1. I have been pretty vocal about the fact that I haven’t gotten sick in close to two years. It might be minor, but I think it’s finally caught up to me. My coworker was out for a few days with the flu, and I was still feeling good and confident. Then my head started hurting, and my body felt weak and heavy. It wasn’t enough to keep me from working, but it was enough to make a few days feel pretty rough. I was lucky to not have any throat, stomach, or diarrhea issues. It was just the aches in the head and body. I don’t play, though, when it comes to being sick. I went to the store and grabbed Emergen-C for my immune system. Even if it’s a minor inconvenience compared to having the flu, I still hate being sick and will do the equivalent of dropping an anvil on an ant hill to feel better as fast as I can.
2. Some people either have no filter or don’t know how to read a room. At my job this week, I had one of the weirdest interactions yet. A woman came in to use our PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic field) mat. I put a link in there for you to look up what it is if you’re curious. Anyway, she’s lying on the table on top of the mat, and I begin to turn up the intensity. Unprompted, she remarks about a sign above my desk that says ‘Attempted Murder’ and is a picture of two crows. Because a group of crows is known as a ‘murder.’ That’s not the weird part. No, that came when she said, ‘every time I come in here and see that sign, I think of my three friends who were murdered.’ Like, wait, what? You had three friends get murdered? I don’t know why she brought that up to me. I don’t know her well and focused on getting the PEMF up and running and returning to work. How do you respond to that? It’s like, think of the most awkward thing you could possibly say to basically a total stranger. Hey, that sign there makes me think of my three friends who were murdered. Yay, thanks. I’m not taking the sign down, so you’re gonna have to close your eyes every time you come in.
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| The exact sign above my desk |
3. There are few sounds more terrifying than the sounds of your pants tearing as you squat down. I was in the middle of training someone, and I demonstrated a squat, and I could feel something give way. The last thing I was going to do was immediately reach into my crotch to see if what I heard was real. I had to just hope my face didn’t give it away. Once I got home, I did in fact find a nice tear in my jogger pants. In fairness, I have had them for a few years, and I have worn and washed them a ton. I did get my money’s worth. But still, this is not like high school, where I’d wear my torn jeans until they basically floated away like dandelion spores. Nope, those joggers were into the trash, and I was off to Marshalls to find some new ones.
4. Something that was brought to my attention this week was a possible new side gig. Airbnb Experiences is where people offer services in areas where rentals are on the site. You know, like a wine tasting in Napa Valley, etc. Having seen how much interest my Cape Cod content has received, especially the lesser-known places, putting together some kind of experience-based content around that might work. I can’t take credit for the idea, which belongs to my friend and coworker Heather, whose husband, Aaron, recommended it to me. Now, before you go booking your Cape Cod escapes with me, there are a lot of steps between now and then. I need a name, an actual itinerary, pricing, figuring out logistics, and crafting a proposal for Airbnb. Maybe it happens. Maybe it doesn’t. People have suggested for years that I do some sort of Cape Cod tour focusing on the lesser-known places and connecting it to my 12th-generation lineage. It all comes down to time and money. If I put in all of the effort of putting this job together, and then it doesn’t pan out, who knows how much money I’ll have spent? Of course, I’m only in the early brainstorming stages, so there will likely not be any news for a few months.
5. I’m not famous by any stretch of the imagination. So when I get recognized in public for my work, it’s both thrilling and surprising. I was in a supermarket at night this week. I got to the self-checkout, and a woman came up to the next register. Out of the blue, she said, ‘I follow you on social media.’ She told me how much she enjoyed my Cape Cod videos, which I’ve been sharing on Instagram, and that she shared them with her son, who lives in another state. She was very nice and complimentary, and part of me didn’t know how to respond. Mostly, what I mean is I didn’t want to get too excited that someone followed and enjoyed my content. My happiness couldn’t be contained, though. I just thanked her and told her I appreciated her kind words. I think part of it is that I am naturally introverted, so I tend to not initiate conversations with strangers. The fact that she took that risk and approached me, I respected, and I did my best to be outgoing but not pompous or anything. Act like you’ve been there is the phrase. Can you tell I overthink things? Anyway, it was a great experience, and I am so grateful to anyone who takes the time to check out my videos, blogs, books, podcasts, etc. Thank you.
