Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #82: Summer Sprinting, Rock Band Formation, Retired Mall Rat, etc.

1. I used to be a borderline-elite runner in my heyday. An injury to my right hip when speed training for a 5K in 2017 caused a slow decline in both my speed and distance until I basically retired from running races for 7 years. I have mentioned several times in this blog about Monday Runday with my friend Mike. We discuss how simply being there motivates us to try to run longer or faster. I typically try to go easy on myself as I’m not training for any race. I have noticed over the last few weeks that something is changing. I don’t want to walk, and I can’t run long distances, really, currently. I have found the sweet spot with long sprints. I walk ¼ mile and then sprint the next ¼ mile. Each week, I get one of those sprints faster. This week I had 2 ¼ mile sprints dip under 7-minute pace, topping out at 6:45. For me, it was the fastest I’ve run since probably 2019. It was a big accomplishment. Of course, my body said enough was enough, and I ended up having to walk most of the rest of the time, but next week I’ll be there trying to top it.


2. For way too many years I worked in restaurants. The summertime was a particularly rough time. It would be super hot, always busy, and it felt like as we got into the beginning of August, everybody was in some stage of burnout. I assumed that not being a part of the unforgiving restaurant industry would put an end to the summer burnout feeling, but I was wrong. I have it now. I don’t know if it is the heat, the amount of brain-dead people I encounter, or maybe just a general unhappiness enhanced by both of those other things. Either way, I feel a general fatigue. I have seen that summer burnout is a real thing, but there’s not much I can do to overcome it besides just being patient. My yearly vacation starts on August 22nd and I won’t be back to work until after Labor Day, so I just need to hold out a little longer.


3. Speaking of that vacation. I had grand plans of a several-day road trip through Northern New England, much like last year. However, that summer burnout has made just the thought of driving 4 hours north too much. I’m not saying that I’m not going to do some sort of road trip this year. I just might end up doing a more spontaneous trip, or a series of shorter day trips. It’s funny, I read that the ‘summer burnout’ feeling can come from pressure to enjoy summer while it’s here. I almost feel a little pressure to do lots of stuff on my vacation. In reality, it should be more about relaxing and enjoying a lot of free time, more than where I go to do it. Man, that sounds lame.

How I currently feel.

4. My Grampa was my hero and role model. He is the man I try so hard to emulate. As much as social media can be a drain on people mentally due to the abhorrent behavior of some people, it does give me a gift I will always treasure. When my Grampa died 6 years ago, his Facebook page went into limbo. There is nobody there to remove it so it stands frozen in time. It is a forever memory of him that I can go to visit every now and then. I just went and took a trip through our chats. It was nothing earth-shattering, mostly me asking him questions about his old donut shop or potential people to interview for my restaurant book. That doesn’t matter. For a few moments, it felt like he was still here. I was almost tempted to send him a message.


5. I might have witnessed the beginning of the next big rock band. I was in a grocery store where there is a guy who works nights. He’s got to be around 20, but he stocks shelves and tends to scream/sing songs as he does it. This is complete with a denim jacket with various metal band logos stitched into it, and copious B.O. that seeps through said jacket. On this visit, I saw him meet another man, probably early-30s, in the soda aisle. They began discussing the instruments they played and planned to chat later. The employee was so excited by the prospect of starting a band that when he didn’t have a pen and paper to give his number (he did so because the other guy said his phone was in his car), he basically ran to the service desk to get one. So if these two form a band that becomes the next Iron Maiden, I’ll know I was there to see the beginning of their journey. Maybe I’ll be in the biopic!


6. It’s no secret that fall is my favorite time of year. Basically, from Labor Day to the end of the year is my jam. I mean I already mentioned it in this blog. So when the Halloween products make their debut, I am all about it. One favorite pastime is getting to eat the famed ‘Monster Cereals.’ For those who don’t know, these are Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Frankenberry. I had spotted them a few weeks back in a grocery store but didn’t take the bait. That changed this week. I just had to snag a box of Count Chocula, which is my favorite. Yes, there is still a month of summer left, but what could be better than enjoying Count Chocula while summer is still going strong? How about some sort of pumpkin spice-flavored treat as well? That’s next on the list.

