Rambling Fever

Rambling through life from behind the wheel. Stories about travel, family, money, and chasing down life’s “absolute truths”... all told with a trucker’s sarcasm and a cup of gas-station coffee.

[ramblingfever]

How I Accidentally Discovered Our HOA Didn’t Actually Exist

A few months ago, I found myself in a dispute with my HOA over concrete.

Which honestly feels like the most HOA sentence ever written.

My wife and I wanted to expand a parking area next to our garage. Nothing ridiculous. No junkyard situation. No abandoned RV sitting on cinder blocks. Just a simple cement extension so we could park a vehicle next to the house without constantly shuffling cars around every time somebody needed to leave.

Pretty normal suburban homeowner stuff.

For almost eight years, our HOA seemed mostly harmless. No clubhouse. No pool. No monthly dues. The roads were maintained by the county, and as far as I could tell, the HOA mostly existed to keep the neighborhood looking decent and property values from drifting sideways.

Honestly, I never thought much about it.

Then one weird disagreement over our concrete project sent me down a rabbit hole that ended with me searching state business records and discovering something I definitely wasn’t expecting to see:

“Dissolved.”

Apparently our HOA had been dissolved with the State of Michigan for more than a decade while still operating like nothing had changed.

And somehow... nobody seemed to know.

At first, I assumed I had misunderstood something. I checked county records, searched alternate entity names, reread the bylaws, and kept trying to disprove what I was seeing.

But every road kept leading back to the same thing.

The HOA had legally dissolved years earlier.

The strangest part of all this honestly wasn’t even the HOA discovery itself. It was realizing how much ordinary people can figure out once information becomes easier to access and understand. I didn’t hire a lawyer. I’m a truck driver, not some legal expert. I just kept asking questions, researching records, verifying documents, and slowly connecting dots until the bigger picture started making sense.

Eventually I ended up writing the entire story out because the whole thing became way bigger than concrete, driveways, or neighborhood drama. It turned into one of the weirdest rabbit holes I’ve ever gone down.

Full ramble with all the details is here: https://ramblingfever.com/how-i-discovered-my-hoa-didnt-actually-exist/

And honestly... if you live in an HOA neighborhood, you might end up looking at your own HOA a little differently after reading it.

[ramblingfever]

We Took a Simple Road Trip to Alabama… and Somehow Ended Up in a Bush in Birmingham

We pointed the car south, packed way too much stuff, and gave ourselves two days to get from Michigan to the Alabama coast.

Simple plan.

What actually happened somewhere in downtown Birmingham... yeah, that wasn’t part of it.

(See photos in the original post: https://ramblingfever.com/our-road-trip-to-gulf-shores-alabama-spring-break-2026/)

We left Grand Rapids for Spring Break thinking this would be pretty straightforward. Eight hours on Friday, another long push on Saturday, and then we’d be sitting on a beach in Gulf Shores wondering why we don’t do this more often.

It didn’t exactly go like that.

The first day was mostly what you’d expect. Late start because we packed the night before, car loaded to the point where we looked like we were filming a low-budget sequel to National Lampoon’s Vacation, and the usual debate about which route to take.

I went with the slightly faster one... even though I don’t like it. Too many lights, too many slowdowns, and just enough annoyance to make you question your life choices about halfway through Indiana.

We made the standard stops. Love’s for gas and bathrooms... reliable, clean, no surprises. Then Buc-ee’s, which is not a gas station so much as a full-blown experience.

If you’ve never been to one, imagine a place with over 200 gas pumps, spotless bathrooms, and enough food options to make you forget why you even stopped in the first place. We went in for a quick stop and walked out $150 lighter like it was completely normal behavior.

Day one ended in a hotel in Franklin, Tennessee. Nothing fancy... just a place to sleep, reset, and pretend we weren’t about to do it all again the next morning.

Day two started slower. Coffee, quiet, no rush getting out the door. One of those mornings where nobody’s in a hurry, which usually means you’re going to be cutting it close later whether you realize it yet or not.

Ethan drove the first stretch, and for the first time on the trip, I wasn’t playing driving instructor. I was reading, messing around with a deck of cards, and somehow ended up going down a rabbit hole about casino cheating strategies.

Turns out I’ve owned a deck of cards for over 20 years that might actually be useful for something like that. Never noticed until now. Road trips do weird things to your brain.

Anyway... Birmingham.

We were trying to stop for lunch. Ethan had reached the point where “we’ll stop soon” was no longer an acceptable answer, so we picked a Whataburger just south of downtown and kept moving.

