Author: Steve Ainslie

While out walking my dog this weekend, I overhead two mothers talking about “back to school” for their sons. They were talking about bus stop locations, signing up their sons for sports teams and something about collared shirts and khaki pants. It reminded me of my time served in Catholic School during the 3rd and…

It is lovely that Trump and 18 members of his hoard crackpot sycophants are facing serious charges related to attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving crew. I don’t for one second believe the world is fair. Nor do I believe in karma . Nor justice. Nonetheless,…

I hate when I’m directed to the site quora when I am googling for an answer. There are three reasons for my vitriol. Today, after I was pushed to quora for an answer when scanned the “fake answer” ad I, the lead sentence was, “I made more money playing Solitaire online last month than…” That…

When I was younger I read the daily newspaper. I always read the advice columns – Dear Abby, Hints from Heloise and Ann Landers. I enjoyed reading them because they presented solutions for situations that I had never encountered. People wrote in with problems about marriage, child rearing, relationships, cleaning, cooking, work and more. It…

Many podcasts ads that I hear fall into the scam category – supplements, aromatherapy, essential oils, hair growth products, erectile dysfunction, and “nutritional” water. I try to skip all ads, but sometimes am busy doing something where I am forced to listen. The commercials for these products remind me of the old tables at Wendy’s…

A few weeks before he died, Steve Jobs said that the reason he authorized his biography written by Walter Isaacson because he wanted his children to know why, “I wasn’t always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.” When I first heard this several years ago,…

On a podcast recently, Michael Moynihan was talking about people who live in the Nordic Countries and Western Europe (he has lived in both regions for several years). He said that Americans who have never visited Sweden, France, England etc. picture these places as cosmopolitan oases filled with fine dining, world renowned artwork, artists, musicians,…

I used to love going out to eat. When I was a kid and we were poor, eating out was a rare event. A few times a year, we’d go to the 5 Points Diner, Leiby’s restaurant out in the country or to a roadside burger shack. My favorite foods were hamburgers, meatball hoagies and…

On several podcasts recently, I heard from “working” screenwriters, producers and actors who are currently on strike. Instead of repeating the talking points, demands and accusations that have been covered incessantly, these podcasts discussed how the workers got into the industry, what it has been like working there pre-strike, the financial realities and the lives…

When I visited downtown to meet a friend for lunch on Sunday a few weeks ago, I was surprised at how dead it was. Although the pandemic, the recovery and the work-from-home trend have all impacted cities, in Raleigh, our downtown dining/entertainment/residential district has reportedly been making a solid comeback. There are many luxury apartments…