The Retro Dad

I saw something recently that pretty much sealed it for me. McDonald’s is phasing out self serve soda fountains from dining rooms. Some locations already have. Others will follow. And for someone like me who actually likes to sit down, take a few minutes, and enjoy a meal, that one change feels bigger than it should. It feels like a message. Don’t stay.. Get your food and go. That’s really what this whole thing has turned into over the last decade. And honestly, it’s been bothering me for a while, I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it until now. McDonald’s didn’t just modernize. It stripped itself down. Dehumanized itself, and lost its soul  I’m not naive. It’s a business. It’s always been about making money. But it used to feel like there was another layer to it. There was some kind of human element baked into the experience. You were being served, not processed. Now it feels like you’repurposely ignored and ironically, being herded like cattle. The stores themselves tell the ...

You ever go to buy something you’ve used for years… and it’s just not the same? Same name. Same packaging. Completely different product. “New and improved.” No it’s not. It’s gone. I get why companies do it. They want new customers. They want to stay relevant. They want to look modern. But somewhere along the way, they forgot about the people who built them. The loyal ones. The repeat buyers. The ones who didn’t need convincing. They traded consistency for mass appeal. One that still annoys me is Fat Tire Amber Ale.  It used to be a real amber ale. Toasty, balanced, had a distinct taste you could pick out anywhere. Then New Belgium Brewing Company got bought by Lion Little World Beverages, owned by Kirin Holdings. And suddenly, the flagship beer gets “updated.”  Now it’s lighter, thinner, and forgettable. It tastes like they sanded off everything that made it stand out so it wouldn’t offend anyone. I went to order one at a bar I used to go to and they told me they don’t even c...

So while I largely dislike what McDonald’s has done with its interior design in recent years, I still occasionally get out of the car, go inside, order my food, and sit down to eat rather than dining in my vehicle. It forces me to slow down if that makes sense. I just tend to eat much faster in the car. There is something psychological about it. Maybe it's conditioning from this rat race we live in, but it's like I eat more manically in my car. But I can’t deny that sitting inside McDonald’s now is not very enjoyable. I walk in and order from the kiosk. No one greets me. I rarely see anyone unless they are delivering food to tables. Heck.. I’m sure eventually even that will stop, and your number will just flash up on the screen where in turn you grab your food from a shelf. The interiors of these places are not very inviting. No pictures on the walls, stripped down furniture, and basic tables. My local McDonald’s has even removed the soda fountain from the dining ar...

First world problem noun: A trivial inconvenience or minor annoyance experienced by people living in wealthy, developed societies, often ridiculous when compared to real problems elsewhere in the world. In other words: problems that absolutely should not irritate you as much as they do… but somehow they still manage to crawl under your skin. I will admit it. I sometimes feel a little ashamed at how petty some of these things make me feel. There is so much more to life. Real problems. Serious problems.  And  yet.. h ere are a few small things that still manage to drive me completely nuts. Grounds  in My Coffee ☕ Ugh. We have probably all experienced it.  You take a nice long sip of coffee with the anticipation of warmth and comfort… and instead get a mouthful of coffee grounds. Instant mood killer. This is especially true with Turkish coffee which I love. It is delicious, rich, and aromatic, but that thick layer of sludge sitting at the bottom of the cup feels like a ...

I stopped for gas one morning last week. Nothing unusual about that. But then I looked at the price and it had jumped 30 cents overnight. I’ve seen prices creep up before. A few cents here, a few cents there. You notice it, but it doesn’t feel urgent. This felt different. This wasn’t a slow climb, it was a jump. The kind that makes you pause for a second longer than usual. I’m not trying to get political about it. Everyone has their own opinions on why things like this happen. What sticks with me is a simpler question: how bad is this going to get? Diesel is already pushing toward 6 dollars a gallon. And when that goes up, everything follows. It’s not just gas, it’s groceries, shipping, basic goods. The stuff you don’t think about until suddenly you have to. I’ll be honest, I have a tendency to get in my own head about things like this. I can spiral a bit, think too far ahead. But at the same time, ignoring it completely doesn’t feel right either. So maybe it’s just time to tighten thi...

