Michael Fitzgerald

4 weeks ago | fltimes.com | Michael Fitzgerald

Whenever any remodeling gets underway at my floating home northwest of Portland, I vamoose quickly, often to somewhere many ZIP codes away. I take my leave with my wife’s blessing and encouragement. She doesn’t want me underfoot, stressing about the demolition, noise, dust, constant banging of hammers, and, of course, inevitable cost overruns. I don’t worry. She is a good manager of the expert worker bees we hire.

1 month ago | fltimes.com | Michael Fitzgerald

When can we expect Greenidge Generation’s combination cryptocurrency-power plant operation to comply with New York State law about air quality and clean up its act? Maybe never, unless the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation prevails in a long-running legal tussle between the two. Here’s an idea, Greenidge. Instead of continuing to pour dollars into this legal battle — or in your case, bitcoins, I suppose — just comply with the bloody law and clean up your greenhouse gas emissions. Really.

1 month ago | fltimes.com | Michael Fitzgerald

Yes, Mother’s Day was last Sunday. That’s when newspapers and media were flooded with Mother’s Day tributes, photos and stories, including a very clever and touching piece by Finger Lakes Times Publisher Mike Cutillo. If my mother was still alive, she might arch an eyebrow questioning why I was penning a Mother’s Day column today instead of last Friday. But then she would shrug her shoulders. After my tumultuous teenage years, one day she suddenly trusted me.

1 month ago | fltimes.com | Michael Fitzgerald

Plenty of would-be tourists to the United States — even U.S. citizens — are asking the same question. Just how safe is it to travel? Media reports and social media commentary are revealing how U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and other immigration officials are ramping up questioning and detaining travelers at airports and border crossings. Including U.S. citizens. People say they have been questioned aggressively and had documents, phones, and computers examined.

1 month ago | fltimes.com | Michael Fitzgerald

When my oldest son was born in 1970, the trajectory of my life changed radically. Until his birth I was — in today’s terms — kind of a slacker. Married and working, but unmotivated, coasting along through life without clear a purpose. But when my wife’s pregnancy went from abstract to very real with the birth of Jason, I went into full “Oh my God, I’m a father!” hyperdrive. My life has pretty much stayed in that gear ever since.