Rhonda Bracey: At Random

I had breakfast this morning with my uncle and three of his buddies. My uncle is 85, two of his buddies are of a similar age, and one is 90. Add in my years and the combined age of the table was about 400 years! That’s a lot of experience and knowledge in the one place. Oh, and in case you were thinking this was just a lot of old blokes (and me) having breakfast, they are all highly intelligent men and very mentally fit (if not quite so physically fit as they used to be). The conversation ranged far and wide — from the current economic crisis, to Obama’s presidency, to the careers they had when they were in working life, to their military experiences, their antecedents/genealogy, etc. We covered a lot in 90 minutes!

The 90-year-old, an ex Merrill Lynch broker, told several jokes, including this one that I remember: “What’s the definition of liquidity?” Answer: When you check your stock portfolio and pee your pants…