Didja ever learn something really unexpected about someone you thought you knew?

[12string]

Nice lady, quiet but strong willed.  Always willing to help, humble.  Divorced.  We always wondered what she does for a living, she has a background in social work but never seems to be unavailable due to work.

She casually dropped into a conversation that she doesn't work, doesn't need to anymore, she's got money.  As in hundreds of millions.  

Never would have guessed that, she sure doesn't look or act it.

[Parsnip Totin Jack ★]

That my friend’s husband only has one testicle. TMI to me but apparently she wanted to tell someone. Lucky me.

[Kzoo]

That Cheese is a guy.  Never would have guessed.

 

[JerrySTL ★]

I once did a lot of consulting work, a few year's worth, for a guy. He once mentioned that he spent some time in prison for selling drugs. I figured that it was small-time stuff and he paid back society. It wasn't until many years later that I found out he had been a major drug ring leader. His photo wasn't in the post office, but close. He got caught when he sat down in a restaurant for lunch next to a table full of FBI agents and one of the agents recognized him.

[Prophet Zacharia]

52 minutes ago, 12string said:

As in hundreds of millions.  

I’ll assume that this is legit and not like the multi-millionaires living at the bus station?

[MickinMD ★]

I coached high school track and a teenage boy who ran for me for a couple years was a joy to work with: self-confident, easy-going, respectful, friendly to all, and responsible.

He was popular and shortly after high school married one of his classes beauties.

When he was about 30, they divorced and one day, after he picked up their two kids, he called the police to report his car had been hijacked by a guy with a gun with his two kids inside.  The car was found under a bridge with the kids shot to death.

It didn't add up to the police and soon, my self confident, easy-going, respectful student athlete confessed to the double murder.

[KrAzY]

Today I learnt my boss is extremely constipated.. 

[BuffJim]

When I did taxes, you got to see an angle of people's lives that most people don't see. There were some mismatches.  50 something year old school teacher living the most humble of lives with a 10 or 15 million dollar inheritance.

Gynecologist who was so hopelessly broke it was sad. Income of 250,000 to 350,000 and couldn't pay his bills. 30 years out of medical school, so there wasn't even student loan issues.

Both were very nice humble people, came across as meek.

[jsharr ★]

I just learned @Dottie is a whiny bitch! 

[Dottleshead ★]

1 minute ago, jsharr said:

I just learned @Dottie is a whiny bitch! 

Are you sure??

[jsharr ★]

Just now, Dottie said:

Are you sure??

Positive! 

[MickinMD ★]

I had an Aunt Martha in Wilkes-Barre who I used to drive up and visit whenever I had a coaches clinic or teacher's convention near Philadelphia on a Saturday and stay with her until Sunday afternoon.

One Sunday, Aunt Martha took me the cemetery and said, "I want to introduce you to some relatives."

People related to my maternal grandmother and grandfather were scattered through the cemetery and Aunt Martha would point to tombstones and say, "This one was sleeping with that one while she was married to this one..." etc.  I also learned from her, during those visits, who among my mother's sisters and brothers had to get married, visited the then-legal whorehouses in Scranton, PA, etc.

The cousin whose funeral I attended last month in Virginia - it was his father who had visited those whorehouses in his youth and my cousin knew about it: he visited Aunt Martha, too.

One cousin told me I needed to write a history of the family because I knew about their military service, etc. I replied, "I can't. I know too much."

[Dottleshead ★]

2 minutes ago, jsharr said:

Positive! 

Maybe. But I think I am more of an attention whore. How much you charging, big guy?

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, Dottie said:

Maybe. But I think I am more of an attention whore. How much you charging, big guy?

I am an attention slut.  This is all free!  *motions hands up and down body

[Dottleshead ★]

3 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I am an attention slut.  This is all free!  *motions hands up and down body

I was going to use that word but some of the folks might have been offended by low sexual mores. But charging for it makes it a business and it's more respected 

[jsharr ★]

1 minute ago, Dottie said:

I was going to use that word but some of the folks might have been offended by low sexual mores. But charging for it makes it a business and it's more respected 

I hope you are better at this than carpentry.

[Dottleshead ★]

2 minutes ago, jsharr said:

I hope you are better at this than carpentry.

Heh. I know nothing.

[Kirby]

No, which leads me to believe that either (a) the people I know are pretty boring or (b) I'm too self-centered to really learn anything about them.

[shootingstar]

4 hours ago, BuffJim said:

When I did taxes, you got to see an angle of people's lives that most people don't see. There were some mismatches.  50 something year old school teacher living the most humble of lives with a 10 or 15 million dollar inheritance.

Gynecologist who was so hopelessly broke it was sad. Income of 250,000 to 350,000 and couldn't pay his bills. 30 years out of medical school, so there wasn't even student loan issues.

Both were very nice humble people, came across as meek.