Then the highway split.

He followed the faster traffic... which turned out to be the wrong direction.

Next thing you know, we’re in downtown Birmingham hitting every red light imaginable, and the GPS is still telling us we’re 12 minutes away. No gas stations. No restrooms. Just buildings and bad timing.

At one of the lights, Ethan looks at me and says, “Can you take over?”

Before I can even respond, he’s out of the car.

I climb over the center console into the driver’s seat while the door smacks me in the head, the light turns green, and now I’m driving through downtown trying to keep track of my kid who just sprinted toward a random patch of bushes.

He disappears for a minute or two... comes back smiling like he just won something... and we all completely lose it laughing.

Crisis avoided.

We finally made it to Whataburger, grabbed food, and kept heading south like nothing happened.

Somewhere along the way, we stopped again... more snacks, more gas, and somehow another Buc-ee’s. This time we showed a little restraint and only spent about $50, which felt like a win.

As we got closer to Gulf Shores, everything changed. Traffic picked up, music got louder, and the whole place had way more spring break energy than we expected. High-rise condos everywhere, packed roads, people all over the place.

Not exactly the quiet beach town vibe we had pictured... but not in a bad way either.

We checked into our condo just in time to catch the Michigan game. Turned on the TV, got settled, and watched them jump out early and never look back.

After two long days in the car, that felt like perfect timing.

The next morning was Easter. I sat out on the balcony with coffee, looking out over the Gulf while it rained a little and then slowly cleared up.

No big plans. Just a slow start and a chance to breathe.

It’s easy to get caught up in the trip itself... the driving, the destination, the whole experience. But sitting there that morning, it was a reminder of something bigger.

Jesus died on a Friday and rose again on Sunday. Over 2,000 years later, we’re still talking about it, still trying to understand it, still trying to live it out.

We drove across the country for a week at the beach.

But we believe there’s something better waiting beyond all of this.

Just something to think about.

By that point, the road trip part was over. Bags unpacked, car parked, beach outside the window.

Now we just had a week to enjoy it.

Full ramble with all the details (and photos) is on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/our-road-trip-to-gulf-shores-alabama-spring-break-2026/

What’s the most “this was not part of the plan” moment you’ve had on a trip?

[ramblingfever]

Full-Time Truck Driver and Imaginary Entrepreneur - My Story

I’ve been a truck driver for more than twenty years… and for about the last fifteen, I’ve also been what I jokingly call an “imaginary entrepreneur.”

That second part basically means I’ve spent a lot of time trying different ways to make money on the internet. Blogs, websites, digital products, random ideas that sounded great at the time… most of which didn’t work.

It all started the same way it does for a lot of people. I sat down at a computer and typed “how to make money online” into Google. That one search turned into a rabbit hole I’ve been going down ever since.

At first, it was writing articles for websites that paid pennies. Then I found blogging. Then WordPress. Then all the different ideas that come with it… affiliate marketing, niche sites, digital products, and a whole lot of “this might actually work” moments.

Some of those ideas lasted a few weeks. Some lasted a few months. A few almost turned into something real before fading out.

Most of them failed.

And if you’ve ever tried anything like that, you probably know the pattern. You find something that sounds promising, spend a bunch of time building it, and then either lose interest or realize it wasn’t as good as it seemed.

Repeat that enough times and you end up with a long list of half-built projects and way too many domain names.

But every once in a while, something actually works.

For me, that happened with a small software business I helped build with a partner. It started slow… barely any sales at first. But we stuck with it, kept improving it, and over time it turned into a few thousand dollars a month in recurring revenue.

We ended up selling it a few years later.

That’s the part people usually see.

What they don’t see is everything that came before it… all the failed ideas, the wasted time, and the things that didn’t go anywhere but still taught you something.

While all of that was happening, real life didn’t stop.

I was still driving a truck. Still raising kids. Still going to practices, games, and everything else that comes with family life. There was never a moment where I dropped everything and became a full-time entrepreneur.

It was always both.

Somewhere along the way, I started writing about all of this. Not as a business plan… just as a way to keep track of what I was learning and thinking about.

That eventually turned into a blog called Rambling Fever.

No niche. No big strategy. Just writing about travel, money, ideas, family life, and whatever else seemed worth putting into words. Sometimes it’s useful. Sometimes it’s just a story. Sometimes it’s probably just me thinking out loud.

But that’s kind of the point.

Full ramble with all the details is on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/the-full-story-behind-this-rambling-fever-blog/

What’s your version of this story?