6. Finally, I got around to watching the fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie on Netflix. I had so many shows I needed to binge that I totally forgot I wanted to check it out. It was definitely a fun, nostalgic ride for me, who is a big fan of the first two films in the series. They even brought back basically everyone who they could to be in this film. There are a few new, younger characters to freshen it up, including Taylour Paige, who plays Axel’s estranged daughter. She plays Charlotte Hanlon, Will’s mother, in IT: Welcome To Derry. The famed Axel F theme song was all over the movie, and many other songs from the movies got sprinkled in. If you enjoy the classic 1980s Eddie Murphy, you’ll like the fourth Beverly Hills Cop film. Sadly, John Ashton, who played Taggert, died shortly after it was released, so the fifth film, which apparently is already in development, won’t see him in it. I’m doing my best to not spoil anything for anyone who is going to watch it, but just know I thoroughly enjoyed it.
7. There are few things I enjoy less than doing my taxes. When I was younger and actually got refunds, I was first in line, or online, to get them filed and to get that sweet refund money. Since Massachusetts made it a penalty to not have health insurance, I routinely have to pay state taxes. That, plus I get some money from my book sales. I have to laugh because health insurance is so damn expensive, and my job doesn’t offer it, so I choose to go without it. I’m sure it isn’t the best option, but when money is tight, you take the devil you know (paying a penalty) versus the devil you don’t (paying a monthly insurance premium). Anyway, I chose to leave TurboTax and to try Free Tax USA, mainly because I saved about $100 in costs to file my taxes. Luckily, besides my book royalties, my taxes are pretty simple, so I don’t worry about making mistakes. It’s literally just my one job W-2, and a couple of 1099s for writing, no real funny business. So there you go, if you haven’t filed your taxes yet, try Free Tax USA over Turbo Tax.
8. Now that I am doing way more in the world of content creation, my mind is always going to where I can stop and grab a few quick videos when I am driving somewhere. A benefit of having lived on Cape Cod most of my life is that I know pretty much any spot that might fit that bill. This weekend, while driving home from Market Basket (always a fun field trip), I stopped at the beloved Sandwich Boardwalk. The plan was to walk the entire length of the boardwalk and shoot it in 4K. I did that, but was not expecting the cuteness overload that happened twice. There was a family there trying to skip rocks in the marsh creek. It was mom, dad, a little boy, and a little girl. The little girl was maybe two years old at most, and she came literally toddling toward me on the boardwalk. She had one of those adorable knit hats with little round ears on the top. When she came up to me, she had the biggest smile and was waving. I asked her if it was cold at the beach, and she just smiled. On I went. When I was coming back, the family was heading in my direction, and again the little girl stared, smiled, and waved. I basically ignored the parents to make sure I said hi again to the little one. I do it because I enjoy little kids. I also imagine that at a young age, when they’re still forming views of people in general, I’d rather become a positive memory of theirs than some buried trauma that comes out in therapy in 30 years.
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| The end of the Sandwich Boardwalk |
9. Easter is an interesting holiday. I don’t think I’ve gone to church on the holiday since I was a kid. For me, it was always all about the family celebration on the day. When we were little, way back in the 1980s, we’d have Easter egg hunts. These were always fun. My Nana’s house would see the eggs scattered around her yard. My sister Kate and cousin Ryane would have baskets, and I believe that we each either had a specific color egg we had to find, or they’d have our initials on them. Believe me, if it were just finders keepers, I’d have cleaned up. I remember one year, my Aunt Kelly and her then-husband Mark set up the most challenging egg hunt ever. There are photos of me scaling trees and crawling out onto branches to grab eggs. It was a different time back then. Just put the eggs anywhere, no matter how dangerous, we GenX kids were tough enough and didn’t care. However, when I think of Easter, the very first thing that comes to my mind is my Nana’s cheesy hash brown potatoes. She’d put them together every year, only on very special occasions. It began with one large pan of them when I was really young. As we kids grew up, and the popularity of those potatoes grew, it ended up being two monstrous pans. As my Nana got into her 80s, she commissioned my Uncle Bob to take over the recipe. It’s been at least 15 years since I’ve had those potatoes, but I can still see, smell, and taste them. It’s a childhood memory I hope I never lose.
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| Scaling the tree for an Easter egg |
10. Food comas can sneak up on you. This year, for Easter at my mom’s, I filled up on pot roast and desserts slowly but steadily. I felt like things would be fine, and then suddenly my stomach was angry. All of the food was amazing, but I have a tendency to eat too much too fast on holidays. I had to fight to stay alert and engaged with everyone. Eventually, it got to be too much, and I had to say my goodbyes and head home. First of course, I had to stop at the beach in the rain to sit, relax, and enjoy a little time to myself. It wasn’t walking to the cranberry bog like we used to do after Easter at my Nana’s, but wandering along the beach as it rained had to do. I hope everyone who celebrates had a Happy Easter!
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