For most grown-ups, memories of their senior year of high school are few and far between. Perhaps they recall who came out to cheer them on at graduation or maybe faint memories remain of a class …
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Jeanne Sager
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6/17/25
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Hometowns are complicated places.
This place where you learned to walk and talk and to ride a bike, where you had your first kiss and your first heartbreak, may be a place you never leave …
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Jeanne Sager
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6/10/25
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He had an uncanny knack for breaking into things.
The oven where we hid the box of pizza.
The cabinet where we hid the baking supplies.
The dishwasher not yet full …
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Jeanne Sager
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6/3/25
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I’d turned my lens on a co-worker during a branding session in Boston this week when she put me on the spot.
“But who takes your picture?” she wanted to know.
…
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Jeanne Sager
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5/27/25
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I probably didn’t need to Google “how much time does the average American spend without power each year?”
Over some 15 years working remotely for companies across the country …
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Jeanne Sager
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5/20/25
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There comes a time in every country homeowner’s life when they find themselves in a war with a groundhog.
Battles are typically waged on a number of fronts, namely the front side of …
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Jeanne Sager
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5/13/25
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My brain told me the face was familiar, but the name floated out somewhere in the ether, just beyond my reach.
Standing stock still, my body in panic mode, my brain turned itself inside …
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Jeanne Sager
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5/6/25
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I spent a recent Thursday asking a lot of teenagers a variation of the same question: Do you know what you’d like to do after high school?
It’s a question teenagers are asked on a …
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Jeanne Sager
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4/29/25
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If you live in Western Sullivan County, you’re accustomed to long drives and finding ways to fill them. A long drive back and forth from a doctor’s appointment or a run to the DMV is …
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Jeanne Sager
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4/22/25
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For weeks now, I’ve spent my early mornings perched in my office chair, wrapped up in a blanket, hitting “delete.”
I’d like to pretend I don’t know how my hard …
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Jeanne Sager
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4/15/25
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When kids do battle with the drama inherent in high school attendance, there’s an almost universal mantra adopted by their parents: In a few years, this will end, and you never have to see …
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Jeanne Sager
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4/8/25
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Every once in a while, I end up in the lobby of Grover Hermann Hospital in Callicoon. Each time I do, I can’t help but stare at the tribute to “Mrs. Charles P. Kautz” in honor of a …
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Jeanne Sager
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3/25/25
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There are certain magical moments we get to experience just once each year.
What makes them so special isn’t just the brief time we’re afforded but the fact that you …
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Jeanne Sager
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3/18/25
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I get the text that my teenager is on their way home, and my breath catches.
This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. For weeks I’ve been counting down the days like a little …
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Jeanne Sager
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3/11/25
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A note of apology: To my loyal readers who missed Inside Out last week, I am sorry. Doctor visits and hospitalizations for seasonal flu hit a 15-year-high in the U.S. last month, and yours truly was …
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Jeanne Sager
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3/4/25
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“Yes ... if it’s not snowing.”
This was the answer an uncle gave me recently when I asked if he’d be free for lunch a few weeks into the future. It’s an answer …
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Jeanne Sager
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2/18/25
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It’s not how they act at home. It’s how they act when they’re in public.
Every parent has heard this — or a version of it anyway — over the years.
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Jeanne Sager
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2/11/25
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Along with his estimate, the contractor said something most of us likely wouldn’t expect to hear from someone in the service industry.
Naming another, much larger, competitor, he …
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Jeanne Sager
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2/4/25
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There’s been much talk nationwide about the fate of the U.S. Department of Education. The new presidential administration has threatened to abolish the federal government agency, and at least …
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Jeanne Sager
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1/28/25
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I recently read a lengthy apology from a local small business owner who had to shutter the business for a few weeks to deal with some health and family concerns.
My immediate reaction may …
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Jeanne Sager
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1/21/25
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I was checking out at the pharmacy when the text arrived.
“Your vehicle has an unpaid toll. To avoid excessive charges ...” The warning was followed up with a link to a …
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Jeanne Sager
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1/14/25
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Chances are you’ve driven around the county of late with heat blowing at full blast from the vents in your vehicle, a thick parka wrapped around you to fight the bitter cold.
Maybe …
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Jeanna Sager
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1/7/25
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Raise your hand if you gave up making new year’s resolutions because you knew you’d just end up breaking them.
If you’re reading this in the diner or the gas station, …
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Jeanne Sager
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12/31/24
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The holiday season may be best known for lighting candles, ho hos, and mistletoe, but it’s also the top season for charitable donations.
The fourth quarter — or Q4 in …
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Jeanne Sager
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12/17/24
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At last count, an online petition asking the new owners of Peck’s Markets to close the doors to its local grocery stores on Thanksgiving Day had more than 840 signatures.
As the …
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Jeanne Sager
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11/19/24
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