Overthinking Things From My Childhood, Vol. 1

There’s a very specific adult experience where you revisit something you loved as a kid and your brain quietly whispers:

“Hey… this falls apart if you think about it for more than eight seconds.”

So naturally, we’re going to think about it for several minutes!

Welcome to a new series that I'll be revisiting at any given time, Overthinking Things From My Childhood!

The Mighty Ducks Logic Hole

I loved The Mighty Ducks movies as a kid. I still do today!

However, something has always bothered me about one of the main characters, Charlie Conway.

1) The Memory

Charlie Conway is the emotional engine of the Ducks. He’s clutch, he’s passionate, he’s the kid who takes the final shot and wins the whole thing. In childhood memory, he’s basically a hockey prodigy with leadership stats maxed out. He was the heart and soul of the team!

2) The Rewatch

Then you rewatch the trilogy and notice a strange progression. In the first movie, Charlie wins on a shootout that feels more lucky than skilled. In the second, he literally gives up his roster spot so newcomer Russ Tyler can stay on the team (Knucklepuck!!). By the third, the movie treats him like he’s the second-best player on the team behind Adam Banks. No montage. No glow-up. No evidence.

3) The Logical Problem

We are shown ZERO improvement. None. If anything, the on-screen evidence suggests regression. Yet the script promotes him like he’s been grinding offseason camps we never saw.

4) The Adult Explanation

The story needed Charlie to be better, so he was. This is the cinematic equivalent of leveling up off-screen because the sequel required it.

5) The Funny Conclusion

Charlie Conway might be the greatest off-screen athlete in movie history. His training arc happened entirely in our imagination. As a kid, I always questioned it but never really thought about it!

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The Discontinued Snacks Mystery

1) The Memory

That snack was elite. S-tier. Everyone loved it. You can still taste it if you close your eyes. It should still be on store shelves TO THIS DAY.

2) The Adult Realization

If everyone loved it… why is it gone? Shouldn’t this be the easiest comeback in retail history? I can't be the only one who wants this, right?!

3) The Logical Problem

Bringing it back feels like free money. Slap “retro” on the label and watch people panic-buy it. So if that's the case, why don't any of these products come back?!

4) The Adult Explanation

Shelf space is war. Production lines are expensive. Nostalgia is loud on the internet but quiet at the register. The numbers didn’t love it the way we think they did. It's a hard pill to swallow, but unfortunately, it's most likely true.

5) The Funny Conclusion

We remember discontinued snacks like they were platinum albums. In reality, they charted for one week and disappeared.

This, of course, doesn't apply to Keebler Munch ‘Ems (the original version, not the baked ones), the ORIGINAL Dunkaroos (not the imposters that have resurfaced), PB Crisps, Pizzaria’s Chips, Choco Tacos, Sobe drinks, Fruitopia, Pepsi Blue, and a few other absolute GEMS that definitely need to come back!

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Why Video Games Felt Harder (and Better)

1) The Memory

Games used to be brutally hard. You died constantly and accepted it as part of life. Contra for the NES only gave you THREE LIVES. THREE. You wanted to save your progress? You had to keep the game on pause, leave the system on, and hope nobody bumped the system or tripped over the wires.

2) The Replay

No tutorials. No checkpoints. No hints. You either figured it out or stared at a Game Over screen like it owed you money. You got calluses on your thumbs from the hard plastic D-pads on the NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis controllers. They were a badge of honor!

3) The Logical Problem

Why did we enjoy that? Why wasn’t this considered emotional damage? Why did I keep going back to a game that just laughed at me while I struggled to get past the FIRST LEVEL sometimes?!

4) The Adult Explanation

Many of these games were designed to eat quarters or extend playtime. Difficulty wasn’t a bug. It was the business model. And mastery felt incredible because it was earned the hard way. No internet back then either. If you were lucky, the latest issue of Nintendo Power MIGHT have had a cheat code or at least a hint to help you out.

5) The Funny Conclusion

Old games weren’t harder. They were just less polite and far less interested in your feelings. I can go back to those games now and breeze right through them! I mean sure, a lifetime of experience helps, but still!

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The Tennis Ball Color War

1) The Memory

Tennis balls are green. Not “kinda green.” Green. This was never debated on playgrounds, in gyms, or in life. To be honest, I didn't even think this was anything to be debated, but here we are!

2) The Revisit

Then adulthood hits you with the phrase optic yellow. Packaging says yellow. Officials say yellow. Broadcasters say yellow with confidence that feels mildly insulting. That’s because it’s green.

