Y2K When The Government Got Out of The Way

Posted on March 5, 2026 by freemattpodcast

This story harkens back to late 1999, a time that clings to my memory.

It started with the radio stations playing Prince’s 1999, to the point that most of us didn’t want to hear it ever again.

The years of 1997 to 1999 had been troubling for me. I had found myself in and out of the hospital/physical therapy due to injuries. I had a failed relationship that was hard to shake. I found myself fighting something between a long term depression and a melancholy feeling toward the future.

I felt like the government was slowly poking their noses in everyday life, through the generated paranoia of Y2K. (I had felt that the supposed meltdown was a growing pain that the private world needed to deal with on their own). It drove everyone nuts.

I had heard the murmurs of a live music event that was supposedly coming to our area. This didn’t surprise me, considering I had experienced some smaller shows at a medium sized venue nearby. A few of my friends had talked about it, adding to an avalanche of bs that seemed to grow everyday. I honestly thought that it would have been at the local venue, if not at all. It was a herculean effort to get anything into our town.

I had went on with my life, not paying much attention to further mentions. I had been largely checked out. I had a season of things that kept my time and I was wrestling with further discussions about my future. The smarter among me were polishing off future plans while I was wrestling with the fact that my options were bleak at best. A few of my close friends weren’t even to this point in their lives.

It had been a few months before Y2K when I heard that the live music event had actually made it to fruition. I was also surprised that not only there wasn’t an actual venue, but the town was going to close off several busy streets in our town (often home to protests and vandalism). The organization behind the event was also going to construct a stage for the performances. I had been surprised that it made it this far.

I was lukewarm about the event. I didn’t think that I was going to be able to go and I wasn’t sure if I could get off my carcass to walk the few miles to get there. The thing that changed my mind was my parents. Yes, the people that usually got in the way. They had asked me if I was going and said that they didn’t care if I went. (Noted that I was raised in a relatively strict household). Afterwards, I ended up broaching the subject with my best friend, the usual person I could loop into such an event.

We ended up wandering down to the area. That night, there were already thousands of people in the downtown area that was cordoned off. I ran into a ton of people that obviously had been “pre-gaming”, appropriately brought on by the hard-to-access places where alcohol could actually be purchased. I ran into other minors, specifically Baptists, that had been drinking. (No judgment here). Later in the night, I saw people on top of nearby notable buildings that were heckling and three sheets to the wind. I also saw drunks in some trees, shaking them like a pack of wild monkeys. The kicker? The cops left these people alone if they weren’t endangering themselves.

I was actually sober for this event. I enjoyed talking with people and hanging out with the few people I ran into. The experience was comparative to Lance’s Do Lung Bridge scene from Apocalypse Now. I was watching a change in history. It was somewhat depressing but it was real. The music was a mere side note.

I had ended up going to a party at a nearby rat hole motel, often home to shootings and fights support by police calls. My buddy and I were a little late. There wasn’t any booze left, this didn’t surprise me, considering most of the people there didn’t have a social code telling them to buy any or they didn’t have the connections that I did. The people at the waning party were in good spirits, though. A few were on the cusp of getting it on and a few people had exchanging pleasantries with me.

I wasn’t in high spirits and I had been feeling awful before I went to the music event. But I was surprised that there weren’t that many police reports afterwards. No one hassled the tree drunks and the frat boys on the roof were left alone. I was also surprised to see that none of the minors I knew got busted for booze. The most notable was by buddy, Skeezer. Skeezer was captured being carried by his two friends on the front page of our local newspaper. There was an uproar by a few parents, but the vast majority of the townspeople knew that it could blow over. It was nice to see our local police prioritize their efforts into what mattered.

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Venezuela Surprised Me This Early In the Year

Posted on January 4, 2026 by freemattpodcast

Wow! I felt compelled to post about Maduro and his new roommate; Trump. I didn’t see this in the cards, at least not this early. I figured some ham fisted airstrikes would make people happy, but “lifting” their sitting president away when we were still talking about the failed Epstein files takes the cake.

I’m not a fan of spreading democracy. I believe that plenty of countries deserve a strong man more than democracy. I think that many weak people are not up to the challenge. I think the jury is still out on Venezuela. Not to label them weak, they have gone through some stuff.

I’m also not a fan of disappearing people, contrary to my previous comments about Noriega and how he kept power. I think that Maduro is and was Venezuela’s asshole to deal with. I think that we might be introducing new problems for their country, namely other assholes.

I’m not sure what our long term goals are but if it is anything like Libya, Afghanistan, we might want to re-think what we are doing, especially before we proverbially wade in knee deep.

(Apologies to the incels that think they are going to get hot chicks airlifted to them from Venezuela. It doesn’t work that way, either).

