Weekly Roundup: Retirement, Books, History & Life

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Weekly Roundup: October 18–24, 2026

Welcome to this week’s roundup! It was a week of looking back at life, questioning the world around us, and exploring everything from the changing cost of living to the future of AI. There was history, books, movies, a little retirement humor, and a few observations about the things that make everyday life interesting, or occasionally ridiculous. Here’s what you might have missed.

Funny Daily Writing Prompts: WordPress, Give Me a Break!

Date: October 18, 2026
Category: Daily Prompts
Excerpt / Summary: Tired of daily writing prompts asking for profound life lessons and advice to younger generations, I decided WordPress needed a different approach. I offer ten ridiculous alternatives that might produce more laughs than wisdom, especially when the subject is getting older.
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2. The Pillars of the Earth Review: Ken Follett’s Epic Medieval Masterpiece Still Stands Tall

Date: October 18, 2026
Category: Books & History
Excerpt / Summary: Ken Follett’s medieval epic brings together cathedral building, ambition, faith, politics, betrayal, and survival. My review looks at what makes this sprawling historical novel work, from its memorable characters to its detailed depiction of a world shaped by power and religion.
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3. How I Manage Stress: Life, Work, and Retirement

Date: October 19, 2026
Category: Daily Prompts
Excerpt / Summary: Retirement may remove the pressure of a demanding job, but it doesn’t eliminate every source of stress. Drawing on my experience in finance and life after work, I reflect on how worries change over time and how we learn to cope with them.
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4. So Tight, So Sexy, So Delicious

Date: October 19, 2026
Category: Satire and Gripes
Excerpt / Summary: A satirical entry from my collection of everyday observations and gripes. The provocative title sets the tone for a post that takes a different approach from the week’s more reflective pieces.
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5. Why I’d Rather Be a Cat Than a Famous Person

Date: October 20, 2026
Category: Daily Prompts
Excerpt / Summary: Fame sounds like a lot of work, so why not trade places with a well-cared-for house cat instead? Imagine being fed on demand, receiving belly rubs, getting away with making a mess, and having an entire staff at your service. Now that’s the life.
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6. For Christ’s Sake: How Language and Meaning Change

Date: October 20, 2026
Category: Satire and Gripes
Excerpt / Summary: How did an expression invoking divine help become an everyday way to express frustration? This post looks at how language evolves, how words lose or change their original meanings, and how familiar expressions become part of ordinary conversation.
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7. Two Life-Changing Moves I Never Thought I’d Make

Date: October 21, 2026
Category: Daily Prompts
Excerpt / Summary: I spent 51 years in New Hampshire before moving to Florida, then eventually retired to Brazil. Neither move was something my younger self would have predicted. Looking back, both turned out to be great experiences and reminders that life can take us places we never imagined.
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8. The Job Ads: How Wages and the Cost of Living Have Changed

Date: October 21, 2026
Category: Thinking Out Loud
Excerpt / Summary: Random job advertisements arriving while I’m happily retired got me thinking about my early working years in the 1980s. Comparing wages then and now raises questions about inflation, housing, and what it takes to build a comfortable life. Apparently, technology thinks I need a job.
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9. What’s the Most Underrated Movie? My Pick: Memento

Date: October 22, 2026
Category: Daily Prompts
Excerpt / Summary: Everyone has a movie they think deserves more recognition, and my choice is Memento, Christopher Nolan’s psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce. It’s a film worth discussing when considering movies that deserve a place in the conversation about great cinema.
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10. Blog Traffic Spikes: How I Used Google Analytics and AI to Investigate Bots

Date: October 22, 2026
Category: Coffee With Kevin
Excerpt / Summary: My blog traffic suddenly jumped to around 800 views a day, which sounded great until I started questioning the numbers. I used Google Analytics and AI to investigate suspicious activity and try to understand whether bots, rather than actual readers, were behind the spike.
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11. Which Book’s World Would Be the Worst to Live In?

Date: October 23, 2026
Category: Daily Prompts
Excerpt / Summary: Would you rather live in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged or George Orwell’s 1984? One imagines a society that destroys individual initiative; the other depicts a government that controls information and rewrites history. Neither sounds particularly appealing, but which would be worse?
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12. Weekend Watch & Read: What America Is Watching and Reading

Date: October 23, 2026
Category: Books & History
Excerpt / Summary: It’s time for the weekly look at what people are watching and reading. This edition covers the Netflix Top 10 in the United States and Brazil, the latest New York Times bestseller lists, and my five-star review of Ken Follett’s World Without End.
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13. What Is the Future of AI? Jobs, Ethics and Automation

Date: October 24, 2026
Category: Daily Prompts
Excerpt / Summary: AI is the next stage of automation, and its impact will reach far beyond simple repetitive tasks. I consider what it could mean for employment, business, and everyday life, along with the need for sensible safeguards and ethical rules as the technology develops.
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14. Halifax Explosion of 1917: Causes, Destruction, and Legacy

Date: October 24, 2026
Category: Books & History
Excerpt / Summary: The Halifax Explosion devastated a Canadian city in December 1917, killing and injuring thousands and leaving a legacy of destruction and recovery. This post explores the causes of the disaster, its human cost, and the scale of the explosion in historical perspective.
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