Friends that you had to let go.

[Old Moparz]

His name isn't Walter, is it? 

OLD MOPARZ....no his name is Glenn.

I'm not sure I get the reference. "Walter White" ?? Breading Bad?
I missed it entirely.

Walter was the name of my old friend in the story I posted earlier.

[Kern Dog]

I've looked through pictures and thought of experiences from years ago including people that I knew from back then. There are very few that I'd care to know again. Sometimes, friendships are convenient because of timing, shared employers, living near each other, etc.
Remember saying "Keep in touch" to those guys that moved away? Did you ever see or talk to them again?
My brother in law is one of those types that is like a chameleon. He seems to adapt to his surroundings and follow what others around him are interested in.
He was 5 years out of high school and came to live with the wife (his sister) and I in California. He showed an immediate interest in owning an affordable rear wheel drive Mopar so I put out the feelers and found a 72 Duster. He was excited to work on it with my help and within a couple years, it ran and drove and was painted. It still needed a lot of things but it was on the way to being a nice car. Then he got laid off when the I.T. company restructured. He couldn't get another job that paid well so he moved back to Arizona. From there, his interest faded and ended. Even his connection to me faded even though I tried to maintain conversations aside from car stuff. It got to where when we spoke, whether in person or on the phone, all he wanted to do was talk about himself and what HE thinks about everything.
Remember what I wrote before about people that monopolize the conversation? I've had it with these people. If all they care about is themselves, they can go on adoring themselves without me. I got tired of waiting for these people to express any interest in what anyone else thinks or cares about.

[69wannabe]

I'm a loner for the most part. Stay close to or at home most of the time except for working.  Met up with a guy around 2002/2003. He had a 69 superbee. It was not running at the time, I helped him get it running (bad fuel pump push rod) he helped me with my car to make it look better. He was a paint and body guy and I was the mechanic.  Over several years we put several different mopars together. Playing with cars is pretty fun when you are younger, lol. We built a 68 fastback barracuda as a street/strip car. I built the 340 stroked to a 422ci. We had a blast at the strip with the car. Torqueflite 727 with a 430 rear gear. Our best time in the 1/8 mile was a 660. Not too bad for the early to mid 2000's. We built a 68 charger and it had a blown 440 in it. Looked alot like the fast and furious charger. He got to smoking pot and popping pills. At first it was tolerable but I noticed stuff around his house was going away. Lots of extra parts he had were gone. Once the meth came in that's when I stepped out.  Not going to loose everything I have worked hard for over a crack pipe. I really hate the way things went down but I just told him I couldn't follow him down that road. His wife passed away at 34 years old and I never asked but pretty sure I know what happened there. She was actually a little thick girl and at the end she was very skinny. All the cars he had are gone now and he lost his house. Pretty much lost everything.  So sad and he is the one back in 2010 and 2011 helped me get the body work done and painted my charger for me. He's a darn good paint and body man. My car isn't going to win the world of wheels but it cleans up nicely and is a dang good looking driver. One thing about life is it can change so quickly and literally pass you by.

[Kern Dog]

Oh man, that really sucks.

[Kern Dog]

Remember what I wrote before about people that monopolize the conversation? I've had it with these people. If all they care about is themselves, they can go on adoring themselves without me.

[Kern Dog]

BOB came up to me at a car show on Saturday. I have not seen him since mid May. I was talking to a guy that both of us knew from years ago.
There was no introduction, no Hello, no How have you been? He didn't start off with I haven't seen you in awhile, what is new with you?
No, none of that.
Instead, he jumps in with I called the dealer about a quote to change the spark plugs in my truck, they wanted $1200! I found a mobile mechanic that did it for $200. While he was there, he also changed the oil.
I don't recall what I said but it wasn't much. I resumed talking to the other guy as Bob just walked away.
5 months ago, he tried to get me to change the spark plugs in his 2019 Dodge 1500. I put him off because although I used to like talking with him, he became the stereotypical guy I have mentioned here....The guy that never cares what anyone else has to say, he just blabs on and on about his own crap.
Screw that. I don't need "friends" like that.

