What does a bad day look like?
What does a bad day look like? This series takes a look at the mildly frustrating to the seriously unfortunate.
Tune in every Tuesday for a new edition, or scroll down to browse previous topics.
Shifting sands of employment
September 1, 2026
What happens when the summer job is no longer a real income-earning situation; rather, it’s an unpaid internship or cafe or coffeehouse help—definitely a departure from the “summer jobs that were.”
The US government began tracking summer jobs in 1948 and today’s data shows jobs for teenagers at the lowest historic level. This is due to competition from more experienced and often more senior workers.
Also, jobs that in the past have been traditional entry-level for teenagers are being eliminated or performed by technology. And recently companies — even industries — are making the choice to not hire seasonal workers due to rising costs and lower consumer demand.
Invasive shellfish
August 25, 2026
The scenario is happening in Shasta Lake, CA: Species of Invasive mussels are spreading across this area and statewide so fast that local and national agencies are working to find a solution to stop the spread. The current program, “Halt the Hitchhiker,” with three phases is touting quite the payoff for winning pitches, a hefty sum of $200,000. This is due to the high cost—more than $1 billion in yearly costs—of what agencies were spending to eradicate the threatening species, even prior to the golden mussels invasion in 2024. The winning proposal must fulfill a tier of defined results.
Read more about it here.
Explosive East Tennessee barn fire
August 18, 2026
With downed power lines and propane tanks threatening the safety of firefighters on the scene of an enormous barn fire in East Tennessee’s Blount County, utility responders secured the power lines, law enforcement secured the street and area, and emergency workers remained on the scene.
There were also explosions coming from shop equipment within the 3,300-square-foot barn that firefighters had to navigate. When the total barn structure fell during the blaze, it took fire crews an extended time to extinguish all fiery sections.
No humans or animals were injured during the Blount County Fire Protection District rescue efforts. And firefighters’ quick actions kept neighboring homes, automotives, and sheds.
An investigation into the fire event is ongoing.
From here to Timbuktu
August 11, 2026
If you have a pulse, you’ve likely heard this English idiom sometime in your life. “From here to Timbuktu.” But, do you know the when and the why of the reference to Timbuktu?
Around the mid-1800s, the idiom began to be used when Timbuktu (founded in the 12th century; today, Mali) in West Africa was a wealthy salt and gold trading center but its faraway location presented extreme travel and safety challenges. The place was widely thought to be at the edge of the earth and many European trials to reach it ended in disaster.
So, next time you’re having to go out of your way, stuck in traffic, or attempting to put together a trip with numerous sites to see, you might well say that you’re trying to go “from here to Timbuktu.”
Rear-ended
August 04, 2026
You just got off work and on the interstate, ready to live the rest of your day. Suddenly, your shiny new car is hit hard from behind. The force of impact causes your head to snap back against the headrest and you’re suspended in a state of shock. Being on the interstate puts you in further harm’s way, so you must pull over to the side, call the police, and get out of the car to find out who hit you and get the person’s information.
You go to open your door and even have trouble doing so. The person who hit you walks up and helps open your door, having also pulled his car over behind you. He has also called the police.
You exchange information and the offending driver is even nice enough to get a picture of the back of your car and send it to you. The police arrive, write up the incident, and ask if you’re injured. You respond, describing discomfort in your neck and back. They insist upon you going to the ER. Not easy to do when your car has to be towed and you are left without transportation. You get a friend to meet you at the towing place and she takes you to the hospital.
At the ER, you have a CT scan, learn that your neck injury is whiplash, and your back injury is barely addressed.
After you’re released from the ER, your friend takes you by the pharmacy to collect the items detailed by the ER team and then back to your house. You are alone again and realizing your world has changed. You are in pretty horrible pain; you have no way to get to work tomorrow; and you have to keep going because the dog needs walking.
Being rear-ended is not for the faint-hearted.
A bad day, but a good laugh
July 28, 2026
I knew my last day as an intern at Boldsquare would be difficult. I had to say goodbye to my intelligent and bubbly superiors who had provided me with so much marketing experience in one summer.
I was planning on writing some sappy letters, but to make matters worse, the grocery store didn’t have a single goodbye card in stock. There were birthday cards, mourning cards, and friendship cards, but nothing appropriate for my situation.
Well, limitation breeds creativity, so I worked with what I had. Some irrelevant cards and a sharpie were all I needed to turn a sad situation into a fond (yet bittersweet) memory. Looking back at these cards still puts a smile on my face.
This week’s edition was written by Jacob.
Overstaying your welcome
July 21, 2026
An Arizona man made his home on federal public land. The program is strictly intended for short-term use, namely, 14 days. KTLA News tells us that “the man, Mark Aaron Gatz, 65, was arrested after authorities discovered he had turned a portion of the Tonto National Forest into a massive illegal campsite overflowing with roughly half a ton of trash.”
Gatz managed to live undetected for nearly a decade, authorities said.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Gatz admitted to living in the forest for about eight years. He spent the last two years of that period at a single campsite in the Strawberry-Pine area near Payson.
KTLA says that the scale of the encampment and the amount of debris shocked U.S. Forest Service officers.
Officer Michael Norton said he “observed approximately 1,000 pounds of trash” at the camp. The debris scattered across the landscape included clothing, tools, tires, plastic bags, bike frames, ladders, and multiple gallons of motor oil.
Do not sail list
July 14, 2026
Apparently, “smooth sailing” does not apply to cruise passengers across the board. Case in point, two families from a Carnival Conquest cruise had just arrived to the debarkation area in Miami when members of both families began a huge free-for-all. With the debarkation port under the authority of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office (MDSO) sprang into action, noting the incident was deemed “a mutual combatant incident.”
Other passengers in baggage lines looked on as the brawl escalated between the two families while police were attempting to pull people apart.
“We are appreciative of law enforcement’s swift response and handling of the matter,” the Carnival spokesperson said in a statement. “We do not tolerate such behavior, and 16 people have been placed on our Do Not Sail List.”
Content source: People, “Massive Cruise Passenger Brawl Caught on Video Leads to 16 People Being Put on ‘Do Not Sail’ List,” Natalia Senanayake, June 22, 2026.
$250 first date?
July 7, 2026
Yelp! Hopefully, you’re saying that concept is nuts! Even though the idea is out there on TikTok and evidently put into practice enough to make it a thing, Gen Zers are saying no thank you to the high cost of a first date.
Recently on LinkedIn, Sarah Foster commented regarding Gen Zers’ dating philosophy, “When money is tight, romance is what gets cut.” She emphasized that Gen Zers and Millennials are more about “investing for retirement and spending time with friends.”
Gen Zers, born between 1997 and 2012, between 13 and 28 years old, number about 69 million in the U.S.
More power to Gen Z!
Take this show on the road
June 30, 2026
A truck hauling fireworks exploded on Interstate 75 in Tennessee, providing an unplanned air show for drivers and passengers in the area. News channel WTVC observes that the truck “was traveling without several federally required hazardous materials safety measures, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.”
WTVC news also reported, “What many drivers saw as an unexpected fireworks display could have been much worse, investigators say. According to THP, a post-fire inspection conducted by its Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division uncovered multiple hazardous materials violations involving the shipment.” And the driver of the truck has been charged with multiple hazardous materials violations.
Watch the video in the news article here.
