[Rupert]

Nope! They want to get loans for nearly 80k for an art degree...

We already know it....You can't fix stupid! ...but you can give it an Art Degree!

That Butt Putty really works. I am 100% better today than yesterday. I was thinking that surgeon was full of........ but he was dead right! Now if I can get Mrs Rupert to be a little kinder and gentler again tonight, I will be on my way to a full recovery!

[MarkJerling]

Not sure what's worse Jim - Learning of your drainage adventures or learning of your drainage adventures.
Still - A good plumber is worth his weight in gold.

[Racer X 69]

Money can't buy everything
but let's not get confused
the things that money cannot buy
are very seldom used.


Money can't buy happiness, but the more money you have, the more happiness you can rent.

Money isn't everything.




But its way ahead of whatever is in second place.

[VoiceOfReason]

Money isn't everything.




But its way ahead of whatever is in second place.

You can say that again!

[Rupert]

Money isn't everything.




But its way ahead of whatever is in second place.

Yep, it can buy you a new pair of tennis shoes!

[robtcorl]

Back in the late 1970's, when St Louis county still had a fair number of farms, many farmers were selling out for proposed subdivisions
One 100+ acre farm we surveyed was owned by two elderly brothers. (they did keep a few acres with the farmhouse and barn)
What did they do with their windfall?
They bought a brand new Chevy Biscayne, not an Impala, but a Biscayne with stick shift, no a/c, and no power anything.
That's it as far as I know.

[Rupert]

What did they do with their windfall?

Sounds a lot like my Mom. Just before my Dad died he told my Mom to buy a new car every 2 years to avoid any service problems. She was left in very nice financial condition and he knew it was well within her budget. That was several years before the gas wells and a steady stream of income more than she could ever imagine. So.....here over 10 years later she still owns her Chrysler van....though at almost 90 she doesn't do much driving. She did buy my sisters new cars to transport her when needed, but she liked her van so never replaced it.

Her only "vice" is shoes....and she has more than you could imagine and more than I could count. When she was a little girl she often had to go without shoes.....on the very land that over 80 years later made her very wealthy....but back then no one knew about the underground gold mine...or fracking. That's it...shoes, nothing else is at all extravagant in her life. She does a lot of charity work and is most liberal in her giving...I know, I manage all her assets except her checking accounts. I never interfere, never intercede in her transactions, but do keep an eye on her monetary affairs.....as my Dad instructed me.

When you have everything you want or need, relax and enjoy it. It can be a little or a lot. I always recall a PBS documentary I watched about poverty in Africa. A woman there struggling to eat ever day lived in a little mud hut with a dirt floor...clean and neat....when asked if she could have anything on earth she wanted, it was a chair. She had no chair to sit and relax in her "happiness". My bet is that after that she did get here chair....if someone like my Mom saw it I can guarantee she got a truckload of chairs!

I look out my big windows from my wonderful office in our small and modest home, and see all the birds and animals that call this place home and realize every moment of every day just how rich I am...and it's not the money that makes me rich. I can't count my blessings, there are just too many of them to count, but I am thankful for every single one.....Mrs Rupert being at the top of the list along with my Mom.

I've been happy dirt poor....happiness comes from within, and no amount of money or things can ever replace what comes from within.

[Racer X 69]

Sounds a lot like my Mom.........

..............Her only "vice" is shoes....and she has more than you could imagine and more than I could count.

Does she know Imelda Marcos?

[Racer X 69]

I've been happy dirt poor....happiness comes from within, and no amount of money or things can ever replace what comes from within.

Truer words are rarely said Jim.

[Rupert]

Does she know Imelda Marcos?

Yes, my Mom refers to her as an "amateur". If you saw my Mom's shoe collection you would know why.

My sisters take my Mom shopping several days a week.....and tell me they never pass a shoe store without stopping.

---------- Post added 08-11-16 at 11:23 AM ----------

Truer words are rarely said Jim.

Absolutely....but it does seem that few have this gift of perspective, and it is a gift. I think it is in our genetic makeup? For all her wonderful attributes, Mrs Rupert is short on this....her "Perfect World" syndrome robs her of so much joy....and so often. You have it or you don't is my observation.

Not to say my life is perfect, nor is anyone's life perfect, but happiness cannot be ruined by imperfections. If it is what is inside of you as a part of your very soul, you will always be able to pull it up from the darkest moments of life. In her almost 90 years of life and my 72, I have never seen my Mom lose it. I have seen her suffer great heartaches....I have given her a few myself...and great losses of loved ones...she is the only one left from her once large family....but I have never seen her broken or anywhere close to it. Whatever is in her genes is fiercely dominant.

[robtcorl]

This kinder gentler Rupert is starting to creep me out!
Just kidding.

Lots of wisdom in your posts, and I can relate to what you're saying.
Mom and dad never had much, worked hard for what they did have, and never felt like they lacked anything in life.
The wealth they passed on two us three kids, and our kids, and our kids kids, was love. Love of life, a love of family, and a love for others.
What more could any child ask for?

[Rupert]

This kinder gentler Rupert is starting to creep me out!

It's scaring the hell out of Otis! I may have to go out there and slap around a few squirrels to let him know I'm still here...

What more could any child ask for?

Not a damn thing! I have friends that lived horror story lives as kids, and some of them were from wealthy homes but without the things you and I had. I can see the damage it has done to their lives to be raised without love, care, and empathy for others. You were very blessed and you recognize it....me too!

[robtcorl]

Guess us old dudes ran everyone off?
Maybe nipple bacon will bring them back.

[Parallax]

Hey, bacon is bacon; nip included or not. Actually I had to look twice to notice it.

Maybe it would have been more noticeable if the bacon was fresh out of the refrigerator?
( I probably shouldn't have said that. )

[robtcorl]

Maybe it would have been more noticeable if the bacon was fresh out of the refrigerator?

Huh?
No clue what you're talking about.