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Looking Back At Christmas: Without You

Posted on December 26, 2025 by freemattpodcast

I made it another Christmas, this time I wasn’t sick or waiting at an airport. It was largely uneventful.

I got to see some family. Little ones and adults. People seemed to be doing okay.

I’m never the happiest creature on Christmas. I’ve had too many bad experiences or having someone “missing”.

This Christmas wasn’t any different. I had someone missing. Someone that disappeared out of my life. I hadn’t heard from them in months.

I wish them well, even with a small amount of sadness. Such is life.

I did want to wish you all a late “Happy Holidays”, (so I could cover them all) and if it applies; Merry Christmas.

May your New Year be prosperous and less depressing. (My favorite New Year’s movie is Money Train. Watch it after Christmas).

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Thanksgiving Reflections: A Personal Journey

Posted on November 27, 2025 by freemattpodcast

We made it through snow flurries and depressing clouds. We survived a near medical emergency and a ton of people in a hurry. But some of us came face to face with a more disappointing adversary.

I was looking forward to getting back to a normal series of days. Not joyful but less gloomy.

I had been feeling badly, mostly due to bad sleep and substandard sleep. Not getting enough sun weighed all of it together.

I had decided to pull over to a rest area near the Kentucky/Tennessee border. It was a place that brought me joy as a small child, when small things mattered.

It looked more rundown than what I remembered. Trash inhabited the parking lot and the air hinted of sun baked piss. I just wanted to get back on the road with no fanfare.

I walked up to the front of the building, scanning my surroundings. (Many call this paranoia, but situational awareness came easy to me after my time in the Navy). (I have a sense of worry at times. But I also have concerns about fire safety, mostly due to seeing people panic when put around simple fires).

I had seen a few people walking around, but I had seen one person that seemed to freeze in place. I really needed to go the bathroom. I was worried that this person might follow me, but I left anyway. I ended up returning to that spot.

I started going for my handgun, which was concealed. The person was still there, staring me in the eyes. But I decided to not go for my firearm after all. I found myself in the presence of a cardboard cutout of one of Tennessee’s best natives; Dolly Parton.

It was time to relax and find my way back on the road. Home was a short distance away and I was thankful that my enemies decided to take the day off.

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Are We Too Foolish to Rule Ourselves? A Libertarian’s Doubt About Democracy

Posted on October 29, 2025 by freemattpodcast

Finally, something to do with a libertarian subject. But I don’t believe that it is what you might be looking for.

I used to dream wildly on what our lives would look like if we were “that involved” in the political process, specifically if we didn’t have strangers making decisions for us. I used to dream of stores selling booze at 3:00 am. I used to dream of flying cars and private highways where you could drive through someone’s backyard.

But a brutal reality hit me, I don’t think that we could make it happen. I don’t think that we are smart enough to rule ourselves effectively.

(People seem to worship the idea of voting and can not divorce the emotional/identity elements of it. It isn’t supposed to be like any of that)

I examine what we have done with the rights that we have. I have seen what we elected into office and what we tolerate. (We seem to look the other way as it pertains to unelected bureaucrats and a supposed “contract” that was foisted on us, even before we could vote).

We seem to wildly trust ignoble and openly horrific people, while we belittle those that have shown some level of propriety. We don’t do much with what we have and we just use what we have to make ourselves feel good.

I honestly don’t feel like we could handle more rights and I see a level of folly in believing in universal suffrage, especially in light of an increased access to information that a common man had never had access to when the responsibilities of voting was foisted on those common men. I believe that we had a responsibility to be better when we answered “the call” to govern ourselves. We failed and we are still failing.

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The Countess, Destroyer of Rain, and the Autumn Curtain

Posted on October 6, 2025 by freemattpodcast

Many men celebrate the characters in the scene of life, yet grow saddened as the characters exit the stage.

I have felt this often. The irony is that autumn often marks the period when many of these characters find their exit. I would like to think that there is some internal waning magnet that does this but it is nothing but strange happenstance.

I knew of one time that the world stopped the magnet. I should call her The Countess.

The Countess made the dreary days seem laughable. I was able to temporarily look past the rain that never went away. It seemed that she nursed me with a mild intoxicant with no withdrawal. I felt like I had a different picture of life.

This story shouldn’t be construed as some love yarn. I feel like that failed. I don’t believe that I had what it took. I was barely dragging along, on the cusp of a lightweight depression, awaiting some re-birth that mattered.

She was an amazing, flirtatious creature. She fluttered with a teasing mastery of language. She seemed to light some sexual flame within me, mostly out of our comical discussions.

As I almost said before, I felt like we were both dying and trying to be re-born. She had dealt with the unappealing chore of family dynamics. I had been disenchanted professionally for the infinitesimal time, touring the countryside, hoping that the New Year might bring about a change.

