Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #142: The Cabin Movie Shoot Epilogue

1. It is amazing how, despite not drinking alcohol in 6 years, I can still feel hungover. The long, long drive home from western New York to Cape Cod to finish off my movie shoot for The Cabin was as taxing to my body as running a half marathon used to be. I got home at 11pm on a Sunday, quickly unpacked, and collapsed into bed. Normally, if possible, I’d have slept as late as I could have. Unfortunately, past-me figured it would be smart to return my rental car at 9am on Monday. This meant that sleeping in wasn’t possible. Energy drinks helped wake me up much like they did every morning when I was in Pennsylvania. I took advantage of every split second that I had to wake up before heading out. Not wanting to get in any trouble, I stopped and filled the gas tank. I was dreading the drop-off of the car at the Hyannis Airport. One, because the website said for me to have my rental agreement with me. That had been left on my couch, as one would expect. That didn’t end up being an issue, though. Second, I was worried about my adventures down the toll roads when driving from Cape Cod out to Pennsylvania. I thought the rental place might have questions about the tolls, or why I put 1,200 miles on the car I rented. Surprisingly, that was not an issue either, although I did get an email a few days later explaining that my card on file had been charged for the tolls. This was expected. I was a bit surprised that the tolls weren’t more. It ended up being $4.31, which is a bit of a random number. In the end, the rental drop-off went as well as I could have hoped.

Back to the airport to drop off the car.

2. I was lucky that my sister Ashley had offered to pick me up from the airport. This meant that after a text, all I had to do was sit and wait. The airport was quiet. It was Labor Day, but I still thought there might have been more people flying in or out. Then again, the Hyannis airport itself is relatively small, so I don’t know what ‘busy’ looks like there. I sat on a couch in the lounge area scrolling my phone. The entrance doors parted and in walked a very cute girl. Yes, I looked up, and she definitely caught my eye. After checking in at the desk, she wheeled her luggage over and sat down on a couch across from me. This sounds like the start of some cheesy rom-com, but unfortunately that’s not reality. I looked over, not too much, though. All I kept thinking was, ‘What do I say to not become a joke that she tells her friends wherever she’s going?’ Not wanting to be perceived as a creep, I kept quiet until I eventually got up and went outside to sit in the sun. Maybe we would have hit it off, and I missed my chance, but with the way the world is today I didn’t want to risk it. I kept picturing her telling her friends, ‘so this random guy tried to pick me up in the airport lounge.’ That was enough for me to pass.


3. Labor Day Monday, it was a beautiful morning on Cape Cod. Bright sun, low humidity, temperatures in the low 60s. I actually did prefer sitting outside rather than on the couch inside. Too bad that girl didn’t come wandering out. Anyway, I was awaiting my sister Ashley. My brain was like mush after the 10+ hours of driving the day before, so I was off in my own world as time went by. Eventually, I got a text from Ashley saying she was there. I immediately sprang to life and looked around but didn’t see anything that looked like her car. I asked where she was, and she said she was by the car rental drop-off. She said she’d come back around. How had I missed her? I stood up and waited by the curb. It was then that I realized what the problem had been. Ashley had the same SUV for 10 years or more. I was looking for that car when, in reality, only a few weeks earlier she had gotten a new car. So she had driven right past me, and I didn’t bat an eye because I forgot she had gotten a new car. We both had a laugh.


4. The week I had in Pennsylvania was truly one of the best times of my life. An interesting thing happened while I was away, though. Several horrible things happened to my family. My Aunt Amy, my mom’s youngest sister, had a serious medical issue that now requires her to have a more watchful eye placed upon her by the rest of her siblings. That could have been worse, but it was still a major happening. My stepfather, in the span of three weeks, lost both his mother and one of his sisters. His sister died while I was away. I couldn’t imagine how I would feel if I lost my mom and one of my sisters in less than a month. With that, all we can do is be there if he needs us, but I try not to push or pry if he doesn’t want it. Lastly, my sister Ashley had to put her beloved dog Buddha down. She got some terrible medical news that told her that his life was going to end soon. Whether that was days or weeks, it wasn’t long. He had been the center of her world for nearly 10 years, and it was heartbreaking that he was gone almost in a flash. She felt guilty about putting him down, but the reality was that he would have kept going downhill and suffering more with each passing day. It doesn’t make the hurt any less, but she did make the right choice. All of that happened during my time off, when I had the best week. It felt as though, to allow for my happiness, the universe had to balance it out by giving suffering to my loved ones.

