Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #131: Finding Balance, Traffic Sandwich, Somewhere New, etc.

1. My life over the last few years has been a constant push and pull. I am always caught in between working as much and as hard as I can on creative projects, trying to build a better life, and stopping, relaxing, and trying to appreciate all that I do currently have. I feel as though if I work too much, the important things in life, like family, friends, and enjoying every moment I get on earth, will slip by. On the other hand, I feel as though if I stop and relax too much, the opportunities that are flowing around me like fish in a stream will also get away. This push-pull keeps me motivated and engaged, but it also can get exhausting. I feel like a few times a week I am stopping and asking myself in which direction I am leaning too much. As of this writing, I feel like I am leaning too far into the working side. As soon as I think that, though, I can picture the projects I want to work on or start to work on, and it pulls me back the other way. There has to be a happy medium. I want to find the balance between work and being present for those who truly matter. That is probably the true secret to happiness in life.


2. I wish burning calories was as easy as my Fitbit made it seem this week. Monday Runday was another fun one. 4 total miles on a perfect afternoon weather-wise. I track my runs using both my Fitbit and Map My Run, the running app I’ve been using since 2011. Most of the time, the numbers on both don’t match. Typically, my distance is less on the Fitbit because it tracks distance based on arm movement. If I run relaxed, I don’t swing my arms as much as I’d do when walking. Then again, my calorie burn is typically higher on the Fitbit because it tracks calories based on my heart rate, while the running app does not have that connection. That being said, the difference in calories burned between the two trackers is usually not that far off. This week it was insanity. Map My Run had me at 508 calories after running 4 miles. That’s a good, pretty accurate number. The Fitbit? It had me somehow burning 3,111 calories over the same distance. Yes, 6x as many calories. Obviously this was a glitch. I hope it’s not a sign of an issue with the Fitbit. If you were wondering, yes, I have burned over 3,000 calories in a single run. It was while running a marathon, a full 26.2 miles. During that, I burned over 3,500 calories. Like I said, I wish burning calories was as easy as running 4 miles, at a relatively easy pace, and instantly getting rid of over 3,000 calories.


3. You never know how something you do will affect others. This week I got a comment on Spotify for my podcast. It was from someone who said they found my GenX nostalgia podcast in the last month or so. They have been suffering through a bout of severe depression and said that my podcast is one of the bright spots in their lives. They said they look forward to it each week. It ended with them saying if I ever wonder if my show makes a difference, they wanted me to know that it matters a lot. Being someone who has battled their share of depression throughout my life, I know how important having something that makes you feel ‘normal’ is. I always joke on the show to lean into the things that make you happy, like favorite people, foods, and of course podcasts. I am humbled and grateful that my show actually does help someone feel like they’re escaping their depression even briefly. Things like that comment only strengthen my determination to keep creating the best content I can, whether it’s podcasts, blogs, videos, or books. Ironically, that comment brightened my mood in the way they said my podcast does for them. Of course, here’s the link if you want to listen to my show: In My Footsteps Podcast


4. Heavy rain and summer combine on Cape Cod to make a traffic sandwich. One day this week, a line of heavy thunderstorms rolled through the Cape in the late afternoon. Now, I could have probably looked at the traffic on Google Maps and decided to take a different route, but come on, then I wouldn’t have as much to write about. So I took a longer route that took me past a supermarket with a good selection in their deli. That right there was all it took to tempt me. The trip to the supermarket was fine. Only when I started home on the main road, Route 28, did I realize my error. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic as the skies opened up. A trip that typically takes me roughly 30 minutes took me closer to 55, with the majority of that being after I left the supermarket. Eventually I just had to throw my hands up and accept it. Luckily, I had a good podcast on, so it kept me from going crazy. At least I didn’t have any left-hand turns to try to make; I might still be stuck in traffic as you read this.



5. This week ended up being a huge boost to my confidence. I mentioned the really nice comment about my podcast. When I shared it on social media, I was blown away by the nice comments and messages. I had total strangers telling me that my content has helped them navigate hard times. I had people remark about my outlook on life in general, which I was thrilled to hear. It continued with my boss putting me over for my work as a trainer. The irony was that the only area he felt I needed work on was my confidence. This week is a great help. It concluded with what I will talk about next, but I will just say thank you to everyone who sent nice comments. Those messages make me feel that what I am doing and how I am living are how they should be.


6. The great week continued with a really fun author event at the Dennis Public Library. As per usual, I got there about 45 minutes early. I get there early to make sure that nothing goes wrong in my setup. It stems from an event many years ago at the Cotuit Library. For that event, I got stuck in summer traffic. This had me arriving at the event about 5 minutes before showtime. I walked in, and the room was full, which was great, but I felt it made me look unprofessional for showing up so close to the start. On top of that, once I got set up, there were issues with the projector and the show began late. For every event since that one, I make it a point to get there super early. The funny part is that I haven’t had any issues, so I just end up standing around waiting for people to show up.


7. As for the event itself, it was a great gathering. I enjoy speaking about Cape Cod history in connection to me being a 12th-generation Cape Codder. The sounds of reacting to each of the 12 different stories I shared never gets old. I could have done without one person who interjected themselves into the presentation a little too much, but it wasn’t malicious, so I let it slide. I did have to interrupt a bit to move the presentation along, though. It’s not lost on me that I was, and to a degree still am, an introvert. Being a public speaker and doing it confidently and comfortably is something I have worked at for years. I have another event coming up in the fall, but this was the last for the summer since I need to keep the rest of summer free for things to do with my upcoming film. Thank you to everyone who came out to my Dennis event; it was a lot of fun.



8. The biggest joy of that event was the family element. Not only did my mom and sister Ashley come out, but my cousins Dale and Richard did as well. This was very special. My mom and Dale hadn’t seen each other in close to 40 years since my mom and biological father got divorced in the early 1980s. Dale specifically asked if my mom would go to the event and to tell her because she would want to go. I am sure she and Richard would have come anyway, but my mom’s appearance made it a must-see event. This is where the final piece of my week of building confidence came to a conclusion. Doing a good show in front of family is one thing, but having Dale tell my mom that a big reason she came to the show was to be able to tell my mom face to face how proud she was to be related to me was almost overwhelming. Dale and Richard are my 2nd cousins on my father’s side. I don’t have relationships with many on that side of the family for various reasons. Having family from my paternal side be so supportive and kind and loving is even more important to me at this point in life when I don’t have, or want, a relationship with my biological father. My hope is that it is not a one-time thing and that my mom and Dale, and more of us in the family, can get together for gatherings going forward. If my author event is the conduit to that, then it truly was one of my best.


