Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #124: Hearth n’ Kettle, Auto Acorns, Wild Kingdom, etc.

1. In the northeast, we have a restaurant chain called Hearth n’ Kettle. It’s got an old Colonial motif with classic New England fare. I remember many times going to the location in Yarmouth with family and loving it. A quick search says they originally opened in 1973 and at their peak had 6 or 7 locations. The last several years have been hard for Hearth n’ Kettle. There are only two active locations, with Yarmouth being seasonal at best. This week, when driving home, I passed by that location. In the parking lot was a bus and no other cars. People were standing around the bus, but there were no other cars in the lot. My guess is that they were being taken to Hearth n’ Kettle for dinner. Unfortunately, they are only doing dinner on weekends at this point in the year. I guess nobody bothered to call ahead to make sure they were open. That’s too bad. Papa Gino’s was right down the street, so they should’ve had no trouble finding dinner somewhere close by.

2. There is a trend going around with parents trying to recreate a ‘90s kid’s summer' in the present-day for their kids. I have seen a lot of people saying that just the fact that it is being meticulously planned is the first mistake. Having been a teenager in the 1990s I agree. My friends and I would meet up and just go where the wind blew. We’d take our bikes and not much else and figure things out on the fly. I get it that kids today can’t really just roam far away from home like we did back then. I also get it that today’s parents are those kids who grew up back then and they want to share the nostalgia with their kids. There has to be a happy medium. For a ‘90s kid’s summer’ day, it’s easy; it goes as follows. No phones, stay outside as much as humanly possible, and lunch or dinner must be either at the beach, in the car, or at a place with outdoor seating. Spend at least some time out in nature, even if this is just walking in a park or on the beach. Visit a place you’re familiar with but in a different way. For example, I had been to Pizza Hut numerous times as a kid, but it was a different time when my friends and I rode across town on our bikes to eat there. Luckily, I owned a camcorder back then and took copious amounts of videos of my 90’s summers. Here is a little slice of what it was like back then.



3. This week saw the official launch of the GoFundMe for my feature-length film debut, The Cabin. It is exciting and also nerve-racking. We have a modest budget goal for the film to pay for cast, crew, locations, props, and all of the post work. With roughly 2 ½ months until shooting, there’s plenty of time to get most or all of that goal. If worst comes to worst, my plan is to fill in the gap in the budget with my own money. I believe so strongly in the film that I am willing to put my money where my mouth is. I have wanted to be a filmmaker since I was in high school and spent my savings on a bulky Sears camcorder. Now, 30 years later, that dream is as close to being a reality as it has ever been. There is no way I will let that pass by. The Cabin is a suspenseful, psychological horror film based on a short story that I wrote over 15 years ago. If you can donate to the fundraiser, thank you. If you can’t, please share the link so that others might donate. Updates will be coming over the next several months.


4. Welcome to June in New England. You’d think that the month where summer starts would be filled with relatively warmer weather. For the most part, you’re right, until you’re not. On June 2nd, we woke up with a low of 37 degrees on Cape Cod. Not sure if that’s a record. Considering that because we stick out into the ocean, the temperatures on Cape Cod are usually warmer, I am guessing that places in northern New England must have had some temperatures dip below freezing. Luckily, looking ahead for the next two weeks, I don’t see anything close to those chilly temperatures returning. I’m not saying that I’m looking for temperatures in the 90s with high humidity, but after the winter we had in New England, I’d like to have some heat before the cold returns.


5. I didn’t expect the sense of panic that washed over me one morning this week when I grabbed my Fitbit off its charger only to find that the battery was nearly dead. As I stared at the screen with it reading 4% battery, I was freaking out. I need my Fitbit to track my calories burned so I know exactly how much I can eat for dinner. It’s not quite an obsession, but when you’re hurtling toward 50, tracking your fitness becomes more important. I mean, it should always be important, but when you’re in your 20s and 30s, time is on your side, and you have more room for error. That morning was a mashup of me charging the Fitbit in the car on the way to work and then sitting at my desk with it charging enough that I could wear it. I figured if I was just sitting there, I wasn’t accumulating steps or really burning calories, so I was safe. It turned out that I simply hadn’t secured the Fitbit to the charger, which was why the battery just died overnight. At least I hope that was it. There hasn’t been another issue during the week, so I think my nightmare of the dead Fitbit battery is over, but we’ll see. This is the true definition of ‘first-world problems.’


6. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I decided to do a rebrand of my content creator page on Facebook. Instead of exclusively focusing on my podcast, I opened it up to everything that I do. Podcasting, while probably my favorite thing I create, is only a small piece of the pie. I also have had 10 books published, have written something like a thousand blogs, have created probably close to 800 YouTube videos, and countless photo and video posts on social media. I figured after all of these years, it might be wise to share all of what I do. It could lead to more followers. This week’s portion of this rebrand was changing my Patreon page. If you’re unsure of what Patreon is, it is a membership service where a creator in any field can garner subscribers, whether paying or free. It allows someone to support someone whose work they enjoy while, in turn, getting exclusive content or products in return. Anyway, changing your page can be risky because if someone has become a subscriber based on the podcast, they could see the change and think that I am totally scrapping what they became a member for. I created a short post explaining my choice, and hopefully, it will entice more people to come and join. Naturally, I have a link to the page here. No pressure to join, just check out the free tier.