Clouds didn’t lift that year and we both went elsewhere.

At Least A Thank You For A Bottle of Cold River Gin

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The Wes Watson War Food For Thought Post

Posted on September 23, 2025 by freemattpodcast

A smart man seeks wise council, often looking for someone more experienced and more intelligent than himself. An unwise man seeks elsewhere.

I had sought out a mentor at a previous workplace. I knew of someone that I went to for information, knowledge of how people interacted with each other, and being even handed. He was a man of peace but could handle “conflict” when it showed up. He didnt create wars but he knew that there might be something around the proverbial corner.

Fast forward years later, I still seek out wise council. I look for good information and ways to understand various situations. I occasionally look for inspiration.

I have found inspiration in some historical figures like Jan Sobieski, who led his own sons and much of Christendom in response to the siege of Vienna. But I don’t find inspiration in the modern blowhard or unpaid method actor.

One of those that I am uninspired by is Wes Watson. Watson is supposed to be a fitness influencer and podcaster. He often doesn’t inspire me with his rented condo in a metropolitan area or his “woman” who might be an OF plant. In my words, you can pay money to him and he will yell at you. You can also watch him spout out tales of his time in prison and occasionally he beats up, threatens others.

He doesn’t push you to be productive or live a life of some semblance of peace. He touts an unrealistic “bar” of achievement you may never find with any shake of honesty.

I had seen videos of him and his flunkies kicking some dude’s carcass at a gym, then Watson flies into one of his patent “jail” anecdotes. (Like going to jail is something to be proud of). He often appears in other videos, seeming to be amped up or “roided out”, over reacting to what could be a minor situation.

A man of wise council is none of that. He wouldn’t be a caricature or an amateur thespian. He would find an honest way to make a dollar, just as many successful ex convicts have done in the past.

Screen Door Submarines: A Tribute To My Polish Family
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The September Sun Gives More Than Death: Armani and An End By Hand

Posted on September 8, 2025 by freemattpodcast

The Black Narcissus commented on Giorgio Armani’s passing, but reflected through a few memories:

R.I.P GIORGIO ARMANI

Armani’s biggest blockbuster by far – and probably the engine for much of the company’s financial growth (still – quite an impressive feat – independently owned – the man controlled everything), was, and still is, Armani Aqua Di Gio Pour Homme – the smell the nineties, not CK One as is often erroneously assumed.

I looked back:

I had remembered “freshening” up w/ British Sterling, not really smelling like anything, minus a junior high kid trying not to stink like soured milk. It was years later that I moved on to other fragrances that smelled like much better, like Nautica Blue. But it was even more time before I discovered Aqua Di Gio (ADG).

ADG came around during a terrible time in my life. I found myself in an immense funk and lacking a certain woman in my arms. I had met a wonderful smelling one when I finally bought my first bottle of ADG.

I had decent luck when I was wearing ADG. I found my love interests wound up when I was wearing it. I noticed people enjoying it too.

I found The Black Narcissus commentary about it interesting:

I personally detest it – so ubiquitous you couldn’t escape it for years, all that calone and freshness and underlying woody London gayclub business – it desperately got on my nerves, ingeniously constructed though it undoubtedly was. 

On Armani himself:

I also admired his cultural position as a sober, if conservative, ‘elderly gay statesman’ in the industry, conferring a certain gravitas on his sexuality that engendered respect.

It was within TBN’s comments that reminded me of a funny experience I had. I had always heard that ADG was a fragrance big in one of my previous town’s gay community. I even heard this from a gay waiter we had when I was out on a date with one of my lovers.

After that, I considered ADG an all around fragrance of sorts. It was for everyone. Everyone thought it smelled good and it fit a bunch of people for different reasons.

I felt like it died in the heat and it didn’t fit the fall, winter seasons but it always showed up for others. It smelled good for the hoi polloi back home.

The irony is that I moved on from it. I dove into other fragrances, looking for others that werent as “pedestrian” or cloying. I am still on the lookout for something that might stick around for a few decades.

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Its Time To Eat at Honkey Barrell: My Two Cents

Posted on August 25, 2025 by freemattpodcast

I find myself at a Cracker Barrell several times a year. I have some dirty secrets to share with you.

(1) Its just “food”.

It isn’t really that special food. It is largely “pre-made” or “prepped” food. I knew several people that worked there. They have deliveries from food service companies or other vendors. It isn’t raw ingredients and magic.

(2) It is marketing and gullible customers.

I know a ton of people that love Cracker Barrell. It cuts through to their nerves, a sense of something. I know of some of it. I hated the term “country” or “Americana”, but it fits to a point.