[ramblingfever]

St. Louis Volleyball in the Heart of NCAA March Madness

We left Grand Rapids on Thursday morning thinking this would be a pretty standard travel volleyball weekend. Three days of games, a different city, and hopefully some decent weather. By the time we got back home Sunday night, it felt more like a mini spring break mixed with volleyball, college basketball madness, a questionable hotel experience, and one meal that stood out more than anything else.

It was just me, Susie, and Elena on this trip. Elena’s team, Rise Academy, was playing in the Nike Mideast Qualifier in St. Louis. We took a couple days off work, she missed a couple days of school, and Thursday turned into one of those no-rush travel days where you just let the drive unfold.

Chicago did what Chicago always does... slowed us down just enough to remind you who’s in charge. Once we got past that and dropped onto I-55, everything opened up. Traffic lightened, speeds picked up, and the drive actually became enjoyable again. We even swapped drivers so I could knock out a little work on the Chromebook without feeling like we were racing a clock.

The first thing we saw getting off the highway in St. Louis was a full tent city right off the ramp. Not a couple tents... a full setup with tarps, scattered belongings, and a port-a-john sitting in the middle of it all. That was our welcome to St. Louis.

Right behind that... 70-plus degrees and climbing. We had just left 38-degree Michigan weather, so it felt like we accidentally booked a trip a month too early and somehow got lucky.

We got to the hotel, circled once, and somehow found a free street parking spot. That ended up being huge. Parking in the area was running anywhere from $25 to $75 a day, so we made the decision right then the car wasn’t moving all weekend.

This was one of those stay-to-play tournaments, which is still complete bullshit. You’re required to book certain hotels just to participate, and somehow you end up paying more for worse options. We usually stay at Marriott properties, but this time we were at a Radisson in the middle of renovations.

And it showed.

After checking in and grabbing our spectator passes, we went looking for food and ended up at a place called Sauce on the Side. It’s basically all calzones, tons of options, and you order at the counter and grab a seat.

I ordered the Costanza.

Yes... named after George Costanza. And I’m not exaggerating when I say it was the best calzone I’ve ever had. Not even close. That alone could’ve justified the trip.

Friday started early with an 8:00 am match, but the walk to the convention center was short, which helped. The courts were set up inside the dome where the Rams used to play, which was pretty cool to take in while watching club volleyball.

The girls played great. Won all their sets and wrapped up before noon, which left us with an entire free afternoon.

Susie and Elena headed to a teammate’s hotel to hang out by the pool. I went across the street to the casino.

Walking in felt like stepping back in time. Indoor smoking everywhere, which we don’t have back home. I messed around on video poker for a bit before grabbing a seat at a blackjack table.

And that’s where I had one of those moments where you realize you missed something obvious. The table was paying 6 to 5 on blackjack. I knew better. Every decent player knows to avoid it. I just didn’t notice until I was already in.

Still managed to grind my way back and walk out up $20 overall, which felt like a win considering the mistake.

That night we ended up near Busch Stadium with a bunch of volleyball families. There was a big outdoor area with games, music, and kids playing pickup basketball. It already had a great vibe, and then out of nowhere it turned into a full Mizzou pep rally.

Band, cheerleaders, stage... the whole thing. We were sitting right next to it without even realizing what was about to happen. Not Mizzou fans, but it was one of those moments you just sit back and enjoy.

The NCAA tournament was everywhere all weekend. Every bar, every restaurant, every TV. It added a whole extra layer to the trip. Saturday I was walking around in Michigan gear while they handled St. Louis University, which made it even better.

Saturday volleyball was another solid day. The girls went 2-1 and made the Gold bracket, which is the highest level for their division. Probably the lowest seed, but they were in, and that’s what mattered.

We had some time to kill later, so we tried Putt Shack, which is basically high-tech mini golf. The balls track your score automatically, and every hole has something interactive going on. It sounded gimmicky, but it was actually a blast.

Sunday morning was bracket play. Win and move on, lose and go home. The team we faced looked tough right away. Bigger, more serious, undefeated. Rise came out strong but couldn’t hold them off, and just like that, the weekend was over.

We were proud of them. They played well and proved they belonged there.

Before leaving, it’s worth mentioning the hotel never improved. We had to ask multiple times for basic things like towels and coffee, housekeeping was basically nonexistent, and one night we got woken up by loud neighbors with no real help from the front desk. They did comp one night at checkout, which helped, but it didn’t exactly change the experience.