7. I do quite a bit when it comes to creative work. Podcasts, videos, books, blogs, burgeoning film career, and even photography. Despite having a photo book, an Etsy shop, and having shared thousands of photos on social media, one thing I have never done is promote myself as a professional photographer. I mean, like the type who takes jobs shooting weddings and other events. So you’d imagine my surprise when out of the blue I get an email from a stranger asking about my availability to shoot a school reunion in the upcoming weeks. I will admit I briefly thought about accepting, but it came down to time and commitment. I don’t have the time in my schedule to take many hours out to prepare, scout, shoot, and then edit photos. I also just didn’t have the desire to open that door. I don’t have professional equipment besides my DSLR camera. I have no desire to spend boatloads of money buying the equipment I’d need, either. I referred them to a friend who is an actual professional photographer. I will do photo shoots for people, but only family and friends.


8. I used to be more handy when it came to cars. My first few autos I owned were older and often needed work. They lent themselves to being easier to fix, even if you weren’t knowledgeable. I knew how to do most things to fix those old cars. As cars got newer, they needed less work, and I found myself bringing them to mechanics for everything. I have had my current car for almost 12 years. It has 164,000 miles on it and still runs pretty well for an older vehicle. I’d also like to keep it running for 100,000 miles or more. I know I don’t have the skills to repair major issues with my car, but I figure smaller, simpler things I can handle. I decided this week to swap out my engine air filter. It’s very basic. You flip open a box, grab the old filter out, replace it with the new one, and close the box. The first rule of changing the air filter is to make sure you get the right one. No, not the one that will fit your vehicle, I mean the engine filter and not the cabin air filter. I got the wrong one by mistake and immediately had to go back to Auto Zone and replace it. Smart. Oh, but it gets better. I decided to just swap them out in the parking lot. I opened the hood and opened the black plastic box. I removed the old filter, but not before noticing underneath the filter, there was a pile of acorn shells. Nice. I am sure that’s been helpful for my airflow. While I was greasy and had the hood up, I opened the engine compartment. There, I also found some acorn shells. What the hell? Did a squirrel sabotage my car? Have I just not checked my car for so long that the occasional acorn shell got under my hood over the months and collected that much? I’ll have to pay attention if my car starts running smoother after removing those acorn shells. I feel like there would have been fewer of those acorns if I had found a car abandoned in a field behind a decaying barn.


9. There was a classic photo trip this week. My cousin Patrick is visiting Cape Cod from Las Vegas. Even though he had lived here for many years, there are a lot of places he’s unfamiliar with. I was tasked with finding some worthwhile places to shoot. It wasn’t hard. We stuck to the eastern part of the Cape, the towns of Brewster, Orleans, Chatham, and Harwich. I was actually surprised that there weren’t more people around because it was a mostly sunny weekend. We spent much of the afternoon cruising around getting great photos. Perhaps the best part, though, was at the end when I was dropping him off to get his car, and we sat and chatted for close to two hours. It was a fun talk about growing up, our family, and life in general. I think it was the first true, deep, long, drawn-out conversation we’d had like that. It was definitely a day I am so glad we had.

My cousin standing in the Chatham labyrinth.

10. The photo trip ended up being like an episode of Wild Kingdom. Oh sure, we saw the typical array of birds and loads of insects, but we also saw unusual animal guests during the day. First was a gigantic snapping turtle at the Stony Brook Herring Run in Brewster. A young couple asked if we had seen it, and so we rushed over to see a turtle in a shallow creek. This snapper had to have a shell that was a foot and a half across. I bet it weighed 30 pounds. I got some good video as I lowered my phone down using my selfie stick. Luckily, the turtle simply dropped its head below the water and didn’t try to snag my phone like it was a Ritz cracker. Next up was an eastern milksnake behind the Crosby Mansion in Brewster. It was lying in the grass, probably not expecting to have two people come walking up on it. The snake was probably four feet long and was blue and white striped. It slithered off into the brush, but not before I got a great video of it. Finally, at the Chatham Fish Pier, there were several gray seals. They are pretty common there now as they hover around the fishing boats after docking in the hopes of a stray fish being lost overboard. They are like 400-pound seagulls. That being said, the videos of them floating on their backs and looking like dogs make for easy content that people love.




11. It wasn’t all fun and games on the photo trip, though. Being early June, the bugs have started to take control. I have to make a choice when going outside, bug spray or sunscreen. I’m sure you could do both, but how much soupy spray do you want on yourself while trying to enjoy a day outside? I chose sunscreen. I definitely don’t regret it since I was outside for several hours and didn’t end up looking like bacon-wrapped lobster. While we were wandering the woods looking for a hidden cemetery in Harwich, I wished I had added a splash of bug spray. The mosquitoes were everywhere. My cousin was fine having used the bug spray. I got a few nibbles, but nothing prepared me for what awaited back in the car. As we pulled out of the trail parking lot, I could see a stray mosquito hovering around. It landed on my arm, and I knew I had it dead to rights. I gave it a smack. Yes, I killed it, but it also exploded in a ghastly spread of blood on my arm and hand. Here I am trying to drive while trying to clean someone else’s blood off my hand and arm. I was also trying to not smear blood on my steering wheel. It was some nasty stuff. Next time, I’ll create the mixed cocktail of sunscreen and bug spray.


