Yesterday a 15 year old teenager shot 6 people (and then himself) in a suburban neighborhood in Raleigh. Five are dead. The shooter and 1 person are in critical condition in the hospital. He killed his brother in his home, shot neighbors on their porches and then ran to the Greenway trail and shot people…
Author: Steve Ainslie
Snipe Right
The midterm elections are coming up in a few weeks. Since I de-registered myself earlier this year, I am paying next to no attention to these at all. I’m aware that some of my local douchebag politicians are retiring and others are running again so they can continue to feed at the public trough. Whatever…some…
Empty Mailbox
After years of battling junk mail (the real kind, not the SPAM kind) it seems that I’m finally winning the war. I no longer receive catalogs, car warranty scams, credit card offers, AT&T solicitations or other “personalized” direct marketing mail. For decades I’ve opted out of receiving this stuff. I regularly updated the DMA choice…
My Grandmother’s House
I found a real estate listing of my Grandmother’s house yesterday. There was a single picture of the front of the house, a blurb about “handyman’s special, fix or flip”, and a list price of $15K. My grandmother lived in a side by side duplex. Gram and Grandpa lived on one side. Her siblings –…
Skip The Boring Parts
A friend once asked me how I could read so much. I replied that I have always loved reading since I was a little kid. That, and, I read quickly because I skip the boring parts. When a book dives into all kinds of mundane detail or when it regurgitates the same overused “toddler marshmallow…
The Girl In The Floppy Hat
Ever since I made up my mind to introduce myself to the Girl In The Floppy Hat a few weeks ago, I hadn’t seen her. Until yesterday. Since I have been running into her every day for the past year as we’re walking our dogs in opposite directions, I figured she must have moved away….
US Royalty
On the Bill Maher show last week, a guest said that the UK having a head of state (monarch) and a separate head of government (prime minister) enabled the country to have one person serve as a symbol of the country and the other as the chief executive of the government. When Maher asked who…
Death of A Stranger
On my way home from a dog walk I saw two police cars on my block. I assumed someone’s burglar alarm went off, since my street is quite sleepy (aside form barking dogs and leaf blowers). Seeing several neighbors gathered on a porch, I asked about the police and learned that a man who lived…
I Don’t Need Your Civil War
Political pundits, news articles and some of my friends have been saying recently that the US is “closer to Civil War” than anytime since the 1800s because our country is politically, socially and economically divided. I’m not the least bit worried about this. I agree that it appears like we are quite divided socio-economically, politically…
Not Brothers In Arms
At some point during the 2 years the I was grieving my wife, I really thought I would find a connection with other widowed men. I perused blogs, podcasts, forums and online groups. I checked out meetups and support groups. I dug into reddit and other grief support forums. I randomly met some widows: My…