9. Going to a place I’ve never been to on Cape Cod is increasingly difficult. Sure, technically I could go to some random side road, but that’s not what I mean. This week I bit the bullet and went to check out the Cape Cod Rail Trail extension into Hyannis. This is the furthest western point of the famed bike path, which extends on the eastern end through Wellfleet. What makes it interesting is that it is part of a larger extension. There is probably 1.5 miles or so of new trail in Yarmouth that winds through woods behind Bayberry Hills golf course. It ends at Willow Street, which is a pretty busy road. Then directly across is another roughly 1.5-mile stretch of newly paved trail ending near Independence Park, the back way to the busy business section of Hyannis. The problem is that in the middle there will eventually be a bridge connecting the two sections, but that likely is quite a way away from being put in. I had to drive around to the other end of the trail on Mary Dunn Road. They are beginning to build a parking lot there, but of course it’s also likely to take ages to be finished. Luckily, there is literally one spot to park next to where the parking lot is being built. Since that section of road is really quiet, I knew it would be open, and it was. Having never left my car in that area, I just hoped that it would be there when I got back.


10. The run itself on the trail was sunny, warm, and very hilly. My friend Mike, of Monday Runday fame, told me it was hilly, but I needed to experience it. The trail hugged the highway on one side and the airport on the other, so there was a hum of activity. It was an interesting contrast with the fact that I saw absolutely no other people on the trail. Obviously nobody in their right mind is going to cross the busy Willow Street from the other side, and since I took the only parking spot at the other end, I shouldn’t have been surprised. One thing I found was that this Hyannis stretch of trail has little, if any, shade. Running up hills with no shade made me feel like I had taken a shower in my clothes. In total, it was 3 miles of new trail I ran. This meant that as of that run, I had been on every bit of every bike path on Cape Cod. Of course, 3 miles wasn’t enough for me. I extended my run by going down Mary Dunn Road, past where I parked, and to the backside of the airport. Despite waiting for a few minutes, no planes landed or took off. On the way back, I took a detour to Mary Dunn Pond, a spot I had never seen before. It was serene and filled with wildflowers. All in all, it was a perfect afternoon of new sights and exercise. Yes, I made sure to create a video to capture it and to share.



11. Where I live, there is a little puffball of a bunny that lives inside a bush that envelops the front light. I see it almost daily, especially near dusk when it sits near the bush eating clover and grass. Cute, right? Yes, but also there is a dark side. You see that little puffball is rightfully skittish around anything it perceives as a predator. That includes people. I have never tried to approach it or domesticate it. What the bunny does, though, is take off running when I get near. Most of the time this occurs while I am coming up the walkway to the front door. The bunny will be somewhere in the front bushes. I can’t see it, but it sees me. Rather than hiding and hoping I pass by, it invariably comes charging out of the bushes to get away. You can imagine my surprise when it’s a quiet evening, and suddenly this puffball comes dashing out and scaring the hell out of me. I have taken to jingling my car keys when I come up the walkway to flush it out before it can give me a heart attack. I can see it now: I drop dead in the yard, and I am found with that little bunny sitting on my chest eating grass like a hitman.


12. The past month, maybe 6 weeks, have seen me running more consistently than I have since I had a bad sprain of the left ankle last summer playing basketball. There was a time, especially over the winter, when I felt like running at all was going to be a thing of the past. About 2 months ago, a few things came up that started making positive changes. First was my boss, Dr. Mike, testing out that left ankle and recommending a strap to wear right below my left knee. This would help keep my lower leg stable. After that, one day I was sitting and thinking about the things I did when I was at my peak as a runner. What did I do then that I could bring back now? I started taking more than the recommended dosage of glucosamine, a supplement for joint health. It took a few weeks of the strap and glucosamine, but I started slowly adding running back into my workouts. In the past 2 weeks, I have consistently run 5 miles in under an hour. It’s nothing like what I did at my peak, but it’s slowly getting better each time. I liken this recent return to running to getting back together with an ex. Things feel familiar, but now you have learned the things you can and can’t do. Okay, maybe it’s not quite like that, but I am happy with how things have gone in the last several weeks.


13. While out for a run this week, I saw a guy ‘walking’ his two dogs. One was on a leash, and another was not. Already this guy can’t figure out if he wants to obey leash laws or be a selfish, entitled dog owner. The dog that was off-leash was barely the size of a football, and the one that was leashed was only slightly larger. My opinion is that if you have a dog you can fit in a shoebox or a purse, or could be plucked from the yard by a large bird, then you don’t have a real dog. A real dog should be able to protect you from intruders, not be stuffed into a microwave with room to spare.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #129: New England Weather, Bike Trail Radar, Suddenly Salad, etc.

1. The famous saying around here is ‘if you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes.’ Last week, we had three straight days of temperatures well into the 90s with a heat index in the high 100s. It was no fun and left me looking forward to fall already. It was as if the weather gods said, ‘ok if you don’t like sweltering heat, we’ve got something different.’ To start the new week, it was the total opposite side of the weather. It was raining, and buckets of it. We went from a heat advisory to a flood watch in a matter of days. I’m not sure if I have to choose which of those types of weather I’d rather have, extreme heat or oceans of rain. My ideal weather is partly cloudy, mid-70s, and low humidity. Why some clouds? Easy, to make for a perfect sunset.


2. I finished and enjoyed all three seasons of Travelers on Netflix. It was on from 2016 to 2018. The show is about time travelers who come back to their past to try to change events to make the future a better place. After liking Dark, it was fitting that the next show I watched was another time travel show. With 34 total episodes, the show does a good job of expanding and solving all of its storylines. Even though it’s been finished for eight years, it still felt like there was room for a 4th season, but it is probably way too late for that. The travelers come back to the past by their consciousness entering the body of a living person in the present who historically dies at a certain time. That means the original person was going to die, and sort of still does, but their body remains and becomes inhabited by a totally new person. That’s a big part of the plot: the traveler trying to keep up the charade of being the person who they replaced. As usual, I am trying not to spoil much but give you enough info to entice you to check it out. Who knows what my next show choice will be? So far, I’ve liked every show I’ve chosen, so I have to keep my streak alive.

3. Perfect summer days need to be appreciated. Your definition of ‘perfect’ might vary. Mine is temperatures in the low to mid 70s, sunny to partly sunny, and low humidity. We had one such day this week, and oh boy, did I enjoy it. I finished work and headed to the local bike trail. I did some walking and a lot more running over the span of close to 3 ½ miles. It felt great to put more running miles on my legs than I have in a long time this week. I’m not saying that a return to racing is in my future, but if I can slowly increase my stamina, I won’t rule it out. Overall, my route on this perfect day was filled with sweet breezes, river views, quiet neighborhoods, and loads of other people enjoying the day. Yes, fall is my favorite season. However, when you get a perfect summer day, at least weather-wise, there are few things better.


4. Some investments are just stupid. One such investment is a radar speed detector on a bike trail. Yes, you read that right. I have seen two pairs of speed detectors so far, like you’d see on any road, located on a bike trail. I don’t know how much each one costs, but whatever it costs, it is a waste of money. Seriously, what the hell are you going to do if someone speeds? Are there cops somewhere to pull them over? It is mind-numbingly stupid. A better idea from these towns would be to put cameras up on the trails to catch the large number of motorized vehicles on the trail. I always see dirt bikes on the trail when signs are everywhere saying ‘no motorized vehicles.’ I say that, but even if someone got caught riding a dirt bike on the trail, nothing would happen. But seriously, speed detectors on a bike trail? Good lord, how dumb.