12. Publishers Clearing House, it was not. This week, I got a letter in the mail from the Massachusetts Treasury Department. Excitement was in the air once I realized it wasn’t a bill. I was getting money back from the state. Now, to be honest, I already knew what was in the envelope. I had been on the Find Mass Money website as a person who had some cash owed to them. I believe that mine had to do with overcharging on an old, very old Sears credit card. My enthusiasm over the check I got was tempered a little when I saw the amount: $8.80. So yeah, no secret millions came to me. In fact, it isn’t enough to get a pizza, but it can be a down payment on one. I held out hope for a misprint, but sadly, it was just enough for two gallons of gas in this day and age.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog: The Best of 2025

Welcome in to the 2025 year in review for the Initial Impressions 2.0 blog. For this post I went through all of the blogs written in 2025 and whittled down hundreds of entries into the Top 20 funniest or most foolish things I saw or did over the preceding 12 months. I hope you enjoy this look back at the year that was. A video version of this post is available for members over on Patreon!

1. One trip, 3 foolish encounters. First, on my way to the gym, I got a white bucket stuck under my car. I thought it wasn’t large enough so I could easily pass over it. Nope. I could hear it scraping the road, so I found myself intentionally driving into potholes to try to dislodge it. Eventually, this worked. After the gym, I walked to the supermarket at the other end of the parking lot. Inside I saw the funniest fake eyebrows ever. I gasped in shock and had to run away to laugh. It was as if this woman had taken a Sharpie and drawn two straight lines in the middle of her forehead. Was there nobody around to help her? Or stop her? Finally, on the way back to my car, a man who looked like he was hiding a keg under his shirt remarked about my wearing shorts. I didn’t care enough, and he didn’t look smart enough, to explain how I was at the gym a few doors down. I just smiled and kept walking thinking about how that guy probably looks in the mirror and thinks he has a 6-pack instead of the keg. (#51)

2. At my work, we have something called compression therapy. You get wrapped up in these pads that squeeze your body, stimulating the lymphatic system to get moving. It is great for your overall health. When you do this therapy, it is 30 minutes, you relax, and then when the session is done, someone comes in and unwraps you. If somebody has done the compression therapy enough, they might feel comfortable enough to start unwrapping themselves to help. A person was doing that before I got in the room to assist them. It all seemed fine until I went back in to clean off the pads. It was then that I noticed the splatters of blood on different parts of the various pads. It looked like a crime scene. The worst part was that there was another person set to use the compression therapy, and as I wrapped them in the pads, I kept noticing other drops of blood I had missed. I had no poker face and was horrified.(#57)

3. I have a skill, I guess, for being able to have and remember vivid dreams. I’ve written several short stories based on dreams I’ve had. This week was not a story-type dream, but it was memorable. I dreamed I was walking around a mall in California. I was fascinated by the food court, more specifically, a Cape Cod themed burger place. While I stood outside of this restaurant, I heard a voice say my name. It was famed comedian Norm MacDonald, one of my favorites, who sadly passed in 2021. He said, ‘Hey I like that restaurant too.’ Then he gave me a classic Norm one-liner. He said ‘you know what the best part about it is? You can actually go inside.’ Meaning that he was making fun of me, standing and staring longingly at this restaurant from the outside when I could actually go in and eat. It was pretty funny.(#59)

4. Nobody could have told me that one day I’d be driving down Commercial Street in Provincetown in the backseat while in the passenger’s seat, Frankenstein’s monster growled and yelled at people on the sidewalk. The uncle of one of the crew in the film dressed as the famed monster for a scene. We had to drive him to the location, though. As soon as the first woman spotted him and mouthed ‘Oh my God’ it was over. Frankenstein spent the entire drive shouting and growling at people much to my amusement. Too bad it was a short drive, although the wackiness continued on location. I’m sure all of the people driving by were wondering why Frankenstein was attacking people. Or maybe not, it could have been just another day in Provincetown.(#61)

5. Shenanigans seem to follow me wherever I go. I went out for an afternoon adventure after it had rained. After a lot of driving, I made my way to a place in Sandwich called Scorton Creek. It’s loaded with trails, marshes, a few abandoned shacks, and it crosses the railroad tracks. I couldn’t find the old abandoned shack I had found years ago. I made my way to the tracks to make better time back into the woods. I filmed a quick video joking that I was living the movie Stand By Me as I walked the tracks. I said if I saw a train, I’d have to dive off the tracks. 30 seconds later, the dinner train comes rolling down the tracks. I was in no man’s land. I didn’t know how fast the train was going, and I was at the creek so I was stuck. I had to scale down the embankment and watch as the train passed by, basically right overhead. I don’t think any of the people on the train saw the crazy guy at the bottom of the embankment, but you can be the judge, as I made a video about me jinxing myself.(#73)



