Author: Steve Ainslie

Diane Feinstein, the longtime California senator who remained in office long after her physical and mental deterioration made it obvious she could not longer perform her job, died this week at age 90. She was wheelchair bound and had been exhibiting unmistakable signs of dementia and severe age-related physical problems. She hung onto her position…

In a recent conversation with my mom, she said, “They are shooting cops around here all the time… the former mayor is getting mugged because crime is rampant…we have a black mayor who is firing all the white employees and replacing them with his black friends…” And so, she no longer ventures far from her…

The funny thing about legacies is what lives on after we’re gone. When I visited my high school Ceramics teacher’s class a few years after I had graduated, he pulled a porous rock off the tool shelf that I had used to imprint designs on pottery and introduced me to the class as the man…

My neighbor stopped by the other day to ask if I could feed his dogs while he’s out of town. When he rang the doorbell, I was about 20 minutes into a 30 minute nap. I immediately woke up because my dogs went ballistic to ward off the “intruder”. Waking up from nap a few…

It occurred to me yesterday how unwilling I am to change my ways. This is in stark contrast to to friends of mine, both my age, who completely changed their lives and routines as soon as they got into a “serious” relationship. I completely understand how this happens. I’ve been there and done that –…

After Snickers died and Wiggles I were sending nearly every minute of the day together, I decided to get a dog DNA test so I could finally determine what breeds made up her genes. I had my guesses. Her long body, long snout and short legs, suggested Daschund. Her tri-color black/tan/white coat hinted at some…

Although it was really good for me to have Wiggles to bond with after Snickers died, I now realize it wasn’t the best for her. It wasn’t’t until I brought Sparkles home that I realized this. I could give Wiggles all of my attention, long walks, trips to the park, great food, games for treats…

My sister has never liked me. She is 1.5 years older than me. I suspect she hated my guts since the day I was born. Nonetheless, as young kids, by default, we spent a lot of time together. We lived in the same house, sometimes split a bedroom, shared the same chaotic upgrading, went to…

This week, I’ve been listening to the Death, Sex and Money Podcast (what a great title!). In many episodes, the host talks to regular people about relationships, money, family and work. Rent topics included “I Did Surrogacy For Money”,  “Secrets, Turn-Ons, and Fantasies: Your Stories About Porn”, “Your Estrangement Calls Answered Live”. Despite the titillating…

Both national and local news have been reporting that Covid cases have been “dramatically” increasing since July. Apparently there’s yet another new variant that evades the waning immunity provided by prior infection or vaccination. Great. That’s why I decided to get the most recent recent Covid vaccine as well as my annual Flu shot this…