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I had several ideas for posts swirling around in my head recently that were on my list to write. They covered: long term “illegal” residents of the US who were detained, lifestyle/financial coach hucksters, and a couple of deeply personal subjects about marriage and family. As I started writing, I realized that I have already…

As I’ve noted before, I wake up in the early hours of the morning and take the dogs for their first walk several hours before the sun rises. It’s on one my favorite times of the day. It is dark. It’s quiet. There’s very few other people outside other than my 4:30 AM girlfriend, an…

Yesterday after I gave in to a craving for chocolate and nuts. I picked up sugar-free Lily’s chocolate, a jar of dry roasted peanuts, a bag of roasted almonds and 2 bananas from the grocery store for a gorge fest. It was delicious – except for the almonds which were somewhat meh. An hour later,…

When I was younger I had friends who would righteously step out in front of moving cars at intersections while proclaiming “The law says drivers must yield to pedestrians.” I knew others who would brake check people who were tailgating them saying, “They’re legally responsible if they hit me.” It seemed to so obvious to…

Last February, I made a decision to eat less so I could lose the weight I had gained over the previous 2 years. It worked, as I detailed here. Since then, I continued to eat a little less and measure my volume of food vs. eating mindlessly while watching Netflix. I sleep better now because…

Sometime during my late 40s, after 22 years, I stopped lifting weights. During the previous 5 years, I had transitioned from a typical bodybuilding routine to a routine based on functional exercises including TRX, kettlebells, sled dragging, bodyweight, medicine balls, rings, plyometrics, climbing, sprinting, etc. THis type of training was a lot of fun for…

On a recent episode of his podcast, Morgan Housel was discussing his new book, The Art Of Spending Money. He said that regardless of how rational we think we can be regarding money, that our behaviors regarding money will be influenced by our upbringing, environment, experiences and emotions. He then used himself as an example….

I have never liked being around people who are cruel, vindictive, dishonest, negative, bitter or manipulative. Still, like most of us, there have been many times in my life, where this was unavoidable: Still, in all cases, even as a young child, I exercised whatever power I had to minimize my time around unsavory characters….

When I bought my house in Raleigh in 2019, I didn’t expect to live here forever. Based on my track record, I figured I’d be moving again within a few years. It’s just what I do. I’ve been here now for 6 ½ years. That’s the longest I have ever lived in one place. What…

In 2021, I wrote about not having it in me to be someone’s caretaker. At the time, it was two years after my wife had died. Two years later in 2023, I wrote that my heart had hardened against caring deeply for people I don’t love. Now, in 2025, I find myself thinking about how…