An incredible waste of money on the bike trail.

5. This week I wrote an article about a fascinating psychological phenomenon known as the ‘music reminiscence bump.’ It is how music from our adolescence registers with us more deeply than anything that comes after. It’s why we all say music was better when we were younger, no matter what our ages are now. For me, music from 1991 to 1994 falls into this category. I was aged 14 to 17. As a capper on my article, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and create a Spotify playlist featuring my favorite music from that era. It is still not finished, and already it is nearly 200 songs and over 13 hours of music. I was not shocked at just how many songs I loved and that needed to be on the playlist. I recommend everyone try it on their own. Find the year or years you feel music was best in your life, and then go craft a playlist. I am betting it will be much longer than you anticipate.


6. I’m sorry, but based on my age, I find the product Suddenly Salad to be one of the funniest names out there. Why? Little Shop of Horrors. In the 1986 version with Rick Moranis, there is a song that he sings with Ellen Greene called Suddenly Seymour. I have needed to write this down to get it out of my head because every time I see the box in the supermarket, I just want to sing the name Suddenly Salad. I can’t be the only one in their 40s who grew up watching Little Shop of Horrors to make that connection. Or maybe I am a special kind of crazy who will sing a random song because a pasta salad shortcut product by Betty Crocker has a similar name?

Cue the music

7. In an event that should surprise no one, this week I saw my first ‘back to school’ ads. Mind you, on Cape Cod, school got out less than 3 weeks ago. These greedy corporations are so geared up on squeezing every last cent out of their customers that they start promoting going back to school right after the last school year ends. I remember hating that so much as a kid. It’s like, just give us some time to enjoy summer before reminding us that it has to end and we have to go back to school. There must be a mandate with a lot of these companies, certain dates that mark when to begin promoting the next holiday or event. Before kids get back to school, you will see Halloween candy laid out. Time moves fast enough as it is without greedy bloodsucking corporations speeding it up by promoting things that are months away like they’re happening now. Oh, and by the way, it was Old Navy promoting back-to-school clothes for kids.


8. Every summer, we have throngs of tourists on Cape Cod. Most of them are fine. They come down, enjoy themselves safely and responsibly, contribute to our economy, and leave. Of course, when so many people come down, there are bound to be a small percentage of stupid people among them. That’s just life. What I don’t get is how some of these tourists seem to have no idea of how to navigate through life once they get over one of the canal bridges. For example, one-way streets. Are there no street signs where you come from? Unless you live in the most rural of small towns in the middle of nowhere, I’m figuring people have seen one-way street signs. Still there it was during a run this week, some idiot with their New York plate driving down a one-way street. Thankfully, nobody was going the other way. Like, I get the people who can’t seem to understand that dogs aren’t allowed on the beaches during the summer. There are signs, but they are smaller, and you could lie and say you didn’t see them and didn’t know. One-way streets have big signs at each end telling you to not go a certain way. So these people from New York were either totally illiterate or just smug, entitled jerks. I’ll let you decide which they were.

Yeah man that's really hard to understand

9. Something that means well but is pretty dumb is the sign that is seen in a lot of places on Cape Cod, and I’m sure everywhere. It says ‘walk left, ride right.’ Simple enough. If you’re walking or running, you stay on the left to face oncoming traffic. You ride on the opposite side. It makes sense, except for one major issue. If I am headed north on a road and running on the left side of the road, then when I am headed back south down that road, I would now be running on the right side. Left or right is all relative depending on which way you’re going. So, in reality, the well-meaning sign makes literally no sense. It should just say ‘walk wherever, ride wherever, just stay the hell out of the middle of the road.’ When I’m running on a road or bike trail, people just go wherever they want, so obviously the sign is pretty pointless.


10. There is something so soothing and refreshing about getting up early in the morning and sitting next to an open window as the summer air floods your senses. I’m not a fan of 90 degrees and humidity, but when you are sitting on a day off in a comfy chair, and it’s mid 60s with a sweet breeze trickling in all around you, it is magical. I am trying harder to take one day to fully relax and recharge. That means little to no content work. That means sitting outside and enjoying the weather (if it’s not boiling hot). After going all-out with my content work for over 5 years, it can be easy to feel burned out if not given a chance to actually recover. It was hard at first as I’d feel like there was work I could be doing and I was falling behind. Sitting in the early morning summer breeze, though, gives such a sense of peace that any sort of worry about work just falls away.



11. I am my own harshest critic. Most of the time, I feel as though I am not good enough. I believe that it goes back to my childhood when I had a neglectful biological father and an abusive stepfather. My mother did the best she could, but one ray of sunshine through the storm cannot keep you dry. Today I am chasing validation. I pursue success in creative fields on one hand because I enjoy creating things, but on the other hand, to show those who tried to snuff out my passion for life that they failed. Dreams of becoming an undeniable success in some sort of creative field kept me going through my darkest times growing up. I owe it to that younger version of myself who struggled with self-esteem and self-worth to not give up on the dreams he chased. That being said, there has never been any guarantee that success comes from chasing dreams. It’s where my criticism of myself comes in. I wonder if I should not have been stubbornly bushwhacking my way through the forest when there was a highway beside me. I chose the more difficult road long ago. It is a road where the successes could be great, but the failures could be more likely. So I keep working hard. Books, podcasts, videos, filmmaking, any sort of creative venture, I push myself to do more and more in the hope that the next thing is the thing that changes everything. I might be my own harshest critic, but I also know that I am at this point in my life for a reason. Dreams only expire when you stop pursuing them.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #111: First, Film Business, Three Things Sir, etc.

1. Over the past 5 weeks or so, I have seen a huge uptick in the number of followers I have across social media. This began with a video of slushy ocean waves at a Cape Cod beach that went viral when shared by a much larger Instagram account. In the time since, I have had tons of shares, tons of follows, and tons of comments. It wasn’t until this week that I had a seminal moment that comes when one’s social media presence starts to grow. First! That was it. Does anyone remember when a larger account would post something, and the first few comments would be people racing to comment ‘First!’ It was like it was a badge of honor, or bragging rights for something that really didn’t matter. My social media presence is not that large. It’s more than doubled in a month, but still not on the level of most influencers or celebrities. That being said, having someone on TikTok comment ‘first’ on a video I shared of a sunset made me feel next-level. I can now put that on my creator resume: Had a guy comment ‘first’ on a video. I have finally made it. Now, where is my blue check mark without me having to pay for it?!


2. After a week off from work due to the blizzard, it was hard getting my head back in the game. It was like I needed to remember exactly what it was that I did for work. It took an extra energy drink just to get me through the day competently. Sadly, it wasn’t like returning to work from a fun vacation. It was returning after being wailed on by a once-in-a-decade snowstorm and then spending the rest of the time either without power or in a daze, trying to get my bearings back. It was as if I needed an extra day off to fully recover from my week off. With spring less than 3 weeks away, I can only hope that winter is starting to lose interest in beating the hell out of us in New England.


