When I am sick or injured, I want to left alone. My natural instinct is to curl up in a dark corner until I feel better. I don’t want to be nurtured, cared for or pitied by anyone. There have been only 3 exceptions to this in my life: Aunt Essie always knew what to…
Author: Steve Ainslie
3 Car Monte
Two different neighbors across the street have 3 cars. Each of them only has two people living in their homes. Both also have garages that are packed with stuff, so they have to park their cars in their driveways and on the street. Another neighbor lives alone and has 3 cars that mostly sit parked…
Grief Brain
In the year after my wife died, I did some crazy things. I knew I wasn’t thinking clearly. I remember driving home one day and missing my turn. I remember waking every day overwhelmed with the thought that she was gone. I did the purge, sold my house and tried to live in the wilderness….
The Long Shadow Of Covid
Since I suspect I will need a root canal after my dentist appointment this week, I’ve been avoiding people and indoor spaces even more than usual because I don’t want to catch the “highly transmissible” BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants that are currently circulating in my area. It took 3 weeks to get my dentist appointment…
Four Degrees Of Separation
The heater in my pool hasn’t been working right for several weeks. Fortunately, it’s been warm outside and the heater functions enough to keep the water temperature around 79 degrees which is freezing to me, but bearable. I gasp when I get into the water. My first few laps I can feel my arms and…
Short Sheeting Myself
After my road trip ended I made a conscious decision to only buy what I absolutely needed. Having done my big death cleaning and purge earlier that year, I knew I could live with much less stuff. Plus, it irked me to no end when I had to buy something I had so recently given…
Low Barrier To Entry
Shortly after I started blogging back in 2017, a friend suggested I start a podcast. I understand why. At the time, podcasts were beginning to take off. Popular ones like Joe Rogan’s and Barstool Sports were drawing huge audiences and reportedly making millions of dollars each month. I didn’t start a podcast because I didn’t…
Sometimes You Can’t Walk Away
I caught up with an old friend recently. He’s going through some major issues with his family. I won’t detail them here other than to say they involve in-laws, exes, a stepchild and behavior problems. It’s ugly. Courts have been involved. Police have been involved. CYS has been involved. The situation doesn’t seem to be…
Tangled Up In Blue
When I was growing up, I loved the color blue. I wore blue jeans and blue T shirts. I painted my bedroom blue. I never tired of looking up at beautiful blue skies or seeing the Blue Ridge Mountains when we went on road trips. At some point, I stopped liking blue. Eventually, my color…
The Cheapest Customer Support
After upgrading my iPhone to IOS 16, I could no longer use my phone for calls or texts. I use Visible for my cell service. One of the trade-offs for Visible’s low price is that you can only get support via their website, user forums and tech support chat. Naturally, all of the troubleshooting options…