6. 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.(#74)

7. My sprained ankle happened 3 weeks ago and is getting closer to being healed. Of course, that meant it was time for me to inflict another injury on myself. This time I decided to create a hand sandwich and use the steel of the reverse hyper machine at work as the bread. In trying to adjust the flat pad for a future client, I mistook where my hand was. Instead of having it braced with my left hand, I had nothing. When the arm let go it pancaked my right hand between two steel bars. I had a client on the treadmill and was doing this while she walked to save time. I gasped but didn’t scream. My boss walked in a minute later, and I was basically hyperventilating. I was sure my hand was broken. Luckily, there was a less than one-inch gap between the steel bars so my hand wasn’t completely crushed, just mostly. There was lots of ice, lots of ibuprofen, and lots of bruising and swelling. Oh, and also it was a Monday, and I had a super busy day training clients, so it was a bundle of laughs.(#75)

8. One of the funniest and most random events occurred at my day job. A new patient came in for their appointment. In their hands, they were carrying something odd. It turned out to be a dirty pair of white boxer shorts. They said that they found them outside and that even though they weren’t any of ours, they figured we didn’t want them to be seen by other patients. So this person picked up someone else’s dirty underwear with their bare hands and brought them into our office. To top it off, they then calmly placed them on the front desk next to our office manager. They didn’t even throw them away. They basically presented dirty underwear as a gift to signal their arrival in our office. Our office manager later said that she had to use another piece of trash from the can to sweep the underwear into the can. She then thoroughly sanitized the desk. The wild thing is that the new patient was really nice, and I truly think they believed they were doing something nice.(#78)

9. My car is 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.(#80)

10. 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 my 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.(#81)

11. 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!(#82)

12. It had been a while since I had walked the expansive tidal flats at low tide on Cape Cod. It had been even longer since I did it at sunset. Luckily, a pair of friends were down on the Cape and wanted to walk the beach before heading home. The tide was low enough, but there were still some treacherous spots. This came into play as I foolishly decided to keep my shoes on rather than leave them in the car. I did a good job for a little while keeping them dry. That all changed when I decided to perform a long jump to cross a small river where the tide was still going out. I managed to clear the river, which was a win, but a few minutes later, I felt my lower back locking up, so I knew I didn’t escape unscathed. After that, it was inevitable that my shoes would get soaked since I was having trouble with my back. So yeah, injured back, soaked shoes, getting older sucks, but hey, the sunset was worth it.(#84)


13. There are some things you can’t unsee. When stopping at the grocery store, I was ‘lucky’ enough to get to see a man who was a good 150 pounds overweight sitting at an outdoor picnic table. You know the ones that are supposed to be for sale, not for hanging out at? Anyway, the reason this was so disturbing was the fact that he had no shirt on. Yup, sitting outside of a busy supermarket with families going inside just showing off his pasty white fat body. He looked like a snowman covered in dollar-store tattoos. I think the grossed-out looks got to him, as within a minute, he was putting his shirt back on. Too late, Frosty, like I said, there are some things you can’t unsee.(#84)

14. 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.(#85)

15. Squirrels are definitely one of the most annoying animals there are. Not just with how they run into the road with no regard for the vehicles barreling down on them. It’s also how they are nonstop eating machines who don’t care how they get what they want. Don’t get me wrong, it can make for some funny scenes, which is what happened this week. My sister Ashley has spent years trying to grow sunflowers, which are her favorite. This year, she has finally had a few make it. This includes one flower that is nearly 8 feet tall. Apparently, this was too enticing for a squirrel that climbed up to the top and was sitting on the flower, tearing the seeds out and dropping the petals to the ground. Eventually, we were able to scare it off, but it was too late. It’s still standing, and the bees still like it, but the giant sunflower has seen better days.(#86)



16. I am glad that I have a vivid and strong imagination. That means that I can see a situation clearly, so I don’t need to act it out in reality. What am I talking about? While out for a walk, I was going through one of my favorite neighborhoods. A few hundred feet ahead, coming toward me, was a single man walking four good-sized dogs. I could see it was a battle for him to control them. All I could think of was what if something startled or excited the dogs? I could envision them dragging this poor guy all over the street, or tripping him as he goes flying into the air. It would have been a great comedy sketch. I was smiling widely as I passed without incident and waved. Lucky for him, I have that imagination and a little self-control.(#90)

17. This is a bit of the weird and random stuff that I caused myself. In New England, we got a massive Nor’easter for a good 3 days. In all, we ended up with something like 4 inches of rain in total. I was out for a drive surveying the damage when I got an idea. My car is white; therefore, it is almost always dirty. With the rain still falling at a good clip, I got an idea. I decided to stop at the store and buy some cleaning wipes and paper towels. You see where this is going. Since there was nobody else on the roads, I stopped at a park. I then proceeded to ‘wash’ my car using the cleaning wipes, rain, and paper towels. I ended up with a pile of wet garbage that I had to throw away. It wasn’t as sparkly clean, like a proper car wash would have given, but all in all, my car looked much better after that. Laugh if you want, I know I did as I realized how crazy I looked. I would have died if someone pulled up and saw this idiot using a roll of paper towels to ‘clean’ his car.(#91)