We hit the road Sunday and made a stop at Wally’s, which is like a smaller Buc-ee’s. Clean bathrooms, good food, and exactly what you want halfway through a drive. I grabbed a giant fish sandwich and enough caffeine to carry me the rest of the way home.

The weather flipped fast. Mid-80s in St. Louis turned into 50s and cloudy heading north, and by the time we got back to Grand Rapids it was 45 degrees.

Back to reality.

Three days of warm weather, volleyball, March Madness energy everywhere, a random pep rally, a smoky casino session, and one ridiculous calzone.

Felt like a mini spring break wrapped around a tournament weekend.

And honestly... we’d probably do it all over again.

If you want the full version with everything included, it’s here: https://ramblingfever.com/st-louis-volleyball-in-the-heart-of-ncaa-march-madness/

[ramblingfever]

What Happened When I Tried to Beat the Casino

I went to the casino on Sunday afternoon for research.

Which is the kind of sentence people usually say right before they lose money.

For most of my life I’ve believed a very simple rule about casinos. The house always wins. That’s the entire business model. Giant buildings full of flashing lights where people happily hand over their money one spin, one hand, and one bet at a time.

But lately I’ve been hearing something interesting.

Apparently some people claim there are ways to beat the casino. Not by getting lucky once, but by actually having an edge. Blackjack strategy. Advantage play. Certain slot machines that become profitable under the right conditions.

Now I have no idea if any of that is actually true.

But curiosity is a powerful thing.

So Sunday afternoon my brother-in-law Scott and I made the short 35 minute drive to Gun Lake Casino to see what we could find.

I had a few specific slot machines in mind that I’d been studying online. The plan was to walk the floor, look around, and see if any of them showed up.

We walked the entire casino.

Didn’t find a single one.

Scott sat down at a slot machine and within about fifteen minutes ran his $100 up to $150. Then, like a responsible adult, he immediately gave most of it back to the same machine.

Meanwhile I tried a couple slot machines myself and managed to donate $100 to the casino in about twenty minutes.

At that point I felt like an idiot.

I had gone there looking for some kind of advantage… and instead I had just gambled away $100 like everyone else in the building.

So I decided to go play blackjack.

And somehow the table got hot.

The dealer was joking with players, everyone at the table seemed to be winning, and suddenly the chips in front of me started stacking up.

By the time I finally colored up and left the table I had erased the $100 I lost on the slot machines and added another $125 on top of it.

Not bad for a random Sunday afternoon experiment.

The funny thing is the whole reason we went to the casino had nothing to do with blackjack. I went there to study slot machines.

Instead the only money I made came from the blackjack tables.

Now I’m not claiming to be a casino expert. But after spending the past ten months learning more about blackjack strategy, I will say this…

It definitely feels a lot less like pure luck than most people probably think.

Let’s just say I might know a little something about the game.

Anyway, if you're curious about the full story, I wrote the whole thing up on the blog.

Full ramble (with all the details) is here: https://ramblingfever.com/what-happened-when-i-tried-to-beat-the-casino/

Also now I’m curious…

Do you think casinos can actually be beaten, or does the house always win eventually?

[ramblingfever]

The 401K Cheat Code: How to Trick Yourself into Becoming a Middle-Class Millionaire

Somewhere in your 40s you start noticing something strange.

Half the people you know suddenly have nicer stuff. Fancier cars. Bigger houses. Kitchens that look like they belong on a cooking show.

But if you pay attention long enough, you start noticing something else too.

A lot of them don’t look very free.

They’re maintaining the appearance of success while quietly juggling payments for everything they own. The cars are leased. The vacations are financed. The house upgrades are sitting on top of a pile of debt.

You ever notice that?

A friend rolls up in a shiny SUV that smells like monthly payments, while someone else pulls in driving a ten-year-old truck that’s paid off and running like a retired golden retriever.

One looks rich.

One is rich.

That contrast started getting my attention.

After a while I noticed a quieter group of people. The ones who don’t brag about money and don’t post every vacation on the internet. They drive normal cars and rarely talk about investing.

But they seem weirdly calm about the future.

They’re not geniuses and they’re not trust-fund kids. Just ordinary people who set up systems and left them alone long enough to work.

Eventually it dawned on me that I had accidentally joined that group.

Not because I suddenly started making huge money. Because decades earlier I set up a boring little system that quietly ran in the background.

For me, that system was a 401K.

Nothing flashy about it. No brilliant stock picks. No complicated investing strategies.

Just automatic contributions that happened every payday.

