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When I was a little kid in Tamaqua, I loved going to the little markets that had a penny candy counter. My friends and I would scoop up whatever spare change we could scrounge, hop on our bikes and then stare at the smorgasbord of candy selections behind the glass center until the owner had…

I have written before about the US gerontocracy and my opinions of politicians in general previously, so I won’t regurgitate what I’ve already said in today’s post. Instead, I want to talk about my gut reaction to seeing a news clip from Joe Biden’s visit to Raleigh last week. I’m not going to offer my…

While on my purging binge over the last week or so, I searched for podcasts, blogs, forums and books on simple living, living with less, downsizing, minimalistic lifestyles etc. When I get “into something” I like to dive into the subject to learn about others’ experiences, practices and suggestions. When I first embraced minimalism, back…

Since ending my road trip in 2019 and building a new life after losing my mind for a while when my wife died, everything has not been perfect. I’ve written before about the mistakes I made and regrets I have for some of my actions in the 6 months after she died when I was…

A few days ago in the early morning, I had finished my warmup routine and dog walk. I had turned the lights off and reached for my ice tea to take into the garage with me for my workout – just like I have done every single morning for the past 1650 days in a…

After my mother’s recent car wreck, health crisis and the subsequent significant direct assistance from my sister in December of last year, I had what I thought was a great idea. Since my mother would no longer be driving, she should get Meals-On-Wheels. That way, at least she’d have food each weekday so my sister…

My neighbor up the street was an old man who lived alone with his two small dogs. He and I only spoke a handful of times during the past 4 years – once when I ran into him when I was walking the dogs and another time when I noticed his interior car light was…

I have never liked New Year’s Eve. I wrote about it here and here. My preference is stay home, eat take out or something I cook, watch a movie and go to bed at my regular time. But, I acknowledge I’m a total weirdo. I go to bed early, I wake up early and I…

After doing my big purge last week, I stumbled across this podcast where the guest was a professional cleaner who is the clean-out pro from the Hoarders TV show. I’ve never watched the show, but found his advice on hoarders and on downsizing for non-hoarders to be solid. He had some interesting insights on the…

I haven’t played my acoustic drum set at all during the past two years. At first, I stopped playing it because I purchased an electronic drum set which allows me to control the volume, play along with sound tracks and not have to wear giant noise blocking headphones while playing. Then, I spent more than…