# When you realize you have it made **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 20, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407 "2018-12-20T05:24:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/21 "2018-12-20T17:06:45Z")
When my wife and I decided that seeing “Hamilton” on Broadway wasn’t crazy. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/22 "2018-12-20T17:16:42Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Good for you. I, on the other hand, still hear my mother’s voice admonishing me to only take 3 cubes and not waste it! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!! Is your Mom French? Carlos Mencia - Three Cubes - 02:44 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OZHaAcyhl0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OZHaAcyhl0) Warning: NSFW ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/23 "2018-12-20T17:20:30Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I knew I had it made when I realized that for 99.99% of human existence, people had to rely on their own memory to remember how cute their kids looked as babies, but I have literally hundreds (thousands?) of photographs from my kids’ birth through 12/19/2018. I can stare at my son’s face from 9 years ago as if it were today. I can look at my own face, my mother’s and father’s face, from 1975. That seems like no big deal now, but for the billions upon billions of humans born before the advent of the camera, this would be mind-blowing. I live in a beautiful time. I still feel this way every time I use a telephone. Such a mundane device today, but still would absolutely blow away the minds of people from centuries ago that two people separated by thousands of miles can chat in real time like it’s nothing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/24 "2018-12-20T17:23:40Z")
When I was a child, it cost more than 25 cents a minute to talk on the telephone to someone in a town only a few miles away, and the further away they were, the more it cost. Today I talk to my sister, who lives 1500 miles away, every day for as long as I want, instantly send her pictures and short letters with no postage, for the same basic fairly low monthly fee I pay every month, no extra charge. We can even companionably sit and watch a movie or ball game together, talking only occasionally, for several hours. This still astonishes me every day. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/25 "2018-12-20T17:33:10Z")
When I am sick and miserable, I think of how much more miserable I would be if I lived in an era without soft blankets, indoor plumbing ,climate controlled homes, OTC medicine, ice cubes and bottled soft drinks. And TV. I have a lot to be grateful for. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/26 "2018-12-20T17:52:57Z")
When I woke up and realized I had something I had to do that day: I had to go to work. I didn’t have to spend the day in the library, in the park, or in my apartment. Be grateful if you have something to do today, even if you don’t want to do it. ---
**Author:** ![RadioWave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RadioWave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadioWave)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/27 "2018-12-20T20:31:58Z")
Along the lines of the OP… Once upon a time I bought some new toothpaste that my dentist recommended to me. I forget what was so special but apparently, it was quite the darling of the dentistry world. It was kind of gritty and, for some reason, for about two hours after using it, everything you ate or drank tasted vaguely of metal. I hated it so much after two weeks, I swore I’d never buy it again. After four weeks, I realized that, toothpaste only costs about $3 and, although the tube was still usable, it wasn’t worth suffering for such a paltry sum to replace. My depression era mother would have killed me for throwing out a perfectly usable tube of toothpaste but that evening, I brushed like a king. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/28 "2018-12-20T20:38:40Z")
A little while ago, in another thread (“You’ve won a gazillion $$. What are the modest things you would do?”) I said I would go mad and buy a bottle of Sauternes for Xmas. Sadly, I didn’t win a gazillion. But you know what? I bought the Sauternes anyway! j ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/29 "2018-12-20T20:51:25Z")
We needed breakfast cereal. I do the shopping. I got everything else, and wound up in the cereal aisle. I roughly total everything in my head as I grab items, to know how much I have spent. Then I realized - I could get any kind of cereal I wanted, and still be under budget for the week. I could get the name brand stuff instead of the cheap bagged kind. It’s good to be the king. Regards, Shodan PS - bran flakes. But it’s the principle of the thing! ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/30 "2018-12-22T19:56:24Z")
Another example: We’ve had a huge storm where I live - Vancouver Island. No power for over 48 hours and counting. So I’ve moved my budgies and myself into the local Travel Lodge for the time-being. Here I sit all toasty warm, tv on, computer on, cell phone, kobo, fitbit all charged and working. Hot tub, pool, sauna and exercise room down the hall. The budgies are singing and warm and happy in a toasty 80 degree room with me. I went back to the house to pick up some things and it’s 41 there. I’m fortunate indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/31 "2018-12-22T20:28:24Z")