3. I immediately contradict that last entry with this one. The slush waves returned to Cape Cod for a short engagement. Temperatures in the teens at night allowed the phenomenon to happen at a few north-facing beaches in the town of Brewster. I was beside myself with excitement. They looked so cool in the bright sun. The slush piled up in a neat semi-circle on the beach, creating a makeshift barrier between the ocean and land. I would have stayed and watched them for as long as I could, but I had to get to work. That evening, I ventured back down to the same beach. By now, the tide had gone out. The slush waves had led to the return of the ice chunks, although in far smaller form than they were a few weeks ago. I had thought I had grown tired of walking through ice and snow and soaking my shoes, but lo and behold, there I was again up to my ankles in snow trying to get the best angles for photos. Hey, when it’s 90 and humid in August, I’ll be living in the photos and videos of those cold winter days.



4. Welcome to the film business. I learned that things aren’t always smooth sailing when it comes to movies. Longtime readers know that last summer and fall were highlighted by the work I did on the When Henry Met Henry short film. It is a fictional meeting between famed authors Henry Beston and Henry David Thoreau, co-produced by Frank Durant, who wrote the screenplay. We filmed in mid-October, and everything went well. Being that it is a short film, we expected that it would be totally wrapped and edited before the end of 2025. We routinely asked the editor how things were going and rarely got clear answers. My hope is to enter the finished product in at least one local film festival. Those things have deadlines. I needed to know when this film would be done so that I could plan accordingly. This past week, I heard from the editor. He asked if I could at least double what he was getting paid for editing. I was caught off guard but also pretty pissed off. Here he was more than four months after wrapping filming without a finished film, and to top it off, he was asking for more money. That being said, I was kind of caught between a rock and a hard place. I want that film done, and if I balked at the editor’s demands, we might get a poorly done job, or we’d have to edit it ourselves. So I agreed to double his pay. It is technically within our budget of what we raised for the film, so it’s not back-breaking. Still, it was kind of a dick move. I have learned to expect the unexpected when it comes to the film industry. To wrap it up, I hope to have the finished film within a week or two, plenty of time to enter it in a festival I’m interested in. It’ll all work out in the end, hopefully. Except for the editor, I won’t ever do business with him again.


5. This week saw my youngest niece, Sylvie’s 7th birthday. She is, without a doubt, one of my favorite people to ever walk this earth. I am lucky that I have probably at least a couple of handfuls worth of people that I can give that distinction to. They are mainly family and a few close friends. I have always been seen as the ‘fun uncle.’ I never called myself that until my nieces and nephews and their parents gave me the distinction. With Sylvie being the youngest and almost guaranteed to be the last of this generation in my family, I take full advantage of the time I have where she still gets super excited and hyper when she sees me. My mom says she owns me, that I am wrapped around her finger. That’s 100% true. I pretty much do whatever she wants because I want to be associated with fun memories when she grows up. For this birthday, it didn’t disappoint. I had butterfly hair clips in my beard and was fully made up. Eye shadow, lip gloss, eyeliner, the works. I had needed to go to the store after the birthday party was over, and was joking that I just wouldn’t go all made up. The thing is, Sylvie did a good job with the makeup, meaning I didn’t look like a clown as I feared. So I still went to the store in all my made-up glory. It was another present for her birthday. Someday, Sylvie will grow up and not think I am cool anymore, so I cherish all of the moments I can make while she still does.


6. I passed 2,000 days alcohol free this week. It’s amazing how, when you get so far out from a big change in your life, you can almost forget the journey that it took to get to where you are. September marks 6 years since I kicked alcohol the F out of my life. It was a big problem for a while, so I want to make sure that I take every opportunity to celebrate the accomplishment. For too long, I felt I needed alcohol to cope with life and to make me feel better about who I was and where I was at the time. The last thing I wanted to be for younger members of my family was a cautionary tale of things not to do. I have found now 2,000+ days away from my last drink that I am a little of both. The cautionary tale is not to let alcohol become your master. Also, the redemption, if you are down and feel like you might never get up, just keep moving forward and never stop trying. I had days where it was like my brain was on autopilot. My car would seemingly drive itself to the liquor store every day. It was a battle to get out of that habit, but once I was clear of the addiction, I could look back and realize how lucky I was to get away from it. My father is the biggest alcoholic I’ve known in my life, and my greatest fear was ending up like him. The one and pretty much only thing he taught me was that a weak man lets his demons run his life. I chose to be stronger and better. 2,000 days and counting.



7. I got a bit of confirmation this week on something I thought was true. Back late in the summer, I got my car’s oil changed at a Jiffy Lube I had gone to many times. They informed me that, for some reason, they could not get my oil filter off to be replaced. This was even though they were the ones who put the filter on in the first place. I left there thinking they were just incompetent and/or lazy. I would get my answer the next time I needed an oil change. That came this week. I chose to go to the nearest Valvoline spot, which was about 40 minutes from me. The entire process was great. Tire pressure checked, fluids topped off, oil changed, oh yeah, and the filter removed without issue. So, needless to say, it was incompetence and laziness at Jiffy Lube. I don’t think I’ll ever go back there. I’d rather drive 40 minutes each way for a guaranteed positive experience. Thank you, Valvoline. You will see me again.


8. My newest show I’m obsessed with binging is Yellowjackets. The show is about a high school girls' soccer team whose plane crashes deep in the Canadian wilderness and their attempts at survival. It’s a little like Lord of the Flies, but with mostly teenage girls. The show takes place in two timelines. The past is 1996 when the crash happened. I love that because it means the girls would have all been my age, so I immediately relate to them more. Plus, they play a lot of great music from then. But then there’s the other timeline, which is present-day, where the survivors of the crash are trying to cope with the trauma of the events. I won’t spoil anything, but just know it’s far more gory than you might expect. I just finished the first season. There are three out so far, with a fourth that’s supposed to debut soon. It’s also got Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis as the older versions of two of the characters, which makes the show even better. It comes highly recommended.

9. Going to Walmart is always double the fun. You get to shop for some cheap stuff, and you also get the extra bonus of people watching. Several times in previous blogs, I’ve mentioned the wacky people I’ve come across when visiting Walmart. This time was a slight disappointment. There were no weirdos inside, well, maybe besides me. When pulling into the parking lot, though, I was cut off by some idiot in her SUV. Like she couldn’t wait one extra second for me to pass? She just had to whip out in front of me. I handled it coolly. I followed her around the parking lot until she eventually kept driving. I can’t say if she left and didn’t come back because I found a spot and went in. If you’re gonna be a jerk and nearly cause an accident because you’re jonesing for some Walmart goodies, I’m going to be just as petty and tail you around the lot. So I guess in a way, I was the person today that I would have been looking for to write about when visiting Walmart. Who would have seen that twist coming?