I’ve owned a lot of cars in my life and I mean a lot. Just about every make and model you can imagine. Some were terrible, some were great, and a few were somewhere in between. But what’s surprising, if not a little shocking, is that the best car I ever owned is the one I just parted ways with: a 2009 Ford Focus. Now, I’ve owned Fords before that were downright awful. I’ve also owned some that were exceptional. But this particular Focus stands alone as the most reliable car I’ve ever had. It crossed the 200,000-mile mark without breaking a sweat. Mechanically, the list of things I had to do to it over the years was remarkably short. Aside from routine maintenance such as oil changes, brakes, batteries, tires, a serpentine belt, spark plugs, ignition coils, fuel injectors, and a thermostat, there were only two real fixes.  I  replaced a rear hub when it started to whine, and early on I swapped out a motor mount. That year of Focus was known for a vibration issue, bu...

If you've been living under a rock, and haven't heard about the ridiculousness that is the McDonald's CEO trying a bite of the new 'Big Arch'.. do yourself a favor and go watch it right now. Watching the McDonald’s CEO take tiny, hesitant bites of a massive burger is peak internet absurdity. There he is, the head honcho, nibbling like the thing might bite back. It comes off goofy, awkward, and honestly kind of hilarious. And, it has resulted in McDonald's selling an insane amount of these burgers. I'm not so sure that hiring Jason Momoa to tear into that burger with huge monstrous bites, would have had the same impact as this awkward marketing campaign did. But even in its awkwardness, it works. People are talking, sharing, and laughing about it. Suddenly McDonald’s is everywhere in the conversation. Heck, it even makes ME want to grab one after work just to see what the fuss is about.  Bad publicity? They say there's no such thing. This example is prov...

After my mom passed away recently, creativity shut off for a while. It felt like someone flipped a breaker in my brain. Lately, though, it’s coming back, through memories of sitting on the couch with my kids, watching their shows. For instance.. for years, I’d watch Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide with them and laugh harder than they did.  They’d ask, “Dad, why are you laughing at kids stuff?” I’d tell them: who do you think is writing your kids’ shows? People my age. And that was exactly why Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide worked for me. It followed Ned Bigby, Moze, and Cookie navigating the chaos of junior high. Awkward crushes, cliques, and teachers who were part comedy, part legend, everything exaggerated but completely relatable. Take 'Mr Monroe' the Home Ec teacher. Played by Jim J. Bullock basically a callback to his eighties sitcom days on Too Close for Comfort. My kids didn’t catch the reference, but I laughed every time hr made an appearance...

I woke up this morning one of the worst ways possible. Blurry eyed from sleep fresh out of bed getting ready to go to work, I turned on the TV and found out we are at war. It is unsettling. Even if this isn't the first time I have seen conflict break out in my lifetime, it never feels normal. You hear about tensions for years. You hear about missile programs and threats. Then one day it becomes real. My mind goes where a lot of minds go. Gas prices. Empty shelves. Parents with kids in the military wondering if they will be sent halfway across the world. The quiet anxiety that settles in the back of your brain and hums all day long.  The truth is there is nothing I can personally do to stop nations from clashing. There is no switch I can flip to calm the markets or steady the headlines. My dad was a Boy Scout early in life, and he always drilled one phrase into my head.. "Always be prepared“. Not panicked.. Not paranoid.. 'Prepared'. So that is what I will do.  I will k...

A few weeks ago, life hit hard. Some mornings, I found myself sitting up in bed with a cup of coffee, staring at the TV for hours.. not really thinking, just letting the noise fill the room. I didn’t try to pick a show. Choosing felt like too much effort. So, I jumped from app to app.. streaming service to streaming service. I got sick of it, so I just went to one of those live TV guide apps, pointed the remote and started scrolling  I was looking for anything familiar. Something old that didn’t demand attention. It reminded me of the days when cable TV ruled, when you could stumble across a show without deciding. Much to my surprise there were many channels that just looped old reruns from certain shows endlessly. Twighlight Zone, Gun Smoke, Alfred Hitchcock, etc. Over time, I noticed a pattern. Many of the shows I grew up loving had changed. Some started strong, raw, and exciting, but somewhere along the way, they lost the magic. Actors left, writers changed, networks polished th...