RIP Buddha

5. It was bittersweet when I stopped at my mother’s to retrieve my car. I was bursting with joy and stories, but with all of the bad that had happened to the family, I felt almost a sense of guilt for wanting to share it. To be fair, they all felt bad as well, like they had no control over the events that happened or their timing. I sat and would tell stories when warranted, but I’d also sit back and listen when my mom or Ashley wanted to share some of what they had gone through. It is a good lesson to be learned. Good times and bad times can happen at the same time. It can be an ebb and flow. I didn’t get upset if my wonderful experiences were somewhat muted on that day. There would, and will, be plenty of time to reflect and reminisce. Sometimes you have to be present and go where the conversation and situation take you. Sure, I’d love to have been celebrated like a returning hero or something like that. Even if it didn’t happen like that, it doesn’t mean my family wasn’t happy for me. Plus, with the holidays coming up in a flash, I will have ample opportunity to regale the family with stories of my adventures filming The Cabin.


6. The most difficult part of my return to the daily grind of my everyday life was feeling like I was being stuffed into a box that no longer fit. I honestly do try to enjoy each moment, each adventure, and be present and grateful. However, I will also admit that every time I have something amazing happen in a part of my life where my passion lies, and then I have to go back to the daily grind, I feel let down. I feel like each time I am forced back into my cage, I have failed. I feel like I am given a chance to break through in one of the creative fields that drives me, and then when I have to go back to my day job, I am like a defeated animal with my tail tucked between my legs. This feeling drives me to put my all into any creative opportunity that I have, but it also takes away from the opportunity itself. I have this underlying sense of desperation at all times. I am not 25 and stepping through the doors for the first time. I am rapidly closing in on 50 and have spent 20 years knocking on doors, windows, anything that might show me the way. I don’t mind the grind, but the grind without the progress can feel pointless. I felt that way when returning to work after filming The Cabin. It was like a hangover. I could not concentrate for days. Anytime I wasn’t actively doing something, I felt restless, like I needed to be at home working on another project to help me capitalize on the momentum. It took a while to settle back into the ‘normalcy’ of daily life.


7. When dealing with a dopamine crash like I have been doing since returning from filming The Cabin, you kind of do what you have to do to feel better. For me, since I couldn’t immediately start work on another movie, and I didn’t have another book event until the first week of October, I had to find things that gave me that same satisfaction as the movie shoot did. The easiest thing to do is to eat the foods that make you happy. No, these are typically not vegetables and other healthy options. When I feel down, I go for the worst. Fast food, pizza, Chinese food, cereal, junk food snacks. During my road trip, I didn’t have the time or the bandwidth to stop and slow down and choose meals wisely. I had to get whatever took the least amount of effort. That was usually one of the options I named above. So once back home and feeling pretty deflated, I went back to those foods. Since I was eating them while on the movie shoot, it was the quickest and easiest way to mimic those good feelings I had while I was in Pennsylvania. I have also learned in the last several years when dealing with rough times that it’s okay to allow yourself to do what you have to do to get through that stretch of time. When I was a distance runner, which ended in 2019 due to injuries, I never would have allowed myself to indulge. I was borderline obsessed with my physical appearance. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look as good as you can, but I know now it was an obsession based on how my brain has reacted since those days ended. I forced myself to be as restricted as possible in my diet, and now when I get the chance to eat some unhealthy foods, my brain is more than happy to dive in headfirst. I am sure this current dopamine crash after the movie shoot will end, likely only when I start doing another exciting project. Until that time, it’s just going day by day and doing the best I can to navigate this stretch of time.