10. My oddest interaction this week was not at Walmart but at the grocery store. At one particular store, there is a 60-something-year-old man who fetches carts. I can tell he doesn’t like his job based on what he mutters to himself as he walks around. This visit to the store ended with me walking outside. There was some idiot who had parked their car in the fire lane and left it running unattended. I walked in front of it and stopped to make sure there weren’t any cars coming. The cart guy, out of the blue, says ‘okay sir there are three things.’ I turned around with a confused look. I said ‘excuse me?’ Then this guy finally did what a normal person would have done and asked if it was my car. When I said no, he apologized. I said, ‘okay well that’s one thing.’ I then walked away, not giving him the chance to say or do anything else weird. I have no clue what his three things were or whether he waited outside for the jerk that owned that car to come back.


11. I walked the nearby stretch of the Cape Cod Rail Trail for the first time in nearly two months. That part was great. Getting to walk five miles outside, even if it was drizzly and 45 degrees. However, I wasn’t ready for the sheer number of downed trees scattered across the bike trail. I spotted at least six good-sized trees along the trail in about ½ mile. I can only assume it’s the same or worse throughout the rest of the bike trail. Even as much of the snow from the recent blizzard has melted away, it will take a lot of work to remove what must be many dozens of trees from the trail. Spring is next week, and yes, you’ll be able to ride or walk the bike trail, but it will be a while before you can do so without having to stop and navigate around fallen trees.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #85: Labor Day, Angry Eyebrows, Wings of Love, etc.

1. Growing up on Cape Cod in the 1980s, I can remember a tradition we had on Labor Day. People would walk from their homes to a nearby overpass, if they lived close enough, and they would wave to the throng of vehicles exiting the Cape. It was a fun tradition, I know I partook in a few times. It was a celebration of the end of tourist season, but more gratefully and thankfully. We appreciated the crowds that chose to come and spend their time and money on our little peninsula. I don’t know if anyone still does that on the Cape in the 2020s. I haven’t heard of it in any great way since the 90s. I feel as though some people who visit now are rude and entitled. They treat locals like we’re their servants and we should kiss their feet because they grace us with their presence. Like I said, this is ‘some,’ and probably a small percentage, but those people make Labor Day feel more like a celebration of getting rid of tourists rather than a celebration of a wonderful summer.


2. I would like to think that I have a pretty strong stomach. I mean, after all, I grew up in the 1980s, where we could rent disgusting horror movies as kids. That strong stomach got put to the test at work this week. There was a woman who came in to use our PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) machine to help speed the healing of an injury. She needed to lie down on a padded table with her leg elevated on a thick green bolster to feel more comfortable. I was training a client in the gym next door, but once I was done and had a free moment, I went back into the therapy room to get the PEMF machine set up for the next patient. That is when I noticed that the bolster had a pretty sizable wet patch on it. Now I know what you’re thinking. No, it was not pee. Oh no, it was actually more gross than that. What I haven’t mentioned is that the woman had a bandaged wound on her leg, which is what she was trying to heal. Yup, you’ve got it right, the giant wet patch on the bolster was weeping fluid from her wound. It looked as though someone had poured a full bottle of water on the bolster and table. It was just disgusting and a bit disrespectful and careless of this person to use our facilities with a severely leaking wound, and wearing shorts to boot. Unreal. Needless to say, that bolster was quickly carried out to the dumpster.


3. Not far from where I live, they are in the beginning stages of building a new bike path extension. It is located on a walking route through a golf course that I like to go on a few times a month. It is fun to see the progress. This week I really got a show. I was walking when I noticed three large trucks coming down the bike path toward me. Needless to say, that’s something you don’t see very often on a bike/walking path. After seeing the trucks driving to get to where the extension is set to begin, I thought I was done with vehicles on the trail. Nope, right after I also had to dodge what had to be a golf course maintenance vehicle. I saw more motorized vehicles on the bike trail in one walk than I have in every other bike trail walk I’ve ever done combined. I also saw this wild traffic cone stalking those trucks. Nature at its best.



4. You have to respect people who try to pull a fast one despite fully knowing they’re going to fail. This example comes from visiting a Subway to get lunch one day. I order ahead through the app so I am in and out in a flash. However, I was in there long enough to watch a guy try to use a paper coupon on his meal at the register. Not only had this coupon expired, but the woman working the register remarked that it had expired by more than a year. You could see the expiration date on the coupon. Either this guy was ultra stupid and didn’t know how to use a calendar (shout out to people who think the last day of summer is Labor Day). Or this guy thought he was way smarter than he actually was. Honestly, I think both can be true, as most stupid people have disproportionately high levels of confidence.


5. To try to get some more donations for the When Henry Met Henry short film I am directing in October, I decided to take a location field trip. I went to Coast Guard Beach in Eastham to get some video and photos from the southern end near where Henry Beston’s Outermost House used to be. I figured a little narrated video from that spot might entice a few more people to donate to the fundraiser. Of course, I couldn’t just do the easy route and drive to the beach. I decided to park at the Cape Cod National Seashore visitor’s center and walk the bike trail to the beach and back. It was a perfect afternoon. I ended up doing about 6 miles, with more than 2 of those being a beach walk. I loved every second of the walk, but was wiped out afterward. I was so tired that I was sitting on the ground at the amphitheater behind the visitor’s center. I would have stayed there longer, but about a dozen ants started circling me, and I didn’t want any trouble, so I left.


6. On a curvy road not far from me, there is a speed detector. You know, one of those contraptions that shows the speed limit on that road and then your speed, typically in a large digital font. Usually, these detectors flash your speed, and then if you go over the limit, your speed either flashes or changes color, or something like that. This particular detector does neither. Once you go above the speed limit, your speed disappears and is replaced with a ‘slow down.’ If you keep going, it is then replaced by a pair of eyes with angry eyebrows. Seriously? If you got caught speeding on this road, what are they going to tell you as far as how fast you were going? ‘Sorry sir you were going ‘angry eyebrows’ in a 25 zone.’ So stupid.


7. Back in 1982, a singer named Jeffrey Osborne released a song called ‘On the Wings of Love.’ It peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100. I definitely remember it as a kid. What does this have to do with this past week? My sister Ashley was insisting that she recalled a comedy sketch where Osborne had opened a restaurant appropriately named ‘Wings of Love.’ It was a chicken wing joint. Despite searching the internet, she couldn’t find any such sketch. Well, I took the bet and decided to create my own advertisement for Jeffrey Osborne’s chicken wing establishment, ‘Wings of Love.’ So here you go. Yes, my insanity and humor blend seamlessly.


8. It’s pretty sad that you can have a pair of flashing lights at a bike trail crossing and drivers will still just blow through and not stop if you’re standing there. It happens more than it should. Luckily, I stop and wait, rather than just walking across and assuming that people know that the crazy flashing lights mean to stop. During one walk this week, there was one car that stopped for me and another that just flew through. It’s like you’re either not paying attention when you drive, or you’re just a piece of garbage who doesn’t care about anyone but yourself. It’s just simple common courtesy and respect. I need to start carrying a rock in my pocket to throw at someone if they don’t stop.


