Failing Up

Our great addiction to the phone, (which is not really a phone) is stronger than crack and I would argue would be just as difficult to kick.  Our phone, (which is really not a phone), this device is our photo gallery, weather system, medical tracker, financial advisor, trip guide, entertainment guide, match maker, calorie and step counter and much more.  People bury their faces in it while walking...

I grew up in a "blue collar family.  One grandfather was a firefighter, the other work at a plant.  My father worked at large plant then the power company, my mother was a nurse.  I have always looked at those people, nurses, plumbers electricians, police officers, fire and EMT as the true backbone of our nation.  You know it when you need them! Also, I have been able to travel all over and c...

In 1981 due to cutbacks in the school lunch program, then President Ronald Reagan attempted to have ketchup declared a vegetable.  Well, congress went crazy and said no way.  Now, for the purpose of replacing vegetables on school lunches I agree with the decision of congress at the time, however I do think ketchup is truly America's vegetable.  We put ketchup on everything, eggs, hamburgers,...

This is the 200th episode of Failing Up.  As we celebrate this milestone I want to thank all of you who continue to download this podcast, which is really a form of self therapy.  I appreciate being able to share my fragmented ramblings on a regular basis, my mind is not a neighborhood to spend a lot of time in alone.  This program is my version of neighborhood watch.  Jungle Jim, and I look forwa...

There are the classic Halloween candies that continue to rise to the top of all goblin lists.  These are Halloween Hall of Fame (HOF) candies.  The Milky Way Bar, Three Musketeers, Snickers, Milk Duds, Butterfingers to name a few.  Then there are the retired treats, "the rocks", homemade popcorn ball, apples, Pez etc.  I assume and thank God that "B obbing for Apples"  has been...

Show me some ID!  If you are old enough to drive a car or get a Learner's Permit or Driver's License , you are too old to Trick or Treat!  No candy for you 16yrs with just a hat on and a pillowcase telling me your in a boy band!!  timothymahar.org

As this important election is about to reach its climax. I find myself overwhelmed with all the polls.  For the last 90 days is seems a different poll comes out daily with different percentages. The Emerson College Poll, the Siena College Poll, the New York Time, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, CNN, NBC, Taco Bell, McDonalds, on and on.  Stop the madness!  They are up they are down they are all aro...

Growing up in the Northeastern   United States presented unique cultural occurrences back, "in the day".   One of them being the purchase of some type of car that was on life support that would be driven throughout the winter months instead of a motorcycle or nice hot rod.  This car was disposable and it did not matter if the salt on the roads ate what was left of it alive. Now, in my ca...

Just like that Labor Day ends, and in the northeast you wake up the next morning to autumn.  The trees start to change color overnight.  Every apple orchard and pumpkin patch comes to life.  The air is crisp, and the apple fritters are warm. Cider is flowing, and every drink is pumpkin spice or cider, and yes donuts are ok to eat.  Football is everywhere so are politicians.  It's Autumn, the...

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of the summer, and for this region of the world the last ritual of the season is the New York State Fair.  I have attended the Fair on a regular basis since I was a child, and just like when we grow those experiences change with age.  Except one thing never changes, the smell and instant craving for Fair fried food!  Fried onions, potato's, greasing sausage...

I grew up, well if I ever actually did grow up, loving the news, especially broadcast.  At one point I even worked teleprompter on the local news.  That news is gone on to a better place. Instead, we now have 24/7 news right, left, up and down, panel after panel full of experts screaming at us!  Why do they all scream!!  All opinions and projections and not news.  The news is lost, fact is fiction...

Fifty years ago a Saturn V rocket launched three astronauts into space and off to the moon. Two of them walked on the surface of the moon while the other orbited, then they returned safely to earth.  It was one small step for man, what happened to the giant leap for mankind?? I am really a simple guy, and not the brightest bulb in the pack, but for the life of me I cannot fathom why we are having...

From September, 1964 to June of 1977 I was transported to and from school on the magical bus #34,( it later became bus #62, but I always called it #34) driven by our captain Eddie the bus driver.  Eddie was not just a bus driver he was everyone's uncle, the bus decked out with speakers listening to top 40 radio spanning the British invasion to Disco.  The bus  was our cocoon and Eddie the Cap...

