Author: Steve Ainslie

My water heater replacement did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. The plumber arrived around 2PM, checked everything out and got to work immediately. Around 5:30 PM, he called me over to show me that a vent pipe elbow he was connecting to was broken. He explained that he could not use it…

I had plans for my entire day and the entire Thanksgiving holiday weekend mapped out in my head to get me through it with minimal inconvenience and fuss. I confirmed where and when I could swim when my regular pool was closed. I hit the grocery store Monday morning to avoid the onslaught of amateur…

Yesterday, I helped the plumber take my new water heater upstairs. He had a special stair-climbing dolly, but to negotiate the turns we had to stand it straight up and manually lift the dolly with the water heater strapped to it. I’d estimate it was over 200 lbs With two fit men working together, it…

Except when I applied to college as a high school senior, nobody has ever asked to see my high school diploma, let alone my “permanent record” or my transcripts. Given all the pressure and importance bestowed on attendance and good grades for 12 years of mandatory education, you’d think someone might have looked at least…

I like Christmas Season. I like walking the dogs and seeing the houses all lit up with decorations. I like seeing trees inside people’s homes and their families and friends gathering for a Christmas party. I like how everyone seems to be a little bit kinder, gentler and easygoing. But if it was up to…

Returning from our midday walk, me and the dogs were greeted with an alarm blaring from inside my house. It didn’t sound like a smoke detector, so I guessed, correctly, it was one of my water alarms. I ran upstairs to shut it off and investigate. Sure enough, there was a small pool of water…

This Thursday is Thanksgiving. It is exactly five years from the worst time in my life – when my wife was dying from lung cancer and suffering horribly. On the day of her birthday, that November, we decided to stop treatment and get hospice. Thanksgiving will never be special to me again. However, surprisingly, I…

On our zoom call a few days ago, Peter asked for recommendations of alternatives to Slack to use for hosting his user forum. After nobody else responded, I decided to check into it myself. After all, I had suggested to him a year ago to replace Slack because of its cost and limitations. First, I…

I actively participate in the Solo Podcast user’s forum. Aside from this blog, it is the only other place online where I regularly contribute content. It’s a “semi-private” group of people who listen to the podcast and discuss solo living. It is also how Peter, the podcast host, regularly communicates with listeners to solicit feedback,…

I was talking to someone about our mutual friend, who has been complaining to both of us about his current living situation. Without getting into details here, let’s just say that our mutual friend has studiously avoided taking meaningful action to change his situation for more than a decade. Whenever we broach the subject with…