Last Thursday’s late winter snowstorm wreaked havoc with everyone’s schedule. And as usual in my household, Mother Nature and the cosmic universe love to throw monkey wrenches into my plans. I was under the weather with a head cold (not Covid), so my wife was on snow shoveling duty that day.  Our grandchildren were with […]

­My Alexa interactive voice assistant device is equipped with a special feature that alerts me to breaking news stories. A yellow ring flashes notifying me if I have an incoming notification. Alexa’s robotic voice will announce the headline. Nine times out of ten it’s nothing of consequence. If the breaking news involves mass shootings or […]

I’m concerned about my job. There’s an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) computer program that will write stories for you. Simply open the app, type in a subject, add some key details and in minutes the computer will generate a written article tailored to your specifications. You can even choose the name of an existing writer and […]

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines writer’s block as “a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece”. I am lucky enough never to have suffered from this particular affliction. When most people stare at a blank sheet of white paper, they see nothing. I, on the other hand, see unlimited potential. I’ve never […]

Now that the year has ended, there’s no going back. But that’s okay. I don’t think I’d want to anyway. Farewell 2022, I hardly knew ye. And what I did know, I could have lived without. I’m fine watching last year fade away in my rear-view mirror. Oh that’s right. I no longer have a […]

‘Tis the season for the sounds of the season to fill the air. This year Christmas music was playing earlier than usual – on the radio, on streaming services and especially in my home thanks to Alexa and Amazon Music Unlimited.  My taste in music is eclectic (that’s a kind way of saying “out there”, […]

The extended warmth of Autumn 2022 has given way to colder weather just in time to get everyone in the mood for the holiday season ahead. I was hoping the 70 degree days were going to last until the end of the year just to prove the climate-change die-hards are right. But no such luck. […]

Hooray! The clocks have turned back an hour giving us another precious hour to enjoy. As the weather turns colder, we need all the hours of daylight we can get. Climate change has given New England a double edge sword: an extended mild Fall season accompanied by destruction of the planet, so let’s try to […]

A blur. A blink. A wink of an eye. And now I find myself back in Stoneham after surviving eight days in the Magic Kingdom. My family and I left Logan Airport heading south to Orlando just as Hurricane Ian left Florida and began heading north. The Disney compound was spared from any perceptible damage. […]

When vacation plans are made several months in advance, you have to expect a few bumps along the way. You don’t expect a Category 5 hurricane to hit your exact destination a week before your arrival. In 2020, our 40th Wedding Anniversary vacation trip to DisneyWorld in Florida was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. […]