I know that people have lost their shit after the corporate ‘tards at Cracker Barrell “cleaned” up their restaurants and took “Uncle Whatshisface” off of the company emblem. I wanted to get mad so I could understand other people, but I failed. There is less insurance liability when they took all of the hanging stuff down. The connected store hasn’t had an actual cracker barrel in it since my grandparents were children.

People spin yarn, dreaming about the “pre-corporate” days, but they live nothing but corporate lives, then eat at a corporate establishment.

I just go there because that is where we end up. I do like the fireplace but I wont cry when they finally remove it.

We need to actually fight for something worthwhile, instead of petty stuff like this.

Picture below taken from Seattle On Tap:

https://seattleontap.com/blogs/sports-on-tap-seattle-blog/only-sydney-sweeney-can-save-cracker-barrel-from-its-rebrand

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A Fall That Gave Birth to A Great Silence: A Short Navy Story

Posted on August 18, 2025 by freemattpodcast

I had an insightful moment as I was sweating, during the cooler hours of a hot summer day. I was driving home after doing some work, annoying someone that was trying to sleep. I didn’t put on any jazz music or anything that would slow my pulse. I had a nagging feeling that something was “dying”.

I know that the summer is dying, despite the fact that I was sweating profusely. A non-brusque fall is around the corner. Giving us a wedge of time between when the leaves smell and the slowing “cold” that depresses the worst of us. It was a non-brusque fall that visited me in 2001.

9-11 wreaked havoc on us. The military went beyond “secure” with their decisions. We didn’t know how far to go and it made decisions “easier”. We weren’t supposed to have fun like we had months ago. Most of our stops on deployment were just that, stops.

We would stop for fuel and food, not for frivolity. We didn’t have fun and we didn’t embrace the inner freak. I found myself sober and counting the unknown number of wakeups before I got “home”, which seemed to never come like a Quantum Leap episode that was the same thing over and over.

We seemed to come to a break from this around the time of the World Series, which was when we pulled into the Pacific Ocean side of Panama. (The country, not the Redneck Riviera city in Florida). Yes, we got fuel and food, but we were given a time out of sorts.

I was surprised to get more out of this stop. We were offered a short trip to another former US military base. We were promised a chance to watch the World Series, featuring the Diamondbacks and the Yankees. Two teams I didn’t know about, considering the ship offered me a blackhole, which I took up at times.

I didn’t know of the area but a few older sailors did. I was informed that we were going to an old Officer’s Club connected to a golf course. I considered us lucky that the place was still in good operating shape, this was at least true when it was dark outside. I was also happy that there weren’t armed crazies outside of the establishment.

The inside of the place wasn’t exciting, just a clean place that had places for everyone to sit comfortably. The windows gave birth to a black nothingness. Nothing moved. Nothing stirred. Everything stopped. Outside of people going to the bathroom, most of us didn’t move around. We watched the baseball game, just being happy to have a reason to “stop” for a bit.

I won’t lie to you, there was other entertainment. A small bevy of local women slipped in, too. (I imagine that one of the people that worked there told them about us). I had seen them passively mix in with us. They had an eagerness in their eyes that I couldn’t define. (It was beyond anything I saw in the club I went to in the earlier months of our 2001 deployment). Contrary to the imagination of the pearl clutching masses, these women were most likely trying to make a dollar or two.

I didn’t have any deep conversations with the ladies. We shared pleasantries at best. They were polite, but most of their cheerfulness was connected to a professional necessity. They were thankful for a free drink and a seat without a monster hovering above it.

The ladies weren’t as attractive as the other women I had seen in other establishments. They were thin, yet plain at best. They weren’t decked out for a soiree but they fit in with most of us that were perpetually waiting for laundry to come back. It was within this that they knew they had found their destination.

Two of the guys that I had went with met a woman worth hanging onto. They both disappeared outside with them during the game. I think that most of the women slipped out and I noticed a few empty seats. (I was sober enough to recognize it. I don’t think I had more than four watery beers that night). I didn’t pay no mind, I watched the game instead of worrying.

It was after the game when I met up with them both, women in tow. They were both in good spirits and the women didn’t look angry. I ended up taking a picture of them all, I still have that picture today in a scrap book.

One of the guys told me that they had wandered out onto one of the greens on the golf course, where they fooled around. I think that the other guy had told me that they weren’t the only people “getting it on” out on the golf course.

Looking back, I could believe it. It was relatively quiet and very temperate. The green grass served as a great blanket for a roll. The air wasn’t as humid as it always had been. The weather had changed for the better for us all.

This was one of the few times that the fall season didn’t mark a depressing time for me. It was a sobering time, but it also marked the time where my life moved on. I still had “shit” to eat but it thinned out my enemies, then gave chipper times to those that I held near.

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