3) The Logical Problem

If it’s yellow, why does literally everyone see green? Are we all colorblind? Is this a shared hallucination? Did I miss the part where green became yellow?

4) The Adult Explanation

Court colors, lighting, TV saturation, and human perception team up to gaslight an entire population. Your brain interprets contrast, not truth. With that being said, it’s still green, and it always will be.

5) The Funny Conclusion

This may be the dumbest argument that has survived for decades. And neither side will ever surrender. I'm also making up for lost time on this one, so I'm all for it!

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Closing Thought

As kids, we experienced things emotionally.
As adults, we revisit them logically.

And sometimes, logic doesn’t ruin the memory — it just makes it way funnier.

Welcome to Overthinking Things From My Childhood, Volume 1.

Thanks for reading. Until next time!

Snow Days Taught Us How To Be Happy!

 

If there's one thing I will always remember fondly, it was having a snow day when I was a kid!

There was nothing quite like the feeling of waking up, realizing I had no school that day because of the snow, and going right back to sleep, knowing a day of fun was ahead!

I still remember watching the news on the night before, hoping to see my school listed on the bottom of the screen as one of the schools that was closed.

I would always hope that we would get a full snow day, instead of the dreaded "two hour delay."

As nice as it was to be able to still sleep in a little more when there was a delay, every kid just wanted the whole day off.

For me, that meant heading right down the street to play with my friends from the neighborhood.

They're still my best friends to this day!

Snow days meant building snow forts, having snowball fights, going sledding, and anything else we could think of!

We would play outside for a few hours, then come inside to warm up, eat some grilled cheese with tomato soup, play some Metroid on the NES, and then get right back outside and do it all over again!

I truly miss those days.

Those are easily some of my favorite childhood memories!

The keyword there, of course, is childhood.

As an adult, snow days mean something completely different.

It means shoveling snow, clearing off cars, and driving in the snow.

Driving to work in the snow, driving to the gym in the snow, driving to the grocery store in the snow, because for adults, life doesn't stop in a snowstorm, it just gets much more inconvenient!

But then you get the really, really big snowstorms.

The ones that stop everything in its tracks.

As I'm writing this, another one of these really, really big snowstorms is supposed to hit in a few days.

By the time I write my next blog post in a week, we shall see how big it really was.

For now, it's business as usual, which means people are rushing to grocery stores to stock up on food and water, everyone is going to the gas station to fill up their cars, and getting gas for home generators.

People are doing everything they can to prepare for possible widespread power outages.

It's being advised to keep your water faucets on a "slow drip" so the pipes won't freeze.

So the adults are doing everything necessary to prepare for the worst, while hoping for the best.

The kids, on the other hand?

NO SCHOOL!!

That's all they care about!

Kids aren't worried about the "big picture."

Kids live in the moment.

Adults are juggling work and home responsibilities, keeping track of bills, laundry, and every other possible future expense and outcome.

The farthest in the future a kid thinks about is "what's for dinner tonight?"

And that's how it should be.

Kids just want to have fun, and your childhood is when you're supposed to have fun.

That's why kids love snow days, because they are an extra day to have fun!

And with a snowstorm this big on the horizon, one that may very well stop a lot of things in their tracks until the snow can get cleared, some adults may end up with their very own snow day whether they like it or not!

But then again, a day where you can't do anything or go anywhere, forcing you to take your foot off the gas in this otherwise nonstop busy life, might be just what some people need.

Maybe, just maybe, for one day, adults can have fun like kids again.

You can help your child build the snow fort, have the snowball fights, and go sledding with them!

You can take a step back, take a deep breath, and be a kid again, if only for a day!

As I said in one of my previous blogs, adults need recess too!

So you can view the next big snowstorm as a "mandatory recess"!

We used to have snowball fights between two front yards when I was a kid.

We would build our "defenses" and then just start making snowballs and hurling them at each other across the street. It was magical.

I'd say like 1 out of every 10 snowballs may or may not have been an ice ball.

Ice balls hurt, a lot.

You were taking a risk every time you poked your head over that flimsy snow wall you had just built.

But that was the thrill of it, that's what made it FUN!

And nobody ever complained about the cold.

You didn’t feel it.

You didn’t care.

Your gloves were soaked, your boots were filled with snow, your nose was running, and you stayed outside anyway because going back in felt like wasting precious snow day time.

The only thing that could pull you inside was when your hands finally started to sting from the cold, and even then, you weren’t going in to quit.

You were going in to reload.

Dry gloves.

