ROB KRIDER

On Sept. 8, 2000, during the principal year the Santa Maria Sun was published, the first installment of the Man Overboard column was printed. That initial 1,000-word article set the stage for what the column would be for many years. The column was about my kids—who were 1 and 4 years old at the time—a […]

When the weather is pleasant, my wife and I spend our Saturdays riding our beach cruisers all around town. The pedaling is good exercise for our hearts; however, our bicycle cruises are a bit hard on our livers as we tend to ride from one local bar to the other. Every ride needs a destination, […]

Based on my age, I’m undoubtedly and firmly and proudly a part of Generation X. That means I grew up listening to Nirvana when Kurt Cobain was still alive, and it means I’m not a millennial. Let me clarify, I am definitely not a millennial. Now, I’m not here to say anything derogatory about millennials. […]

I consider myself a fairly confident man. I have confidence because I am a bit delusional. I choose to look the other way and ignore the things that might shake my confident ways. For instance, I ignore the fact that I have consumed enough pizza and beer in the last 12 months that my belly […]

It is a brand-new year and that means pretty much one thing and one thing only to me: I need a new Dilbert desk calendar. Other than that, the concept that it is a “new year” doesn’t really make a difference in my life. I know other people become very excited about New Year’s Eve. […]

Even though I am a grown-ass man I still like to play with cars. As a little boy all I wanted to be when I grew up was a race car driver. It was a dream I never let go of. So, whenever the schedule will allow me to (for the record, my wife, whom […]

I was at a dinner party recently, hanging out with some folks who were a mixture of friends, acquaintances, and complete randoms. I was standing around, shamefully eating carbs and arguably drinking too many IPAs. I was standing next to my wife, who wasn’t eating carbs and therefore looked hungry. Suddenly, a woman from across […]

Like most men, I’m not a huge fan of going to the doctor. I don’t enjoy sitting in waiting rooms, I don’t like being poked with needles, and I’m not a big fan of having a finger placed in my tush. To avoid all of the unwanted poking and prodding, I just don’t go to […]

Marriage is all about communication, and for me living alongside my wife is like doing a 24-hour-a-day word problem in a foreign language that can only be solved with algebra. As we converse, I’m constantly trying to decode the messages coming to me and searching for the right answer, but unfortunately, like a lot of […]