7. August feels like the month where we lose the most daylight. Well, besides November, when we do the stupid Daylight Savings Time. I checked, and at least here on Cape Cod, the sun sets on August 1st at 7:58pm and at 7:15pm on August 31st. So we lose 43 minutes. Not sure if that’s more or less than any other month, and I don’t feel like doing tons of research. Maybe it’s because all of the Halloween and deals are everywhere in August and kids start going back to school. It is a reminder to all those who love summer the most to get out there and enjoy it because before you know it, we’ll have sunsets at 5pm and frost on the ground.


8. I have several ‘favorite’ run/walk routes near where I live. I am very lucky to be able to put on sneakers and just go to some amazing places. One such route leads through a historic district. The back roads eventually bring you to the busy stretch of beaches along the south coast of Cape Cod. The scenery along this route truly is the stuff that people come from hundreds of miles away to vacation here for. Along this route is one of my favorite houses. It just speaks to me for some reason. It is all red but nothing overly luxurious. It had been sold probably 15 years ago and I made the joke that next time it was for sale, maybe I’d be able to buy it. Well, as luck would have it the house it currently for sale again. Unfortunately, the prices of houses everywhere, especially on Cape Cod, have gone up exponentially. This means that nope, I can’t afford to buy it. In fact, according to Zillow, it’s valued at $1.2 million. This is even with a $50K price cut. To showcase how ridiculous house prices are, this exact house is worth more than double what it was in 2016. The bottom line is that if I ever want to own a home, it’s likely not going to be in the place where I grew up, which basically sucks. Nothing else to say.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/181-Pleasant-St-South-Yarmouth-MA-02664/55930971_zpid/?utm_campaign=zillowwebmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare


9. It’s funny how times change. When I was in high school in the 1990s, I loved spending Friday evenings just hanging out, walking the corridors of the Cape Cod Mall. I might not have been the most prolific ‘mall rat’ but I still was one. I can count on one hand with fingers left the number of times I’ve been to that mall this year. I added one this week only because I was jonesing for some Chinese food from a scoop and serve spot in the foot court. I will admit I did stop for a moment and debate taking a little stroll. Maybe when summer is over, I will revisit my youth by wasting time and money there but not right now. The Chinese food was great as always, though.


10. I had a day this week where I ate really poorly for lunch, like fast food poorly. The guilt and shame crept up and I ended up forcing myself to go for a walk. I have a certain route I can take, which is roughly 3 miles each way to get to the doors of my old middle school. It is now closed down. In reality, the first 3 schools I attended are no longer in operation but that’s a different story. I decided to try to remember the old route my friends and I would occasionally take to walk home through the woods. It coincides with the trail the cross-country team would run. I started down this empty wooded pathway, unsure of where I was going. All the while I was listening to an episode of True Crime Obsessed, the podcast co-hosted by my old school friend Patrick Hinds. It was fitting as I kept looking over my shoulders to make sure I wasn’t being stalked. After feeling lost for a bit I did eventually make it to the school grounds. It was a very meta moment to be at the front doors of where I went to school in 6th through 8th grade, while listening to the voice of someone I’d see in those hallways all the time as he talked about Cape Cod and his high school best friend. I enjoyed that until I had to walk the 3+ miles back to my car.

Class is not in session.

In My Footsteps Podcast Episode 207: Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp; Worst Oscar Nominated Movies; A 70s Recycling Educational Film(8-13-2025)

Perhaps the weirdest show to ever be on television. Some of the worst films to be nominated for an Academy Award. A 70s short film about recycling.

Episode 207 is the perfect cool dose of Gen-X nostalgia for the hot August summer days.

It kicks off with an educational short film looking back at the early days of the recycling movement. Recycling In Action covers a lot of the basics, complete with classic eerie 1970s music, and loads of vintage 70s fashion.

Talking chimps who are also secret agents? It is not a fever dream; it is Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp. This television show only lasted a few months in the early 1970s, but made an impact on me and others of my generation. We will dive deep into the madness of this real show.