I have seen quite a bit of these over the last few years.

8. I had made a vow before heading out to Pennsylvania that while I was there I’d take every opportunity to get behind-the-scenes photos and videos. I did not disappoint myself. Immediately upon returning to Cape Cod, I started working on putting some videos together. Each day I was on location, I shot a vlog detailing what had happened the previous day. These ended up being invaluable because I was recalling in real time what had happened. When I returned to Cape Cod, I realized just how overstuffed my brain was. It was like I crammed a month’s worth of memories into a week. Naturally, some things would have been lost if I hadn’t been so diligent with my footage. I could realistically end up with a couple dozen different pieces of content from what I shot. From the vlogs, to a large cast interview, to individual cast interviews, random scenery, and more, I could stitch together weekly content from now until the end of the year. If nothing else, through my content creator journey, and probably long before that, I have become an advanced-level self-promoter. When I first wrote and self-published ebooks in 2007, including The Cabin, I knew I had to be the one to promote myself. It’s nice to have family and friends every now and then share your work, but you can’t depend on anyone but yourself to share your creations with the wider world. I have always said that if you are in any sort of creative field and someone else is promoting your work more than you are, then you really aren’t putting in the work. I still believe and stand by that. So get ready for loads of Cabin content. Actually, that includes this blog as well, so you’re already a part of it.




9. There is a popular saying: Strike while the iron is hot. It basically means that when you have momentum, you keep moving forward, even if you’re a bit tired and worn out. In order to stave off the dopamine crash, I have been trying to fill my calendar with projects that are in my wheelhouse as far as passions go. Book events, interviews, developing content, these are all things that I have been doing. One thing that came up faster than expected was a script for a potential second feature film. Yes, I had an idea for the next movie. It is in the same vein as The Cabin as far as cast size and budget. Small and relatively cheap. However, I had thought that it would be next spring when I’d start working on that script. Then I got a message from my friend Frank, who said there might be someone interested in investing in that film. They want to see what the film is all about before putting any money into it. That means the time to work on the script was now. I put myself on lockdown to try to get the first draft done as soon as possible. It didn’t have to be perfect, just a placeholder for the potential investor to see. As of this blog, the first draft of the script is done. However, it won’t be known if we have an investor likely for a little while. Like I said, you have to strike while the iron is hot. Who knows, if I said I couldn’t get the script done until the spring, the investor might have said they weren’t interested anymore.


10. I guess if I had to sum up my experience with The Cabin, it would come down to one word: gratitude. I am so grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life. I have had family that has always supported my dreams and goals. I have had friends who have become chosen family and not let me give up on myself. Hell, a lot of these people have believed in me and my dreams more than I have at times. Through issues of self-worth, through crises of confidence, good times, and bad times, I have been so lucky to have who I do in my life. This is not limited to those I have known for twenty or thirty years or more. I have found newer people that have drifted into my orbit, sometimes out of nowhere, who have helped to supply my passions with a fresh boost of rocket fuel. I work hard, and have for going on twenty years. When it comes to my creative endeavors, I will put in as much work as I need to. When people are willing to put their money behind something I have wanted for so long, it humbles and inspires me. I’m not saying that the only way to support me is financially, but movies don’t come cheap. I put in some of my own money, but it took a village of family, friends, and some total strangers to make The Cabin happen. Those people believed in the project; the director, Mark Polonia, believed in the project. Everyone who acted in the film or had anything to do with it, they all believed in it. I believe that we created something fun and unique. We worked hard to validate those beliefs. In the end, I am so grateful. I am grateful for the opportunity. I am grateful for the experience and all that I learned during my time on location. I am grateful for those who believe in me. I am grateful for those who helped bring this film to life. Thank you all, and here’s to the next exciting chapter not just of The Cabin, but of the movie that I like to call my life.

Thank you everyone!

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #104: Take A Hint, Epic Sunsets, Return to Prominence, etc.