[426HemiChick]

Hi Kern,               08 Oct 2025

Just happened to run across this thread and it seems like everyone knows someone that is so self centered they never stop talking about themselves. Know a few like that; limit my exposure to them. My sister who lives in "Gavin Useless' CA, is a chatter box that talks incessantly about herself and her man friend. When she finally stops long enough to breathe, I try to grab some space to say something. She then complains that I dominate the conversation. Go figure.

Think I have been lucky. There were five of us that grew up together and remained friends all our lives. Unfortunately, they are all gone, the last two of which passed away within two months of each other in 2015. I miss them dearly; we used to get together periodically and have a grand old time. Those days are gone now; I still miss them and always will.

What I do have are great memories. Now it seems that people we meet later in life will rarely bond with us in the same manner as friends from our childhood and teen / high school years; our formative years.

One of the things we five had in common was our families; they were as fucked up as "Soup Sandwiches." We never discussed our home lives we just knew we didn't like being at home and we had great times together. I'm in the process of writing my life's stories along with those of my buddies. A lady friend is doing the editing and assembling the vignettes I submit to her. Hopefully I'll get it done in about a year.

The five of us went into the military service but not together. Two went into the Army, one into the Marine Corps and two into the Navy. Our buddy Tom Miller made it to Full Army Colonel while the rest of chose 4 year tours as enlisted.

There's a movie I watch periodically called: "Stand By Me". I feel it's worth it for me as it has many similarities to us buddies early lives. It brings back memories of those years, which means a lot.

One of the things I found later in life is that some "friends" are friends in name only. They are users.

I'm happy with my wife, our two dogs, two cats, the nine feral cats we take care of and our cars and truck.

Take care Kern

Chris

[Kern Dog]

Stand By Me was fantastic.  It is interesting how it touched on the lives of four different kids with different backgrounds that were buddies regardless of it all. I've seen the movie numerous times and still like it.
I do try to accommodate people when they want to ramble on but once I began to notice the ones that exhibit selfish behavior, I felt like a doormat for going along with it. My eyes were open to this behavior and I can't unsee it now. I'm quite aware that I have many faults but I absolutely do not hog the air time when talking with others.
It really is simple if you concentrate on it. Just ask the other guy how he is doing and really mean it when you ask. Show a little interest when the other guy is talking.
Yesterday.....
I was at a car club meeting. This one guy sits next to me as we were eating hot dogs, he jumps in with his plans with his car, one that has not seen a drag strip in the 25 years I have known him. He spoke as if I actually was waiting to hear about all of it. I played nice and let him go on.
Common courtesy would lead me to think he would speak, then ask what I was doing.
No, he is another one of the people that piss me off. He just kept going.

I'm an optimist so I don't just think that it is arrogance or intentional rudeness that drives their actions. I think they are just clueless and unaware that they are being rude. They will continue unless they get called out on it.
A little over a month ago, I had the last conversation with "Tim", the man that inspired me to start this topic. Maybe a year ago, I politely told him that he had the habit of doing all the talking while showing no interest in what I had to say. He seemed to improve a little after that and I had hoped that he would have learned from it.
No, he reverted back to his old habits so I held out as long as I could, then unloaded on him in a rant that left him shocked. It was like 6 months of frustration were unleashed in 40 seconds. He tried to apologize but then tried to defend himself, saying "I asked about your dogs".....Which was about 4 months and several conversations back.
From now on, I'm going to politely ask..."Thanks for all of that....did you want to hear what I have been doing now?"

[426HemiChick]

09 Oct 2025

My. first year of school was at Jackson School in Akron Ohio, 1945. It was for kindergarten and I enjoyed it immensely. A neighbor friend 3 years my senior made sure I got to school and home every day. We remained friends until he passed away a couple years ago.

In 1946 my folks decided to move to Cuyahoga Falls Ohio, the next town to the north. We got there in early summer, I got to know the other kids in the neighborhood and thought I'd be going to grade school with them. All of a sudden I found out my folks decided I needed education in the local Catholic school. What a shock that was.

Quite frankly, I despised that school and the Penguins (Nuns) that taught us, or in my opinion Tortured us. The nuns were nothing but a bunch of frustrated old-maids. Needless to say, I got my ass whooped regularly, which made me hate the place all the more.

Eventually, I graduated and off to High School. As luck would have it, I was forced to go to a Catholic high school way out in south Akron. That turned out to be an hour's ride on the trolly bus every morning. To get home it was a reverse trolly ride. 12 hours a day just to go to a Catholic school.

