May 3, 2025

Powerless but Not Hopeless: Weathering Life's Storms

When storms strike, our true character emerges. The recent devastating weather that hit western Pennsylvania did more than knock out power lines—it revealed the stark contrast between those who complain and those who contribute.

Witnessing the social media response to tragedy left me disheartened. After someone lost their life to a downed power line, keyboard warriors rushed to judgment instead of showing compassion. This isn't who we should be. My philosophy is simple: help if you can, encourage if you can't help, and if you can't encourage, stay silent.

But amid this frustration, I've found remarkable hope in an unexpected place—the Kappa Sigma fraternity at Teal College. These young men embody service in ways that put many adults to shame. From their 72-hour "seesaw-a-thon" fundraisers for veterans to physically rebuilding a fire-damaged VFW hall and conducting annual 9/11 memorial stair climbs, they're proving that the next generation might just save us from ourselves. As a Navy veteran, seeing their dedication to country and community restores my faith when I need it most.

The ongoing power outage—now stretching into its fifth day for many—offers valuable lessons about preparation and perspective. Do you have backup plans for your backup plans? Are your flashlights working, batteries fresh, and alternative power sources ready? And most importantly, can we remember that our "power outage problems" pale compared to what much of the world faces daily? Some of our neighbors with electric well pumps don't even have water. Maybe this experience will help us appreciate what we normally take for granted. Remember: we get through this together, by helping when we can and encouraging when we can't.

Have you checked on your neighbors during this outage? Subscribe to hear more straight talk and unexpected inspiration as we navigate these challenging times together.

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00:00 - Storm aftermath in Pennsylvania

03:36 - Shoutout to Kappa Sigma Fraternity

07:40 - Reflections on youth and service

10:15 - Power outage preparation tips

14:04 - Final thoughts and weekend wishes

WEBVTT

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All right, good morning.

00:00:03.605 --> 00:00:09.455
It is Saturday, the 3rd of May, year of our Lord, 2025.

00:00:09.455 --> 00:00:12.343
This week has been a hoot.

00:00:12.343 --> 00:00:20.463
So first I've been conspicuously absent for a little while, involved in another project.

00:00:20.463 --> 00:00:26.554
That's taking a lot of my time, but you know, it's always good to get back here.

00:00:26.554 --> 00:00:36.542
So anyway, it's been crazy since anyone in western Pennsylvania extended area knows that Tuesday we got hit with some serious weather.

00:00:36.542 --> 00:00:43.341
You know we've had storms and whatnot before, but this was like this was another level.

00:00:43.902 --> 00:00:48.813
So you know, know, still a lot of the areas without power.

00:00:48.813 --> 00:00:56.588
We fortunately have power here at the box, but you know friends and neighbors east of the city, a lot of them still out of power.

00:00:56.588 --> 00:00:58.795
And you know, here's, here's a funny part.

00:00:58.795 --> 00:01:00.862
I certainly don't mean this as a criticism.

00:01:00.862 --> 00:01:03.307
However, sometimes I come across the wrong way.

00:01:03.307 --> 00:01:08.183
Here's the deal you lost power, you lost electricity.

00:01:08.183 --> 00:01:13.882
That's too bad, you know, maybe it costs you a few bucks and food you've got to throw away.

00:01:13.882 --> 00:01:28.662
And you know, maybe it costs you some, um, logistical challenges, logistical challenges to logistics where you have to, you know, find a place to charge your devices and and so forth, so forth.

00:01:28.662 --> 00:01:56.197
But you know, the real focus is on our friends and neighbors whose homes were, you know, damaged, if not destroyed, whose cars were crushed under, you know, huge trees, power lines are down, um, and you know those of you who followed me even for a minute know that sometimes I try as I might to I don't know, try as I might to be a better version of me.

00:01:56.960 --> 00:01:59.170
You know there are certain triggers there that are still.

00:01:59.170 --> 00:02:01.340
You know they're out there and they're strong.

00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:07.433
You know there's a friend of ours, marty Griffin, local news personality.

00:02:07.433 --> 00:02:19.451
He, you know he, put something out on social media and it was, you know, sharing something that happened, and this individual, you know, was hit by a live wire and tragically passed away.

00:02:19.451 --> 00:02:22.808
And the first several comments people are popping off.

00:02:22.808 --> 00:02:24.421
You know the expression.

00:02:24.421 --> 00:02:26.448
You talk out your ass because your mouth knows better.

