Although I’ve been recording podcasts for fifteen years now, I never really got into creating videos. The last time I tried, I found the process to be a time consuming nightmare. I thought creating videos would be as simple as turning on a camera, pressing record, and uploading the results to YouTube. In reality it’s a lot harder than that. For starters, it’s almost impossible to get great audio from the microphones build into most cameras — doubly so if you’re trying to match audio levels with insert shots. This led me to recording my audio from a separate microphone,… (read more)

My wife and I had originally planned to spend our 25th wedding anniversary on a cruise to Alaska. Then COVID happened, and that got cancelled. Instead, Susan told me we would be spending our anniversary in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We didn’t. The night before we planned to leave, Susan confessed that we would not be spending our anniversary in Eureka Springs. We would be spending it in a cave. The Beckham Creek Cave House is located on the outskirts of Parthenon, Arkansas. When I say “outskirts,” I mean both our GPS and cell phones stopped working half an hour before… (read more)

Last Saturday, Susan and I visited Lucky Star Casino for a second time. On Sunday, we made two trips to Home Depot. By Sunday evening, both of us had sore throats. Susan justifies her cough by telling me she always gets a summer cold. “Or it could be allergies,” she says, even though that’s not what either of us are thinking. Like a DVR, images of every person I’ve come into contact with over the past several days flashes through my mind. Turns out, we really don’t need cellphones for contact tracing. By Monday Susan’s cough has worsened, and she… (read more)

For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to own my own little business. I can’t recall what initially sparked this deep-seeded desire of mine. I think it goes all the way back to watching Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street as he stocked the shelves of his store, swept the sidewalk, and made small talk with customers. Something about that appealed to my soul, even as a young child. As a kid I used to play “mechanic” in our garage, pretending to fix my bike with tools that I didn’t know how to use. When I was twelve years… (read more)

Over the weekend, Susan and I decided to try our luck at a local casino. Prior to the pandemic, Susan and I were visiting Lucky Star Casino once or twice a month. Last weekend marked our first visit since February. The casino was less crowded than normal, but more crowded than I expected. Prior to our arrival we had heard stories of people being asked to stand in line (six feet apart) outside the casino, but we didn’t experience that. We were able to immediately enter upon arrival. Signs on the outside of the casino informed patrons that masks were… (read more)