I thought 2024 was a heck of a year. 2025 didn’t let up, even this close to the new year. Today, on December 24, 2025, the woman who loved me more than any other woman in my life passed away. That woman was my mother. It was completely unexpected, and a shock to everyone. I know myself well enough to realize my creativity will be empty for a while. When something like this happens, I need to step back, take a minute. These things happen more often than we like to admit. I’ve known many people this year who lost parents, partners, loved ones. Heads go down, life keeps moving, somehow we carry on. In the end, it hurts, we sometimes wonder why we’re still here when they’re gone, but we keep living for them. That’s the plan at least. It’s just going to take a minute. I didn’t want to disappear without saying something. Over the years, TheRetroDad.com brought me good friends, acquaintances, and people I didn’t want to leave hanging. Thank you for stopping by. Thank you for the support, past...

Some mornings start with everything going wrong. Today was one of those days. I bumped my head, dropped my keys, mixed up my schedule, my ankle was acting up. And This is just a short list of things that happened before I even left for work.  On these days, our brain jumps straight to worst-case scenarios, and the day feels doomed before it even starts. I needed gas, so I pulled into Wawa. After gassing up, I went inside, washed my hands and grabbed a coffee and Bacon Egg and Cheese Bagel. Normally I’d eat on the run, but today I had time. And let me tell you, downshifting and not eating on the go like usual, made all the difference in the world. One bite and everything shifted. The soft bagel, smoky bacon, perfectly cooked egg, mellow cheese.. it all came together like a little miracle.  Ten minutes later, I was calm, centered, and ready to handle the day. If you have a Wawa nearby, you know what I mean. Out east or up north, we’re fanatical about them. And if you...

I woke up today feeling completely off. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Nothing felt wrong, but nothing felt right either. As I drove to work, absolutely nothing sounded appealing. Not eating. Not drinking. Not talking. Not even listening to music. I ended up driving for a full 30 minutes in total silence because I didn’t want anything stimulating my brain.  I  just sat in the quiet and rolled with it. In fact, there were several points where I started telling myself.." OK.. that's enough! Time to start pulling out of this so I can get on with my day". And I knew that I could, but I chose not to. I chose to remain in that space A small part of me wondered if this was depression creeping in or if I was somehow spiraling. But deep down, I knew I wasn’t. I know myself well enough to recognize when something is seriously wrong versus when something just feels “off.” So I started analyzing the feeling. I paid attention to what it was and what it wasn’t. I did a little reading...

When I was a kid, I remember my parents watching the old Pink Panther movies featuring the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. My parents, aunts and uncles would be laughing their heads off while they sat around the TV. I could kind of see the humor, but the movies were a little too dry for me back then. What I did love were the Pink Panther cartoons. I watched those regularly. I always knew the cartoon and the movies had to be connected somehow. I just never understood the details and honestly, as a kid, I didn't care. The big pink cat was enough for me. I always gravitated towards cartoon characters that were optimists, chill, and even keeled.. even if it was to their detriment at times. The Pink panther was all of these and I was a really big fan. I learned how to draw him at an early age and over the years worked his likeness into many and art project at school, that always ended up earning me easy A's. Heck.. on occasion, I still doodle and sketch him out to this very...

Remembering The Fat Boys — 2025 Edition This is an updated version of a post I originally wrote in 2021 It’s 2025, and every time I press play on an old Fat Boys tape (or vinyl, or digital rip) I’m reminded why the trio of Prince Markie Dee, Kool Rock Ski, and Buff Love (The Human Beat Box) weren’t just a  novelty act. They changed how a lot of us heard rap, and how a lot of rap heard itself. I simply blows my mind that its been 41 years since I first witnessed their rap prowess. They weren’t trying to be cool in the narrow sense. They were just being themselves. Big personalities. Big appetites. Humor as loud as their beats. To a lot of us, especially the guys who didn’t fit the lean image, they offered something important: pride, fun, and confidence without needing to look like anyone else. Origins: From 'The Disco' 3 to Hip Hop Pioneers Before they were The Fat Boys, they were The Disco 3. Three friends from Brooklyn trying to make something happen. Kool Rock and Markie...