9. As some of you know, back in March, I filmed a small role in a campy indie horror film, Cape Cod Cthulhu. It was my first acting gig, and I was told it was pretty good, which is always nice to hear. I have lots of footage I’ve been waiting to share to coincide with the film being released. There is an interview with one of the stars, and then a bigger interview with several of the cast and crew. It was such a fun experience, and I have been waiting for some news on the film’s release. Well, I can share the trailer for the film here. I don’t know the firm release date for streaming and DVD’s but it seems to be late October. I’ll keep you posted but until then, enjoy the first trailer for Cape Cod Cthulhu.



10. I am typically very easy to please. I would like to do amazing things and achieve huge amounts of success, but in reality, I am about as low-maintenance as they come. For example, this week I went out driving in the rain. I was listening to a podcast and I had an idea of where I wanted to go. I went to a beach that was deserted. There I parked in a far corner of the lot, turned off the car, and listened to the podcast while the rain poured all around me. It was so bland and mundane and perfectly soothing. I would love to travel the world and see everything there is to see, but honestly, I feel like I get the same amount of satisfaction from sitting in an empty beach parking lot in the rain listening to a podcast.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog: #79 - Stupid Driving, RIP Ozzy, Demon Ducks, etc.

1. Nothing says ‘protect and serve’ like a police SUV driving down a bike trail. Seriously, I was at a bike trail parking lot, and what do I see in my rearview mirror? It was a police vehicle driving slowly down a path for bicycles. It is an unreal level of stupidity. They could have easily injured a rider, a runner, or anyone on the trail. To top it off, the section of trail they felt the need to drive their vehicle on? Yeah, there was a road about 1,000 feet away that they could have driven down instead of the bike trail. What was so important that the cops felt the need to put people at risk like that? Ridiculous.


2. The words icon, legend, and pioneer are thrown around pretty loosely these days. However, they all apply when speaking of Ozzy Osbourne. The Prince of Darkness passed away this week at the age of 76. It is very sad, as it felt like he would live forever because of all of the wild and crazy things he went through in his heyday. He is the godfather of metal. He has dozens of instantly recognizable songs. He even gained legions of younger fans with his now-famous reality show in the 2000s. Ozzy influenced so many people, including ones who didn’t even have anything to do with music. He will be sorely missed, but true legends never die. RIP to the one and only Ozzman.


3. A fun little flashback story to piggyback on what I just wrote about Ozzy. I believe it was 20 years ago. I was in a bowling league. I played on a team that included my stepfather and my now-former brother-in-law. We named our team ‘Crazy Train’ after the Ozzy song. In a fun twist, another team, made up of a lot of friends, named themselves ‘Crazy Frame.’ We used to give them crap about being knock-offs of us. This team of ours also included a few people we didn’t know. There was a husband and wife, and I believe their nephew, who is probably 10 years younger than I. The nephew was a reality show in and of himself. We all had small towels to wipe our balls off, bowling balls that is. The nephew would bring an oversized beach towel, which looked ridiculous. He also would routinely pitch fits when he didn’t bowl well. His aunt and uncle would have to talk to him like he was 6 years old. I am surprised they didn’t offer him a cookie. Anyway, it was a fun year, but it all began with our team name after a classic Ozzy song.


4. The weather at the beginning of this week on Cape Cod was my definition of perfect. Mid-70s, low humidity, some clouds but not enough to hide the sun. It was hard to be inside at all, but once I got off work, I was out for a run or at least a walk. I had debated going to the gym for some weight training, but days like the ones we had don’t happen all the time. After my exercise, I thought about just finding a spot under a tree and soaking in the day. Hunger typically would cut that short. I also figure there will be plenty of days when it’s cloudy and in the 30s or 40s, where I’ll be more than happy to hang out inside the walls of an overcrowded, loud, dirty gym. Well, maybe not happy, more like accepting the lesser of two evils. Until those days though, you can find me on most sunny days carving myself out a slice of the bike trail.


5. I took a walk off the beaten path this week. It was off the bike path. In Brewster, there is a private dirt road that gives you a more scenic route from one part of the trail to a parking lot at a trailhead. I enjoy this route as it gives me a chance to soak in nature. I also have to make sure that I keep my head on a swivel, as there are vehicles every now and then that take this road since there are some houses on it. During this walk, I came face to face with a horrific sight. There, sitting perched on a rock, were 3 terrifying duck demons. They were not happy that I was on their property. I would have ended up as a part of their summer barbecue if I hadn’t thought fast and distracted them with a piece of bread I happened to have in my pocket. It was a terrifying ordeal, but I did manage to capture a photo of the evil creatures before escaping.

They were every bit as terrifying as they look

6. I have always considered myself a very sentimental person. I keep so many things that remind me of special times and special people. Sometimes years go by, and I come across something odd or out of place, and I know it has sentimental meaning, but I just can’t remember what it is. My forgetfulness created such a sentimental moment this week. I try to clear out the clutter on my smartphone to save as much memory as I can. Old voicemails are one thing that I rarely go into and delete. For me, this meant that when I did scroll all the way down to the bottom of my old voicemails, I found several from 2018-19 left by a lost loved one. Brenda was, for all intents and purposes, my aunt. She was a family friend whom I had known for as long as I had been alive. She was there at so many holiday gatherings and other family events. Years ago, when I worked as a cook at a local retirement home, I was pleasantly surprised to find her living there. It gave me a chance to reconnect with her. When she passed a few years ago, it made me even happier that I had those times. When people die, their voices and images can fade. Finding several voicemails from her made me smile with a happy tear. I am glad I never cleaned out those old voicemails.


7. The week definitely ended on a far busier note. I was thrilled to get to go see my old high school classmate, Patrick Hinds, doing his one-man show for his book tour, up in Provincetown. I have seen his show before, but it is still a unique feeling paying money to go see someone you used to see in the hallways at school. He has worked so hard to get to where he is now as a celebrity. There were lots of rough times and bumps in the road before he hit his stride. I have told him that I use him as an inspiration in my own quest to be a self-sustaining content creator. For those who don’t know who he is, among other things, he is the host of two award-winning podcasts. One is all about true crime, True Crime Obsessed. The other is a deep dive into the beloved 80s sitcom The Golden Girls, appropriately called The Golden Girls Deep Dive Podcast.


8. On the subject of Patrick and his show. I mentioned to him that I’d be there, and yes, he was happy, but he was more interested in my bringing my mother to the show. Why? Back in high school, when he worked at Stop & Shop, my mother was his supervisor. He had a rough time, and My mother was very understanding and sympathetic. The fact that he really wanted her to be at the show told me all I needed to know about the positive impact my mother made on him all of those years ago. When we arrived at the venue for the show, it was fitting that Patrick was standing outside, and the first person he saw was my mother. I could tell how much it meant to him that she was there. The fact that she really enjoyed his show was just the icing on the cake.