00:02:26.448 --> 00:02:27.792
There was a lot of that.

00:02:27.792 --> 00:02:30.688
What is wrong with people?

00:02:30.688 --> 00:02:33.625
Things happen like this.

00:02:33.625 --> 00:02:34.407
You come together.

00:02:34.407 --> 00:02:36.986
You're not going to come together better.

00:02:36.986 --> 00:02:37.870
You get out of my sight.

00:02:37.870 --> 00:02:40.288
I just put that out as free information.

00:02:40.288 --> 00:02:44.947
So that's where we're at right now Still a lot of folks without power.

00:02:45.681 --> 00:02:52.681
Thankfully, though, there's a lot of work going on and, you know, get to it, I mean.

00:02:52.681 --> 00:02:53.044
That's it.

00:02:53.044 --> 00:02:54.831
If you can't be part of the solution.

00:02:54.831 --> 00:02:57.463
All right, keep positive thoughts, say some prayers.

00:02:57.463 --> 00:03:01.300
If you can't do anything to help directly, stay quiet.

00:03:01.300 --> 00:03:03.264
You know or no?

00:03:03.264 --> 00:03:04.046
No, that's not fair.

00:03:04.046 --> 00:03:07.201
If you can't do anything to help directly, be encouraging.

00:03:07.201 --> 00:03:09.266
If you can't be encouraging, be silent.

00:03:09.266 --> 00:03:12.073
I think that's probably sound logic.

00:03:12.073 --> 00:03:20.203
Anyway, also want to give that's the whole purpose that I'm here early this morning before the Saturday morning class starts.

00:03:21.064 --> 00:03:29.806
Want to take a moment to give a shout out to a group of young men at Teal College in Greenville, pa.

00:03:29.806 --> 00:03:33.349
All right, those are the boys of the Kappa Sigma fraternity.

00:03:33.349 --> 00:03:37.306
I am biased, I'm 100% biased.

00:03:37.306 --> 00:03:43.223
Stand by as I enjoy a sip of Black Rifle coffee.

00:03:43.223 --> 00:04:00.782
It's a scandalously mild blend I'm drinking today and if you haven't tried Black Rifle coffee you're only cheating yourself.

00:04:01.203 --> 00:04:17.182
But first crossed paths with Kappa Sigma Fraternity last year when our son started his freshman year at Teal College and he I was not in a college fraternity.

00:04:17.182 --> 00:04:21.872
I waited a little bit and then joined the greatest fraternity in the world, the United States Navy.

00:04:21.872 --> 00:04:25.747
But I digress, I don't know if you do, you rush a fraternity.

00:04:25.747 --> 00:04:26.940
It's rush week.

00:04:26.940 --> 00:04:28.120
Do you pledge?

00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:34.567
You are a pledge, but do you pledge or do you rush regardless?

00:04:34.567 --> 00:04:40.615
My son, michael, became a KSIG last year.

00:04:41.497 --> 00:04:50.151
And I'll tell you one of the things that impressed me the most with these young men, as he's starting to and I don't know, you know, anybody has teenagers.

00:04:50.151 --> 00:04:54.218
I noticed this a lot more with my son than with my well, no, it's not true.

00:04:54.218 --> 00:04:56.970
My middle daughter, you know, the one word, answers how was your day Good?

00:04:56.970 --> 00:05:01.257
Good could mean I didn't get attacked by the Taliban.

00:05:01.257 --> 00:05:03.526
Good could mean I won the Powerball.

00:05:03.526 --> 00:05:07.995
But you know, sometimes you just how was your day Good?

00:05:09.197 --> 00:05:17.456
So, you know, my son goes to Teal last fall and he, you know, gets, he becomes a K-SIG.

00:05:17.456 --> 00:05:19.598
And how was your day?

00:05:19.598 --> 00:05:20.120
What are you doing?

00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:20.480
What's new?

00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:30.494
Well, some of the first things that I recognized, I thought were so cool was, as their philanthropy efforts benefit Veterans Affairs.

00:05:30.494 --> 00:05:32.918
So I thought that was awesome.

00:05:33.365 --> 00:05:35.769
You know, shortly after he arrives, he's like, hey, dad, you know we.

00:05:35.769 --> 00:05:39.134
He arrives, he's like, hey, dad, you know we're gonna do a seesaw a thon.

00:05:39.134 --> 00:05:40.076
Right, seesaw a thon.