18. On a break from working, I grabbed my phone, selfie stick, and my yearly mini-pumpkin and headed to get some photos. I ended up at the Cape Cod Canal and started wandering around the grounds snapping photos. Everything was normal until I started walking along the water, headed for a marina. I saw a guy fishing, and he gave me the side-eye. At first, he joked to me that my photo would be better if his ‘fat old ass’ wasn’t in the way. I smiled, and he said ‘Hey it’s good to see you again.’ Now I was confused and asked, ‘really?’ The guy said, ‘Yeah it’s me Shawn. I saw you here before not that long ago.’ I told him it definitely wasn’t me, but I was polite and wished him a good evening before going for more photos. No idea who that guy was, or more importantly, the guy who looks like me who is creeping around the canal. Maybe it’s old me from the future coming back to take photos at the canal.(#92)

One of the photos I took along the canal that day.

19. Sometimes I go seeking an adventure, other times the adventure finds me. I was out with my pumpkin, grabbing some Halloween-themed photos at an old mansion. It’s on a quiet road near the beach, but is almost always deserted, which allows me to take my time setting up shots. I parked in a lot that is fairly hidden. I thought there might be a path so I could walk to the beach without having to get on the actual road. There wasn’t one, but there was a smaller overgrown parking lot, which I took a photo of so that I might be able to find out what it was used for. On the way back to my car, I spotted what looked like a decaying house about 50 or so feet back in the woods. Obviously, I needed to go check it out. Unfortunately, there was no path to it. This meant that I needed to bushwhack my way through the trees and brush to get there. It was a mess inside. There was a lot of graffiti, as would be expected. There were also holes in the floor exposing water underneath. Luckily, I caught myself before falling through the floor, but it was close. It’s pretty rundown and a little dangerous, so I don’t recommend going inside. I got a lot of photos and videos, which I put together into a little Halloween adventure film so that you can see what it’s like.(#92)



20. I had two choices. I could do some content work in the morning and go for a walk in the afternoon, or vice versa. I chose the latter. I figured if I didn’t get up and out in the morning, I might not go at all. Well, I chose wrong. At first, my walk was fine. It was cloudy but mild. Great. So I decided to do a little longer loop around a new extension of the bike trail near where I live. As I went down that way, it began to drizzle. Still, no big deal. Then, there I was, nearly 3 miles from my car when the skies opened up. It started pouring rain. I had to take my headphones and shove them in my shirt so they wouldn’t get ruined. I was walking the bike trail in the rain for over 45 minutes, totally soaked. It ended up becoming a fun adventure, mostly because I had no other choice. By the time I got back to where I parked, it was like I had gone swimming in my clothes. Oh, and of course, when I got back to my car, the rain stopped. The afternoon was sunny and 60 degrees, by the way. Wicked boo.(#94)

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #52: Neck compression, Sunset Skeletons, Coat Rack Excitement, etc.

 

1. I was wandering through Dick’s Sporting Goods this week. I was looking for a nice backpack. While browsing I came upon a rack of compression items. Compression sleeves for arms, calves, knees, etc. It dawned on me that there is no compression garment for those with stiff or sore necks. I thought for a minute and it became obvious why. Any compression sleeve for the neck would simply choke the person unconscious. I mean, you wouldn’t be thinking about your neck pain anymore, so there’s that. I do think the lawsuits would eliminate any profits the product made though.

2. I was taking a random drive to nowhere as I tested out the camera on my new phone. I ended up passing a sign with my name on it. Someone had taken a ‘Slow’ yellow sign and made it up with black tape. Besides my name, the little black figure had a baseball cap and fingers on one hand. I initially drove by but then turned around and went back as I thought this was more than a coincidence. I grabbed a photo and then proceeded to sit and wait as I felt something might happen. No more than 2 minutes later the daughter-in-law of the Lady of the Dunes called me. She asked if I had any photos from my work on my book that I could share with her. They are for other members of the family to see the area where Ruth Marie Terry was found. I am sure she would have called anyway but the timing of it after the sign made the story even better.

It's like I was meant to go that way.

3. A sunset shoot turned extra foolish. I walked toward a small river at the east end of a local beach. It was on this walk that I spotted a skeleton sitting in a beach chair watching the water. Sensing an opportunity for some humor I took a video and a photo with the skeleton announcing our relationship on social media. Sadly I was actually expecting a few people to not pay attention and think I was announcing a real relationship. No, not with the skeleton, but like they wouldn’t take 2 seconds to look at the photo and they’d just send congratulations or something. I was pleasantly surprised that nobody fell for that, at least not so far.

What a beautiful couple.

