To Namaw's House We Go

Ah...the annual tradition of traveling for the holidays. I will be packing up Jayme and the kid to drive 400 some odd miles. So over the turnpike and through the middle of absolutely nowhere to Namaw's house we go (not to forget that Fafa's there too)

I thoroughly enjoy the time we spend at Namaw & Fafa's house. Mike and Sandy have always made me feel very welcome even before marriage when i was just some dude dating their daughter,

What I don't enjoy is the drive. Once past the King of Prussia exit from the turnpike the surrounding scenery become very repetitive. Seriously its like the background scenes from Scooby-Doo, Didn't  I just see that cow? You know you're bored on the road when you get excited to hit Carlisle,,,yeah Carlisle PA,,, So added to that regurgitated scenery of cow, cow, farm, cow is now tractor trailer.
I'm sure that Carlisle is a beautiful town to live and work in but it doesn't add much to see from the view out of the car window. The next most exciting thing...I'm sure you're riveted...wait for it...crossing the Susquehanna. Then I will say to Jayme, "Look its Three Mile Island," and she will say, "I think i see Deadpool on top of it"  Yes it's corny but it tradition now let us not speak of that mutant movie's name that I will not utter here. But I digress, so now Jayme, child and I have made through 4 hours and 15 minutes of turnpike madness. The end of the trip is nigh, my spirits rise but then fall instantly because there is still at least 45 more minutes of vehicular torture. Those last minutes drag and fell longer than the rest of the trip

I forgot to mention...how did I forget this...there's a 4 year old in the back. She will be equipped with an old iphone loaded with Disney movies and toddler games. So add to the joy of trekking the PA turnpike "Let it go" on repeat. Arrrghhh!!! Overall the kid is a good travel companion she entertains herself and we usually only have to make one extra stop along the way. But still she is a toddler and they are nothing if not fickle

So yeah at this point I feel like Frodo collapsed on Mt.Doom, (come on like you didn't see at least one mention of LOTR somewhere in a travel story) like him my mission not yet complete

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Uniontown appears and the familiar site of the giant tire guy (WTF is that anyway) is a balm to my soul. We arrive at Namaw and Fafa's, the excitement pours from the kid and I begin the pack horse duties hauling the three quarters of our house we brought with us out of the car. Hugs and questions of the trip initiate, good food is offered and consumed greatfully (Thanks Namaw), and my favorite words are heard spoken from my father-in-law Mike (Fafa), "Hey Matt would you like a beer." Yes sir i would

Old Man on Campus

    Returning to college as an...ahem...older student is interesting to say the least. First of all I dress like a college student for class...t-shirt, and jeans or the such.  I spend most of my days (now nights) clad in business casual like its chain mail so I made an active decision. I will only wear work clothes to school in instances when transition from student to supervisor doesn't allow for a quick stop in a phone booth  (do phone booths still exist?) or more likely home. This way I blend in a little bit more...not much...but a little more. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not wearing skinny jeans or black socks with sneakers. I'm blending in, not trying to be a hipster. Seriously, I stand out so much think I heard a younger student mumble "Narc" when I walked by him.
    Secondly, everyone is so young. I'm not trying to insult or assume these people aren't smart or don't have experience. To illustrate consider this, I had a conversation with one of my classmates the other day cause we shared a common interest, playing guitar. I asked how long she'd been playing. She responded, "Oh, about 3 years, I started when I was 14." My heart stopped for a second. This young woman was almost exactly half my age. Outwardly I chuckled and said, "I also start playing at 14, except it was more than 3 years ago." Inwardly my brain swirled with too many thoughts to even continue the conversation and so i went on my way thoroughly perplexed. In another instance a couple of co-workers and I were talking about Nirvana. I asked our 20 year old intern if he listen to them. His response and I quote, "I don't really like classic rock." At that point I think the few functioning brain cells I had died. My co-workers and I were flabbergasted. Let that set in...Nirvana...Classic Rock. If you too are experiencing profane diarrhea of the month than you understand how I felt. No words adequately convey how troubled I was by that conversation
    Next, why do college students sit in silence and then complain about classes being boring? I see this behavior frequently. The professors ask question to keep the class moving or to hear another voice besides their own. Nobody will offer a response, half of them won't even make eye contact with the professor. In case that somehow is contrived to mean they would like to comments. I mean how boring is silence in a class. I simply can not take it.  Any more I have to be involved in the conversation even if it is just me and the professor. I'm sure other students may be annoyed at me but I will not sit quietly. Just today I heard two classmate complaining about how boring the class is but yet they will sit there struggling to keep awake. Not me, call me teacher's pet (that would be a first) but don't expect me to join you in your doldrums. I'll fight boredom my way...getting involved, asking questions, attempting to learn something new.
    It is a little different to be the old man on campus but I'd have to say I really do enjoy the experience. I know I standout so I ran with it.  It's fun.

Welcome

Welcome to Left Over Remarks

A little bit about me and this blog.

My name is Matt. I'm 33 years old and hail from the far off land of (queue spooky voice) PENNSYLVANIA, Philly to be exact. I grew up just outside the city and now live in the Northeastern reaches of Philly or as I like to call them "The Cityburbs"
I'm married (to my beautiful and extremely patient wife Jayme) and have an almost 4 year old daughter.

I'm sure your wondering about the title. Left Over Remarks just came to me. I'm left handed first of all and I find a lot of times that my opinions take time to form and so by the time I'm ready to remark its the like leftovers as the interwebs has surely moved on to something more shiny by that time

Why am I writing this? Well, I recently returned to college and since I am majoring in Communications I figured I should try to start communicating more often. Makes sense right? My goal as a Communications student is to become a writer, when i grow up. So hopefully practice (yes, I'm talkin about practice) will make perfect or at least somewhat intelligible.

Frequency - I'm initially going to attempt one post a week.

So here it goes