2 things: #1- I spent way too much on my mattress, best decision ever. #2- I spent way too much on my fridge, worst decision ever. You can never tell. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/32 "2018-12-22T20:43:58Z")
I’ve lost six figures worth of stock since October and I haven’t felt the need to jump out of a window. The _desire_, sure… but not the need. Easy Street! ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/33 "2018-12-22T20:45:15Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Electricity to freeze water costs money. Water costs money. So, yeah, ice costs money. My “I have it made” realization: It’s below freezing outside this time of year, and I have a well. Behold, peons, I have FREE ICE. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/34 "2018-12-23T00:37:34Z")
Whenever I’m out in the pouring rain, I think about how nice it is that my feet are warm and dry. The materials and technology nowadays are so much better than when I was a kid. They don’t wear out and leak as quickly as they used to and I sincerely appreciate that. I can still picture Pops back in the sixties cutting out pieces of cardboard to put in his shoes to cover the holes in his soles. Because he couldn’t afford to keep his kids fed and warm _and_ buy a new pair, too. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/35 "2018-12-23T00:55:49Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > We live in a time of wonder and plenty, and I think about it every day. Here’s a quote from an earlier post of mine. > > \*A few months ago, the missus and I were having a friendly squabble over the temperature. I was sitting in my leather recliner, enjoying the multi-zone central air conditioning as an amazing scifi show played on the flat screen TV. At the same time I was keeping an eye on big steaks outside the window (on the grill). Then later I pressed the buttons to retract the room slides on the RV and we moved to a different park. I camp better than most of humanity has ever lived. > > On the back deck of my home, I have a personal “hot spring” that keeps clean water hot and bubbling 24/7 for me to hop in anytime I feel the urge. I have a small rectangular device in my pocket which can bring up the combined knowledge of the human race, or summon a hot pizza to my door. When enjoying a day of sunshine and water with the family, the mere touch of a few switches starts the rumble of hundreds and hundreds of horses beneath the deck. If I desire, I can crack a whip over them and command them to hurtle us across the water at dizzying speed – just because we’re getting too warm. Seriously, I can order up the wind if that’s my whim. > > To the people of the past, we live in a time of magic. And routinely do things that kings of the past couldn’t even imagine. IMO, I live in the greatest State, of the greatest Country, in the greatest era in which humans have ever existed.\* This. M details are slightly different, but I think about this all the time. > [@Shodan](#): > > We needed breakfast cereal. I do the shopping. I got everything else, and wound up in the cereal aisle. I roughly total everything in my head as I grab items, to know how much I have spent. Then I realized - I could get any kind of cereal I wanted, and still be under budget for the week. I could get the name brand stuff instead of the cheap bagged kind. > > It’s good to be the king. > > Regards, > Shodan > > PS - bran flakes. But it’s the principle of the thing! Also this. I have blueberries in the fridge because I like blueberries. Yes, it’s winter, and they are expensive. But they looked good, and I can afford them. I am rich! Through most of history, no one, or possibly a very powerful king, could get delicious fruit out of season. But I can! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/36 "2018-12-23T00:56:52Z")
> [@Hopeful\_Crow](#): > > Whenever I’m out in the pouring rain, I think about how nice it is that my feet are warm and dry. The materials and technology nowadays are so much better than when I was a kid. They don’t wear out and leak as quickly as they used to and I sincerely appreciate that. I can still picture Pops back in the sixties cutting out pieces of cardboard to put in his shoes to cover the holes in his soles. Because he couldn’t afford to keep his kids fed and warm _and_ buy a new pair, too. Although I still like show rubbers. (which is what I had in the 60s. I recently rediscovered them.) ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/37 "2018-12-23T01:32:46Z")
Every day I’m thankful that I have fresh food, hot showers, and air conditioning (even in December I appreciate that we have A/C in July). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/38 "2018-12-23T03:51:54Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Although I still like show rubbers. (which is what I had in the 60s. I recently rediscovered them.) Shoe rubbers. Not “show”. lol ---
**Author:** ![KMS94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ad7895/32.png) [@KMS94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KMS94)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407/39 "2018-12-23T13:36:54Z")
I was just observing yesterday, my family has no less than six different varieties of jam or jelly currently open in the fridge. Such an extravagance was never seen in my parent’s home growing up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-realize-you-have-it-made/826407.md?page=1)