Dry socks.

Another grilled cheese.

Maybe a little more Metroid.

Then right back out the door like you were being called back into battle.

There was no schedule.

No clock.

No responsibilities.

Just snow, friends, and the entire day stretching out in front of you with absolutely nothing you had to do.

That’s something we don’t realize we lose as adults.

A day with no expectations.

A day with no timeline.

A day where the only plan is “let’s see what happens.”

As adults, we plan everything.

We schedule everything.

We optimize everything.

But a real snow day?

A real snow day throws all of that out the window.

You can’t go anywhere.

You can’t do errands.

You can’t run around being productive.

And for once, that’s not a problem.

It’s permission.

Permission to slow down.

Permission to stay in sweatpants all day.

Permission to look outside and say, “You know what? I’m not doing anything today.”

That’s exactly what snow days gave us as kids.

And that’s exactly what they can still give us now, if we let them.

You don’t have to be the adult who spends the entire snow day stressing about what isn’t getting done.

You can be the adult who looks outside, sees all that snow, and remembers what it felt like to be eight years old.

You can go outside just because.

You can build the snow fort.

You can start the snowball fight.

You can go sledding.

You can come back inside, warm up, make soup, sit on the couch, and just exist for a while without feeling guilty about it.

Because for one day, life is on pause.

And that’s a gift.

Snow days were never really about the snow.

They were about freedom.

And every once in a while, adults get handed that same freedom again, wrapped up in a winter storm warning and a driveway full of snow.

All you have to do is remember how to unwrap it.

And when the snow finally melts, and the roads clear, and life starts moving at full speed again, the emails will still be there.

The laundry will still be there.

The to-do list will still be there.

But that snow day?

That only happens once.

So if you’re lucky enough to get one, don’t spend it wishing you were somewhere else.

Spend it remembering where you used to be.

Out in the snow.

Laughing for no reason.

Doing absolutely nothing that mattered, and somehow having the best day ever.

Because growing up doesn’t mean you have to stop enjoying snow days.

It just means you have to choose to.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I'll see you next week!

Take The Vacation. Every Time.

Everyone needs a vacation sometimes.

Fortunately, I’m able to be on vacation for the rest of the month of January.

One of the biggest joys? Going to sleep without setting an alarm for the next day.

It really is the simple things sometimes.

I’ve been at my job for almost 18 years now.

Time certainly flies.

Like anyone, I’ve had my ups and downs with my job — that comes with the territory. I also work with people who don’t take vacations, or who take far less time than they’ve earned specifically for that purpose.

They live to work.

I work to live.

My job is what I happen to do, but it’s not who I am.

I’m incredibly thankful to have a job that allows me to support myself, save for retirement, and take care of my health — whether that’s seeing a doctor, a dentist, or an optometrist when I need to. I’ll never take that for granted.

At the same time, my job allows me to take time off when I’ve earned it, and I’ll never hesitate to do that. Mental health is important, and burnout is very real.

You need time for yourself. Time to do the things you enjoy — whether that’s watching a show, reading a book, going for a walk, or spending time with friends. Whatever it is, you need it.

I see too many people whose work becomes their entire life.

When you really break it down, most people work eight hours a day, five days a week — sometimes more. You’re also supposed to get 7–8 hours of sleep a night. That doesn’t leave much time for yourself.

Then there’s everything else. Families. Kids. Significant others. Pets. Appointments. Childcare. Sporting events. Going to the gym. Trying to eat healthy. Life doesn’t stop once you clock out of work. In fact, work is what allows you to afford all of those responsibilities in the first place.

It’s easy to get pulled in every direction, day after day, week after week, month after month — even year after year — without ever carving out time just for yourself.

That’s why taking time off matters.

Nobody is ever lying on their deathbed thinking, “I wish I would’ve worked more.”

Instead, it’s usually, “I wish I spent more time doing the things I enjoyed. I wish I stayed in touch with people I let slip away. I wish I spent more time living.”

If you can’t even imagine what you’d do with time off because all you can think about is work, you’re working far too much.

So take the vacation. Take it every time.

Since being off, I’ve been catching up on anime I’ve been meaning to watch. I’m going bowling for the first time in far too long. I’ve got some restaurants I want to check out. So many little things that usually get pushed aside.

I also played my second pickup floor hockey game the other night, and it was fantastic. I look forward to it every single week. With the actual season starting next month, I’ll have pickup games and league games to look forward to.

