Not just part of lunch. Not a drink and maybe some fries. An actual meal.

In this episode of The Old(er) Guy Show, Jeff takes a nostalgic, and occasionally painful, look at what inflation has done to the everyday purchases we once took for granted. From hamburgers and coffee to movie tickets, gasoline, groceries, and restaurant meals, the numbers on the price tags have certainly changed.

There was even a time when the $5 Footlong became a cultural phenomenon. Subway introduced the nationwide promotion in 2008, and it became one of the most successful fast-food promotions of its era. Today, five dollars doesn't stretch nearly as far. One workplace-lunch index put the average lunch price at $14.73 in 2026.

So what happened? Is it simply inflation? Higher wages and operating costs? Changing expectations? Or have we slowly become accustomed to paying prices that would have made our younger selves put the menu down and head home for a sandwich?

Jeff looks back at what everyday things used to cost, what they cost now, and why those increases seem especially noticeable when you're old enough to remember the original price.

Because apparently the $5 lunch didn't disappear.

It just became the $15 lunch.

Topics in this episode: Inflation • Food Prices • Fast Food • Restaurant Prices • Grocery Prices • Gas Prices • Coffee • Cost of Living • Nostalgia • Everyday Economics • Then and Now

The Old(er) Guy Show: looking at today's world through the eyes of someone who's been around long enough to remember when five dollars was actually money.

In this episode of That Old(er) Guy Show, Jeff Blair looks at “The Lost Art of Talking to People.” Text messages replace phone calls. Restaurant orders are placed on screens. Self-checkouts replace cashiers. Automated voices handle customer service. And families and friends can sit around the same table while everyone is looking at a different phone.

Technology has made communication faster and more convenient, but has something important been lost along the way?

With humor, nostalgia and a little Old(er) Guy perspective, we look at what happens when efficiency starts replacing everyday human interaction—and why those seemingly insignificant conversations with cashiers, servers, neighbors and even strangers may matter more than we realize.

Maybe we don’t need another way to communicate.

Maybe we just need to start talking again.

After years of declining health brought on by warning labels, fine print, questionable decisions, unnecessary complications, and an apparent inability to ask, “Does this actually make any sense?" Common Sense has finally left us.

In this episode of That Old(er) Guy Show, Jeff Blair conducts a tongue-in-cheek memorial service for an old and trusted friend. We’ll remember a time when people were expected to think for themselves, accept responsibility for their decisions, and occasionally figure things out without an instruction manual, an app, or a committee meeting.

It’s part funeral service, part social commentary, and part affectionate roast of modern life.

So dress appropriately, silence your cellphone and join us as we pay our final respects to the dearly departed...

Common Sense.

May it rest in peace.

And who knows? Maybe someday we'll witness a resurrection.

Want to park your car? Download an app. Order lunch? There's an app. Adjust the thermostat, buy a ticket, get a discount, check into a hotel—or sometimes just accomplish something that used to take 30 seconds? Apparently, there's an app for that too.

In this episode of That Old(er) Guy Show, Jeff Blair takes a humorous look at our increasingly app-dependent world and asks a simple question: When does technology make life more convenient, and when does “convenience” actually make things more complicated?

From restaurants and parking meters to appliances, tickets and businesses that expect a long-term digital relationship for a five-minute interaction, we'll look at what we've gained—and what we may have lost.

Technology can be great. But sometimes...

I just want to park the car.

We’re constantly being told that newer means better—but does it really?

In the premiere episode of That Old(er) Guy Show, Jeff Blair takes a humorous and thoughtful look at our obsession with replacing perfectly good things simply because something newer has come along. From smartphones and electronics to appliances, cars and everyday products, we’ve gone from repairing and keeping things for years to upgrading, replacing and throwing them away.

Technology has certainly improved our lives, and sometimes newer really is better. But when did “old” automatically start meaning “obsolete”?

Join That Old(er) Guy for a little nostalgia, a few laughs and a look at whether progress always means moving on to the next new thing—or whether sometimes the old one was doing just fine.