4. For the last several weeks I’ve had a soreness/tightness in my left hip flexor. I have been doing a lot more stretching to try to loosen it up but it wasn’t really helping. Sadly I came to the realization that the tightness was from sitting too much at work. Something similar happened during the initial months of COVID-19 when I was at home most of the time. The solution is easy. I had to turn my desk into a stand-up desk. The funny thing was how tired my legs were after an hour or so of standing the first day. All I wanted to do was sit but I figure if my hip flexor gets any tighter my leg is going to permanently look like Daniel Larusso at the end of Karate Kid when he’s doing the crane kick.

5. I don’t have a fear of spiders. Sometimes it’s hard for me to relate to those who do. This week one of my favorite clients was in the gym to train. After our first circuit of exercise, she went over to our water fountain to refill her bottle. A small light brown spider apparently crawled across the top of the bottle. I had my back turned but she screamed and launched her water bottle into the air. It hit the floor and water went everywhere. I thought she had accidentally pressed the hot water button on the fountain. When she said it was a spider I had to keep a poker face and not laugh. Once I knew she was ok it ended up being a hilarious scene.

6. I am now ‘I am super excited to get a coat rack’ years old. I needed one. I have been storing coats and long-sleeves and the like on a chair which looks very ‘teenage boy.’ So I got a rack. Well, it’s more of a pole with hooks all over it. I can finally start living like an adult as I get closer to 50. It’s not a wedding announcement to share with my mom but hey it’s the next best thing, right?

So exciting!

7. What is the appropriate time before turning in your vehicle to put your signal on? I often wonder. This week I got to see the two extremes and didn’t like either. I had one person wait basically until they were turning to put a signal on. This is sometimes complete with the driver barely slowing down so that leaves you to have to slam on your brakes to avoid hitting them. I also had someone who put their signal on probably 1,000 feet before their turn. This meant they passed several other roads and driveways with the blinker on. Either of these choices though is better than not using a blinker at all which sadly I see way more often.

8. Many years ago there was a girl I was nuts about. We worked together and we were really close friends. For those who watched The Office, she was Pam Beasley to my Jim Halpert. Honestly, our storyline was very similar. She even had a d-bag boyfriend like Roy. The difference came when she finally broke up with her boyfriend. In The Office, Jim goes for a job interview in New York but ends up turning it down to come back to finally ask Pam out. My story was akin to Jim going to New York and never coming back. We never ended up getting together. It came down to me thinking if I was a rebound relationship it wouldn’t last. It was dumb then and sounds dumb now. I am glad she ended up in a happy marriage with two kids. I often wish I had at least taken my shot though because who knows. This story is front and center in my mind this week because it was her birthday and I still remember and I still wish her a happy birthday. Happy Birthday to my Pam.

9. I have been good in 2025 by not going to any takeout restaurants (so far). However, despite that I have not been immune to eating poorly. One of my weaknesses is chicken wings. This gets elevated when I visit a local grocery store. The reason is because they have these awesome fried wings that remind me of a sub shop I used to visit near my house in the 1990s. They were called Wing Dings. I think a lot of places have them though. Anyway, the problem arises when I go to this grocery store and they have the wings in their deli section marked as ‘buy one get one.’ I mean how can I resist? Well, I know I can but I don’t want to. So yeah, no McDonald’s but buckets of chicken wings. Is that a good trade?

10. There are plenty of times that I feel like I am in my own head way too much. Overthinking. Expecting the worst. Feeling like perfection is the only way to succeed. Sadly, I know this isn’t the healthiest way to be, yet it still occurs pretty often. It is as if my brain has been trained a certain way and rewiring it seems to be a process I can’t finish no matter how much I want to. I had a quarter-life crisis. This is likely part of a mid-life crisis. I’m hoping there’s no old-age crisis but that’s likely death so at least I won’t have to write a blog about it.

Initial Impressions 2.0 #17: Never Ending Pumpkin, Nut Job Idiot Day, Coyote Conga Line, etc.

1. Mother’s Day was this past week. It was a great time as I got my mother a nice comfy office chair to help her with her many hours she spends making quilts for friends and family. It was made even better by the fact that I put the chair together on my own. Staples offered to put it together for me for the tidy sum of $60. Ha. Jokes on them, it took me 10 minutes to do. I do think they tried to sabotage me though as I was one screw short in the box.

2. Perhaps the wildest thing that has gone virtually unnoticed by me is the fact that my Halloween pumpkin is still alive and kicking. Yes, you heard right. The mini pumpkin I bought a few weeks before Halloween is still thriving now as we’ve passed Mother’s Day. Part of me wants to take it outside and smash it for a fun video. Another part of me wants to wait and see just how long this thing will last before it gets all rotten.

Still alive and well for now.

3. I guess I was feeling like connecting back to my childhood. Getting ready for the gym I put my shorts on backward. Then after fixing those I promptly put my shirt on backward. All I needed was to play ‘Jump’ and my Kriss Kross cosplay would have been complete.

