Inheritance etiquette PSA

eman1200 said:
uh, I'm sorry but no, I don't understand how having a photo taken with a nazi flag "celebrates" kicking their ass. well, I can understand that left photo but you wouldn't catch me dead holding a nazi flag. unless I was lighting it on fire.
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I don't denigrate your attitude, I just don't share it. Had friends, way back when, in the re-enactment groups. They preferred to equip as Germans, because they had the neatest stuff. Amateur historians are fascinated with the "what ifs" of history. The Germans in WWII provide fertile ground.

When Texas members of the CAF went to Spain and England to fly aircraft for the movie "Battle of Britain," they were made extras and wore German uniforms. They went around saying "Heil, y'all." Couldn't get away with that, nowadays.

And who was it that called the Nazis, "The Washington Generals of the History Channel...."? :-)


Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
I don't denigrate your attitude, I just don't share it. Had friends, way back when, in the re-enactment groups. They preferred to equip as Germans, because they had the neatest stuff. Amateur historians are fascinated with the "what ifs" of history. The Germans in WWII provide fertile ground.

When Texas members of the CAF went to Spain and England to fly aircraft for the movie "Battle of Britain," they were made extras and wore German uniforms. They went around saying "Heil, y'all." Couldn't get away with that, nowadays.

And who was it that called the Nazis, "The Washington Generals of the History Channel...."? :-)


Ron Wanttaja
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If I'm given a chance to fly any WWII warbird, without hesitation I'm choosing the most astonishingly beautiful (in my opinion) one, the BF-109. Wouldn't care if it had period correct military insignia.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Definitely an issue... But I think we're not far off at all from AI tech that will be able to look at genealogy and pics and determine with reasonable accuracy who is in a photo. Where and when the photo was taken might come even sooner.

So, don't shred 'em just yet. ;)
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Hadn't thought about that but it might be a possibility. Certainly the location piece.
 
flyingron said:
When I was in high school, I was on a educational trip to the Soviet Union (interestingly it was during the Soyuz-Apollo joint mission). I came back with a bunch of posters and a map of the world written in Russian.

A few years later when my office was in a SCIF at Martin-Marietta, I hung up the map. There was a post-it note arrow that said "You are here, comrade" pointing at Denver. Since our project had a geospatial component to it, people would come in from time to time to reference the map. I had to put a Cyrillic to Roman transliteration table up next to it for people to use.

Then one day the security officer came by and stuck her head into my office.

"Where did you get that map?"
"Moscow."
"Seriously. Where did you get it?"
"I bought it in the house of books in Moscow."
"If I call up and tell you to take it down, it better be gone by the time we get up here." (the security office was downstairs).

It stayed until I left the project.

My coffee maker also seemed to have accumulated a "No classified material is to processed on this machine" sticker over the course of its six month residency there.
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I worked for MMC over 40 years ago. We had a security officer who had to brief me before I went to a symposium in Zurich, Switzerland. He told me to be careful as there might be Russian agents at the meeting. I laughed and told him that there were Russians giving papers at the symposium. I knew they were there. Security people can be such idiots.

BTW, Martin Marietta Corporation changed to Martin Marietta Aerospace. MMC became MMA. That was the official story. We felt that the real reason was that MMC also stood for Mickey Mouse Club!
 
Matthew said:
Estate sales are another way to get rid of things.
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Where you will find out how little stuff is worth to other people

And some stuff, like china, is pretty much worthless.

The best part of an estate sale is, in most cases they take care of removing and disposing of everything that does not sell.

The other thing is how much it costs to deal with an estate in fees and such.

I am finishing up dealing with my parent's house and such.
 
I really appreciate this thread. It got me thinking about how we'd want our estate split up after we're gone. What it made me realize was that if we wait until we're dead to "spread the joy", so to speak, then the less financially successful of our kids will have already experienced much of their lives with maximum misery, and any relief our estate might provide would come too late to have the effect we'd like it to have. Even if we only live another 20 years, our oldest would be nearing retirement by the time we finally passed along any remaining wealth. Her kids would all be grown and long gone. Even our youngest's kids would be grown and out of college by then. Sure, we'll help the grandkids out with college or whatever, but two of our kids have no children. So, rather than leaving a pile of money that will come too late to do them much good, maybe we spread the joy while we can and while they can better use it.
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
If your kids are ever fighting with you about what money they deserve as an inheritance, or what the split should be with siblings/step siblings/etc, you should give them zero.

Zip, zilch, zero.
Absolutely nothing. Not a dollar.
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My Dad left several people $1 in his will. His friend, who was an attorney, told him to do this so they couldn't contest the will and say he forgot them. He also had a clause in the will that said if you contested anything in the will, you then got nothing. Not sure that clause would have mattered to those getting $1 though!

