Normally my “weird holiday” posts are silly and fun, but today we are taking on a serious topic. Today is Safer Internet Day. We’ve all heard the horror stories of people who have been recorded without permission via webcams, folks who have been swindled out of huge sums of money by internet scammers and companies who have had huge data… Read more »
Today is Ditch Your New Year’s Resolutions Day. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions personally. But a lot of folks do. While well intended, most resolutions are far too lofty to ever be successful. If you haven’t worked out in 3 years but resolve to start going to the gym every day there’s almost a 100% chance you will fail…. Read more »
A couple of days ago I had a chat with a younger relative. I don’t recall exactly how it came up, but I told him that it’s important to talk to and listen to people who you don’t think you agree with. He looked at me like I’d grown a second head. Thankfully, he then asked “Why??” which allowed me… Read more »
We are into December now, which means that NFL playoff races are heating up and college football teams are getting invited to one of the umteen gazillion bowl games that have multiplied exponentially in recent years (Remember when you had to be a really good team to go to a bowl game? But I digress). As anyone who knows me… Read more »
This week here in the US we celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s a time for families to get together over what’s usually a comically large amount of food and take time to be thankful for all of our blessings. It’s a holiday full of rituals. For some it’s the breaking of the wishbone. For others it’s scouring the Black Friday ads. Some… Read more »
This past weekend I spent time with a good friend who has recently gone through a divorce. While her circumstances were very different, I went through one myself in 2002 and, to put it mildly, it sucks. However, it also gives you a lot of opportunity for introspection. I have previously written about relationship myths that we all need stop believing,… Read more »
This afternoon I sat down to write about thermostat Nazis and why they are the bane of modern existence. This topic is on my mind right now because it snowed today here in beautiful northern Iowa and yet there are STILL people on social media bragging about how they haven’t turned their furnaces on yet. I pity the families of… Read more »
This past week several videos surfaced that seemed to suggest that weather reporters may have, on occasion, made a specific storm appear worse that it actually was at that time. Full disclosure- I have not spent any time researching them, so I honestly don’t know if there are logical explanations for them or not. What I DO know is that… Read more »
I left my house at 10am on Friday morning and didn’t get back until 6pm Sunday night. What struck me while driving home was just how many different emotions I experienced in the span of about 72 hours. I went through everything from sadness and anger while helping a dear friend move (due to her pending divorce) to the enjoyment… Read more »
In spite of my best intentions I do still get into occationsal disagreements with folks online. I konw it’s stupid to even try 99% of the time, but sometimes, like a good share of us, I see something so ridiculous that I just can’t let it go by. Today (yesterday to you readers) has been one of those days. However,… Read more »