00:05:40.076 --> 00:06:03.451
It was over a holiday weekend and it might have even coincided with alumni weekend, but it's a it's a picture picture, if you will a seesaw built from an I beam that has seats with backs fastened to it on each end so that you can sit with a seat back for a prolonged period of time.

00:06:03.451 --> 00:06:11.098
Now these guys sign up and they go for 72 hours nonstop, rain, whatever weather.

00:06:11.098 --> 00:06:21.548
Two people are always on that seesaw for the duration of the three-day weekend and the benefits.

00:06:21.548 --> 00:06:26.079
All funds raised benefit veterans' causes, right?

00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:31.817
Coincidentally, last year I don't remember the time frame, but there was a fire at a local VFW.

00:06:31.817 --> 00:06:50.180
So not only do these boys organize a fundraiser but and I believe, just as importantly, if not maybe a little bit more they show up, right, they show up at the VFW and you know they start with helping with the clean out and the refit.

00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:53.970
So it's a good bunch of guys, all right.

00:06:54.331 --> 00:07:03.637
In a day and age when most people regardless of age, I mean all you got to do is turn on the TV or even that, open your eyes and look out when you're outside in public.

00:07:03.637 --> 00:07:06.629
People are stupid nowadays, aren't they?

00:07:06.629 --> 00:07:07.673
They really are.

00:07:07.673 --> 00:07:09.117
You know somebody better.

00:07:09.117 --> 00:07:10.708
Somebody better do this for me.

00:07:10.708 --> 00:07:12.172
Somebody better do that for me.

00:07:12.172 --> 00:07:13.516
Nobody owes you anything.

00:07:13.516 --> 00:07:17.658
As a newsflash, nobody owes you anything.

00:07:17.658 --> 00:07:24.055
All right, you know what you're owed by this country Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

00:07:24.055 --> 00:07:32.257
The rest, brother, that's up to you, all right, if you don't like it, hey, I'm not here that often.

00:07:32.257 --> 00:07:33.865
Change the channel, all right.

00:07:33.865 --> 00:07:40.990
But looking at these young men, every so often and this is one of those times every so often you're like, oh my God, we're doomed.

00:07:40.990 --> 00:07:51.348
You know we are doomed, uh, and here's the irony, because, guys, my age, anytime there's a threat, I mean, you know, wind back the clock 20 years.

00:07:51.348 --> 00:07:53.095
You know nine, 11, I'll tell you this.

00:07:53.838 --> 00:08:01.637
The men that I served with, the men that I served with at the agency, every one of them was it came from a military background.

00:08:01.637 --> 00:08:02.927
We had already served.

00:08:02.927 --> 00:08:20.793
A lot of us were off of active duty, a lot of us were nobody was in the mothballs, that's for sure, but most, all of us were off of active duty and pursuing, you know, raising our families, living our lives right.

00:08:20.793 --> 00:08:21.995
Then 9-11 occurs.

00:08:21.995 --> 00:08:22.706
And what happens?

00:08:22.706 --> 00:08:28.766
You know I can't speak for my teammates, but I didn't wait to be asked, all right.

00:08:29.346 --> 00:08:38.354
I started making inquiries, phone calls, and then, you know, fortunately, I was contacted by an old friend and you know that was my path.

00:08:38.354 --> 00:08:40.638
But you know you reach a point.

00:08:40.638 --> 00:08:42.640
You know that's that's, that was my path.

00:08:42.640 --> 00:08:51.615
But you know you reach a point and it gets a bit frustrating and you look sometimes at the next wave, so to speak, and you're like, oh my God, oh my God, we're doomed.

00:08:51.615 --> 00:08:58.817
Then, every time, you know, when it's almost like, when you start to feel like there's, you know, we are doomed.

00:08:58.817 --> 00:09:08.894
Then all of a sudden you cross paths with a group of young people and you think, no, you know what, we're going to be okay, we are going to be okay, and I put the boys in a Kappa Sigma, in that category.

00:09:08.894 --> 00:09:16.048
You know we're going to be all right Because they are a good group of guys and not just because my son is one of them.

00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:22.317
But everything I've seen and you know, get after it, boys.

00:09:22.317 --> 00:09:23.339
All right, I appreciate you.

00:09:23.339 --> 00:09:30.626
Oh, wait a minute, I forgot about this.

00:09:30.626 --> 00:09:41.034
September 11th, each and every September 11th, these guys will head over to the football stadium on campus and, you know, either slick or loaded with weight, vests, backpacks, whatnot they will do a stair climb.