I’ve kept up my gym routine three days a week and even started incorporating more work into those sessions. I’ve been compiling high-protein, low-calorie meal prep recipes I can make in bulk, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner are locked in while staying within my calorie goals.

All of this has been possible because I’ve had time away from work to focus on it.

That’s what vacation gives you — the chance to do the things your regular routine doesn’t allow. It lets you step back, take a deep breath, and reset.

For me, that means bowling, game nights, ice skating, floor hockey, disc golf, video games, watching pro wrestling, recording my weekly podcast, and writing this blog — just to name a few.

I’ve also been reconnecting with people from my Ultimate Photo Album, having them sign old photos while taking new ones for true full-circle moments. It’s been coming along really well.

If you’re mentally and physically drained from the daily grind, you have to step back and recharge. Otherwise, you’re just running on fumes.

It’s probably why the first thing most lottery winners do is quit their job. If you no longer have to trade your time for money, why would you?

Most people aren’t going to win the lottery — but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your life. That’s what vacations are for. If your job affords you one, you should absolutely take it.

I’ll leave you with a quote that sums it up perfectly:

“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.”

Thanks for reading, folks.

See you next week!

Floor Hockey Is My Adult Recess!

 

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

Two words.

Floor. Hockey.

I’ve been waiting for this since last May.

But now — it’s back.

The first pickup game of the season was the other night.

It was magical.

As you may or may not be able to tell, I’m a big fan of playing floor hockey.

I’ve loved it ever since I was a little kid playing in my friend’s driveway.

And now, for the first time in eight months, weekly pickup floor hockey is back.

The actual season doesn’t even start for another month. We don’t even have the boards up yet.

But it didn’t matter — because floor hockey was played, and I loved every single second of it.

The pickup games usually end up being more fun than the actual regular season games.

I think that’s because it’s a more laid-back atmosphere. We usually don’t even have a ref, and the teams are chosen at random.

Don’t get me wrong — I absolutely love the regular season too — but the pickup games are where it’s at, folks.

I’m going to be on a new team this year, joining three of my childhood best friends. The same guys who were all in that same driveway with me as kids, playing hockey together.

That’s where my competitive drive came from — playing every sport you could think of with the kids from my neighborhood.

Hockey.
Basketball.
Baseball.
Soccer.
Football.
And everything in between.

You name it — we played it.

The final score the other night was 10–8, I believe.

We were all completely drained by the end, which is the mark of a great hockey game.

And this also means the return of “PGI Wednesdays / Fridays / Saturdays.”

That can stand for either “Post-Game Information” or “Post-Game Interview.”

It’s versatile.

The little snippets and stories I make throughout the hockey season are honestly what I live for.

I also feel like I’m making up for lost time with floor hockey.

As a kid, I played in the 11–14 league, and it was incredible. But I didn’t join until I was 13, so I only got two seasons out of it.

Both were fantastic.

Then when I was 15, I went to watch my old team play in their first game of the next season. My former coach came up to me and asked, “Do you miss it?”

I said, “Every single day.”

Fast forward 26 years, and I’m finally playing organized floor hockey again — back where it all began.

And now I’ve got my perfect weekly balance: floor hockey as my HIIT workout on Wednesdays, plus three strength-training days every week.

It’s perfect.

I’ve always loved team sports.

That definitely started in gym class.

Every sport was a chance to be a Gym Class Hero, and I took full advantage.

You had the Gym Class Heroes.
You had the kids who didn’t even want to be there.
And everything in between.

Hitting the game-winning shot that no one will remember except me in a random gym class on a Tuesday?

Priceless.

Diving full-out in Four Square to avoid elimination and earning a permanent knee scar in the process?

Love of the game.

Forming an alumni dodgeball team after graduation, making it to the finals, and losing?

I still lose sleep over it.

Which is why I genuinely wish there was a place called “Gym Class” for adults.

You show up.
There’s an instructor.
They pick the teams, explain the rules, and you just… play.

One of my favorite gym games was Bombardment.

It’s dodgeball — but with a twist.

In regular dodgeball, once you get hit, you’re out. If a teammate catches a ball, you can come back in.

In Bombardment, if you get out, you go behind the other team. When a ball goes out of bounds, you grab it and fire it back at them. If you hit someone, you’re back in.

So you’re never really out of the game.

And if you eliminate someone, now they’re behind you — so you have to keep your head on a swivel at all times.

That level of panic?

That’s what I live for.

I basically want adult intramurals without needing to be in college.

And adult playgrounds.

And adult recess.

Because honestly — adults need play just as much as kids do.

Maybe even more.