4. It’s kind of funny how if you’re an adult and you turn on a kids’ show you are kind of like blah it’s baby stuff. However, if you turn on a kids’ show from when you were growing up you’re immediately engrossed in the highly important content it is sharing. I can watch 3-2-1 Contact from the 80s and feel like I’m learning but if I see Blues Clues & You and am like ‘man this is dumb.’

5. I watched a video on how to operate a new piece of technology we have at my work. At one point the man on the video said to sanitize some of the equipment you needed to submerge it in a diluted Hibiclens solution. I’d never heard of it. I actually thought he said ‘Hippie Cleanse.’ And yes I Googled it to see what it was. I thought I heard Google laughing at me once I hit ‘search.’

Not As Seen On TV

6. During the Halloween season I was always excited to see this one house on my way to work that had a 10-foot-tall skeleton in the front yard as part of the decorations. How did this person follow up that great scene? How about by writing some conspiracy theory garbage on his garage doors in black tape. I guess he’s celebrating a new holiday Nut Job Idiot Day.

7. Where I live there is a chunk of conservation land across the street. I tend to see a fair amount of wildlife like deer, turkeys, foxes, and owls. There are also a few coyotes. The other night while brushing my teeth I was looking out the window at dusk. I was sure I saw something walking up the driveway. Sure enough under the window passed a coyote. It was quickly followed by 3 more. They didn’t just pass through though, they were making tons of noise scurrying around in the leaves and bushes. Hopefully, no neighbors had pets outside. It’s like ringing the dinner bell.

Dramatization, the coyotes did not conga line through the yard.

8. A pet peeve I’ve had for a long time is when people grab some sort of food, whether a bag of chips in a sub shop, or like I saw today a bag of mini muffins, and begin to eat them before paying. Are you really lacking self-control so badly that you can’t even wait to pay for what you grabbed? You know there are people like that who eat some of what they grabbed and then don’t pay for it.

9. What would be worse? Talking to someone like they don’t understand what you’re saying? Or talking to someone like they should understand what you’re saying? I go back and forth when it comes to either speaking how I normally would or dumbing things down. I don’t want to over-explain something and make someone feel like I think they’re stupid, but I also don’t want to under-explain something and then make them feel bad if they don’t understand. It’s actually something I think about a lot when explaining technical health and fitness things to people.

10. I’ve had my car for 10 years. It’s been paid off for 3 ½ years. I’m hoping to have it for at least another 5 years to get to over 250K miles. I think it’s finally time to step up my bumper sticker game with it. I’m not saying I want 100 covering every inch of the back, but a couple dozen might be on the way. Nothing says class like tons of bumper stickers!

11. A beach near where I work has a bit of pavement that runs from the parking lot to the start of the beach. It makes the walk to the sand a little easier. On a fence post is a sign that tells you no vehicles are allowed on this 40-ish foot-long paved area. Because of course, some people are so stupid that they would see that and think it’s just another road. These are the same people who would do the stunts you see in commercials so advertisers have to put ‘do not attempt’ on the screen to avoid being sued by morons.

Because yes, people are that stupid.

Initial Impressions 2.0 #14: Foolish Cars, Band Attacks, Grampa's Donuts, etc

1. I don’t know what made me laugh and shake my head more, an old Chevy Suburban with small tires so it’s a few inches off the ground or a typical sedan car with huge tires. Both are equally stupid and cry out ‘Please look at me!’

2. Hashtags on social media are supposed to help people find relevant content. #sunrise #food #weaselseatingstrawberries #etc. If you use a hashtag to basically write another sentence maybe just write that sentence. #wenttothestoretobuydinnerandforgotmywallet

3. I have been listening to relaxing music on YouTube before bed for many weeks now. It does help my brain start to shut off and get ready for sleep. The downside? Because I play these types of videos almost every night my suggested videos section is nearly all relaxing music. Literally dozens of videos that are almost identical. I don’t want to stop listening to the music though so I guess eventually my entire feed will just be calming music.

4. Only recently have I realized that I have had the same wallet for at least 25 years. Is this common? I don’t think wallets expire so I’d assume that people just keep them until they literally fall apart. Does anyone out there have a wallet they’ve owned for decades? Maybe I should finally get a new one even though my current one is still surprisingly durable.

Is it time for a new wallet?

5. A local supermarket had its automatic exit door shut off due to it needing repairs. There was a sign saying to use the entrance door and sorry for any inconvenience. The entrance door is literally 3 feet beside the exit. I appreciate the sentiment but if someone is inconvenienced by taking 2 steps to the side they might need to think about InstaCart.

6. From the 1 In A Million department. I was cleaning the gym where I work at the end of the shift. I had a thick red band tied around a pole and quickly grabbed it and pulled it as I was trying to get done before a meeting. Well, the band decided to slam me right in the nuts. I let out a nice gasp and a few groans while I held the pole to not collapse. All in all a great ending to the work day. Stupid band.

7. I am hoping that 5 years from now I am looking back on the New England Patriots drafting North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with the #3 pick as a watershed moment that led the team back to prominence. However, I also thought that about Mac Jones in 2021, and now he’s in Jacksonville. Fun Fact: Of the first 5 QBs picked in that 2021 NFL Draft, only #1 pick Trevor Lawrence is still on the same team. All the other 4 QBs, including Mac Jones, have been traded. Crazy.

