When I was a little kid, I’d run around the house in my underwear, knee socks and a cape pretending I was a superhero. Now that I’m a grown man, little has changed.
Author: Steve Ainslie
I’d Rather Move Somewhere Than Travel There
Back when we lived in cold and dreary Pittsburgh, my wife and I would travel during my meager 1 week vacation to warm sunny places like Hilton Head Island, Fort Lauderdale and Deep Creek Lake. We had fantastic vacations. We’d eat delicious food in restaurants. We’d drink wine. We’d rent jet skis and boats. But…
Is It Time To Spring Clean Your Leads?
Last month, Inside Sales Dude had its 1 year anniversary and this month I have my 50th birthday. (I know, you don’t even have to say it, I don’t look a day over 25). To celebrate ISD’s birthday, I decided it was time to spring clean my newsletter email list.
How I Escaped Credit Card Debt With Chase and Citibank
I was fed up with living paycheck to paycheck. Despite working as hard as I could for nearly 20 years, we were $60K in credit card debt, owed $25K to a family member, had no savings and had a 30-year mortgage on the house we bought just one year earlier. Each month, we juggled charges on our…
What If Everything You Owned Was Your Favorite?
My wife and I have moved 11 times. Moving has taught me the real (low) value of stuff. The first time we moved long distance, we needed an entire 18 wheel tractor trailer. For our most recent move, we has pared down to less than 1/3 of a tractor trailer. Between our first move and…
I Quit Facebook and Twitter to Quiet the Noise In My Head
A few weeks ago I was listening to a small business podcast that said every business should be using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to grow sales. “Oh crap”, I thought, although I had accounts at all three, I only used LinkedIn regularly. So I decided to amp up my social media activity for my business, Inside…
Someday You Will Have a Driveway as Nice as Mine
After my parents divorced when I was 5, my mother sold our house and we became perennial renters. I remember our first rental in Swissvale. I shared a bedroom with my sister until I was old enough to move into the unheated “sunroom”. It was so cold I’d sleep in a sleeping bag to keep…
Why I Love To Walk
My love affair with walking began before 1st grade. Back then, my Aunt Essie would take me hiking in the woods of Tamaqua. She showed me how to find birch bark and sassafras plants to chew on. We’d hunt for teaberries. We’d break open hunks of shale to look for fossils.
What’s the Worst That Could Happen?
The remote lock for the driver’s side door on my trusty 2004 Scion (aka “the Toaster”) stopped working recently. This was the 3rd lock to fail on me. Both locks for the rear doors had already stopped working last year. Until my driver’s door lock failed, I applied the following Ainslie auto repair logic: “Nobody rides…
How I Met My Wife
29 years ago I walked into a Mail Boxes store to interview for a job and met my future wife. I didn’t realize it at the time. I walked up to the counter of the store and was ran smack into a beautiful woman with a big wide smile and sparkling blue eyes. I could…