iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The Vietnam conflict was winding down when I was born. Nam veterans were guys in their 20s. Now you won’t really find a Vietnam vet who is younger than 70.

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My son, 18, was telling me that his friends say it must have been cool to be a kid in the 1980s (it was!). I realize that to them, being alive in the 1985 is like me as a kid looking back at life in 1950.

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It’s also interesting how few WW2 vets there are who are young enough to in public. I remember just 20 yrs ago you’d seen them in the store with their hats. But now, about the youngest they could be is 98 (17 years old at the end of the War). Like I said, when I was a kid they were still young men.

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The last known Civil War widow didn’t die until 2020. This one is mindblowing, until you do the math. In 1936, when she was 17, she married a 93 year old Union Army veteran.

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When I was a little kid, WW2 vets were relatively young men. About the age I am now.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Something that interests me is how recently there have been living veterans of “long ago” wars. My grandfather was born in 1912. When he was little Civil War vets were everywhere. My father was born in 1946, and the last Civil War vet died when he was 10. I was born in 1973 and I knew a WWI vet.

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My little guy graduated from HS last night! 💕 Here he is with his cousin (who graduated from a different HS two days ago), who will be joining him at Villanova this fall !

Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

When you live in a small rural town.

Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

When you weigh 8 pounds and spend most of the year freezing, this is wonderful weather. ☀️ 🐱

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Send your kids to a private high school, so May 14 can be their last day 🤯

Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Unrelated (or perhaps related) to my last tweet, yesterday I had a great phone call w/ someone I worked with long ago. Had not spoken to him since perhaps early ‘00. Picked right up & chatted about stuff. Amazing how that happens. Other people —if you don’t talk for 2 years they’re like strangers.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

A friend of ours in town didn’t know what the Strait of Hormuz was. Good god. I’m not even sure she knew about the war with Iran. This is an adult with a home and a job and two sons, 16 and 18. Imagine the bliss of having zero interest in what’s happening in the world and being devoid of curiosity.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

I love to hear my SIL describe how her days as a teacher are brutal. Stuff like, my lunch break was taken up by a meeting and I forgot my mittens for bus duty. Rough stuff.

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This is my wife with me and my strange little practice. It’s wonderful.

When I was in college I had an amazing Bean rain jacket. It could have kept me dry in a monsoon. And guess what? When I walked across campus for 10 minutes … I’d be dry.

Picked up my son at school yesterday evening. It was like 50° and *pouring* rain. These college kids were all walking around campus in hoodies which were soaked. Nobody wore a rain coat. Is it uncool to wear a nice Patagonia or Columbia rain jacket which keeps you dry?! Kids these days. What morons.

Thanks! Possibly the best photo I’ve gotten of any cat we’ve ever had. That’s Plum. She’s 2, and a chubby little snuggle muffin.

Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Can’t wait for Easter when my FIL says something like “Trump accomplished the mission. The world is safer.”

Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

My cousin’s son had a fantasy about joining Army Infantry after college. He ended up getting a job as an assistant coach for a college baseball team in VT. I wonder if he’s happy he didn’t join the Army or feels he’s missed out on “action.” Maybe he aches to be on the ground on Kharg Island. 😐

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

I often think of how little the average American reads. And, of course, what they’re missing out on. Do people find reading hard? For me and my wife, it’s always been a pleasure as easy as watching a good movie.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

I know a guy who graduated w/ a bio. degree in ‘98 & has been working in retail since. Never used his degree. He’s very proud of how little he reads. He jokes about it. “I read a Dr. Seuss book to my sons.” Quite ironic. His job sucks. Maybe he should have embraced the learning thing more.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

My cousin has been spelling her son’s girlfriend’s name wrong for about 6 months. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I guess some people think details don’t matter, but come on.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

When I was 6 & 7 years old, Iran was the biggest story there was. Evil ayatollah. Regime change. Here we are again.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Music fans: The new Gorillaz album is amazing. (As if it would be anything less than amazing.)

Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

It’s sort of wild that I knew a WWI veteran when I was little. He lived across the street and brought us tomatoes. I don’t think my kids have even met a WW2 veteran.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

I’ve seen that Whalers book. When I was a kid, the Whalers really were the shit. It was really another age. When I was about 5, Gordie Howe was playing for them, & living in Glastonbury, & I met him in the drug store 🤯. The Whalers really were the little engine that could. It all makes me a bit sad.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

I’m 53 today. I legit feel old. Winter birthdays suck compared to the lovely May through Oct stretch. I can’t (don’t want to) go out & even attempt to do something fun. And also, see my last post re cabin fever. And I have a beard, which is now mostly white. I’m closer to 80 than I am to college.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Wife & I have been working from home since Mar. 2020. We have no issues seeing each other a lot (which is obv good!), & we can talk about household stuff & plan & walk the dog. But it’s weird when it’s cold AF & our patio has 10” of snow. I’m the Suburban Recluse, but even I get cabin fever.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

I started working at 7:00 and I blinked. It’s now 11:00. This is how days turn into years so suddenly.

Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

When a big snow storm is coming and you go around d the house doing things like dusting and straightening books on shelves and other stuff that has nothing to do with warmth and survival. 😂

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

A large percentage of my tweets (or whatever they’re called here) have concerned her. 😂 My life is exciting. Wasting my time complaining about a cleaning lady.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Cleaning lady has canceled again. We have decided we are done.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

These days a Breaking News pop up on your phone can be anything from Stranger Things collaborates with Burger King on a new type of onion ring. to Trump declares war on France, declaring “We will destroy your weak country swiftly.” Fun times.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

I had a dream that there was a silver coin vending machine which sold coins for a ridiculously cheap price. You put in 4 quarters and get a fat silver coin worth far more than $1.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

“Suits”… attractive people who are incredibly bright solving complex problems while wearing expensive clothes. My law practice … old tired guy wearing a Costco hoodie while writing out a check for $1.62 for client medical records. Practicing law … it’s just like on TV.

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Funny how people with brains perform this type analysis, and employ a common sense approach to what they saw, and people like Noem say “she was a domestic terrorist” and the MAGA cult members say “that’s what she gets!”

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Suburban Recluse @a55m3at.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

This Providence College - UConn game is nuts.

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Completely unrelated to my cleaning lady rant, I just mis-typed the word “service” as “cervice” and it reminded me of “crevice.” 😂

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The dog is running around upstairs. We have told her he doesn’t go upstairs. Jesus Christ.

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Now I have to say to her, “Hi. Could you move your car? My wife is coming home from the dentist soon. She wants to park in the garage.” She’ll say, “Oh oh … I .. uh … well I thought…” No. You didn’t “think.” You never think.

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“We need to have access to our garage doors.” So for a few months she reverts to the correct spot. Today: blocking the garage doors. Imagine being this stupid? This isn’t rocket science. Just don’t park in front of our garage. Ever.

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