Author: Steve Ainslie

A neighbor who lives down the street is an avid walker (and a mensch). He takes many walks around the block while stopping to check in with neighbors, chat with other walkers and to help out like put away peoples cash bins or blow the leaves off someones driveway. He’s a smart man. Our conversations…

Losing Snickers last month made me realize that some holes inside of us can never be filled. When my wife died, a piece of me died with her and left a hole. The same thing happened when Snickers died last week. Those holes will always be part of me. I wish I could fill them…

Everything in moderation sounds like a reasonable approach to life. The only problem is that it never worked for me. What is moderation? When I used to drink, news reports on alcohol recommended that an adult shouldn’t drink more than 2 drinks per day. At the time, many articles promoted red wine and even drinking…

Two different incidents caught my attention recently. The first was an article about a Lizzo concert in Raleigh. The second was when I watched a local Pittsburgh newscast while I was dog-sitting for my neighbor. I like some of Lizzo’s music. Jerome, Good As Hell, and ‘Cause I Love You are among my favorite pop…

An old friend called me yesterday to talk about his relationship woes with an ex-girlfriend. I listened attentively and sympathetically for a while. Then I made a stupid mistake. I told him what I do when confronted with similar feelings. I told him what I thought based on his struggles over the past few years…

Everything happens for a reason. It was meant to be. God has a plan. It will all work out in the end. I don’t buy it.I used to believe in aphorisms like these. Not anymore.  The older I get, the more I have come to believe that life is made up of a lot of…

It is time for me to stop watching cat videos on Reddit. I like watching the videos. Cats are interesting. Kittens are wonderful. Watching them prance, jump and play is heartwarming. But it’s torturing me. I haven’t had cats since I rehomed Lilly and Buster 4 years ago before I went on the road. Anytime…

Maybe I won’t get another dog. Back in 2008, after Ziggy died, we were left with just our little old man Shortie and the cats. We gave Shortie lots of extra love and attention since he and Ziggy had spent every day together for nearly a decade. Shortie seemed to love it. He even started…

Last week I was a guest on the Solo Podcast. During the recording session, there were a few times when the host had to stop the recording and then cue me to resume talking. The first time, I was clicking a binder clip open and closed while talking and the microphone was picking it up….

I received my dog’s Breed Mix report from Wisdom Panel today. See below for the 17 breeds they detected from her DNA swab. Based on her appearance and her personality, I expected to see Parsons Russel Terrier (aka Jack Russel), Daschund and Beagle. But I hadn’t anticipated that her dominating breed would be Chihuahua! She…