1. In a continuation from last week. There was a guy who applied to work at my job. To sum it up, he had previously applied and was rude and condescending to our office manager and pretty disrespectful to my boss. Anyway, he applies again and basically acts like he never applied. Of course, we started to put two and two together and figured out who he was. We did our best to be diplomatic and told him that he was overqualified for the job. He blew up our text line begging for a job, complete with ‘prayer hands’ emojis. He also mentioned my boss and office manager by name, looking for work. Desperation is not attractive. It made me feel like someone on a dating app where the other person is a giant walking red flag. To top it off, once he was turned down, his final message was to ask us what the name of our business was. What?! You apply twice for a job at a place, and you don’t know the name of it? This guy is either an idiot or a psychopath. I half expect him to show up and cause a scene. We didn’t tell him our business name because, seriously, use Google, dude.


2. I have a pretty good memory. That being said, I do have times when I can’t remember certain people or things. This leads to an encounter at the supermarket this week. I was in an aisle looking at yogurt, es very exciting. I had my back turned and heard a guy say ‘Do you still go to the gym?’ Thinking nothing of it, I kept looking and grabbed what I wanted. I turned around, and this guy with a beard and long hair was staring at me and again asked if I still went to the gym. My first instinct was to just say yes. I had no clue who he was, but he began talking about how he used to see me there, but stopped going because of COVID. He even introduced me to his wife. I was polite, but I was itching to get out of there. He didn’t know my name, so I felt better, like I hadn’t been his friend and totally forgotten him. Still, asking questions to someone’s back while they’re shopping isn’t too normal.


3. Every time I write at the Cape Cod Community College library it feels more important. It is one of the very few places where my potential still feels limitless. I spent so many hours in the past sitting at the desks in the library working on various projects. Maybe it’s because my brain associates the campus with having to focus and work hard? I am spending more time there to work on my script for The Cabin, the feature film I plan to shoot later this summer. The irony isn’t lost on me that back in 2008, I sat at the same desks and wrote the original book version of The Cabin. I’m hoping for a little good luck and maybe some magic as the script gets closer to being done, hopefully by the end of January.


4. Hey, hackers and spammers, you’re getting pretty sloppy. If you’re going to try to phish me with a text saying fraud was attempted using my debit card, at least make sure that you use the bank where I have an account. Idiots. I don’t have an account through Santander. It took a millisecond for me to recognize it was a scam attempt, and the number was immediately blocked.


5. Sometimes I think that old people, aka 60+, try to be too cute on social media with their reactions to posts. I have had several people in the last few weeks give reactions to posts that don’t fit what the content is. For example, I had a story where I talked about the benefits of my long walks as they double for meditation, plus I get lots of good ideas from them. Someone gives me a laughing emoji. Why is that funny? Either you need better glasses because you can’t find the right button to press, or you’re a jerk. I had another where it was a sunset photo, and some lady gave me a laughing emoji. I literally went on and commented saying, ‘not sure why this sunset photo is funny, but ok…’ Again, are you blind or an idiot? It goes for anyone, but double-check what you’re posting before you do.


6. Speaking of sunsets, and not funny ones, there was one this week that was the best in a long time. It was 360 degrees of colors that I easily got lost in. I had been working and needed a break, so I decided to go sunset hunting. I found the spot at Seagull Beach in Yarmouth. It was better than I could have anticipated. I barely noticed how cold my hands were getting because I was too busy running around the beach like a madman, trying to get as many photos and videos as I could before it was too late. Those types of sunsets are rare, so you need to take advantage of them. Here is a video that will sum it up pretty well.

7. I wish I could maintain my weight the way that I maintain my follower count on Instagram. Or on the other side, I wish I could gain followers without thinking, like the way I gain weight. Let me explain. For the last 3 years or so, I’ve been stuck at the exact same number of followers on IG, it’s almost always 2,993. I gain one, lose one, but it stays roughly the same. I believe that I take some pretty good photos that, in and of themselves, should lead to more followers, but what do I know? I won’t complain about it because I’ve seen people start going in hard about wanting more followers, only to have people unfollow them. It’s like clockwork. I wish I could bottle whatever is in the IG algorithm and put it into MyFitnessPal to help me drop and then maintain my weight. That used to be so much easier, even 6 years ago. I have to think that dealing with COVID forever changed my body. Anyway, it was a random thought I had when checking my IG account. It was like, yup, just like always 2,993.


