Retired Techie in PDX: The Podcast

This week, my podcast is a few days late, but for the best reason. Our younger daughter and her partner came to Portland for a few days before Thanksgiving. She’s now headed to New Jersey to spend the holiday with her older sister! The past few days have been a perfect mix of family time, including a trip to the Columbia Employee Store, a karaoke night, and a series of cribbage games at home. (Mar...

I technically met four out of four of my New Year’s resolutions this year. So why do I feel like I failed all of them? On Thursday before heading out to beers, one of our friends asked me about my progress on my New Year’s resolutions. After all, she said, we still have over a month to get our goals over the finishline. I wrote a past Substack article on my 2025 New Year’s resolutions. I don’t nor...

After a few weeks straight of posts about politics, I’ve decided to revisit another aspect of this Substack, this time focusing back on the financial side of retirement. Today is November 10, and this is episode 11. While much of the news about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has been about what the government isn’t doing, I thought this week it would make sense to talk about what we can do as citi...

Trump returned from Asia talking about removing the filibuster to pass the appropriations bill and reopen the government. The conflicting desire of Senate Republicans to keep the filibuster was the topic of the Sunday news programs yesterday morning. Here we are, 32 days into the 2025 government shutdown. Ironically, the argument is over failing to break the filibuster on an appropriations bill fo...

This week was another one where I suspected that my phone was listening to my conversations. My feeds were just full of discussion about strikes and boycotts. Today is October 26th, and this is Episode 9. Chicago has become somewhat of a sister city, like Portland, it has become the target of Trump’s regime. Its mayor, Brandon Johnson, called for a general strike. I wanted to share the coverage of...

Today’s post is a day late. After 11 hours in the car yesterday, I wasn’t in the mood to write or record. But now, with some distance, I want to share reflections from my road trip back to the Bay Area—a place I called home for 21 years across two different chapters of my life. Why the Bay Area Still Amazes Me I burned out twice in the Bay Area. Eleven years the first time, ten years the second. A...

We’re now two weeks into the 2025 government shutdown, and the impacts are rippling through every corner of our lives. For us, we’re seeing delayed projects, uncertain travel plans, and we’re watching healthcare for millions hang in the balance. While much the government is shut down, we’re still watching the ICE facility continue to operate, and the federal government spending a lot of effort try...

Today’s post is not written by AI. This week, rather than spewing into the camera, I chose to write more detailed notes, and I’ve included them here. Quick Update on ICE in Portland Here in Portland, the President’s announcement of sending troops into Portland sparked conversations across the political spectrum. Here in Portland, it’s pretty clear that the majority of us, independent of our politi...

This summary was written by AI. Episode Summary In response to Trump’s announcement ordering military troops to Portland, I took my camera on a 6.83-mile evening walk from Northwest Portland to the ICE facility and back through downtown. This video documents what Portland actually looks like on a Saturday night—spoiler alert: it’s not the war zone being described by the administration and social m...

First, my greatest apologies for the video quality this week! I didn’t notice the transcoding errors causing a warbling effect and audio drift until editing, and unfortunately, after I recorded the raw material, it was too late to for me to fix it! I’ll figure it out for next week! This summary was written by AI. Steve returns home to Portland and previews a mix of personal stories, tech reflectio...

This summary was written by AI. 🎉 Top 10 Takeaways from My 40th High School Reunion * Big Turnout, Big Energy: Over a quarter of our class made it—nostalgia and connection are still strong after 40 years! * Question: What’s the most surprising thing about the turnout at your own reunions? * Old Faces, Old Stories: Seeing classmates brought back memories I hadn’t thought of in years—some hilarious...

This summary was written by AI. 🔥 What’s Inside This Week’s Episode: * Politics: “Start with Epstein, but don’t stop there.” Steve dives into the renewed buzz around the Epstein files, Massie’s viral poll, and why bipartisan outrage should lead us to bigger, systemic issues. * Technology: “My podcast theme was made by a robot—and it slaps.” A first-hand look at AI-generated music, how Producer. A...

This summary was written by AI. 🎙️ Episode 001 – Starting Conversations in Retirement Stephen Pao launches his podcast with reflections on life, tech, and culture from Portland, OR. This episode spans personal insights, family finance, tech skepticism, and burger adventures. 🔑 Key Topics Covered: * 🎤 Why a Podcast? Stephen shifts from blogging to podcasting to preserve his authentic voice and es...