This is part one in a three episode series. About my time working in the food service industry. In the past, I worked in three different roles at three separate establishments. I was a waiter at a 1950s themed diner, a banquet server at a hotel and conference center and a bus boy at an Italian restaurant. At each establishment, I gained valuable life experience, … Read more

After my wife and I were married in 2005, we received all kinds of unsolicited advice from lots of people, advice on marriage, parenting, financial advice, and more. It’s funny. I got a lot of advice from highly opinionated people whose opinions I didn’t want. And very little advice from humble people whose opinions I did want the small amount of counsel I received from … Read more

Episode Transcript For most of my adult life, Christmas has been a terrible holiday. I’ve tried to avoid at almost all costs to me. Christmas was an emotionally fraught, stressful, expensive holiday filled with unfair experts, stations, large financial investments, and almost unbearable social pressure that just made me miserable. Christmas to me, presented an awful couple of days wedged between Thanksgiving and new year’s … Read more

Episode Transcript Ron Stauffer:  Good morning, this is Ron. Kevin Kenny:  Uh, hi, Ron, Kevin Kenny. Ron Stauffer:  Hi, sir. How’re you doing? Kevin Kenny:  Good. How are you? Ron Stauffer:  Excellent. This is Kevin Kenny PhD. Dr. Kenny is a professor of Irish studies at NYU, that’s New York University for Americans like me who haven’t spent much time on the East coast. Professor … Read more

Episode Transcript I have a cool job. As a self-employed marketing guy, I sometimes get so caught up in the daily grind of running my own business, just trying to keep the lights on, that I forget just how cool it can be. Marketing is a fascinating field, and being my own boss means I have the freedom to look for opportunities that other people … Read more

Episode Transcript This episode is all about baseball! As a lifelong observer of the sport, an occasional participant, and, sometimes, a coach for my son’s baseball teams, I’ve noticed that baseball — sometimes called one of America’s gifts to the world — has a lot to teach us. Through baseball, we learn about sportsmanship, teamwork, and athleticism, of course, but also about life, ourselves, and … Read more

Episode Transcript A long, long, time ago… in a galaxy far away… okay, so it wasn’t so long ago—circa 1999, I made a discovery that changed my awkward teenage life. Some friends of mine introduced me to the crazy, the obnoxious, the brilliant, the weird, “Weird Al” Yankovic. For those who may not know, Weird Al is a tall, skinny white guy of Yugoslavian descent … Read more

Episode Transcript For the past decade or so, my facial hair has fluctuated back and forth between being neat and trim and fully grown and bushy. As any man who’s taken the time to grow a full beard knows, the strangest part about having a beard isn’t your facial hair itself but everything else that goes along with it. Normally in the summertime, I either … Read more

Episode Transcript You’re listening to Micron: a one-man podcast with short episodes about life, travel, discovery, learning, and failure. I’m Ron Stauffer, the creator, writer, producer, and host. This episode is a show preview; an introduction to who and what Micron is all about. I hope you like it. Micron is a podcast by Ron Stauffer. That’s me. I’m just a normal guy that tries … Read more