Talking Heads

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<p><em>>>Blame feminism</em></p>

<p>No, no, no ... Blame "Leave It to Beaver." Feminism generally gets the wimmen <em>out</em> of the house.</p>

<p>In our place, he has his own room or office (with TV!). We call it "Man Land."</p>
 
<p>Well, for the single guys, it could be a way of being "social" ....I'm from back East and Dad's/men did hang out in the garage with their buds and drink beer. Perhaps their being in the garage, with the door up, is an invitation for neighbors to come up and socialize. You wouldn't even know he was there if he was inside the house with the door shut and the blinds pulled. </p>

<p>Or he doesn't like to be cooped up inside.... or he doesn't want to pay to air condition it.....just random thoughts. I don't think it's sad, it's his choice.</p>
 
<p><em>but isn't it just sad? Paying all that money and end up hanging out in the garage</em></p>

<p>Yes, it's sad. It makes an argument for staying single.</p>

<p>As for the singles doing it... I don't really know. Modern society has largely taken away the male gender's abilty to "be a man". We don't know how to hang ceiling fans or change the oil in our cars. We don't fish or hunt for food. Maybe the time spent in the garage is a reconnection with our roots. No carpet, no A/C, no poofy furniture. Just a wooden stool, an intoxicant, and a violent sport on TV.</p>

<p>Hey, the only reason I'm not out there right now is because the USPS has yet to deliver a certain gasket which I need.</p>

<p>Funny that Trooper mentions air conditoning. I'm sitting here thinking about the light bill cutting into my down payment funds (this is a housing blog after all) and I've got a good mind to shut it off and go to Lucille's to see if their live blues act is worthy. </p>
 
<p>"Modern society has largely taken away the male gender's abilty to "be a man". We don't know how to hang ceiling fans or change the oil in our cars. We don't fish or hunt for food."</p>

<p>Sorry, no. The guys have done it to themselves. They would rather walk around with crackberries and phones at their waist than tool belts. The guys I know would rather pay someone to do these things than spend the time doing it themselves. It might be a class thing, too. Although, I know plenty of professional guys who have wood shops in their garages.</p>

<p>And just so you know, I hung my own dam ceiling fans. (They were pre-wired, though.)</p>
 
<p>Did our boomer parents mislead us? Mine pushed me to do a desk job and not follow in their blue-collar footsteps. Now I have a desk job and I'm wondering if I'd be happier repairing diesel-powered farm implements for half the income. Trooper, where are your rentals? Are there commercial farms nearby? </p>
 
I hang out in the garage because my wife complained about the saw dust when I had the table saw in the family room. And she whines about the laquer thinner odor.
 
Women need a house. Men need open air.


I've been in Benghazi , Vienna and Athens, stayed months to years each city. The Arabs usually sit in the court yard, talked and drank tea. For European guys, it was coffee house in days and bars at nights.


Asian men stay inside the house.
 
OC Flip - The blue collar / professional split feelings are actually very common. I suspect that's part of the reason the professional guys I know have wood shops in their garage - to get back to feeling like they are creating something tangible. You might be very interested in a book called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Limbo-Blue-Collar-Roots-White-Collar-Dreams/dp/0471714399/">Limbo</a>." It was written by a journalist from a bricklayer family and he interviews (a la Studs Terkel) other white collar professionals from blue collar backgrounds about the differences. It's very good.
 
<p>You are describing my husband. </p>

<p>He has one of those Craftsman tool chests - you know, the ones that are 6 feet tall.</p>

<p>And it's filled.</p>

<p>He also has not one, but two worktables.</p>

<p>He raises money for start-up companies!</p>
 
So going back to the original point of the thread . . .





I'm sorry you lost money on your second house Janet, but glad you were able to learn from the experience rather than just curse the gods. I have absorbed so much just by reading blogs and the like - and still have more to learn. In fact, I don't think I've realized how much I've learned from all the great folks here and elsewhere. I'm sorry if I've been impatient with you. By now, it all seems so obvious, even though much of it isn't.
 
<p>Eva,</p>

<p>True to my intellectual and inquisitive white-collar lifestyle, I just bought the book.</p>

<p>True to my blue-collar roots, I bought it used.</p>

<p>Yes, I'm a "straddler." </p>
 
Ha! I was going to suggest checking the OC Public Library, but used is fine, too.





BTW, it turns out that <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070817/hl_nm/deer_risk_dc">deer hunting</a> isn't so good for you men.
 
<p>Looking back at the southern fried diet that the hunter crowd seems to live on, I'm not surprised. I promise not to shoot at any deer I might see on my 15-mile bicycle rides to and around Back Bay. </p>
 
Attorney hunting isn't so good either.... <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/12/cheney/">CNN.com - Cheney accidentally shoots fellow hunter - Feb 13, 2006</a>
 
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