When I first started saving I was working in a factory. The paycheck wasn’t huge and becoming a millionaire wasn’t even on my radar yet. I was mostly trying to keep the lights on and the fridge half full.

But I made one rule early on.

My 401K contribution was non-negotiable.

Even when money felt tight, that deduction stayed. I never paused it. Never borrowed from it. Never convinced myself I’d catch up later.

At the time it felt like nothing.

Just another boring line on the pay stub.

But those boring deductions stacked up year after year.

Eventually they turned into something real. By 49, after decades of consistency and a couple decent real estate moves along the way, I crossed into millionaire territory.

Not because I beat the market.

Because I showed up every payday.

The strange thing about wealth is that the path to it is usually incredibly dull. People chase exciting strategies, new trends, and side hustles that promise fast results.

Meanwhile the people quietly building wealth are often doing the same boring thing for decades.

Saving automatically.

Leaving it alone.

Letting compounding do the heavy lifting.

And one day the boring people wake up with options while everyone else is still chasing the next financial trend.

Funny how that works.

Full ramble with the details (and the original post) is here: https://ramblingfever.com/the-401k-cheat-code-how-to-trick-yourself-into-becoming-a-middle-class-millionaire/

What’s your version of this story?

[ramblingfever]

The Corner Bar in Rockford, MI and the 12 Chili Dog Challenge

Quick story from a snowy night in Rockford, Michigan.

In the middle of a January snowstorm we made the short drive from northeast Grand Rapids to downtown Rockford. It’s only about eight miles, but when the snow is blowing sideways and the roads are half slush and half ice, even a quick dinner run feels like a small expedition.

The destination was The Corner Bar.

If you’ve ever been there, you probably know what they’re famous for.

Chili dogs.

And more specifically… the 12 Chili Dog Challenge.

(See photos in the original post: https://ramblingfever.com/the-corner-bar-in-rockford-mi-and-the-12-chili-dog-challenge/)

The challenge itself is simple.

Eat twelve chili dogs in four hours and your name goes on the wall of fame forever.

You can start with six… or order all twelve at once.

Three confident teenagers at our table chose the second option.

The first six disappeared fast. Spirits were high. Everyone felt pretty good about the decision.

Then came dogs seven and eight.

That’s when reality showed up.

The pace slowed. Complaints started. Someone said the challenge would be easier if the chili dogs actually tasted better. Hard to argue with that.

One kid tapped out at eight and a bite of the ninth.

Another pushed to ten, took a walk to regroup, and still couldn’t get across the finish line.

The third tried dismantling the remaining hot dogs into something that looked like a sloppy joe crime scene and barely managed to reach ten right before closing time.

No plaque.

Plenty of regret.

Meanwhile the rest of us ate like normal people. I ordered a cheesesteak that was honestly fantastic and watched the entire chili dog disaster unfold in real time.

The funniest part might have been how social the whole thing became.

Other diners stopped by to watch. The table next to us tried the challenge too. One guy finished. The other two failed but offered plenty of advice.

Apparently the key strategy is “just keep going.”

Easy to say when you’re not on hot dog number nine.

Anyway, if you want the full story (and the photos from the night), I wrote the whole thing on the blog:

Full ramble with all the details is here: https://ramblingfever.com/the-corner-bar-in-rockford-mi-and-the-12-chili-dog-challenge/

Also curious…

Have you ever attempted a food challenge like this, or were you smart enough to just watch someone else suffer?

[ramblingfever]

Who Wants to Be a Middle-Class Millionaire?

Ever hit a big life goal and thought, “That’s it? That’s the whole thing?”

When I officially became a millionaire at 48, I expected at least some sort of celebration. Maybe confetti. Maybe a letter from my bank saying “you did it, champ.”

Instead, nothing changed... except my net worth spreadsheet.

My wife and I still joked about being “broke millionaires,” mostly while wondering how to stretch the grocery budget another week. It’s funny until it isn’t.

Turns out, being a millionaire just means your stuff minus your debt equals seven figures. No yacht. No peace of mind. Just a fancier number that doesn’t pay the water bill.

How did I get there? Boring consistency. 401(k)s, Roth IRAs, and one decent real estate decision. Back in 2016 we built a house for about $400,000. By move-in it was worth $500,000. Now it’s over $750,000. Sometimes you win just by choosing where to live.

Owning a house is like the world’s slowest savings account... except this one comes with lawn care and a leaky faucet. Renters are basically making monthly donations to their landlord’s retirement plan. One way or another, someone’s building wealth — it’s just not always you.