8. The anticipation is building for a snow event to end the weekend. It won’t have happened by the time this blog goes up, though. The issue has to do with how much snow we get, being on Cape Cod. We are always at the mercy of our location. Sticking out into the ocean, we tend to get rain a lot more often than other places in New England. So we’ve seen forecasts for anywhere from one inch to six inches. Having lived through nearly 50 New England winters, I know to expect the unexpected. We could wake up Monday morning with bare ground or a foot of snow. Who knows? As a kid, I always wanted more than the forecast said. Now, as an adult, I always want less since I will have to shovel it. My guess? We get 3 inches of heavy wet snow that I end up shoveling on Monday. Stay tuned next week.


9. Every so often, I will dig through my closet and see what sorts of treasures I might have forgotten about. This time, it was lots of cards from birthdays and Christmases past. I am not a hoarder, but I am glad that I am sentimental and usually don’t throw out things from my family. Seeing the handwriting of my grandparents will always make me feel like they are still with me. On a lighter note, I also found my membership cards to both Blockbuster and Hollywood Video. Back in the 1990s, I never would have believed you if you had told me that video rental stores would someday be history. Now these cards are just relics of a bygone era. Again, not a hoarder, but I seem to be good at knowing what I should hang on to. Also, it’s not lost on me that I have had to say twice that I’m not a hoarder.




10. 35 years ago this week, I was 13 years old, prepping to take my SAT’s and being courted for Genius Camp by the prestigious Johns Hopkins University. As proud as I am of those academic achievements, it is a bit of a bittersweet feeling. I naturally look back and look to the present-day and wonder if I have done the best I could with the gifts I was blessed with. The quick answer is no, since I am constantly writing in this blog about still pursuing my dreams. Despite that, I truly believe that there is more than one road that leads you to where you are meant to be. Until you have reached the end of the road, your journey is still ongoing. I might not have immediately capitalized on the gifts I had over three decades ago, but there is still a lot of story left to be written. We’ll see where I’m at in 5 years.




11. In my closet, I have way too many half-filled notebooks. They are from all sorts of previous chapters of my life. I have one about my Vegas life, one about the most important relationship of my life, one about becoming a personal trainer, one about my travel blog trips, and so on. The one I had been searching for was a bit of a ‘holy grail.’ It is the notebook that has in-depth plots for several unfinished, or not even started, books. I found it this week and have already taken to digitizing what I have for a few of these unfinished works. I’m not saying that I’m going to dive headlong into writing a few new books, but just transcribing what I have from paper to my laptop has definitely gotten the creative juices flowing. Who knows, maybe one of those stories will end up as a film someday?


12. In one of those serendipitous, or destiny-type moments, one of the unfinished stories I found has an odd connection. I plotted out a horror story way back in 2008, and have more than half of it pretty detailed. I decided to set this story in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. In the notebook, I am pretty detailed as far as the location of the beginning of the story. This is where the serendipity comes in. Upon further research, it turns out that the vicinity of the location I chose for the beginning of the book, I actually visited during my big 2019 road trip. I even have photos of the area because I went for a walk there. I had no memory of picking that particular place, so it is crazy to me that I ended up there totally as a fluke.

The place on the Outer Banks where I set my book.

13. What a brutal rock fight game it was between the Patriots and Houston Texans. The Patriots won 28-16. I am still so pleasantly surprised with where the Patriots are. I honestly thought they’d be this good next year. Now they are in their first AFC Championship game since 2018, when they last won the Super Bowl. I’m not saying it feels like 2001 again, but they could definitely win the title this year. Drake Maye is only 23 and already an MVP candidate. Mike Vrabel is an excellent young coach. The team has loads of money they can spend this offseason. All that adds up to the fact that it could be the dawning of another dynasty in New England. I think they beat Denver next week, who will have their backup quarterback playing. It’s all house money currently, but after a few lean years, I am loving the return to prominence of the Patriots.