We need competition that doesn’t matter.
Movement that isn’t a chore.
Community that isn’t built around work.

We need moments where the only goal is to run, laugh, sweat, and forget about everything else for a while.

That’s what floor hockey gives me.

That’s what gym class gave me.

And that’s what I think a lot of us are quietly missing.

So if you ever get the chance to pick up a stick, throw a ball, join a league, or just play something for the sake of playing — do it.

Your inner kid is still in there.

He just wants recess.

And with that, I think I’ll wrap things up here.

Thanks for reading — and as always, I’ll see you next week!

This Is The Year it Finally Sticks!

 

Just as a disclaimer, please don't expect proper grammar and punctuation in this blog post, or any other future blog posts. I'll do my best with the spelling, but everything else is up in the air. Run-on sentences, incomplete sentences, numbered lists, and bullet points are all very good friends of mine, you will meet all of them very soon.

It’s officially 2026.

The New Year has officially begun.

Which of course means… more people at my gym for the next couple of weeks.

The whole “New Year, New Me” thing is admirable — it really is. A fresh start, new goals, a new mindset.

Then January 15th hits, and a lot of people are already back to their old habits.

I used to do the same thing with diet and exercise. I’d go to the gym for a bit, without much of a plan, then go home… and eventually I’d stop going altogether.

Fortunately, I was able to break that cycle.

I’m now consistently at the gym at least three times a week — Push, Pull, Legs. That split has been part of my routine for a few years now.

The nutrition side is finally starting to catch up too, which is the real backbone of everything.

The phrase “You can’t outwork a bad diet” is 100,000% true.

Don’t get me wrong — weight training and cardio are still huge parts of the puzzle. But diet is the key. Without paying attention to what you’re eating and how much of it you’re eating, you can easily undo the progress you’re making in the gym.

That’s why I finally started tracking my calories with an app on my phone. It keeps me accountable, and it shows just how quickly calories can add up.

My next step is really dialing in my nutrition: high-protein, low-calorie meals that I can prep ahead of time, in bulk, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

If I know my meals are already prepped, I won’t be tempted to “just do whatever” when I’m hungry and unprepared — which can sometimes lead to… bad decisions 😅

Taco Bell will always be my weakness.

But even then, you can still make better choices. For example, the Cantina Chicken Bowl is around 500 calories, it’s filling, and it actually tastes great. Pair that with water or a zero-sugar soda, and you’re good to go.

The two biggest habits I’ve built are water and walking.

I used to drink anything except water — full-sugar sodas and juices all the time. I never stopped to think about how many calories I was drinking every day.

Now I drink water about 95% of the time. If I do have soda or juice, it’s the zero-sugar version — not only because it’s zero sugar, but because it’s zero calories. And honestly, they taste just as good. That’s a hill I’ll gladly die on.

Then there’s walking — the habit I’ve latched onto the most.

I walk every single day.

On workdays, I get there about 45 minutes early so I can get my “airport lap” in. If I miss it or it feels rushed, my whole routine feels off.

Getting my steps in is just as important to me as getting my meals and water in.

I’m a creature of habit, like most of us.

I wake up, shower, eat breakfast (usually a Nurri protein shake and a couple of yogurts), grab my essentials — wallet, keys, phone, headphones, charger — then head to work early and start walking.

That walk is an essential part of my day. It doesn’t feel right without it.

Sometimes people join me and it turns into a Walk & Talk — which I love.

Then the workday starts. Two hours in, I take my first break… and I’m walking and drinking water again. Same thing on my last break.

Between my morning walk, my breaks, and all the walking I do on the job, I usually end up with 8–12 miles by the time I get home.

It adds up fast.

Walking is sustainable, simple, and something I can do anywhere. On top of that, I play disc golf, ice skate for a couple of hours a week in the winter, bowl when I can, and lift weights three times a week.

Nutrition is the missing piece that will get me to my ultimate weight-loss goal.

I’m already down over 60 pounds, which I’m proud of — but I still have more to lose. Years of eating and drinking whatever I wanted don’t disappear overnight.

That’s why meal prep and consistency are my focus this year.

So to sum it all up: my goal for 2026 is to reach a weight I haven’t seen in at least 20 years — and I won’t stop until I get there.

That’s a promise.

If you have any health or fitness goals, just remember: if you truly stick with something for a full two weeks, it can start to become a habit.

You can do this.

It’s never too late to turn your health and fitness around — trust me.

As the saying goes, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.”

Happy New Year, thanks for reading, and we’ll do this again next week.