But here’s the part people skip over: millionaire status doesn’t erase financial stress. Most of that “wealth” lives in places you can’t touch without penalties or selling your house. You can look rich and still feel broke.

Jesus said, “Life is not measured by how much you own.” That one hits harder once you realize the math doesn’t always equal peace.

The real turning point for us came when we sold a second home we’d inherited. It was supposed to be a quiet getaway spot. It turned into a money pit that ate weekends and paychecks. Selling it wiped out every debt except our main mortgage.

That’s when everything changed. No more juggling bills. No more panic every payday. Just breathing room.

Being a middle-class millionaire doesn’t look like Instagram. It looks like a guy still going to work, still mowing his own lawn, still arguing about who used all the hot water.

The number doesn’t bring peace. The freedom does.

(Full ramble with all the details and photos is on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/who-wants-to-be-a-middle-class-millionaire/)

What’s your version of this story?

[ramblingfever]

Coffee: The Legally Addictive Elixir That Keeps Me Rolling

Coffee isn’t just a drink. It’s survival.

Out on the road, most mornings start in the cab of my truck with Costco’s Kirkland House Blend. Used to say “Roasted by Starbucks” on the bag… now it doesn’t. Nobody asked for that change, but here we are.

Kind of like when Pepsi ditched its classic logo for that off-center smiley back in the 2000s. Nobody liked it then, and they eventually had to crawl back to the original. Some things just shouldn’t be messed with.

Turns out Starbucks and Costco broke up sometime in late 2023 or early 2024. No press release, no “we can still be friends,” just gone. Some folks think Rogers Family Co. is behind the roasting now, but Costco isn’t saying.

What matters is this: the coffee still tastes like café quality without café pricing. Bulk bag price… café flavor.

And here’s where it gets interesting. Coffee isn’t just keeping me awake. It’s quietly moonlighting as a health supplement.

Antioxidants. Brain boost. Faster metabolism. Lower risk of diabetes. A healthier liver. Basically, it’s life insurance in a paper cup.

It even sneaks into weird places: • Face scrub • Hair rinse • Post-workout recovery drink

Who knew yesterday’s filter grounds could replace a trip to the spa?

My verdict: coffee is more than a drink. It’s a legal drug, a metabolism booster, a mood lifter, and yes… a beauty product if you’re desperate enough.

It keeps me rolling, keeps me sharp, and keeps me from biting people’s heads off before sunrise.

Raise your mug. You’re not just drinking coffee. You’re investing in your health… one sip at a time.

Full ramble with all the details (and photos) is on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/coffee-the-legally-addictive-elixir-that-keeps-me-rolling/

[ramblingfever]

Creativity Is Intelligence Having Fun and The Success Formula Scam

So here’s how a bathroom break in Sparta, Michigan turned into a rant about gurus and fake Einstein quotes.

I was walking through a printing factory, trying to find the restroom, when a giant sign caught my eye:

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — supposedly Einstein.

Sounds good, right? Problem is... Einstein never said it.

A little digging showed it came from George Scialabba in 1984: “Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun.” Over time “perhaps” dropped out, “imagination” became “creativity,” and somebody slapped Einstein’s name on it. Because if you attach Einstein to anything, it automatically sounds smarter.

But here’s the kicker: Einstein’s actual quotes about imagination are even better. He once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”

That led me down another rabbit hole... guru culture.

Everywhere you look, online experts sell the same script. Pick a niche. Define your avatar. Stick to your lane. Solve a problem.

It’s neat and polished, but feels empty. Because most gurus don’t actually get rich doing what they teach... they get rich selling the formula.

It’s like a pyramid scheme, except with nicer microphones.

Even Jesus called out experts of his day for being all show and no substance. Guru culture hasn’t changed much.

Here’s my take: if I had followed their “formula,” this post wouldn’t exist. Because “bathroom break in Sparta turns into rant about Einstein and scams” doesn’t fit any niche.

But that’s the point. Creativity doesn’t need a permission slip. You don’t need formulas. You need curiosity.

Einstein never said “creativity is intelligence having fun.” But maybe he should have.

Full ramble with all the details (and photos) is on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/creativity-is-intelligence-having-fun-and-the-success-formula-scam/

What’s your version of this story?

[ramblingfever]

Charlie Kirk’s Death Didn’t End the Debate

Sometimes you think the story ends when someone dies.

Not this time.

Charlie Kirk was murdered while doing what he always did... taking the stage, facing critics head-on.

The reactions online were almost as shocking as the murder itself. People celebrated it. Some of the things written were downright vile.

