andy and John