Not all Oscar-nominated movies are good. This week's Top 5 will prove that. We will look at some of the worst films to get Academy Award nominations. 

There is, of course, a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule centered around the infamous 1994 Major League Baseball players' strike.

You can support my work by becoming a member on Patreon. Or you can Buy Me A Coffee!

Helpful Links from this Episode

• Purchase My New Book Cape Cod Beyond the Beach!
• In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide(2nd Edition)
• Hooked By Kiwi - Etsy.com
• DJ Williams Music
• KeeKee's Cape Cod Kitchen
• Christopher Setterlund.com
• Cape Cod Living - Zazzle Store
• Subscribe on YouTube!
• Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog
• Webcam Weekly Wrapup Podcast
• CJSetterlundPhotos on Etsy
• I Created Lancelot Link Documentary
• Recycling In Action

Listen to Episode 206 here

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #81: Squirrel Thief, Current Slang, 5-Second Rule, etc.

1. On Sundays, I like to go out, if the weather is good, and listen to a favorite podcast. I have a few spots I tend to visit that are quieter, shady, and relaxing. The podcast I listen to is usually about 2 hours. Keep that in mind. I went to a recreation area and parked in a nice shady spot and had my windows down. It was perfect weather. The local bike trail goes through this recreation area, so there was a string of riders and runners going by. Also, there was this one guy. When I first got there, he was standing by the bathrooms. He had a backpack and a sweatshirt on and looked a bit scrubby. Within minutes of my parking, he walked over and sat at a picnic table right in my line of sight. He was eating chips and just staring mostly at people going by, but also down at the ground. I’d say within an hour of me sitting there, he had put his head down on the table and seemed to have fallen asleep. How do I know he was asleep? Well, because he left his bag of chips on the ground, and a hungry squirrel was able to come right up to him and start ransacking the bag. Sure, if the guy moved the squirrel would scamper off, but it would inevitably come back and go for the chips. I honestly thought it was going to try to get into the guy’s backpack, or bite his ankle, which would have been even funnier. In all I stayed in that parking lot for over an hour and a half, and when I left that guy was still face down on the picnic table. Even starting my car didn’t wake him.


2. Monday Runday is a fun tradition. I meet my friend Mike, and typically his wife and kids, at a local track. We run, we walk, we chat, it’s always a good time. Sometimes we’ll see other people walking their dogs, or playing baseball on one of the fields. This week we had a first. From out of the woods, well the woods that divide the track from the pickleball courts, came a group of men. There were probably 6 of them, all over 60, and all at least 50-75 pounds overweight. Were they there to walk the track? No. They stood around a plastic merry-go-round for probably 20 minutes and then retreated back into the woods. I mean, come on. At least ride the merry-go-round if you’re going to hang out on a playground.


3. I am now at the age where I have to go on the internet to find out what certain slang terms mean. I’m from Gen-X, so we have our own slang that I’m sure my parents didn’t understand, but to me, that all seems normal. The term I had to look up was ‘rizz.’ What the hell does that mean? Well, apparently it’s the middle of the word charisma. Okay, that makes sense. I’m trying hard not to say how dumb that is. Much like in sports, they now say ‘chip’ for championship. Shouldn’t it be ‘ship?’ Oh well, I’ll keep saying wicked, awesome, chill, and whatever. You young folks can have your rizz, chip, cap, and sus. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going outside to yell at clouds.

Me in the not-too-distant future.

4. When you have friends who want to see your mom when they are on Cape Cod, it just goes to show that you have a good mother and good friends. In the last few weeks, I’ve had 2 people ask to see my mom, 1 of whom I wasn’t even there for. I know for a fact that a handful of other friends would visit my mom if they lived closer. It’s the same for me. I can name off a bunch of friends whose mothers were positive presences in my life as a kid up to now. It’s a good feeling all around.