And the irony? The same people who cheered his death never had the guts to debate him face-to-face. Charlie lived out loud while his enemies hid behind screens.

So I asked myself... what would he have said if he could answer them one last time?

I pulled real-world criticisms and ran them through an AI version of Charlie’s style of reasoning. The results felt eerily true to his voice.

On guns, he said freedom comes with risk. On “violence in politics,” he said disagreement isn’t violence. On polarization, he said he didn’t create it... he exposed it.

Love him or hate him, you can’t deny the man had guts.

His murder was meant to silence him. Instead, it turned up the volume.

Full ramble with all the details is on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/charlie-kirk-debates-his-aggressors-even-after-his-death/

What’s your version of this story?

[ramblingfever]

An Epic Family Getaway in Ludington, MI for Labor Day Weekend 2025

We traded burgers on the grill for a cottage on Hamlin Lake this Labor Day.

By Thursday night, Ethan and I rolled in after dark to find the rest of the crew already settled into the place. Small, cozy, one bathroom... but when the lake is steps away, who cares?

Friday through Sunday, nearly 700 disc golfers descended on Ludington for the Michigan Amateur State Championships. Ethan and I joined the chaos. I clawed my way back from a rough start. He landed a top-20 finish in his division. The scores mattered less than the camaraderie — everybody cheering the good throws and groaning together on the bad ones.

We filled the rest of the weekend with simple pleasures. Fishing off the pier. Putt-putt golf. Adirondack chairs. And House of Flavors... where three of us ordered The Original Pig’s Dinner. Imagine a sundae so big it comes in a wooden trough. Yes, we finished it. No, we didn’t grill burgers afterward.

Sunday afternoon we rented a pontoon. That’s where the trip gave us one of those rare perfect moments. Everyone laughing, fishing, joking. Elena out-threw my cast and dropped a Happy Gilmore line: “Somebody went further.” Adam Sandler would’ve been proud.

And the best part? When it was over, we just docked, unloaded, and walked away. No storage. No repairs. No stress. Renting > owning.

Disc golf is better when you don’t overthink every throw. Vacations are better when you rent and explore instead of locking yourself into one cabin. And life’s better when you just live in the moment.

That’s what Ludington gave us.

See all photos and the full ramble on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/an-epic-family-getaway-in-ludington-mi-for-labor-day-weekend-2025/

What’s your version of a “perfect moment” trip?

[ramblingfever]

The Art of the Deal with God by Donald Trump

Trump once suggested that saving lives in Ukraine should earn him a fast pass into Heaven.

Yeah. That happened.

Honestly, it sounded less like a prayer and more like he was trying to sell God on a timeshare. Classic Trump move... always pitching, always closing.

The thing is, you can’t negotiate your way into Heaven. Not even with the “deal of the century.”

And that got me thinking... we all buy into myths like this. Different ones, but still.

Like swallowing gum. Remember how it supposedly takes 7 years to digest? Wrong. It just passes through... like a nickel would if you swallowed one.

Or breaking a mirror. Supposedly 7 years bad luck. As if the universe runs on some kind of cosmic FICO score where your penalty expires after seven years.

Or wishing on a shooting star. Fun to imagine, but the Milky Way isn’t a cosmic suggestion box. Go ahead, try it tonight. Wish for a million-dollar bank error in your favor. Let me know how that turns out.

We’ve all believed things that aren’t true. Trump’s “deal” with God fits right in.

Here’s the truth part... Heaven isn’t about the deals we close or the good deeds we pile up. It’s about mercy. About faith in what Jesus already did... dying and rising again.

That’s it.

Good deeds are great... but they don’t buy the ticket into Heaven.

Which is why Trump’s comment struck me so much. Because behind all the bluster, it sounded like he was really asking if he was “doing well enough” to get in. And none of us are. Not on our own.

Picture it: somebody swallows gum, breaks a mirror, then runs outside to make a wish on a shooting star... hoping to erase seven years of bad luck and indigestion.

That’s about as effective as trying to negotiate with God.

The deal’s already done. Signed in blood. Sealed in grace. Delivered free of charge. No lawyers, no paperwork, no waiting period. Just mercy.

Love him or hate him... I hope Trump figures that out.

Full ramble with all the details (and fake chapter titles for Trump’s heavenly bestseller) is on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/the-art-of-the-deal-with-god-by-donald-trump/

So what’s your version of this? What’s the funniest myth you once believed?