I did everything I could to get kicked out but that didn't work as well as I had hoped. In late summer of 1955 St Mary's sent out notices for registering for the Sophomore year. Low and behold, the gremlins were working for me: I didn't get an invite to return.

So I found out when the local public high school was registering students, went there and transferred myself to Falls High. Didn't need anything from my folks and they weren't the wiser.

When I was going to St Mary's I went to school with my buddy Tom Miller. He'd walk down from his house and we'd join up and cut through a couple fields to get to the trolly bus stop; then it was off to St Mary's Gulag. With my having changed high schools Tom no longer stopped by in the mornings. About 2 months went by and my mom finally asked why Tom didn't stop by in the mornings. I casually told her Tom and I went to different schools. She said "What do you mean?" I told her I went to Falls High and he went to St Mary's. Her comment to me was "Oh no you don't, you're going to Catholic school." I told her "Oh no I'm not, I was kicked out of St Mary's and no Catholic school will take me so you don't have any choice." She said "OK" and that was it.

I was already working as a Radio and TV technician so I said the hell with High School and it's liberal arts BS. I knew what I was going to do and that was join the Navy and let them train me in high tech electronics and Data Systems. That was where I found my mark.

After all the high tech training I was sent to the USNS Michelson T-AGS 23. When I got my orders I was sent to an Army base. That seemed strange but that's where I went. When I arrived the person I handed my orders to looked at them and said: "This is an Army base, you're in the Navy." A few seconds later a voice from way back in a corner said: "Send him back here." That's when I learned just how secret the project I was assigned to was. It was Top Secret and we weren't supposed to talk about it. Turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to me. Spent the next 2.5 years aboard the super secret ships. Before I was out of the Navy I had job offers from the companies that had equipment aboard the ships. I managed to get out 39 days early; before my actual end of enlistment date I was working for General Instrument Corp as a DOD Contract Engineer. Did that for four years riding the first ship, the Michelson", I was on while in the Navy.

Met a lot of great engineers that had the same attitude I did about High School, it was a waste of time.

I think good high schools these days have programs for folks like myself, technical, not immersed in the Liberal Arts BS.

Chris

[Kern Dog]

For some of us, friends come and go as interests change. I knew a lot of people when I was single/divorced and spending every Friday and Saturday night at the night clubs. Outside of those activities, I rarely saw those people. None of them were car guys or girls, none worked construction so most of the conversations were related to being single, dating, overnight meaningful relationships, etc. I met the wife and haven't seen any of those people since.
I've had car buddies come and go too. One guy I've known since High School...he was fun to do car stuff with. Junkyards, car projects, car shows. He screwed up his social affairs being divorced 3 times, he ran out of money as his body broke down around him so he lost almost all interest in cars. The only thing that held the friendship together was the car stuff so that ended.

[John_Kunkel]

There's a movie I watch periodically called: "Stand By Me". I feel it's worth it for me as it has many similarities to us buddies early lives. It brings back memories of those years, which means a lot.

I still have group of buddies from back in the day, we occasionally have a "Flunky Buddies Reunion"...usually concurrent with our class reunions but for guys only. First one was about a dozen at a guy's house, last one was 60+...had to rent a banquet room.

[426HemiChick]

There's a movie I watch periodically called: "Stand By Me". I feel it's worth it for me as it has many similarities to us buddies early lives. It brings back memories of those years, which means a lot.

I still have group of buddies from back in the day, we occasionally have a "Flunky Buddies Reunion"...usually concurrent with our class reunions but for guys only. First one was about a dozen at a guy's house, last one was 60+...had to rent a banquet room.

Hi John,          11 Oct 2025

Wish my buddies were still here. Years ago I thought we'd all retire then sit around reminiscing about the "Dastardly" deeds we did when we were kids. We were closer than brothers. Eventually the Draft intervened and our youth was forever, or so we thought, removed from our lives.

We had a reunion in 1987 and 1988; if you could have seen us you'd have thought we were a bunch of crazy teenagers with gray thinning hair. We picked up where we had left off almost 30 years prior.

I'll miss them until we all meet again; they are waiting for me, not in any hurry to get there just yet. I know they'll understand.

Chris