WTH BWB April 3, 2026
March 30, 2026
Greetings All!
Normally for a Bliggity-Blog that’s due at the end of this week, I would have started entries LAST week but alas, I have been bitten by the Podcast Bug and have been doing ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to learn about this new (to me) form of presentation to the vast World of the Internet.
For those of you who are just tuning in, that’s okay. I was interviewed for a 1-hour (yes, 60 whole minutes) by a gentleman and Kurt Vonnegut Aficionado named Max Goller for the Podcast Sacred Legions. The name is based on the Vonnegut quote: “You meet saints everywhere. They can be anywhere. They are people behaving decently in an indecent society.”
I am by no means a saint. Not because I behave badly but rather because I’m just gullible enough to have said “Yes” a few too many times to things that many people would turn tail and flee from.
It wasn’t until last year that I learned that there’s more than just the “Fight” or “Flight” response. There are two more, one is “Freeze” which is what a good friend and volunteer of mine does when she is faced with a crisis or challenge involving her own welfare. That’s why I try to be there for her anytime I can.
The other response is sadly what I succumb to way too often and that’s “Fawn.”
I just realized they’re four words beginning with the consonant or letter “F” which makes me want to reach out and Google or Duck Duck Go the origin of the draft board’s expression of someone being “Four F” and ineligible for active military duty. Here’s what it said when I Googled it…
“In the U.S. Selective Service System, 4-F is a classification for individuals deemed unfit for military service due to physical, mental, or moral reasons. It designates someone as "not acceptable" for duty in the Armed Forces, usually determined during medical or administrative screenings at a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS).”
April 4, 2026
Here it is, one day late and one day before Easter Sunday but it’s not due to my laziness. There’s just been a shipload of things going on, GOOD things mind you. Where do I start?
No REALLY… Where do I start?
Well, this week, Thursday to be exact, I attended the Fusion Bangor get together at the Old Town Orono YMCA and it was a good turnout, and Lisa Maxcy was able to attend. It was so funny when she asked me if she could come with her husband, Dale. Of COURSE! Welcome To Housing is nothing if not INCLUSIVE.
Not only did they attend, but they also met a LOT of people. She joined me in handing out the new promotional Welcome To Housing pens with the logo and web address on them and talking to those in attendance. Before the night was over, they gave me a chance to share what Welcome To Housing is all about and mentioned the challenge to Fusion Bangor to sponsor or host an event. I specifically spoke about the Pajama-Rama. The icing on the cake included the fact that Lisa won a small Weber grill and her husband won a really large Bluetooth speaker.
The other cool thing was meeting a gentleman who is a Maine State Trooper. He was dressed in a suit, not his uniform, so it was a nice surprise for me, because I always like meeting law enforcement and firefighters as they deal with people directly, cops with people escaping domestic violence and of course firefighters help people displaced by housefires.
He asked me if we ever networked with the Maine State Police and I said we hadn’t but would very much like to do that. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, I wore my DOT wristband. I had quite a few people scan it for my contact information and “socials.” It was FUN as it was a novelty to most folks and it shared all the things I wanted them to have and I even included my new Gmail account for my new Podcast I’m working on setting up.
So, this State Trooper actually responded to the DOT wristband, meaning once he linked to my contact information, he shared his contact information. It took be a while to realize it was him as it didn’t mention his occupation, but I was thinking it was him when I saw the email suffix of Maine dot gov.
So I contacted the Chamber of Commerce office to see if they had the name of the trooper as I wanted to be sure my assumption didn’t make an ass out of “U” and “Me.”
I wrote and sent an email with the idea of seeing if he wanted to work with me and reach out to Maine’s different law enforcement organizations like the Maine Chiefs of Police, the Maine Sheriff’s Association.
“Dear David,
I hope all is well for you. It was a real pleasure meeting you last night at the Fusion Bangor gathering.
I wanted to see if I could catch up to you sometime perhaps in the coming weeks. There is a great program called Meathead Movers and one of the things that they do is help people displaced by domestic violence.
What they do for free and working with student athletes is go back into the home where a family has been displaced by an abuser and they actually pack up and remove many things that are often left behind like clothing, toys, and things of sentimental value. Some of these sorts of things are held almost like ransom by the abuser.
I heard about them several years ago and I thought it would be great to see if we could work together with the different law enforcement organizations around the state of Maine and contact some of the moving companies and some of the colleges and universities to see if we could put something like this together. If we were to move forward with it what I would like to do is get in touch with this organization and learn as much as we can to see if we can implement something like this here in Maine.
Thank you so very much and when you have a chance just let me know if this is something that you would like to look into with me, I have posted or rather pasted the information from their site below.
I hope you have a wonderful Easter and a peaceful weekend.
Sincerely yours,
Christopher Olsen”
Meathead Movers
https://www.meatheadmovers.com/
Mission Statement
Meathead Movers is revolutionizing the moving industry one relationship at a time. We are accomplishing this by providing the first client and employee focused moving service. Our founding principle is to support athletes working in pursuit of their dream career path, and that will never change. We work hard, have fun, and serve our community by providing premium moving services as well as assisting victims of domestic violence with a fresh start in life.
Here’s what I wrote, and I included the Lieutenant Columbo style, “One more thing…”
“I actually lost the original email I was sending to you somewhere in my phone but the other aspect of this program is the fact that they take all these items in either put them in storage for free until the family has a safe place to live or if the family is already in a safe place they can actually deliver right to that home again at no cost to the family.”
Other things happening in the world of Welcome To Housing is that when shoppers at the Hogan Road Hannaford (near the Bangor Mall) all through the month of April purchase a reuseable “Community Bag” for $2.50, $1.00 of that amount will be donated to Welcome To Housing.
The store manager who set it up for us is Vic Wood. I have known Vic since I worked at the Maine State Chapter, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. Vic was at Hannaford as he still is today and he volunteered at the WalkAmerica events, most memorably driving the van behind the last walkers in case anyone’s ankles gave out or they were just too pooped to pop and finish the 6+ mile walk.
I also ran into Vic at the Bowl For Kids’ Sake fundraisers when he came out with other Hannaford Associates.
Well, this time around they’re giving WTH a $1 for every Community Reuseable shopping bag at the Hogan Road Hannaford in Bangor thanks to Vic Wood. The promotion goes on all month long for April. Then in a follow up email, Vic told me they’ll be doing something similar in December with flower bouquets.
Closing out for this Bi-Weekly blog, the solar panels will be going up, all 24 panels, on two different sections of the Warehouse. The metal roofed, 1820s house around the 21st of this month.
A lot more but again, I need to get this up and running to Joe Lawlot to post it on the web site.
Be on the lookout next time for the details on my Podcasting Plans and how they will progress to create: People, Places and Parables.
My best to all of you out there in Welcometohousingland.
Sincerely yours,
Christopher Olsen
welcometohousing@gmail.com
(207) 745-1287
People, Places & Plants
Podcast Information Email: cpod04401@gmail.com