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #103: Snow Picnic, Exciting Laundromat, Job Applicant, etc.

1. We’ve had a snowier winter this year than in the last few so far. Granted, we haven’t had any huge storms, just a bunch of smaller ones. Going back to work after the holiday break, I had thought that the parking lot would have been plowed, boy was I wrong. According to the owners of our building, they had plow guys scheduled, but they never showed. Nice. So the employee and customer lots were a mess. It was fine for us in the back, but not for the customer lot. We have lots of people who come in who are in their 70s and 80s. Many of them are also getting their backs and hips adjusted, so the last thing they need is to be walking to or from their cars across a skating rink. That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. The irony is that once the plow people finally showed the temperatures had risen and everything was melting, so they weren’t even needed.


2. Even though the warmer temperatures helped with the treacherous conditions in the customer parking lot, it didn’t make the employee one much better. Because it wasn’t plowed, the snow turned to a slushy mess. I was lucky enough to have to take out our trash. Not only was there a few inches of slush around the dumpster, which instantly soaked my shoes, but it was only the beginning. Apparently, the snow had been heavy and wet enough that it knocked a tree down onto the back of the dumpster. This meant that I could actually get the top opened, but only so far, since a damn tree was lying on the back. I had to slosh my way to the dumpster, put the gross trash can on my shoulder, pray nothing spilled out onto me, and then, with my other arm, lift the top about two feet and pour the garbage in. There were a few F bombs on my way back inside for sure.


3. It’s not every day that you get a copy of the film that was your first acting role. I ordered a Blu-Ray DVD copy of Cape Cod Cthulhu, my first acting role, this week. In high school back in the 90s, I spent all of my savings on a camcorder in the hopes of becoming an actor or director. Maybe I’ll never be a breakout Hollywood star, but I got to act in a film that got distributed & will soon be available to stream. Later this year, I will try my hand at producing a feature-length film. It shows you can’t ever stop chasing dreams; they don’t have expiration dates. You can order a copy of the film here: Cape Cod Cthulhu


4. In 2018, I had to take a detour from personal training and head back into cooking. It was necessary due to the financial situation. I worked at a retirement home called Mayflower Place. There, I met many people who made my return to cooking not only bearable but fun. One such person was named Alan. He was around my age, so we chatted about sports, music, and trash-talked about a few people we didn’t enjoy working with. He battled his demons in the form of alcohol. At one point, he was so bad that his skin was yellowing from advanced liver damage. He got clean and made a full recovery. It was an inspiring journey. Alan passed away suddenly and way too young this week. I have no idea what the cause was, and it really doesn’t matter at this point. He left behind a son still in high school. It definitely reminds you that your number can be called at any time. There is a GoFundMe set up to help his family with expenses. I am linking to it here if you wish to donate or share. RIP Alan. 




5. The washing machine is out of commission where I live currently, so I had to take a trip out to the laundromat. Major first-world problems that I had to driving to wash my clothes. It gave me the opportunity for one of my favorite spectator sports, people watching. It was a slow time at the laundromat, so there were slim pickings for people. There was nobody weird, which was sad. The highlight for me was a little girl who had to be 4 years old. She was so happy to be there that she was singing and squeaking in these high tones. It wasn’t an isolated incident either. I was in there probably a total of 20 minutes, and she squeaked and squealed and sang the entire time. It was pretty funny and very cute. Considering she was in a laundromat, I wonder how excited she gets going to McDonald’s or a toy store, or something like that?


6. I finished the first season of The Paper, the spin-off of The Office, and I enjoyed it. I say ‘first season’ because the show was renewed before even debuting in September 2025, and there should be new episodes probably by the end of this year. If you watch the show, try not to compare it to The Office. It’s not that, and it’s such tough expectations to live up to. I found it to be a fun watch, with some likable characters. It’s about the documentary crew from The Office working on their next project, which is a struggling Ohio newspaper. There are some connections to The Office, but it mostly stands on its own. I’m trying not to give spoilers if you want to binge all 10 episodes on your own. It’s weird how in this streaming world, a ‘season’ of television is usually 10 episodes or fewer. My hope is that The Paper gets several seasons to really flesh out characters and stories. I mean, The Office had 201 episodes, hopefully The Paper can get close to half of that.