Not sure if this is great advice for everyone, but it worked for him. There were some mad family members, but no legal complaints.

BTW, on what you owe your kids... financially, nothing! My Dad was leaving me his house and most of his possessions. When his health started to fail, I told him he would have to move to a nursing home. He didn't want to, so he and I sat down and revised his will. He left the house to my oldest step-sister, with the understanding that she would live with him and take care of him until his death. She did a great job and he never went to a nursing home. Many years later, she lives in a nice house that she couldn't have afforded any other way. It was his house that he earned and I'm thankful that he got to live there for the rest of his life.
 
Ghery said:
I worked for MMC over 40 years ago. We had a security officer who had to brief me before I went to a symposium in Zurich, Switzerland. He told me to be careful as there might be Russian agents at the meeting. I laughed and told him that there were Russians giving papers at the symposium. I knew they were there. Security people can be such idiots.
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When I worked for the Army, our travel orders (which we have to show to get certain discounts and stuff), had a field for SECURITY CLEARANCE. Fortunately, when travelling domestically, they always left it blank.

When travelling overseas, they made me go to a briefling warning me not to let people know I had a security clearance. Then the travel office put the actual clearance on the travel orders. Go figure.
 
Lowflynjack said:
My Dad left several people $1 in his will. His friend, who was an attorney, told him to do this so they couldn't contest the will and say he forgot them.
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I know we have several attorneys here: I've read this advice a million times, but it just seems so implausible. Like someone read the "a contract isn't binding until a dollar is exchanged" advice and decided it applied to wills also.

So. Are either of those things real? Or am I fine doing a zero dollar contract with someone and fine leaving someone out of my will?
 
flyingron said:
When I worked for the Army, our travel orders (which we have to show to get certain discounts and stuff), had a field for SECURITY CLEARANCE. Fortunately, when travelling domestically, they always left it blank.

When travelling overseas, they made me go to a briefling warning me not to let people know I had a security clearance. Then the travel office put the actual clearance on the travel orders. Go figure.
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Dan, a friend and co-worker, was deeply into Wakefield free-flight models, to the extent that he was internationally rated. These are huge rubber-band-powered models with no RC.

One year (prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain) the international competition was in Poland, and he was going to compete. The security folks had a fit...he had a security clearance, and he was going to a Communist country! Dan was (and is) rather pugnacious, and told him that if it was a problem, they could just debrief him and he'd find another job with the company when he came home.

They finally, reluctantly, agreed that he could go. But...they told him, under no circumstances, to reveal to anyone that he possessed a security clearance.

The US contingent gathered together prior to their flight for Poland for a briefing by the State Department, about the potential risks of being in a Communist country. At the end, the briefer pointed to Dan.

"Do you see that man? If he gets sick, do NOT take him to the hospital in Poland. Bring him to the US embassy, instead."

So much for low profile.....

Ron Wanttaja
 
flyingron said:
When I worked for the Army, our travel orders (which we have to show to get certain discounts and stuff), had a field for SECURITY CLEARANCE. Fortunately, when travelling domestically, they always left it blank.

When travelling overseas, they made me go to a briefling warning me not to let people know I had a security clearance. Then the travel office put the actual clearance on the travel orders. Go figure.
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My favorite part of security briefings for overseas travel was the part where they tell you, "if a very attractive female approaches you, and you are not usually approached by attractive females ..."
 
172andyou said:
I know we have several attorneys here: I've read this advice a million times, but it just seems so implausible. Like someone read the "a contract isn't binding until a dollar is exchanged" advice and decided it applied to wills also.

So. Are either of those things real? Or am I fine doing a zero dollar contract with someone and fine leaving someone out of my will?
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The logic was, he had four daughters and two sons. Two daughters had been completely absent from his life and he didn't want to give them anything. Giving them $1 shows the thought it out and didn't just forget about them. Like I said, not sure if it holds legal water, but that was the advice he was given.
 
Ed Haywood said:
My favorite part of security briefings for overseas travel was the part where they tell you, "if a very attractive female approaches you, and you are not usually approached by attractive females ..."
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That's how I handle Facebook.

Suzy sent you a friend request. She's a 10 on a scale of 10, has a lot of photos of her in bikinis, and oh yeah, she's 30, single, and into middle-aged, overweight, bald guys... Sorry Suzy, go scam someone else!!
 
flyingron said:
When I worked for the Army, our travel orders (which we have to show to get certain discounts and stuff), had a field for SECURITY CLEARANCE. Fortunately, when travelling domestically, they always left it blank.

