Everything I do, I do with intensity. I’m wired this way. At school, I wanted to make straight A’s and be the #1 scholar. Anything less than 100% perfect scores was intolerable to me. At work, I drove myself to outwork, out hustle and overdeliver. I wanted to be known as “the go to guy”….
Author: Steve Ainslie
Unbelievable
Yesterday might not have been the best day I’ve had since I moved back to Raleigh, but it was one of them. The day started with the news that both of my regular pools were reopening. After a month of driving over an hour a day in morning traffic to downtown, I was able to…
Where Am I
When an app on my phone requests permission for my location, I deny it. If it is a requirement, I’ll usually delete the app altogether (other than Apple Maps, which needs my location for obvious reasons). When I first started noticing location trackers, I thought “Why does this app need to know my location?” I…
Unrelatable
Both of my regular pools have been closed for maintenance for over a month so I’ve had to commute longer distances to other pools. (I know, cry me a river. We should all have such problems.) Since I’m in the car for over an hour a day, I’ve been desperate to find more podcasts to…
The Dreaded Paper Sign
There’s a “new normal” thanks to the pandemic – the dreaded paper sign tape to the front door. I run into regularly at my pool. It’s never good news. It announces unscheduled closures, reduced hours and service reductions due to staffing issues. I run into it when I go the the UPS store, the grocery…
Loner
I am a loner. I had a small group of close friends growing up, a few tight connections at work as an adult and loved being married. Long, intimate, tight relationships are my thing. I have never been interested in having loose connections and casual relationships. I don’t enjoy networking, partying or socializing with strangers….
Work Nightmares
Lately I’ve been having dreams- nightmares really – that I have to return to work as a Sales Manager. I think my failed root canal throbbing all night might be the source of these nightmares, so hopefully they will go away once I can finally see the endodontist to redo it. None of these “back…
Avoiding Eye Contact
I see the same people, in the same places, at the same times everyday. I’m a creature of routine habit. Apparently so are the people I run into regularly. Many of the people are see are friendly. We make eye contact. We smile, wave and greet each other. In time, some of these “walk by”…
Reasonable Time Instead Of Real Time
In what appears to be an incredible display of sticking to its guns, the Raleigh Police Department has not released any new information about the mass shooting several days ago. During the incident, the RPD provided real-time updates while locking down the neighborhood and searching for the gunman who was still “at large”. After they…
Internet Sympathy
I’ve been using the Internet since the days of AOL chat rooms. When I first started, I had a blast in the chat rooms. I chatted with people from all over the country. Generally, it seemed like most of us honestly represented ourselves. Many of us were tech people, teachers and engineers. We talked about…