5. Hanging on a branch pretty much above the mailbox at work is a giant hornet’s nest. It is pretty intimidating to stand under it to take a photo since you can see all of the hornets on it and flying around it. Luckily, it’s just high enough up that the insects don’t seem to care about people below. I will be honest, though; my first thought was to throw rocks at it and then jump in my car and drive off. If I were 14, I would have but growing older made me think of the consequences. I didn’t want someone walking by having a nice afternoon when they suddenly get ambushed by hundreds of angry hornets. Plus I guess these particular hornets are pollinators and eat other insects so we’ll keep them around. Of course, now that I say that the damn nest will fall into my car when I drive under it with my roof open.

Yeah that looks safe

6. Some days are better than others. And then some days are all-timers. It’s not every day that I get to spend time with one of my oldest and dearest friends. Hasan and I go back 35 years and my life is immeasurably better for having grown up with him. Now, as guys in our late 40s, it is so much fun to reminisce about those days. It’s even better to tell stories of growing up to his 9-year-old son. We played mini golf and went for ice cream. It was a perfect summer afternoon with perfect weather. I wish we lived closer so that these times would happen more often, but I cherish them when they do.


7. Speaking of the mini-golf game. I hadn’t played in many years so it was fun to get to do it. Luckily, Hasan had 3 free game passes, we literally scored a free game. I arrived at the place first and was getting out of my car. I took my keys and went to go put them in my back pocket. It was then that I felt something. I thought the pocket was inside-out. Nope, I had done laundry that morning and a sock was stuck to the Velcro of the pocket. I was so glad that there was nobody around to see me with a sock stuck to my shorts. I quickly threw it back into my car and laughed because it just fits with my life, and obviously made for a good blog post.


8. The mini-golf game itself was a blast. I grabbed a scorecard and a pencil, but never used it. Once I realized that I wasn’t going to set the course on fire with my play, I switched it up. To seem like his dad’s fun friend, I started hitting the ball like Happy Gilmore to make Hasan’s son laugh. The funny thing was I actually played better like that. If you don’t know the Happy Gilmore putting form just Google it. The majority of the game was spent reminiscing about the old days as we took 5-6 strokes for most of the holes. To be fair, Hasan’s son did make several great shots. This included a no-look putt, which once he made it became his go-to for all of his shots.

My putting form

9. You forget just how crazy summer traffic on Cape Cod can be until you drive Route 28 (the main road) for more than a few hundred feet. Going from mini-golf to ice cream was less than 3 miles and typically would take 7-8 minutes but it took at least 15. It was worth it since I haven’t gone out for ice cream in a long time as well. The highlight of this part of the day was teaching Hasan’s son about the ‘5 Second Rule.’ He spilled a cup of M&M’s at the table and I grabbed a few off the seat and ate them. He was laughing, and I said to Hasan that I would forever be known as the guy who ate M&M’s off of the ground. It was that and trying to toss M&M’s into a practice hole for mini-golf. Fun all around.


10. All it took for me to be over summer on Cape Cod was driving on Route 28 in Hyannis one day, and driving on Route 28 in Harwich the next day. The number of bad drivers and brainless pedestrians was staggering. Stop signs mean ‘stop’, not roll through, or stop with half of your vehicle in the intersection. Also, crossing the street is fine, but there are reasons why crosswalks exist. When a bunch of beach ‘bros’ just decide to cross wherever they feel without looking, they deserve to become a hood ornament. Oh, and to prove I wasn’t a hypocrite, I did use a crosswalk when I stopped to go into a store. But yeah, Labor Day can’t come soon enough.


11. The most notable example of bad drivers was when I was on a relatively clear back road. Up ahead, I see a car literally stop in the middle of the road and begin to perform a terrible three-point turn. This was as vehicles were approaching. I mean, seriously? You are that stupid and selfish that rather than finding a road to turn down to do a turn around you put others at risk to feed your sense of entitlement? Then the idiot waved to us like he appreciated us ‘allowing’ him to be a total sack of garbage. Like I said, Labor Day can’t come soon enough.

The countdown is on.

In My Footsteps Podcast Episode 206: King of the Hill, Driver's Education In School, Best 80s Movie Soundtracks, the Life of Jerry Garcia(8-6-2025)

 

It's going to be a fun episode, I tell you what!

Episode 206 is loaded with Gen-X nostalgia to help you cope with the dog days of summer.

