Author: Mike

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In this Thanksgiving Day episode, Mike reflects on the holiday, family, and the evolving character of Traverse City. It’s a bittersweet year—his family’s first Thanksgiving without his dad—but also a moment to appreciate traditions, good food, and time spent together.

From recent crime stories to long-standing local quirks, Mike explores whether Traverse City still feels like the small town he grew up in. He shares personal stories, local history, neighborhood breakdowns, and observations about everything from fast food failures to the layout of the airport and high schools.

Topics Covered

Thanksgiving Reflections

• Sending well-wishes to listeners celebrating the holiday.

• The first Thanksgiving without Mike’s dad and the tradition of leaving an empty chair at the table.

Is Traverse City Still a Small Town?

• Recent unusual crime events:

  • The Walmart stabbing last summer.

  • A fatal parking-deck shooting involving car break-ins.

  • An attempted abduction at the Meijer gas station.

• Why these big incidents still feel like “small-town news.”

Population & Geography

• 2020 Census: About 16,000 people inside Traverse City limits.

• Metro area: ~153,000 across four counties (Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Kalkaska).

• Mike’s spot just outside the city—technically East Bay Township, but “still Traverse City” in daily life.

Neighborhoods & Areas Mentioned

• Downtown District

• Traverse Heights

• Old Town

• Central Neighborhoods

• Greilickville

• Acme / Williamsburg

• “Miracle Mile” – hotels and tourist strip on the bay

Tourism & Seasons

• Summer vs. winter crowds

• Winter visitors: snowmobilers, skiers, ice fishermen

• Bars downtown still feel local and familiar in the off-season

Traverse City Schools

• Current schools: Central, West, Traverse City High School (Mavericks), plus Catholic Central.

• Stories about the old buildings, snow-exposed walkways, and campus redesigns.

• The near-identical design of TC West and the Columbine High School campus.

Airports & Travel

• Cherry Capital Airport still feels small—Mike knows most of the airline and TSA staff.

• No Amtrak service in Traverse City yet; nearest connections are Grand Rapids or Holland.

• Mike’s go-to workaround: driving to New Buffalo to catch the train to Chicago.

Parking & Downtown Life

• Legacy of parking meters (now digital), plus multiple parking decks.

• Cherry Festival setup: rides, games, food stands—including local favorite Gibby Fries.

• Arnold Amusements (based in Acme) runs many Michigan carnivals.

Roundabouts, Traffic, and Small-Town Quirks

• Late-night flashing signals

• The ongoing roundabout debate

• Getting across town in only ~15 minutes even on a busy day

Fast Food in Traverse City – A Unique Landscape

• Chains that didn’t survive: several McDonald’s, Burger Kings, Arby’s, Ruby Tuesday, Hooters

• Three Meijer stores serving the area (original, Acme/Williamsburg, and soon Chum’s Corners)

• Local burger highlights: Slabtown Burgers, Bubba’s, Eastfield’s Proper Burger (with commentary)

Local Dining Identity

• Traverse City tends to favor local restaurants over big chains

• Well-loved local Mexican places like La Señorita

Closing Thoughts

Mike wraps up with a warm Thanksgiving message—hoping listeners enjoy good food, family, and gratitude—and shares appreciation for being able to create a daily episode for NaPodPoMo.

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In this episode, Mike takes a break from Northern Michigan stories and heads far north—way far north—to share memories from his year living in Keflavik, Iceland in the early 1990s while serving in the U.S. Air Force.

Life on the NATO Base

Mike talks about being assigned to Naval Air Station Keflavik, a joint-base environment with Air Force, Navy, Marines, and other NATO personnel. He recounts working with the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron – the Black Knights, maintaining F-15 electrical and environmental systems, and occasionally pulling duty in “FISneyland,” the alert barn for interceptor operations.

The Journey to Get There

Before Iceland came a whirlwind of military orders:

• Originally headed to remote Galena, Alaska, the Air Force cancelled those orders at the last minute.

• The next day, new orders arrived sending him to Keflavik instead.

• He completed F-15 training at Tyndall AFB in Florida, drove across the country, shipped his belongings, and ultimately hopped a Hawaiian Airlines DC-8 from Philadelphia to Iceland—a strange but memorable experience.

Daily Life Before the Internet

Mike recalls what it was like living overseas before modern connectivity:

• Expensive phone calls back to the States ($1.06 per minute!)

• Mail arriving once a week on the “rotator” DC-8

• Magazines being precious entertainment

• Trading software, playing early PC games, and marveling at a 286 computer with 1MB of RAM

• A handful of TV channels including AFRTS, BBC, RTL4, and Sky News/Sports

Food, Weather, and Icelandic Oddities

Mike shares a mix of practical and quirky details:

• The legendary Icelandic hot dogs (a recurring theme!)

• Navy chow halls, the USO, and Friday fish fries with cod caught the same day

• Wild weather with winds over 100 mph, handrails along sidewalks, and dumpsters blowing around

• Surprisingly mild temperatures thanks to the Gulf Stream

• Extreme daylight shifts—near-constant darkness in winter and 24-hour light in summer

Exploring Iceland

During his tour, Mike bought a quirky little Škoda 120 and used it to explore beyond the base. He describes:

• Driving through the first roundabouts he’d ever seen

• Visiting the Hard Rock Café in Reykjavik, where one of his Idaho ham-radio license plates hung from the ceiling

• Cheap hops on Navy P-3 “airline-style” flights to London or Shannon, Ireland

• Customs rules that prohibited gas cans, extra cigarettes, and oddly… cassette tapes

Looking Back

Mike reflects on how much Iceland has changed—from relatively untouched in the early ’90s to a major European travel destination today. He also notes a past interview he did on the All Things Iceland podcast in May 2020, sharing more of his experiences from that era.

