Fed to Freedom Blogs

Sep 155 min read

The Female Memory Archive: Why You’ll Never Win a Trial at Home

Gentlemen, let me break it to you: women are born with a biological black box recorder. It captures everything — words, tone, facial expression, the shirt you wore, and even what brand of beer was on your breath.

Sep 134 min read

Sno Fun!!!! Pun Intended.

Story of hard work, small pay, big lessons learned.

Sep 123 min read

Bullets vs Narratives: Building a Resume That Actually Works

“I’ve been on both sides of the hiring table. I’ve scanned thousands of resumes, hired well over 200 people across government and private sectors, and here’s what I can tell you: the format matters less than the story you’re telling.”

Spiritual Roots & Ancient Curiositi

Sep 107 min read

Before the Digital Feed. We had Barns, Woods, and Fields.

In the Days Before the Digital Invasion. We had Barns, Woods, fields, and Each Other.

Yes, before the digital feed took over our lives, we lived in a completely different world, one much more connected in many ways.

Sep 105 min read

The Secret Sauce Behind Every Strong Interview Answer

Interview Like a Pro: The Storytelling Method That Gets You Hired

Now it’s time to peel back the curtain on the “tools” every hiring manager, HR rep, or panelist wants you to unknowingly use. You’ll hear a lot of alphabet soup: STAR, CCAR, PAR. Here’s the deal: Different letters. Same central "We want to know what the issue was, what YOU did, and what the results were".

Sep 26 min read

In 1980s Iowa, mopeds weren’t just machines — they were a rite of passage. At 14, kids traded bicycles for buzzing two-strokes, Aqua Net hair met Walkmans in the wind, and a forgotten era of teenage freedom was born.”

When Mopeds ruled the roads! A forgotten era of teenage freedom.

Before the age when you could be trusted driving a car, truck, motorcycle, "hell even a motorhome," there was the magical, mystical time when the world (and by world, I mean at least in Iowa) saw the rise and dominion of the mopeds.

Aug 296 min read

Garage Days: Where Grease, Aqua Net, and Forever Collided

A look back at a time now gone, when hands crafted machines, and we thought life would last forever.

Aug 288 min read

How to be prepared for the inevitable interview questions.

Questions You’ll Always Be Asked — and How to Answer Them Without Rambling

Tips for be prepared for job interviews.

Aug 265 min read

The 90-Second Test: Nailing First Impressions when interviewing

“Every interview has a silent clock. You’ve got 90 seconds to win the room — or spend the rest of the hour trying to climb out of a hole.” Whether we like it or not, every interview starts with a silent clock. Within the first minute and a half, the panel has already decided if you look like someone they want to hire — or someone they want to move past.

Life After the Fed

Aug 255 min read

Hornet Wars: The Battle for Hornet Gate – Final Dispatch

"For weeks, the Hornet Hordes controlled the only direct access between the grape harbors, blueberry groves, and raspberry fields. They held the chokepoint like Spartans at Thermopylae — fanatical, relentless, and perfectly positioned. It took fire, precision chemical strikes, and a final siege to break their grip. Now the gate is free… but for how long?"

Aug 154 min read

There are moments in your life when the whole world seems to freeze.

Retiring with a bang! No, really....

One minute I was thinking about beer and fresh fish… the next, a 9mm was pointed at my face and someone was shouting “WE HAVE A BOMB!” in the middle of D.C. It all started with a thoughtful retirement gift from a fellow veteran — and ended with a traffic jam, a crowd, and my wife giving me The Look.

Aug 147 min read

The Hornet Wars: Part I – The Grape Harbor Incident

Ground Hornets! Over the past decade, I’ve been at war with them every summer. I’ve faced them in the open field, being ambushed while mowing. I’ve battled them near tree stumps where they’ve built Jericho-like fortifications that have literally taken heavy machinery to dig up and eradicate a nest. Each nest is a tactical challenge. It’s an endless, recurring war against an enemy that is relentless and fearless. This is just the latest battle.

Aug 127 min read

Operation Maple/Congo: The Family Invasion of 2025

Amusing Details of how the annual visit of my wife's Congolese family from Canada is managed as they descend upon our household.

Aug 113 min read

33 Responses, 1 Launch:

Before I officially step into retirement this October, I asked a question. One word. That’s all I wanted—to complete a three-word description that’s been rolling around in my soon-to-be post-retirement head.

Aug 83 min read

Over a Beer at "The Sink" in Boulder.

It was a hot, sunny afternoon in Boulder, July 2025. My other half was tied up in a work meeting, so I had time to kill. I wandered the historic downtown—old brick buildings, summer air thick with pine and pavement, the kind of day that makes you slow down.

Aug 55 min read

Tales from the HOA Crypt, Vol. 2: The Forbidden Corn

They say if you touch the stove once and get burned, you won’t touch it again. Apparently, I’m the guy who tries the second burner. OK, technically, it was more like my employer forcing my hand on the burner. Not me willingly reaching out. Same burn.

Aug 56 min read

The nightmare of living under the Home Owners Associations (HOA) Iron Grip!

HOA Chronicles, Vol. 1: The Driveway Inquisition

My first encounter living under the iron grip of a Homeowners Association. The absurdity of it all.

Aug 45 min read

They say if you visualize it, believe it, and release it to the universe, good things will come. That’s Manifesting 101.

I Manifested My Ass Off! Well, I tried anyway.

“I bought a ticket, visualized the win, and released it to the universe. I got peace, a moment of clarity… and the cold beep of a losing ticket. But hey, there was coffee.”

Aug 42 min read

Practical Field Notes on Early Retirement, Separation Incentives, and Not Screwing It Up

"So You're Leaving the Mothership?" – A Survival Guide for the Federally Fatigued

Retiring from federal service is less like walking off into the sunset and more like escaping a bureaucracy-shaped labyrinth — armed only with acronyms, signature forms, and a well-worn PIV/CAC card.