Well, I had an extremely disturbing revelations this morning.  In the middle of having morning coffee sitting in my  comfy chair, in my robe feeding nuts to the chipmunks and squirrels, I realized I am an old fart!  The old dude who waves to the neighbors in his robe and loafers!   Next I will be wearing slippers to the store!! Snap out of it old boy!! timothymahar.org

In our current day,  the news is ever present and in our faces 24/7.  It's every where all the time!  On our phones, televisions, social media, it follows us, and it is loud and in your face!  Most of it really is not even news, just a bunch of pundits screaming at each other to make a buck. It's all reality TV, and that has seeped into our nations conscious and new norms.   timothymahar...

Summer travel is here and we are off on the highways. There is no place more comforting on a road trip then  the rest stop.  With the much needed bathrooms, a chance to stretch, a selection of the finest fast foods, chips coffee.  These pit stops much like those at the Indy 500 have vehicles coming in and out nonstop. There is no worse feeling then when you think you can make it to the next stop,...

Hate is not natural.  It has been taught for centuries.    I know this is not some great revelation  on my part, but it takes a while to for things to hit me.  Actually, love is natural and unlike hate love takes work.  Hate is a reaction, a tool for manipulation, it takes no thought.   It serves an ugly purpose for few, but costs many lives. timothymahar.org

What's wrong with kids today?  A question asked for generations. Well, the answer usually lies with the adults.  Kids mirror or react to what is being presented.  I grew up in an era of artistic and musical and political evolution like no other.  The influences of that period were immense, and in most cases positive but in some negative. So, when we live in a time when lying, bullying, mockin...

April 8th 2024 is the date of the total eclipse on the sun.  People are flocking to the regions that are in line with the eclipse.  Parties are being planned, hotels are sold out, traffic will be jammed, fish will talk, pigs will fly, the world will flip out for those 3 minutes.  How many eclipse babies will be conceived and born?  This is a big time event!  And!  you are suppose to look at with a...

March 17th Saint Patrick's Day American style.  A holiday known for parades, "kiss me I'm Irish buttons",  shamrocks painted on faces, lots and lots of green beer.  A day when everyone is Irish.  I was on the phone with my cousin in Dublin many years ago and he said: "are you drinking any of that green beer Tim?"  In Ireland they were just starting to celebrate Americ...

The month of March is a collision month of two major elements of my growing up and who I remain today. One being Irish American and influenced by my heritage and culture, and the other being Catholic with all the rituals.  This makes me Irish Catholic which is like a political party and has tremendous cultural implications that are imbedded in me.  One being that during Lent, I must eat fish on Fr...

February 3, 1959 , Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the " Big Bopper died in a plane crash on a  cold night in Clear Lake Iowa.   Buddy was one of the main figures in the beginning of rock and roll.  He wrote his own songs was influenced by gospel, country, blues and had is own look with his glasses. He died on that cold night, but paved the way for the British Invasion.  February 9, 1964 the...

On February 7, 1964 Beatlemania  arrived on Pan Am Flight 101 from London, landing at Kennedy airport. Music, pop culture, and politics would change for ever.  Youth were breaking the barriers of the 1950's and music became a big part of their voice.  Two days later the Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan show and the British invasion' was on.  I has just turned 5yrs, my parents bought...

Since August of 1954 the iconic covers of Sports Illustrated graced our mailboxes, libraries and stores.   It became a constant friend to those of us who loved sports.  Yet it was more.  It was fantastic photography, an eye into the times, it covered our culture.  It was published the same year Elvis stared his career and television was taking off.  Sports Illustrated, rock and roll and television...

Up here in the northeastern part of the United States, the temperatures and the sun drop at a rapid rate this time of year.   There is nothing better on a cold winter's night than some comfort food.  Food that coats the lining of our stomach and stirs memories that wrap around our hearts like a warm blanket.  Comfort food is not this healthy air sealed stuff that comes to our door in a box. I...