[ramblingfever]

Lining Up to Die at Manassas … The Day the Civil War Got Real

We pulled into Manassas Battlefield just looking to stretch our legs. Kill some time. Instead, we walked straight into the anniversary of the Civil War’s first major battle.

Talk about timing.

The Stone House was our first stop. Back in 1861, it doubled as a hospital for the wounded. Soldiers didn’t exactly book a stay with an app... they just got hauled inside and hoped for the best.

Standing in those rooms was surreal. Looking out the upstairs windows, you could see the same hills where men once fought and died. My photo from that spot looked more like a painting than real life... but you can see it here if you want: full post with photos.

At Henry Hill, we watched a film of Civil War re-enactments. That’s when the whole thing hit me. The soldiers thought they’d be home by supper. Civilians packed picnic baskets to sit on the hillside and watch... because nothing says family outing like a live musket show.

But of course, it didn’t end that day. It dragged on for four years.

The tactics? Stand in bright uniforms, line up in the open, and fire until someone fell down. Strategy by toy soldier.

As we drove away, I thought about forgiveness. From neighbors killing each other... to eventually becoming one nation again.

If that kind of healing is possible, maybe there’s hope for the smaller grudges we carry today.

Full ramble with all the photos is here: https://ramblingfever.com/lining-up-to-die-at-manassas-the-day-the-civil-war-got-real/

[ramblingfever]

The Mattress That Waited 10 Nights For Us

We finally upgraded our mattress after 18 years. The Puffy Royal Luxury Mattress arrived on our doorstep... the very morning we left for a 10-day family trip.

Perfect timing.

So while 110 pounds of “cloud-like comfort” sat in the garage, we were stuck sleeping in hotel beds across three states. Spoiler: none of them compared.

Neighbors saved us by dragging the box inside, and when we finally got back, unpacking it felt like opening a Christmas present. Slice the plastic, watch it grow, and suddenly the frame was holding what looked like a giant marshmallow.

That first night? Heavenly. Like sleeping on a cloud. Two weeks later, my back hasn’t complained once. After years of sinking into an old Sleep Number, the Puffy has been a revelation.

Sometimes life’s timing is terrible... but the wait makes it sweeter.

Full ramble with all the details (and photos) is on the blog: https://ramblingfever.com/we-bought-a-puffy-royal-luxury-mattress-then-spent-10-nights-in-hotel-beds/

What’s your version of this story?

[ramblingfever]

How Dollar Shave Club Lost Its Edge

Remember when Dollar Shave Club made shaving cool? That scrappy viral video in 2012... “Our Blades Are F***ing Great”... it felt like the little guy had finally figured out how to stick it to the razor giants.

I was all in. Their Executive blades were the best I’d ever used. For years I bragged about them and never thought twice about my subscription.

Then one day they quietly swapped out the Executives for something called the “Club Series.” I gave them a try. Big mistake. The quality was so bad I thought maybe I’d gotten a defective pack. Nope... that was the new normal. A year later, the Executives were gone for good.

That was the moment Dollar Shave Club lost me... and I think they lost their way too.

Unilever bought them for a billion dollars in 2016. At first it seemed like a win. Then in 2023, Unilever sold most of their stake to a private equity firm. Same story we’ve seen a hundred times: promises of “innovation,” reality of cost-cutting.

For me, Dollar Shave Club went from rebel brand to corporate cautionary tale. They lost their edge.

Full ramble with all the details is here → https://ramblingfever.com/how-dollar-shave-club-lost-its-edge/

What’s your version of this story... the brand you loved that completely sold out?

[ramblingfever]

Can You Become a Millionaire Using Credit Card Points?

So I had a brilliant (read: dumb) idea the other day... could you actually become a millionaire just by swiping your credit card?

On paper, the answer is yes. Which is exactly why this kind of idea is dangerous.

Here’s the deal:

Average American spending = about $73,000 a year.

Put it all on a 1% cashback card, and that’s $730 back.

Invest that $730 every single year in the S&P 500.

Wait 47 years... ta-da, millionaire.

The math checks out. But let’s be real... nobody is doing this flawlessly for half a century. Life doesn’t work like a calculator.

Emergencies happen. Inflation eats away at your spending power. And who honestly wants to say they got rich because Visa gave them a 1% kickback?

Credit card points are a nice bonus. They are not a retirement plan.

If you want the full breakdown (with all the math), I rambled about it here: https://ramblingfever.com/can-you-become-a-millionaire-using-credit-card-points/

So now I’m curious... what’s the dumbest “get rich” plan you’ve ever heard that technically works on paper, but nobody sane would actually try?