00:09:41.034 --> 00:09:46.835
They will do a stair climb in memory of the 9-11 attacks on the Twin Towers.

00:09:46.835 --> 00:09:49.360
And you know I mean.

00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.168
For me there's nothing more than you know.

00:09:52.168 --> 00:09:55.937
You show respect for your God and your country and that's what it's all about.

00:09:55.937 --> 00:09:58.029
You know, god, country, family and friends.

00:09:58.029 --> 00:09:58.691
Okay.

00:09:58.691 --> 00:10:00.475
So, boys, keep the faith.

00:10:00.475 --> 00:10:02.726
Thank you, thanks very much.

00:10:02.726 --> 00:10:03.528
I appreciate you.

00:10:03.528 --> 00:10:08.399
All right, kappa, sigma, teal College, greenville, pa.

00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.726
Right, all right.

00:10:10.726 --> 00:10:12.149
So what else?

00:10:12.149 --> 00:10:12.730
What else?

00:10:12.730 --> 00:10:17.466
Bad weather, and the cleanup ensues and you know, again, it does suck.

00:10:18.547 --> 00:10:26.052
Tuesday to Saturday no power, and one of the first words they put out to us was hey, it could take five to seven days.

00:10:26.052 --> 00:10:29.576
I'm no expert, all right, certainly no expert.

00:10:29.576 --> 00:10:35.942
I have no connection with Duquesne Light whatsoever, except that I pay my bill and they provide me electricity.

00:10:35.942 --> 00:10:42.926
But, um, I don't know.

00:10:42.926 --> 00:10:44.711
It just seems to me the smart play, and I believe this is what happened whenever.

00:10:44.711 --> 00:10:50.126
Whenever you say how long will it be or how much will it cost, it's called an estimate, right, estimate.

00:10:50.126 --> 00:11:01.413
So to throw out, well, five to seven days, it's the smart play, because you have so much work in front of you, the worst thing you could do is say a couple of days, right.

00:11:01.413 --> 00:11:16.307
Then the next thing, you know, the villagers are assembled at your gate, right, torches and pitchforks.

00:11:16.326 --> 00:11:17.629
But this is uncomfortable, it absolutely is, can't overstate it.

00:11:17.629 --> 00:11:26.934
But I have yet to drive by a power truck out on the street and see what we used to call in the old days, lollygagging, right, anybody know.

00:11:26.934 --> 00:11:31.326
Remember that you lollygaggers, you don't see that right.

00:11:31.326 --> 00:11:35.471
What you see is crews at work, right, work.

00:11:35.471 --> 00:11:38.195
Crews at work trying to solve this problem.

00:11:38.195 --> 00:11:45.107
So you know, let's hope for the best, prepare for the worst, right?

00:11:45.107 --> 00:11:55.326
Hopefully this serves as a lesson to everyone, no matter how prepared you think you are and I'm not making, I'm not criticizing anything right now, I swear to God but I want you to think about this for a minute.

00:11:55.326 --> 00:12:05.721
No matter how prepared you think you are, did you think it through to the primary alternate, contingency and emergency plans, pace, right.

00:12:06.085 --> 00:12:07.910
My primary plan the power goes out.

00:12:07.910 --> 00:12:09.313
Do I have flashlights?

00:12:09.313 --> 00:12:10.136
Do I have candles?

00:12:10.136 --> 00:12:13.095
If I have flashlights, are they battery operated?

00:12:13.095 --> 00:12:16.214
If they are battery operated, are the batteries fresh?

00:12:16.214 --> 00:12:17.809
Do I have spare batteries?

00:12:17.809 --> 00:12:18.513
Right?

00:12:18.513 --> 00:12:21.254
Alternate, I have spare batteries.

00:12:21.254 --> 00:12:23.041
Right, alternate, I have spare batteries.

00:12:23.041 --> 00:12:23.283
Right.

00:12:23.322 --> 00:12:29.701
I have you know, this caught me and it is embarrassing to say external power sources to charge your devices.

00:12:29.701 --> 00:12:31.606
You charge your devices.

00:12:31.606 --> 00:12:32.448
Then what happens?

00:12:32.448 --> 00:12:34.414
Well, I have no internet because the power is down.

00:12:34.414 --> 00:12:36.027
You're absolutely right.

00:12:36.027 --> 00:12:38.051
However, most carriers.

00:12:38.051 --> 00:12:52.011
Now what I've been able to do from home is I create a hotspot using my iPhone and I plug my iPhone into my laptop and then I can access the internet via the hotspot on my phone.

