The Sunday Column OPINION / HUMOR – I hate daylight savings, and I don’t care which is the real one. Actually, let me rephrase that because I’ll take some hate from the usual suspects for using the word hate, even though it’s referring to an event and they use it all the time, but – I .. no, nevermind, I hate daylight savings time. I don’t feel like looking up which is the original and which isn’t. Just pick one and let’s move on. We obviously don’t really need it… regardless

It's amazing how people embellish their LinkedIn profiles OPINION / HUMOR — I don’t get on LinkedIn much, so when I do it’s just to post an update for my latest book or update my resume, whatever, if that even happens. Usually not. Some people use it as often as Instagram, TikTok, Snap or Facebook, others only have it as a way to keep their professional work portfolio up to date. But the other night, as I logged onto LinkedIn to update my resume, I did something I hardly ever

Read it every week, only in The Shelby Independent

English ain't easy, but I prefer it, mostly because I speak it OPINION / HUMOR – At one point in my life (maybe almost 20 years ago) I seriously considered going to South Korea to teach English.   But then, my brain did what it does best, and I started thinking about the silent “G” and silent “K” and I just didn’t have the energy, nor the knowledge, to explain that.  I could just imagine the confusion on the faces of Koreans when learning the spelling of English words, taught

OPINION / HUMOR

Romance will never be the same

I remember the first time I gave a girl I liked a giant Hershey kiss. I was in the 6 th  or 7 th  or 8 th grade – maybe I was in high school? I could just lie and pick a grade, but the girl involved in this opening paragraph memory might read this column, and then accuse me of spreading misinformation, so instead I just mentioned them all. Anyway – It was the size of my fist and in a box, a giant Hershey’s Kiss wrapped in tinfoil just like the regular sized ones – or wait a

The names of restaurants have always annoyed me. I don’t know why, that’s just how I’m wired.

When I was a kid, maybe early teens, I had a soccer coach tell me that when I’m 40 I’ll feel all the aches and pains from playing sports one day. 40? I didn’t care. That was a thousand years from now. Whatever, maybe — I believed him, but when I pictured a 40 something year old they looked the same as a 75 year old. “I’ll worry about it then,” I shrugged. Tonight was one of those rare nights I wanted to go to bed earlier than usual. I was taking a step to get into bed and m

There’s no place quite like North Carolina.

Mondays remind me of The Gremlins

If it’s not summer, and definitely not the cool feel of Fall, then, what is this abysmal period of discombobulating season called?

The Pavilion was a magical place — at one time, from what we were all told.

The last of the pre-internet pioneer children. The last of the “just yell for my mom, she will hear you!” When you fell off your bike and br

OPINION / HUMOR — Opening a cylinder can/ tube of ready-to-bake biscuits is the baking version of Russian Roulette.

It was a time of serious competition as the Baptist, Methodist & Presbyterians tried to beat one another to the old steak house.

OPINION — Wash those apples carefully…