7. At my job, we are passively looking for a new person to come aboard. They would be a part-time trainer and chiropractic assistant. This would allow us to open up some more time in the schedule for patients and clients. I say passively because there’s no push for it currently, but if someone comes along, we definitely give them a look. Several months ago, a stereotypical trainer applied. He was incredibly rude and condescending not only to our office manager but to my boss as well, referring to him by his name and not ‘doctor.’ I mean, if you’re applying for a job and you call the boss Joe and not Dr. Joe when he’s a doctor, it’s a sign that you’re a jackass and we don’t want you working with us. Flash forward to this week, and we get an application. This guy is looking for some part-time PT work and even name-drops me, saying I went to his gym. I had no idea who he was. Our office manager started feeling like it was deja vu, so she searched his email address in our archives. Sure enough, it was the same guy from before. He basically acted as though he had never applied before. Sorry pal, we’re way smarter than you think. I had to laugh at his nerve and also his complete stupidity. Hard pass.


8. Like many people, I have begun the new year with an eye on getting in better physical shape. It is a lot of eating better, tracking calories, and obviously hitting the gym. It is a struggle between a slow and steady pace and trying to reach the goal as fast as possible. I am straddling that line. I figure the more I do at the gym, the more it loosens the reins as far as the amount of calories I can have. I use a Fitbit to track my activity. I’m actually wearing it as I type this, not burning many calories now, though. Anyway, it will adjust my settings according to how hard I am training. I realized this week that I must be working hard. That is because my Fitbit said that I had exercised 6 out of the last 5 days. Yes, that’s not a typo. I guess I have been going so hard since 2026 began that my workload was the equivalent of working out an extra day’s worth. Needless to say, to avoid falling off hard, I’ve had to scale down my training. I’d rather need an extra month to hit my goal weight than fall off totally and have to start over, or worse, start from a worse position somewhere later this year.


9. This year has begun with me working on the first draft of the script I am writing for my hopeful first feature-length film project set to happen later this summer. As of this writing, I am on Page 32 of what I think will be 70. It’s a step out of my comfort zone, but I feel like I am improving with each day I work on it. This script work is having an unintended benefit. If I can get good at drafting scripts, who's to say I can’t start creating them for other projects? One such idea is a potential television show based on my experiences working in the restaurant business. It would be set in the 1990s and would be a wacky comedy with heart. Sort of like The Office, where you’d have crazy things happen, but it’s also character and relationship-driven. In maybe half an hour, I came up with more than 60 potential story beats for the show. Some of them could be expanded upon, some are crazy enough as is. I feel like these stories, the characters and relationships, along with the nostalgic setting of the 90s, would make it a fun show to watch. I am messing around with the idea now, but I am a little more serious about seeing if I could do this. Of course, the first question is: How do you pitch a television show pilot? One step at a time.

The setting of a future TV show?

10. I have worked as a personal trainer in my daily life for 10 years. I have several other certifications to my credit and have trained hundreds of people toward living better lives. Despite thinking I might have some knowledge in the area of fitness, I have to laugh at the fact that those closest to me either never ask me for health and fitness advice, or they do, but don’t actually do anything I recommend. I don’t make these huge sweeping life-changing suggestions. I advise on small, incremental changes that are sustainable. Still, no follow-through from family and friends. I wonder if it is like this for people in other fields. Do doctors, lawyers, teachers, and others have their closest friends and family ask them advice and then just not follow it? I feel that with me, it’s like if I can’t guarantee the maximum impact for the least amount of effort, nobody is interested. Taking creatine is great. Oh wait, what? I have to actually exercise with it to get the most benefits? It’s like taking a diet pill and gorging on fast food. You only get out what you put in.