When travelling overseas, they made me go to a briefling warning me not to let people know I had a security clearance. Then the travel office put the actual clearance on the travel orders. Go figure.
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Lowflynjack said:
That's how I handle Facebook.

Suzy sent you a friend request. She's a 10 on a scale of 10, has a lot of photos of her in bikinis, and oh yeah, she's 30, single, and into middle-aged, overweight, bald guys... Sorry Suzy, go scam someone else!!
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Wait, all those hotties aren't really into me?
 
Ed Haywood said:
My favorite part of security briefings for overseas travel was the part where they tell you, "if a very attractive female approaches you, and you are not usually approached by attractive females ..."
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I held a TS clearance for many years and was briefed onto several SA programs. The greatest disappointment of my long career is that, in all that time, no beautiful Russian spy ever tried to seduce me.

1754719047106.png
 
gov98 said:
2. Your children are bad because they were raised poorly.
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Maybe, but with how few children most couples have, the data isn't statistically significant... If one kid out of one goes bad, could be the parents, could be the kid, could be other factors. One kid out of two? Big question. One kid out of five? Probably not the parents. Four bad kids out of five? I think the parents probably played a role in that outcome.
 
There's a big difference between a "bad" person, and one who - for whatever reason - doesn't have a good relationship with his or her parents or siblings.
 
The items I treasure most are my Dad's slide rule (he was an aeronautical engineer), his compass (the drafting kind), and the framed motherboard of the computer he trained to run United Airline's engine test cell. Dad was the first person to automate a test cell that way, and when he retired, his fellow engineers presented him with that.
 
2-Bit Speed said:
Maybe, but with how few children most couples have, the data isn't statistically significant... If one kid out of one goes bad, could be the parents, could be the kid, could be other factors. One kid out of two? Big question. One kid out of five? Probably not the parents. Four bad kids out of five? I think the parents probably played a role in that outcome.
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One thing that never ceased to amaze me growing up was how many adults were oblivious. So many would interact with other adults and because that relationship was respectful and cordial, they assumed that the other adult was respectful and cordial. But, sometimes, that other adult was condescending and authoritarian with those deemed of lower status. They were just smart enough not to do it in view of other adults.
 
kyleb said:
Pianos, China, and Grandfather clocks were status symbols of upward mobility in the ‘50’s and 60’s. There’s a lot of generational sentiment there. Also, high end appliances like Kirby vacuum cleaners.

That stuff is near-priceless to people who came of age during that period.
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Except that most of them have them. Or are downsizing already.

So they really are priceless, as in worth ZERO, NIP, NADA.
 
Haven't thought about a Kirby vacuum cleaner in ages! Back in the 80's when I was a young lieutenant, we made the mistake of allowing a Kirby salesman in our door. My wife wanted it but the cost was nuts.
 
Kirby's bring back a memory of Mr. Mom and the fact that I had a friend who sold those door-to-door back in the 80s.

Piano isn't a status symbol for me, it's my home entertainment. Whether I play it or it plays itself. It's the one largest purchase (other than the airplane) I don't regret making.
 
Reading through this thread again, I'm kinda reminded that in a lot of ways some previous generations were a lot smarter than us. In the sense that they didn't live in the mostly disposable society we do now. Electronic devices that didn't exist then, but that have a typical lifespan of a year. Imagine explaining to someone in 1952 what a cell phone was, and what it could do, then calmly telling them that we usually throw them away after a few months, because the new ones are better. And then trying to explain to them what that differential level of "better is", when there isn't one.

Meanwhile, that china set - and my mom has one too - that they saved for and treasure, if taken care of would last several generations. Likewise the solid wood furniture and the silverware.

I realize while I'm typing this that I'm using one of those disposable computers, and listening to a 3d printer in the background making a plastic flange, so I realize there's a lot of hypocrisy in what I'm saying. But I think I can relate a bit to the folks that want others to have the same respect for long term things that they do.

Oh, and with respect to travel... An acquaintance of mine used to work out west designing things that made very, very loud noises when they were tested. His travel system was simple - for parts of his life he just wasn't allowed to travel. And I believe still requires state department approval to do so.
 
Albany Tom said:
Reading through this thread again, I'm kinda reminded that in a lot of ways some previous generations were a lot smarter than us. In the sense that they didn't live in the mostly disposable society we do now. Electronic devices that didn't exist then, but that have a typical lifespan of a year. Imagine explaining to someone in 1952 what a cell phone was, and what it could do, then calmly telling them that we usually throw them away after a few months, because the new ones are better. And then trying to explain to them what that differential level of "better is", when there isn't one.