Sometimes those are stories....great and also some, sad.

Would a lot of car drivers, non-cyclists even appreciate how much money can be saved over several decades, if one didn't own a car...instead just use transit, car share and occasional taxi? I did the calculation and nearly shocked myself:  Over $300,000 that could be used for other things in life. This is calculating for past 35 years.

[sheep_herder ★]

19 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Sometimes those are stories....great and also some, sad.

Would a lot of car drivers, non-cyclists even appreciate how much money can be saved over several decades, if one didn't own a car...instead just use transit, car share and occasional taxi? I did the calculation and nearly shocked myself:  Over $300,000 that could be used for other things in life. This is calculating for past 35 years.

This is true only if one lives in an area with public transportation or safe cycling routes.  Many, many folks do not fit this pattern, so the savings is a non-issue for them. You are about this about like Razor Edge is about people moving to Hawaii.

[Dottleshead ★]

29 minutes ago, sheep_herder said:

This is true only if one lives in an area with public transportation or safe cycling routes.  Many, many folks do not fit this pattern, so the savings is a non-issue for them. You are about this about like Razor Edge is about people moving to Hawaii.

Many of those same folks believe everyone should live in cities. The older I get the more I want to get out. Shocker.

[petitepedal ★]

Kirby is not a frog 

[shootingstar]

My eldest niece studied geotechnical engineering, worked as a geophysicist and--- did write  some published erotic novels. The latter, a real surprise.

[shootingstar]

51 minutes ago, Dottie said:

Many of those same folks believe everyone should live in cities. The older I get the more I want to get out. Shocker.

I  lived in a southern Ontario town of 1,000 people for lst 3 yrs. of my life. I think this was hard on my mother, new to Canada, not knowing English and no other Asians except her uncle-in-law and his wife, children. Claustraphobic.  We couldn't afford a car. 

Then moved to city of 33,000. Better for everyone's mental health and close to transit, stores, bank, doctor, school, father's work (he walked 15 min. to restaurant where he was a cook).

We make conscious choices and trade-offs when choosing where to live.

[Dottleshead ★]

12 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

I  lived in a southern Ontario town of 1,000 people for lst 3 yrs. of my life. I think this was hard on my mother, new to Canada, not knowing English and no other Asians except her uncle-in-law and his wife, children. Claustraphobic.  We couldn't afford a car. 

Then moved to city of 33,000. Better for everyone's mental health and close to transit, stores, bank, doctor, school, father's work (he walked 15 min. to restaurant where he was a cook).

We make conscious choices and trade-offs when choosing where to live.

I live 40 miles from down town Seattle and either carpool or take the bus. My conscience is clean.

[Dottleshead ★]

1 hour ago, petitepedal said:

Kirby is not a frog 

She's great as a frog or princess.

[Ralphie ★]

6 hours ago, Kirby said:

No, which leads me to believe that either (a) the people I know are pretty boring or (b) I'm too self-centered to really learn anything about them.

I also am pretty non-nosy and don’t like to pry. There are things I want to ask people but I usually refrain. 

[onbike1939]

1 hour ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

I also am pretty non-nosy and don’t like to pry. There are things I want to ask people but I usually refrain. 

Huge mistake. 

There's much enjoyment to be gained by coming right out and questioning them. For years I've asked people direct questions regarding their bowel movements, size of their genitalia, extra-marital affairs and the state of their bank balance. It's never failed to be a great source of delight to me and it becomes even more so when I publish this information on Facebook.

[Zealot]

On 6/5/2019 at 1:01 PM, 12string said:

Nice lady, quiet but strong willed.  Always willing to help, humble.  Divorced.  We always wondered what she does for a living, she has a background in social work but never seems to be unavailable due to work.

She casually dropped into a conversation that she doesn't work, doesn't need to anymore, she's got money.  As in hundreds of millions.  

Never would have guessed that, she sure doesn't look or act it.

That blows my mind. I think it takes some doing to conceal that kind of means.  

[MickinMD ★]

I met a couple local yocals in a bar near Yellowstone and figured them for poorly educated types.  Boy, was I wrong.

In 1990, I just had to get away for a while to clear my head, so I drove west from Baltimore and eventually finding a room at the Range Rider Lodge in Silvergate, Montana, 1.5 miles from the NE Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

In the bar at the lodge, I struck up a conversation with locals, figuring them to be weak in education but strong in stories about local life.

One guy asked me if I lived near Timonium, Maryland - about an hour from my house - because he was involved in construction with a company from there.  "Log Cabins?" I asked.  No, missile silos!

Another guy, who I had seen leading people on horseback that morning, asked me, "You ever teach TAG kids?"

I was amazed he knew the term (Talented And Gifted) and he went on to say he used to teach high school biology in Texas.  That was before he went on to get his Ph.D. in Veterinary Science.  His son got a job with the company doing horseback riding in various parks and soon this guy became the company vet - and he loved doing the tours.

