As people get older, they usually are able to wise up and keep their noses clean, meaning they do not typically get in the same trouble they did when they were younger and stupider. That phrase keep your nose clean is a direct reference to drug called cocaine, but it can apply to anything in life. When Insider was a young-timer growing up on the streets of Philadelphia and later Baltimore, he used to like to gamble here and there. Whether it was throwing cards or dice against a wall or wagering on a Little League game with a buddy, the old guy thought he was pretty good at turning a dime into a couple quarters in no time flat. All that positive energy was drained one day when he lost all his savings and then some in a matter of what seemed seconds. Insider never gambled again and hasn’t since. The same cannot be said for a couple of Insider’s childhood buddies, who seemed to get a taste of the high-roller life at a young life and liked it so much they lost all they had two or three times over. Who knows where they are now, but the old guy has to assume they continued on their wayward ways and were not able to keep their noses clean. Some guy named OJ would seem to know a little something about that.
When the old guy is cruising down a road his beloved DeSoto, he tries not to ever use the brakes. The little game he plays with himself is to essentially never come to a stop. If Insider sees a red light ahead or a stop sign, he inches the DeSoto slowly up to the light in the hopes it will turn before he has to hit the brakes. This infuriates the young timers driving around the Insider because they like to speed up to the light so they can wait as long as possible. After all, they have a lot they have to do. Or even if they don’t, they want to be wherever they are going as fast as possible because they can’t miss anything.
The first red, or was it orange, leaf of the year fell on the old guy’s patio on Sunday. A couple days later, there were a couple more and Insider expects there will be more in the days ahead. Insider likes that.
The trusty thermometer outside Insider’s kitchen window read 58 degrees early this morning. Insider likes that, too.