00:12:52.011 --> 00:12:57.714
This is not something that you should try for the first time when the power goes out for days.

00:12:57.714 --> 00:13:01.234
Yeah, I will say this is the first world, and isn't it almost ironic?

00:13:01.234 --> 00:13:04.511
First world problems, all right, first world problems.

00:13:04.511 --> 00:13:08.408
We are literally at our wit's end, and I say we, like collectively.

00:13:08.408 --> 00:13:13.529
I'm not, you know, criticizing, but we are at our wit's end because we haven't had power since Tuesday.

00:13:14.513 --> 00:13:17.666
How about you live your life like this on the daily right?

00:13:17.666 --> 00:13:19.169
You don't have fresh water.

00:13:19.169 --> 00:13:31.591
You've got to walk to a water source, maybe get eaten by something, only so you can bring suspect water back, and if you don't boil it, clean it, sanitize it, you're probably going to die right?

00:13:31.591 --> 00:13:34.077
We have a friend of ours, and think about this one.

00:13:34.077 --> 00:13:43.379
We don't have power, but we still have water, right, and because we have a gas water heater, we still have hot water.

00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:45.130
We have a gas stove.

00:13:45.130 --> 00:13:57.298
Now, it's an electric igniter, but if you turn the gas up carefully, low light it with a flame source, you can use the stovetop to cook, right.

00:13:58.167 --> 00:13:59.230
I don't recommend doing this.

00:13:59.230 --> 00:14:01.452
I wouldn't do it after the power comes back on.

00:14:01.452 --> 00:14:08.346
But you, you know, we have friends of ours who have, um, uh, groundwater, well water, all right.

00:14:08.346 --> 00:14:09.528
Well, guess what?

00:14:09.528 --> 00:14:12.855
They have well water and the pump is electric.

00:14:12.855 --> 00:14:16.791
So not only are they without light, but their house is also without water.

00:14:16.791 --> 00:14:24.645
You know, I'm not making light of this without water.

00:14:24.645 --> 00:14:26.410
You know, not making light of this but pump, the complaint breaks just a little bit.

00:14:26.431 --> 00:14:31.113
All right, hey, and another thing too, totally, totally sympathetic for people who work from home.

00:14:31.113 --> 00:14:35.330
You know, no internet creating a Wi-Fi from your phone.

00:14:35.330 --> 00:14:36.876
It's not ideal, it's not.

00:14:36.876 --> 00:14:37.881
There's some limitations.

00:14:37.881 --> 00:14:40.650
You know this sucks.

00:14:40.650 --> 00:14:48.427
Anyone who thinks it doesn't is probably a colonial pioneer caught in some type of time vortex, like a Daniel Boone perhaps.

00:14:48.427 --> 00:14:50.433
Huh, davy Crockett.

00:14:51.885 --> 00:14:55.010
Anyway, I'm not making fun, but just hang in there.

00:14:55.010 --> 00:14:57.110
Do what you can to help.

00:14:57.110 --> 00:14:59.712
If you can't help, encourage.

00:14:59.712 --> 00:15:03.995
If you can't encourage, shut your cake hole, all right.

00:15:03.995 --> 00:15:09.215
All right, it's good to be back, even if it's sporadic.

00:15:09.215 --> 00:15:12.870
Right, as soon as power comes back on.

00:15:12.870 --> 00:15:14.335
Check it out.

00:15:14.335 --> 00:15:18.168
There's a movie with Kirk Douglas, a series on stars.

00:15:18.168 --> 00:15:21.736
I think it was my three, four seasons, sporadicus.

00:15:21.736 --> 00:15:29.767
See what I did there.

00:15:29.767 --> 00:15:30.227
It's a gladiator movie.

00:15:30.227 --> 00:15:30.910
All right, listen, have a great day.

00:15:30.910 --> 00:15:32.296
Don't know what the weather's supposed to be like today.

00:15:32.296 --> 00:15:33.941
Don't care, because guess what work still has to get done.

00:15:33.941 --> 00:15:44.682
All right, all right, everyone remember the whole point, for this was a shout-out to Kappa Sigma at Teal College, greenville, pa, the young men of K-SIG.

00:15:44.682 --> 00:15:51.190
All right, you guys have a great weekend and remember Monday, cinco de Mayo.

00:15:51.190 --> 00:15:52.311
Have fun.

Powerless but Not Hopeless: Weathering Life's Storms

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