It kicks off with an in-depth look at one of the most underrated yet renowned animated shows. King of the Hill graced the airways for 13 seasons with a mix of humor and heart. Now it is making its return after 15 years to Hulu. We will look at what made the show so beloved and why it is deserving of its reboot.

Getting your driver's license is a rite of passage for teenagers. How we got to that point depends on when you grew up. Most likely, it included some form of driver's education. We'll go back in the day for some of the history of driver's ed, along with a few embarrassing stories from my own journey to becoming a licensed driver.

The 1980s were the decade when movie soundtracks became every bit as important as the movies themselves. Sometimes more important. On this week's Top 5 we look at some of the best 1980s movie soundtracks. Did you have any of them in your vinyl collection?

There is, of course, a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule centered around the death of iconic Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia.

You can support my work by becoming a member on Patreon. Or you can Buy Me A Coffee!

Helpful Links from this Episode

• Purchase My New Book Cape Cod Beyond the Beach!
• In My Footsteps: A Cape Cod Travel Guide(2nd Edition)
• Hooked By Kiwi - Etsy.com
• DJ Williams Music
• KeeKee's Cape Cod Kitchen
• Christopher Setterlund.com
• Cape Cod Living - Zazzle Store
• Subscribe on YouTube!
• Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog
• Webcam Weekly Wrapup Podcast
• CJSetterlundPhotos on Etsy

Listen to Episode 205 here

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #80: Dream-Life Hangover, Phantom Oil Change, Supermarket Happiness, etc.

1. Anytime I get a taste of my dream job as a content creator, or filmmaker, or author, it’s a good thing. This past weekend, getting to see my old classmate’s one-man show inspired me. Speaking to him after I made sure to tell him that I use him as an inspiration for continuing my journey. It leaves me motivated to work on whatever my next project is. However, as soon as I walk into my day job after experiencing that motivation, I feel empty. I feel like I have failed. When I have my ‘days off’ to work on my other passions, I think, ‘this is the time I’ll get that big break.’ When it doesn’t happen and I have to go back to my typical work day, I feel like someone let the air out of my balloon. It’s almost like a dream-life hangover. Maybe one day it won’t be a dream anymore.

From after the show.

2. Several years ago, I bought software to convert VHS tapes to digital. I have more than 65 hours of old tapes I recorded during high school, and I am trying to get them all digitized before the VHS tapes eventually break. I have Elgato Video Capture. It has always worked fine. I hadn’t used it in a year or so when I plugged the cables in. For some reason, the software wasn’t on my laptop anymore. No worries, I downloaded the necessary software and drivers to do the job. Or so I thought. It turned out there were certain functions I needed to turn off on my laptop to get the software to work. However, once those were turned off, my laptop said it was dangerous and I needed to turn those functions back on. It was like an ice cream headache. In the end, I needed to delete the drivers for Elgato. Easier said than done. I spent a few hours researching just how in the hell to get them off my laptop. I was reading that if all else failed, I’d need to contact Elgato and get a new CD-ROM of the software. Not bad right? Well unfortunately, my laptop doesn’t have a CD drive, so yay. It was like a comedy skit where I just wanted to vacuum my car, but somehow managed to set it on fire instead.

3. Okay, I have reached the ‘I’m ready for fall’ portion of the summer. When it’s nearly 100 degrees and humid, that’s enough for me. Several years ago, when I was young(er) and crazy, I looked forward to running in all sorts of bad weather. Too hot? Let’s go. Too cold? I have layers. Hurricane or Tropical Storm? Sunglasses block the blowing sand. Blizzard? I can hide in a house under construction. That last one is 100% real. Anyway, this week’s heat and humidity took me out of my desire to do any run or walk. I chose to hide inside in the air conditioning. Hey, at least I am doing some sort of work, like this blog entry. Wake me when Labor Day is here. Sorry, not sorry.

4. There is an age-old line about New England that goes something like this: If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes. That is how it went this week. I just mentioned it being close to 100 degrees early in the week. Only a few days later, we had rain with highs in the mid-60s. Honestly, if I had to choose between the two, I’m taking the rainy 65-degree day over the sunny, humid 97-degree day. I will say that my idea of perfect weather is partly cloudy, low humidity, and temperatures in the low 70s, but that’s just me.