[Zealot]

2 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

I met a couple local yocals in a bar near Yellowstone and figured them for poorly educated types.  Boy, was I wrong.

In 1990, I just had to get away for a while to clear my head, so I drove west from Baltimore and eventually finding a room at the Range Rider Lodge in Silvergate, Montana, 1.5 miles from the NE Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

In the bar at the lodge, I struck up a conversation with locals, figuring them to be weak in education but strong in stories about local life.

One guy asked me if I lived near Timonium, Maryland - about an hour from my house - because he was involved in construction with a company from there.  "Log Cabins?" I asked.  No, missile silos!

Another guy, who I had seen leading people on horseback that morning, asked me, "You ever teach TAG kids?"

I was amazed he knew the term (Talented And Gifted) and he went on to say he used to teach high school biology in Texas.  That was before he went on to get his Ph.D. in Veterinary Science.  His son got a job with the company doing horseback riding in various parks and soon this guy became the company vet - and he loved doing the tours.

The old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover “ still holds true.  

[maddmaxx ★]

Why yes I did.

No, I'm not going to tell you.

[Airehead]

Yes and it wasn’t good given that it was about one of my foster brothers and embezzlement. 

[UglyBob]

Most people would be surprised to know my net worth. I'm working on my second million now.

I gave up on the first million...?

[late]

On 6/5/2019 at 9:59 PM, Dottie said:

Many of those same folks believe everyone should live in cities. The older I get the more I want to get out. Shocker.

Americans, we suck at cities.

[Dottleshead ★]

9 minutes ago, late said:

Americans, we suck at cities.

Let's keep the young ones and the old ones out. This would require the healthcare systems to be more rural too 

[late]

2 hours ago, Dottie said:

Let's keep the young ones and the old ones out. This would require the healthcare systems to be more rural too 

That needs a little something for it to communicate a little something.

[Zealot]

2 hours ago, late said:

Americans, we suck at cities.

Cities are difficult. 

[Further]

2 hours ago, late said:

Americans, we suck at cities.

 

6 minutes ago, Zealot said:

Cities are difficult. 

Cities require a common culture, we have no culture, let alone a common one.

[Zealot]

1 minute ago, Further said:

 

Cities require a common culture, we have no culture, let alone a common one.

Cities require too many people...

[Dottleshead ★]

14 minutes ago, late said:

That needs a little something for it to communicate a little something.

Yes. Thank you. I meant to say young ones IN and old ones OUT.

[late]

2 hours ago, Dottie said:

Yes. Thank you. I meant to say young ones IN and old ones OUT.

You lost me.

[Dottleshead ★]

11 minutes ago, late said:

You lost me.

It's ok. I am just saying city life SEEMS to be more for the younger crowd. The older I get, the more I want to get out. No doubt my next move will be further out than I am now.

[Page Turner]

...after my old man died, I found out he's had a prior marriage tp someone before he went off the big war in the Pacific in WW 2.  Apparently it had not survived the war, but it was a shock to me to find out that the guy who had dragged my ass to the 8 o'clock mass all those years, and by all indications a staunch Catholic, had a prior marriage that ended before he married my mother.

 

Divorce was not recognized by the Catholic church in those days (and still isn't).  So I can only assume he bought one of those fake annulments that are popular with Catholics who want to remarry.  But it turns out I knew very little about my father.......so there's that.

[Page Turner]

1 hour ago, Dottie said:

The older I get, the more I want to get out. No doubt my next move will be further out than I am now.

...you should move to a small town.  Everyone will be all up in your business.

[sheep_herder ★]

Continue to be amazed by the accomplishments of some of my classmates.  Here is an example.  I was impressed.

[Dottleshead ★]

26 minutes ago, Page Turner said:

...you should move to a small town.  Everyone will be all up in your business.

I want remote bedroom communities.  Just far enough out -- but not too far.  

[Longjohn ★]

My best friend and neighbor when I was in my early twenties told me stories about his uncle Harold. He claimed he had been framed and sent to prison and had escaped Alcatraz. Now I knew his uncle Harold because he would often stop by my friend’s house while I was there. I wrote off these stories as just a bunch of bologna . Harold drove an old beat up car and always seemed to be friendly. There was no way I could check out those stories but everyone knows that nobody ever escaped Alcatraz so the story had to be false.

Fast forward about forty years or so and one day I was marveling about the internet and Google and how so much information is now available at our fingertips. I decided to do a search of uncle Harold and his escape from Alcatraz. Sure enough the stories were true. ?

[Ralphie ★]

25 minutes ago, Longjohn said:

Sure enough the stories were true. ?

Because you read it on the internet?

[Longjohn ★]

1 minute ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

Because you read it on the internet?

Absotively