8. I am excited for a new location of Hole In One Donuts to open less than 10 minutes from me. There are 2 other locations on Cape Cod in Eastham and Orleans. The reason I will always have a soft spot for them is not just because their donuts are great, but because their first location used equipment purchased from my Grampa’s donut shop, Sullivan’s. When he had to close the shop in Hyannis in 1993 the four sisters who own Hole In One bought some of the equipment. Not only did they use his equipment, but they also made the donuts the way he used to. So to me, it’s like having Grampa’s donuts still after all these years.

Soon to be Hole In One(Google Maps)

9. My USB core to charge my iPhone was old, frayed, and shorting out. Needless to say I needed a new one soon. The cord was so bad it would flip from charging to not charging nonstop which drove me nuts. Especially in the car when it would affect my music. I finally had enough while driving. It kept shorting out so I yanked it out of my stereo and whipped the cord out of the window. Because it was the sane, normal thing to do.

Get out! Stupid USB!

10. Irony is the fact that when I got my last iPhone a few years ago I got a pair of those Air Pods earbuds. I prefer the big old-school over-ear headphones so I just tossed them in the closet. I don’t want to get funny looks at the library wearing huge headphones so now I’m tearing apart my closet looking for those damn earbuds because if I don’t find them it costs like $100 to buy new ones. Boo.

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Initial Impressions 2.0 #12 - Supermarket Hustlers, Paper Cuts, Author Events, etc.

#12: The Supermarket Hustlers

1. Look I respect the hustle, I do, but I have to be honest. I have less than zero interest in being accosted outside of a supermarket by someone, anyone, looking to sell me something, get me to sign up for something, or any of that. Now I’ll admit I am less rigid when it comes to kids selling cookies, or looking for donations for local sports, but when it’s anything with politics, or older guys ‘representing’ some company, nah I’m all set, I’m just here to get some Doritos.

2. I am learning, reluctantly, that even though I can’t run a fast half marathon, or a fast 5K anymore, it doesn’t mean I have to give up running. I teach my clients I train that they should do the best they can with what their bodies can give and that it’s more than enough. I am having to teach myself that. Running slow, but staying upright and relatively healthy, is far better than trying to run faster than your body can handle and breaking down physically.

3. During a walk on the nearby bike trail it became very clear just how porta potties can be hit or miss. I stopped at 2. The first was so fresh and so clean it could have been an Outkast song. However, I was not lucky with the second. I was able to find a (relatively) clear path to the actual toilet, but oh man things took a turn for the worse. I’ll keep this as vague as I can for those currently eating but it looked as though someone had played a game to see if they could poop everywhere but in the actual toilet. I feel bad for anyone who needs to sit down in there to go. You’re better off just going in your pants, it’ll be just as sanitary.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

4. Walking in the supermarket. Over the speakers ‘Hello, Goodbye’ by The Beatles begins to play. While it played I heard no less than 6 people happily whistling along with the song. Never underestimate the power of music to connect, and never underestimate how impactful The Beatles and their music were/are.

5. Sometimes you get a paper cut and you feel it and it stings like hell. Then other times you get a paper cut and don’t feel it, or notice it until you put the brown paper bag down and it’s covered in blood. It looked like a crime scene and I am just lucky nobody was around to see it, although you can do a good job picturing this insanity in your minds.

6. Even many years after last seeing someone in person, someone I was once very much into, I find myself going to certain places and posting certain things hoping they may see it. This person is very happy now and has a great life and family but those pangs of ‘what if’ still creep up every now and then. #crypticpost

7. I have had my current car for nearly 10 years. It is about to pass 144K miles. My goal is to get to at least 250K. By my calculations, that means probably another 10 years with the same car. Maybe I’ll get to 21 years and then I’ll give it a car wash of beer to celebrate it being old enough to drink.

A future celebration?

8. The story is that the Ames Department Store chain that existed for decades, especially in the Northeast is making a comeback in the next few years. There’s even a website for this resurrected brand. My question is if it’s successful could this lead to more old stores coming back? As a child of the 1980s I’d love a world where Toys r Us, RadioShack, KB Toys, and more were around.

Comeback incoming?

9. I’ve yet to ever gaze upon a person with a, or many, tattoos on their face and thought ‘I bet they have rational views on most things, I should ask them for advice.’

10. After putting another author event in the books I had to take a moment for gratitude. Whether or not I ever truly make it to that level of success I’m seeking as a writer nobody can deny that I have busted my ass for years on end pursuing that goal. I’ve sacrificed so much time and energy in chasing a dream I’ve had since I was 8. Now I am 46 with 9 published books. I do events where complete strangers come out to hear me speak about something I created with my own mind. It’s so humbling and I am grateful. Whether I achieve that next level breakthrough I cannot say, but I am very proud of what I’ve done and all I’ve done to get here. I’m happy but not satisfied; I still want to do more.

Another fun event in the books.

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