ainslies.org

When I was a little kid growing up in Tamaqua, I knew one family that was rich. They had a giant brick house on a landscaped lot that was surrounded by a brick wall. They had a two car garage, an above ground swimming pool and a finished basement with a bar. The parents were…

I drive 15 miles every day going to the pool and running errands. Generally I stick to surface streets while avoiding the highway. About half of my commute is on 4-lane major roads that have significant traffic from other commuters, school drop-offs and shoppers. The other half of my commute is on small neighborhood streets…

I have a friend who, after getting an MS in Fine Arts/ Writing, wrote a book of short stories that was published by an obscure academic publisher. He spent a decade working on the stories, getting a book deal and promoting the book through lectures and speaking engagements. Then spent the next 5 years working…

This week, five months after having my molar extracted, my jaw had healed enough that I could have an implant abutment installed. Without getting too deep into the technical details, basically, a titanium screw was screwed into my jawbone. This “screw” is hollow with threads to accept another screw inside of it. Then a small…

Most of my recurring nightmares have ceased since I tried this thought exercise 5 months ago. Instead of having bizarre, hallucinatory bad dreams, I now have mostly mundane dreams where I’m having perfectly normal conversations with acquaintances who are in my life today. We talk about things I see when walking the dogs. We talk…

My wife died 8 months after being diagnosed with lung cancer. She was a smoker her entire life. There is no doubt in my mind that cigarettes contributed to her death. But we all know this, right? After all, there have been warnings printed in tiny print on cigarette packs in the US since 1965…

My Tilley Safari Hat, pictured below, is covered in stains from sweat, dirt, fingerprints and various debris. It’s my oldest hat and one of my favorites. I bought my first Tilley in 2006 after relocating back to Florida from Pittsburgh for the 2nd time. I was looking for a beach hat when I stumbled across…

I googled my former stepfather the other day. My search revealed that he is still alive, around 80 years old and owns a house within a few miles of where we once lived. I also came across his profile on LinkedIn, which included what I assume is a fairly recent headshot. His picture brought back…

A few days ago when dropping off a package at the post office, I saw a car had broken down at the busy intersection alongside the post office parking lot. It must have just happened because traffic from the busy two lanes was now backed up as drivers tried to merge around the woman’s car….

Recently I’ve been listening to the “Retire There” podcast where a couple from NYC interview people who have retired to various locations around the world. Most of the episodes I’ve listened to are with people who worked long careers in the US and then relocated to to a different area of the country or to…