A D-Y High School reunion after the show

9. By the way, on a side note, I need to remember that Provincetown on the weekends in the summer is a busy place. Parking is at a premium. My idea was to park in this lot, which was a very short walk to the venue. The only problem was that even though we got there way ahead of time, the spots closest to the venue were full. We ended up having to park way in the back and walk nearly the entire length of the parking lot to get out. On the bright side, it made the trip out afterward much easier, but on a muggy Friday evening, every extra step you need to take adds up.


10. Anytime I am in the Provincetown area, I stop at St. Peter’s Cemetery to pay a visit to the grave of Ruth Marie Terry, aka The Lady of the Dunes. As some of you might know, I have a connection to her due to my work on the book that accompanied Frank Durant’s 2022 documentary about the infamous Cape Cod murder mystery. This week also happens to be the anniversary of the day that Ruth’s body was discovered in the remote dunes of Provincetown in 1974. I brought a single pink rose for her grave, and also a single yellow rose for the grave of Susan Perry. She was one of the victims of serial killer Tony Costa. Frank and I found her grave a few years ago, and it was mostly overgrown by grass. We literally tore the grass and dirt up to expose her rectangular stone. After that, I made it a point to leave something on her grave each time I visit Ruth’s grave, as Susan feels like she is a forgotten victim. Also, Tony Costa is buried in an unmarked grave only a few hundred feet away, which is just a shame.
 


11. Speaking of Frank, in a funny twist, I was starting a morning walk when suddenly my music cut out. I immediately thought my headphones had finally died. When I looked at my phone, I saw Frank was calling. We chatted a lot about a project we are going to be working on in the fall. The funny part was that I was still doing my walk while we talked. This meant that I was now that annoying person having a loud conversation in public. Luckily, I was walking through some quiet streets, so I didn’t get too many looks. Also, it meant that I was breathing heavily as I walked. At one point, I had to apologize to Frank for gasping and sounding like I was on death’s door. Finally, I found a spot near a river to pause my walk and just chat. I honestly can’t remember the last time I got a phone call while out for a walk or a run.


12. A motel proudly proclaiming on their sign that they have internet in 2025 is the equivalent of motels in the 1980s saying they have color TVs. It’s like, duh, the internet has been widely available for 30 years, I’d hope your little rinky-dink motel has it. It’s one step above the places that brag about having hair dryers in each room. I guess if a place doesn’t have internet in this day and age, I’d be more worried. Those are the places with the screen door hanging off the office and a guy wearing cut-off denim overalls sitting on a porch whittling a spear out of an old chair leg.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #74: Injury Woes, Dirty Adventures, Bologna Drama, etc.

1. You’ll recall last week that I had a close encounter with a train. I had to scurry down a rocky embankment as it approached while I was on the tracks uploading a video I had just shot. It ended up being a fun video with the train passing almost right overhead but there was a price to pay. I aggravated my sprained left ankle, which is no good. I sprained it a week and a half ago playing basketball. It was pretty stiff and swollen. Now it is almost back at square one thanks to diving down the rocks. I had to pull out of a race I had signed up for. Luckily, they were understanding and refunded my money. Honestly, though, I have no clue when I will even try to run again. Walking is fine unless I do several miles and then it gets uncomfortable. Not sure if this ends my race comeback but I feel like I am going to be spending most of the summer working on strengthening my lower body and not running.

2. I will tell you something. I was out for a walk on the bike trail and stopped to use a porta-potty. I had to wait for someone to get finished inside. The guy who stepped out looked like a backpacking hippie from the 1960s. It was confirmed when I walked into the porta potty and the smell of B.O. was stronger than the literal crap inside. It was like the Seinfeld episode when the valet driver had such bad B.O. that it stayed in the car after he left. Not sure if the guy heard my gagging but I did try to make it loud enough to be heard.

3. In the grocery store, I passed a very short woman. I am by no means tall, so my calling her short should tell you that she was sub-5-foot. Anyway, she calls to me and asks me to get her a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke off of the shelf. I grabbed one of the dozens there and handed it to her. The first thing she did was ask me to show her where it said that it was Diet Coke. Rather than ask her if she knew how to read I simply pointed to the large letters on the bottle. Satisfied that I had chosen the right product for her she turned and walked away. No thank you, no nothing. Fine. The next aisle over, we passed each other. I smiled at her. She, in return, scowled at me. Wait, what? I help you out, and you look at me like I kicked you in the back of the knee? Idiot.

4. This is the point in the year, late June, where it is a game of chicken between me and my air conditioner. This is where the weather jumps into the hot and humid stage. Granted it’s not every day, but once you feel 85 and high humidity, you don’t want to feel it again. I try to wait as long as I can to put the A/C in. Mainly, it’s because my apartment has two windows, and blocking one cuts off airflow. Also, there are plenty of days where it’s cooler and the A/C isn’t needed but I’m not going to take it out and put it back in repeatedly. That’s a recipe for a back injury. So here we are. Last year I held out until after the Fourth of July. How long will I go this year?

5. Going into my 3rd week of nursing a sprained ankle. I can walk pretty well but no running. Naturally, I saw a super cute yellow lab on the bike trail being walked the opposite way from me. This meant I needed to catch up so I could pet the dog. I ran a few hundred feet but the dog and owner turned off down a pathway. I didn’t want to chase them into the woods so I stopped. Of course a few hours later my ankle was sore and I didn’t even get to pet the dog. Double boo.

6. While out for a long 7-mile walk, I went down a section of the Cape Cod Rail Trail that goes through a golf course. I saw 4 early 20s preppy-looking guys driving by in a pair of carts. They look exactly how you’d expect them to look. I had to laugh to myself though, because I am pretty sure I burned more calories during my walk than all 4 of those guys combined during their golf game. Sorry for the hot take but I think golf is only a sport if you walk with your bag. If you drive a cart around, step out, swing a club, and drive again you’re not an athlete.

7. There is a new extension being constructed for the bike trail I mentioned, taking it from Yarmouth into neighboring Hyannis. It is only a few miles from where I live so I took it upon myself to check the extension out. It has been cleared of trees so I was able to start walking the dirt path. It was hot and dry so the dirt was kicking up. I ended up taking a shortcut that led me to mounds of dirt 30 feet tall. Too bad with my ankle I didn’t dare climb. Instead I went around the bottom of the dirt pile. There was no path, only thorns, loose sticks, and rocks. I shredded my left calf up pretty good. I made it to the point in the extension where a bridge will have to be built to carry riders over a particularly busy street. It was a fun summer adventure that brought back memories of my teenage years. Those feelings don’t come around too often anymore. Here is a short video of my adventure: https://youtube.com/shorts/h6gNbM4UWIc?feature=share

8. Late in the evening, I was listening to the birds outside. I always hear cardinals and blue jays. On this evening, I heard a bird making a squeaking call every few seconds. I thought it was weird. Blue jays make some sounds that are like a rusty swing set, so I figured it was just a blue jay. It took me way too long to figure out the squeak call was not a blue jay, or any bird at all. No, it was from my oscillating fan. Each time it got to a certain point, it squeaked. Wicked smart.

