Author: Steve Ainslie

In late December, after running out of anything the least bit interesting to stream on Amazon, I gave in and resubscribed to Netflix. Since I hadn’t been on Netflix for a while, I discovered a few series to watch. I watched the best ones first. Then, as I moved to the mediocre ones, I found…

Yesterday, I completed round 6 of my purging binge. I can’t believe that every few days, I keep finding something else to get rid of. The latest drop-off at the thrift store included: 3 belts, a set of good kitchen knives, a bluetooth speaker, a colander, a set of colored pencils and 2 spatulas. I…

Twenty years ago when I went to AA meetings, people who were talking about having issues with their family members (or other AA members) would sometimes say “I’m not going to co-sign their bullshit.” It’s a saying that has stuck with me for all these years because it intuitively makes so much sense to me….

In my early 40s, I was introduced to the concepts of simple living, minimalism and financial independence. Prior to that, I was constantly running uphill trying to support a lifestyle I couldn’t afford, working in high stress sales positions and living under an immense burden of debt. Back then, I desperately looked forward to weekends,…

The last time I was seriously ill was in early 2019. I was emotionally and physically run down from caring for my wife until she passed away from lung cancer. Unfortunately, the flu was making its rounds through my area at the time and I caught it – undoubtedly from someone in the AA meetings…

I listened to a podcast this week with professor and author Daniel Chambliss who wrote the book Champions: The Making Of Olympic Swimmers. Chambliss was a competitive swimmer in high school, though not world class. In addition to his academic career, he coached swim teams. As part of a research project, he studied why only…

When I was a little kid in Tamaqua, I loved going to the little markets that had a penny candy counter. My friends and I would scoop up whatever spare change we could scrounge, hop on our bikes and then stare at the smorgasbord of candy selections behind the glass center until the owner had…

I have written before about the US gerontocracy and my opinions of politicians in general previously, so I won’t regurgitate what I’ve already said in today’s post. Instead, I want to talk about my gut reaction to seeing a news clip from Joe Biden’s visit to Raleigh last week. I’m not going to offer my…

While on my purging binge over the last week or so, I searched for podcasts, blogs, forums and books on simple living, living with less, downsizing, minimalistic lifestyles etc. When I get “into something” I like to dive into the subject to learn about others’ experiences, practices and suggestions. When I first embraced minimalism, back…

Since ending my road trip in 2019 and building a new life after losing my mind for a while when my wife died, everything has not been perfect. I’ve written before about the mistakes I made and regrets I have for some of my actions in the 6 months after she died when I was…