Meanwhile, that china set - and my mom has one too - that they saved for and treasure, if taken care of would last several generations. Likewise the solid wood furniture and the silverware.

I realize while I'm typing this that I'm using one of those disposable computers, and listening to a 3d printer in the background making a plastic flange, so I realize there's a lot of hypocrisy in what I'm saying. But I think I can relate a bit to the folks that want others to have the same respect for long term things that they do.

Oh, and with respect to travel... An acquaintance of mine used to work out west designing things that made very, very loud noises when they were tested. His travel system was simple - for parts of his life he just wasn't allowed to travel. And I believe still requires state department approval to do so.
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I don't think it's hypocrisy - I think it's just that product manufacturers realized that planned obsolescence, or removing the ability for the end user to repair their own possessions (Apple, John Deere, etc) is more profitable than making products that last forever. I agree it's terrible on multiple fronts; finances, the environment, etc.
 
I get what @Albany Tom is referring to. In bringing this back to aircraft, I'm reminded how William Wynne (the Corvair conversion guy) likens the older aircraft engines to "machines" meaning they can be rebuilt, as opposed to the later engines that are more like "appliances" that when they wear out you toss them in the dumpster and buy a new one.

This is true of aircraft and it's why we have the fleet of older aircraft that we have i.e. they were built to last. I realize in saying that that in those days that wasn't the goal but it has turned out that way. Auto engines are much the same way. How many times can you rebuild a SBC engine? A Kia? not so much ...
 
A very large German flag hung in a sporting goods store. If anyone questioned its display, he brought out a step ladder and requested that they go up and read the names on it, I did, and as I read each name, he said "DEAD or ALIVE". They had all been alive when they captured the German Headquarter, and signed the flag. Dead meant they did not live to go home. There were many DEAD names.

He felt that repeating their names was important to bring home what that flag cost.

I agreed, and was proud to have read them.

He had killed the sniper in the tower flying the flag, and went up to be sure he was dead. He pulled down the flag for a souvenir.

I saw it and read the names in the '60's.
 
geezer said:
A very large German flag hung in a sporting goods store. If anyone questioned its display, he brought out a step ladder and requested that they go up and read the names on it, I did, and as I read each name, he said "DEAD or ALIVE". They had all been alive when they captured the German Headquarter, and signed the flag. Dead meant they did not live to go home. There were many DEAD names.

He felt that repeating their names was important to bring home what that flag cost.

I agreed, and was proud to have read them.

He had killed the sniper in the tower flying the flag, and went up to be sure he was dead. He pulled down the flag for a souvenir.

I saw it and read the names in the '60's.
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German flag? Or Nazi flag? They are different. The Nazi flag was only ever the flag of the Nazi party, not the nation. And I guess I've never heard of a German flag being kept as a spoil, though Nazi flags were very commonly taken, so that's why I ask.
 
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172andyou said:
German flag? Or Nazi flag? They are different. The Nazi flag was only ever the flag of the Nazi party, not the nation. And I guess I've never heard of a German flag being kept as a spoil, though Nazi flags were very commonly taken, so that's why I ask.
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Good catch, Swastika flag.

The names were hard to read, written with a fountain pen, ink ran into the threads.

New train of thought, he is dead, his wife is too. His kids are in their 80's and 70's. The store closed years ago. I wonder who has the flag now? His oldest daughter ran the store for a while after he died, she would be 88 now. She was born before he was drafted, her brothers after he came home.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Worst sniper ever
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That depends on your point of view. He had killed several American soldiers before he was killed. The owner of the flag was a competitive marksman before being drafted, and that sniper was not his first success, just the first with a flag flying above him at the city hall bell tower.

The names of his victims were printed on the flag. I had forgotten that feature of the flag.
 
172andyou said:
German flag? Or Nazi flag? They are different. The Nazi flag was only ever the flag of the Nazi party, not the nation.
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According to Wikipedia, after the death of Hindenburg in 1934, Hitler banned the use of the previous German imperial flag. The Nazi flag became the national flag from 1935 through 1945.

Ron Wanttaja
 
geezer said:
That depends on your point of view. He had killed several American soldiers before he was killed. The owner of the flag was a competitive marksman before being drafted, and that sniper was not his first success, just the first with a flag flying above him at the city hall bell tower.

The names of his victims were printed on the flag. I had forgotten that feature of the flag.
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I've got a bit of experience working with and against snipers. Flying a flag is not generally considered a tactically sound element of sniper employment. Although I suppose it could be effective as a ruse. It's not as funny when I have to explain it.
 
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