Author: Steve Ainslie

I think that Trump just won the 2024 Presidential election after the near miss assassination attempt that happened yesterday in Butler, PA. The photo of him raising his fist in the air with blood streaming down his face while shouting “fight, fight, fight” is iconic. His dedicated base of supporters will, of course, rally around…

I listen to a lot of podcasts and read many books, articles & essays. As a fan of grammar, etymology and words, I often focus on the way people use language to argue points. There are some writers & podcasters who challenge me both intellectually and linguistically – Nick Gillespie, Ross Douthat, Carlos Lozada and…

It has been extremely hot and humid these past two weeks in Raleigh with blazing sunshine and temps reaching the upper 90s everyday. I’ve had to adjust my dog walking schedule so that the dogs and I aren’t setting ourselves up for heat exhaustion or burnt pad pads. Even so, by the end of our…

Due to summertime pool maintenance, swim team practices and swimming lessons at my regular pools, I’ve had to rely on my 3rd choice backup pool at the YMCA for swimming several days a week. (You can start playing the world’s smallest violin for me now.) Other than adjusting to a different environment and new swimmers,…

Unless you are wealthy enough to be able to influence legislators through bribes, donations and lobbyists, you will be paying more taxes than you think is fair. Taxes are not meant to be fair. Since their inception, taxes were used to siphon money (or goods) from people not in power to pay for royals, government…

I spend little to no time reading user comments on blogs, reddit threads, YouTube, and forums mostly because I find the comments add little value. Occasionally when I’m digging into a niche topic seeking advice, I’ll skim them. Comments from legit people with expertise are easy to spot. I’ll rely on those and have even…

After my recent week of dreaming I had a girlfriend, one evening curiosity got the better of me and I decided to check out the dating app Bumble to see if I was missing anything (or to be more accurate, anyone). I downloaded the app, created a quick profile, set my age range to 51-61…

In the early morning hours when it is still dark and quiet, I sit on the sofa sandwiched between my two dogs. By this time, we’ve all been up for a few hours. The dogs are fed and walked. I’m dressed and caffeinated and ready to start my morning workout. This is one of the…

Every night last week, I dreamt of having a girlfriend. None of the women in my dreams were anyone I know in real life. And, each night, I dreamt of a different woman. These dreams were kind of wonderfully unremarkable. In them, we were doing normal, everyday things together. We were making dinner, walking the…

Ever since ChatGPT and other LLMs burst onto the market last year, I’ve noticed an uptick in views of my blog. Every few days – especially if I’ve posted something new – the stats will show me that a “visitor” has viewed multiple posts. I’m pretty sure it is the LLMs scanning for content to…