The weather is always changing in New England.

5. After 2 months and 4 pretty bad injuries, I was finally able to start going back to the gym. I managed to injure my lower back twice, sprain my ankle, and nearly break both hands. The only thing I was able to really do over the past 2 months was go for walks and eat my feelings of being depressed. My first workout was good but man, did I feel my regression. I was so tired and sore almost immediately. Now my joke is how long is it going to be before I injure something else? I’ll take sore muscles. That’s way better than some sort of foolish calamity that leaves me unable to work out for another 2 months.

6. I am now at the age where waking up at 8am is considered sleeping too late. If you had told me 10 years ago that I’d be used to waking up by 7am on most days, including days off, I’d have said something must have gone wrong. I’m not going to start setting an alarm on days off, though. Years ago, the idea of waking up at 5am to hit the gym before work was a definite no-go. Now I am starting to think that within a few years I’ll be naturally getting up at that time. I still won’t want to go to the gym, though, I’ll just surf the net before sunrise.

7. My car is up over 150K miles, so keeping up on the basic maintenance is very important. My goal is for it to get to at least 250K. This week, it was time for an oil change. I usually go to Jiffy Lube since it’s quick and convenient. I mean, they do try to upsell you on a lot of stuff, but that’s kind of par for the course. This time was interesting. Everything seemed to be going well until one of the crew told me they couldn’t get my oil filter off. They said they tried a few ways, but it was rounded and nothing could get it off. What? Is that a thing? They told me I’d need to go to the dealership and they could change it. The irony is that the last few times I’ve gotten my oil changed, it’s been at the same Jiffy Lube. Getting the oil filter off has never been a problem. So what changed this time? I have no idea, but they ended up changing the oil and doing a few other things and not charging me. That was nice. Unfortunately, this means I have to do another trip for routine maintenance, and a dealership at that. You can smell the attempted upselling from a mile away.

8. I don’t know why, but one of my favorite things is shopping in supermarkets that I don’t typically go to. I mean locations that are out of my normal routine. It’s like I go to a Shaw’s or Stop & Shop, and all of them are varying shades of the same color. Still, somehow it’s new and exciting. It’s even more so when I go on road trips. You get me off of Cape Cod and have me stop at a Big Y, Hannaford, Publix, Giant Food, Aldi, or Wegmans? Oh man, it’s like I’ve won the lottery. I have gone to those places on vacations and maybe (definitely) have kept plastic bags with the logos. I even have an insulated Big Y bag that I bought. It is currently holding extra copies of my books.

9. After having a shaved head for about 14 years, it is still weird to me that I have a full head of hair. In fact, my hair is currently probably as long as it’s been, maybe ever. I can spike it up pretty high when it’s wet. The funniest thing is that if it’s not spiked perfectly, I get the hair at the front of my head, right where my hairline and forehead meet, falling forward. It literally looks like I have bangs like my sisters did in high school. I do plan on getting it trimmed down at my next haircut though. Not because of the bangs but the hair will tickle my forehead, which makes me think I have a bug on me, especially at night. Oh well, I know loads of guys around my age that would kill for the ‘problem’ of having too much hair so I should be grateful.

10. We’re now about 3 weeks out from my vacation, and I’ve got to tell you I’m not feeling any sort of road trip. I haven’t booked any hotels yet, and I’m kind of glad. I am looking forward to the time off, but I can’t tell if I am burned out or not. I work full-time and then work almost full-time on my content, such as this blog. It can feel like I am on a treadmill with working. Maybe as I get closer to the actual vacation, I will get excited and make plans to go, at least do one overnight stay, but who knows? Originally, I had plans for three overnights up in Maine and New Hampshire but honestly, as we get closer to the dates, just the thought of driving over four hours has made me lose interest. It is definitely a fake problem to have. Oh no, I have a paid vacation but don’t know what I want to do with the time. I don’t expect any tears shed for my predicament.