They sound the same, right?

9. Something I don’t think I’ve mentioned in this blog since its return in February 2024. As you know, I am dealing with a sprained ankle, which is really hindering what I can do physically. Back in 2011, I got back into running after not doing anything of the sort since middle school. In those early days of my running return I got injured frequently, probably as much as I did over the last several years as well. The difference is that now I work as a personal trainer, which means that any sort of ache or pain I take very seriously. If I injure a body part and I cannot demonstrate exercises then what good am I as a trainer? Back in 2011 I worked as a cook and didn’t care about pushing through injuries because as long as my arms worked, I could cook. The ultimate irony is the unequivocal fact that I was in better shape when I was cooking than I am as a trainer. It’s like if you work a certain job the last thing you want to do in your free time is that same job. I hated cooking at home when I was a cook. I’m not saying I hate going to the gym, but it just takes way more effort to get me out the door than it did 10 years ago.

10. I was sitting at the beach just enjoying a nice summer afternoon. A tow truck pulled up behind an SUV, probably 6 spots away. The driver began hooking the SUV up to be removed. I have no idea what the deal was with the vehicle. Anyway, some random fool drove by and yelled something at the tow truck driver who was just doing his job. The driver stopped what he was doing and climbed up onto the flatbed of the truck and lifted his arms like he was calling the other person back. Of course, the other person was a coward and just drove away. It’s like what are you mad that the guy was doing his job? Or did you have to turn slightly more to one side to avoid the tow truck? Phony outrage and phony tough guys are the worst. It was like social media was happening in real life in front of me.

11. Speaking of phony outrage. While in the deli section of a grocery store, an old man with a big white beard and a straw hat on was asking about getting some bologna sliced. The employee was explaining the differences between types of bologna and for some reason, this triggered this old man. He started yelling about how not all bologna is the same. To his credit, the employee stayed calm. When the old man said he didn’t know anything, the employee calmly shot back and said he must know something since he’d been working at the same place for 19 years. The angry old man walked away. Another customer made it a point to sympathize with the deli employee and said some things loud enough that the angry old man could hear. I stayed nearby for a few moments just in case there was a second act to the bologna drama.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #60: Found Footage, Failed Inspections, Cars on Bike Trails, etc.

 

1. A shocking event occurred. I was trying to find an old post in my Facebook archives when I noticed a tab for live videos I had shared. To my incredibly happy surprise, a livestream I had done in 2018 on location during a terrible winter storm was there. When recording it my phone’s battery had died. I was unable to find the footage and sadly assumed it had been lost since I didn’t officially ‘end’ my stream. But lo and behold there was the stream from March 4, 2018, in my archives. I swore I had looked high and low through my archives trying to find that stream without success. Obviously, if I knew I had it I’d have shared it sooner than 8 years later. Oh well, here we are. I have my own sort of ‘found footage’ I can share. By the time you read this, it will be all over my social media.

2. Another pleasant surprise was bumping into an old coworker at the grocery store. I recognized his voice before I saw him. He is a very nice guy but can be kind of loud and animated when he speaks. This became apparent when he was explaining how he got called into work on that day. He was at a self-checkout stand and a couple were standing behind me. They were so mesmerized by him that they didn’t notice several other self-checkout registers were open. The man even said he was in total agreement about my old coworker's situation. We all had huge smiles on our faces. Well, except for my old coworker since he had to go to work.

3. I had been dreading getting my car inspected. It’s not that my car is in bad shape, it actually runs really well for being over 150K miles. I just had a sneaking suspicion my front tires might not pass. But you can’t not get your vehicle inspected so I went and boom failed. Now I get to drive around with that lovely red R sticker until I can get the tires replaced and get a follow-up inspection. Yay.

Yes, it looked like this, nice.

4. The first really nice weather day of the season came with a high hitting 58. I took this opportunity to go for a run/walk after work. Since I am training for a 5K I try to run that distance each time. I was able to find a good stretch of the bike trail to make the 3.1 miles. It did however end in a cemetery. I guess it was appropriate because if my body felt terrible I could just lie down for the ‘big sleep’ next to the rest of the citizens of the cemetery.

5. A big shout out to Doritos for making their chips healthier. I grabbed a mini bag of chips and noticed that the total calories on the bag had gone down from 400 to 390. Wow, good job. Oh, wait, no, they didn’t make them healthier. They’re just giving you less in the bag. Don’t worry though they still cost the same for less. Greedy corporate scumbags.

6. In setting up the appointment to get my tires for my car so it will pass inspection the tire place asked me the exact size of my tires. Obviously I don’t have that info stored in my brain. I went running downstairs while on the phone. I opened the storm door and it smashed into my hand. I had to do all I could not to yell and swear while on the phone and also in the front yard. I saved the swearing for after I got back inside and off the phone.

7. Getting the new tires was of course filled with colorful characters in the waiting room. There was the skinny young guy with a mustache who paced around the waiting room like he was waiting to become a father. There was the middle-aged chunky guy who visited the vending machine 3 times in less than 45 minutes. I mean come on are you that hungry? Oh well, at least I got the tires without issue.

8. It was a lot of driving and waiting. It took 45 minutes to get to the tire shop. I waited an hour for them. It was 45 minutes back home to get the car reinspected. I waited 40 minutes for that. Sure I got everything squared away but when I was off-Cape all I kept thinking of was places to go get some cool photos. Then I would get slapped back to reality when I realized I could do that but with the big red R sticker on my car, I’d be getting a cool sunset shot while being written up by the cops.

This is the place I've gone 3 times now, highly recommended. Used Tire Warehouse Wareham, MA

9. I was out for a walk on a drizzly foggy morning. I looked way up ahead and saw a car slowly driving toward me. This would normally not be a big deal except for the fact that I was walking on a bike trail. I took out my phone to start filming it and when it got closer I realized it was an unmarked police vehicle. I didn’t want the headache I’d cause if I filmed it and shared it. Still, what the actual hell? Cops are using the bike trail as a cut-through? Or did this guy just not care that he might be endangering people by driving a car on a bike trail? You’d never see a firefighter doing that, just sayin’.

10. Speaking of bike trails. A different day, but the same foggy drizzly weather (yay Cape Cod). I was heading toward the western end of the Cape Cod Rail Trail. It goes through a golf course and then ends at a main road. However, the plan has been for years to continue to rail trail from Yarmouth into the next town Hyannis. Finally I saw the beginnings of the process. There was a long stretch of cleared trees heading off to the side of the trail. It is exciting news. Although to be real I don’t expect the trail to be fully finished for a year. Maybe for Summer 2026? Oh well, I know that I’ll be running on it as soon as the asphalt is dry, and there’s nobody around.