I appeared on an episode of All Things Iceland Episode 61 in May of 2020. 

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In this episode, Mike rewinds the clock to January 1978 and relives one of the most legendary winter storms in Michigan history — not as an adult, but as the 12-year-old kid he was at the time. Join Mike as he shares what it was like watching the storm unfold on TV and Radio as the local weather team track the impossible, and experiencing the chaos, excitement, and wonder of a once-in-a-generation blizzard.

From the snow drifts taller than a kid to the surreal quiet of a world that completely shut down, this episode captures the Blizzard of ’78 as only someone who lived it — wide-eyed and bundled up — can tell it.

Mike sets the scene by sharing that he had just celebrated his birthday when the blizzard began, remembering how he had a pizza party at home after his father picked up Sicilian square pizza from a local place called Little Richard’s. He recalls the excitement in the air as TV news talked about the potential for a blizzard.

On the morning of January 26, schools were closed as drifts of snow created significant chaos. Mike describes how everything was completely buried under the snow, with even the antenna of his mother’s car barely visible. The storm had high winds, creating massive drifts and making travel impossible. He recounts the challenges of feeding horses at a nearby barn and how his family navigated the snow-laden landscape.

He humorously shares anecdotes about the struggles of shoveling snow with his cousin and their father using a 1970 John Deere lawn tractor equipped with a snowblower. After several days, the roads began to open again, and stories about neighbors and their interactions during the storm emerge, including a humorous tale about a front-end loader being used to deliver cigarettes to a stranded neighbor.

As the storm’s impact persisted, schools were closed for an entire week, and the community adapted to the extraordinary amount of snow with creative solutions like snowshoeing for transportation. Mike also describes his memories of hot soups simmering on the wood stove during the storm, a comforting detail from those winter days.

He revisits the enormous snowbanks that formed by the season’s end, making comparisons to today’s weather reactions and reminiscing about the blizzard’s lasting impact. Mike wraps up by inviting listeners who experienced the Blizzard of ’78 to share their stories and reflecting on how this blizzard remains a notable part of his childhood memory.

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In this episode of “Mike Dell’s World,” Mike Dell explores various airports located north of Traverse City, Michigan. He begins the show by introducing himself and referencing the previous episode about flight schools and aviation-related topics in the area. He explains that he will be discussing other airports he has flown to or has connections with, utilizing ForeFlight, an electronic flight bag, for reference.

Mike starts with Antrim County Airport (KACB), located northeast of Traverse City near Bellaire. He describes it as a small airport without a control tower in class E airspace, where pilots announce their locations on a common traffic frequency. He shares his experiences doing touch-and-go landings, low passes for practice, and highlights the airport’s amenities, including fuel services and a comfortable lounge.

Next, he moves further north to Pellston Airport, noting its significance as an airport with scheduled airline service and a restaurant on-site, which he humorously labels a “hundred dollar hamburger” destination. He continues to mention Charlevoix Airport, which hosts Island Airways that services Beaver Island. He details the two airports on Beaver Island but admits he has not landed there.

Mike then discusses Gaylord Regional Airport and Gaylord Airport, emphasizing their runway lengths and his experiences landing there. He contrasts this with Kalkaska City Airport, where he recalls the challenges of landing on a narrower runway. He also talks about Frankfurt Airport, sharing similar landing difficulties due to its relatively short and narrow runway.

He proceeds to describe Manistee County Airport, known for its changing airlines and essential air service. He mentions Cadillac Wexford County Airport, highlighting a unique grass runway formerly used for gliders, which is no longer operational. He shares experiences of flying over various other airports like Mackinac Island and Saint Ignace, where approaches involve over-water flights.

Mike mentions historic Acme Skyport Airport, which has been revived, and Thompsonville Airport, where he had an ultralight flying experience. He also reflects on Wertz Smith Airport, once a large military base with a long runway, describing his future intentions to visit.

Throughout the episode, Mike humorously shares insights about his experiences at these airports, including the challenges of landing, the uniqueness of each location, and the importance of navigating various airspaces, especially concerning military operation areas.

He concludes the episode by teasing that his next episode will cover his memories of the Blizzard of ’78 as a twelve-year-old.

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In this episode of “Mike Dell’s World,” host Mike Dell introduces the topic of aviation schools in Traverse City, specifically focusing on the Cherry Capital Airport and the various training facilities available there. The episode begins with Mike’s greeting and reflection on previous discussions about the airport.

He discusses two primary aviation schools: Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) and Giving Wings Aviation. NMC Aviation School is notable for training airline pilots, offering private, commercial, multi-engine, and instructor ratings. Mike highlights the school’s good track record for graduating pilots and mentions the newly renovated facilities and the experienced leader, a former 747 pilot. He emphasizes how NMC graduates often proceed to airlines or corporate flying jobs.

On the other hand, Giving Wings Aviation is a smaller school that provides a more laid-back environment for training, mainly focusing on private and sport pilot licenses, although they used to offer multi-engine and seaplane training. Mike shares his own experiences flying with Giving Wings, appreciating the convenience of having the school nearby.

Mike also mentions the aviation program at a local high school and the involvement of the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) in mentoring the students. He transitions to discussing Legacy Aviation, a unique aviation maintenance school that offers a 12-month program for aircraft mechanics, providing students with certification and tools upon graduation.

In addition, Mike discusses further options for aspiring pilots, including a new flight school at Cadillac Airport about an hour away and a seaplane training program. He briefly touches on the Coast Guard air station in Traverse City, noting that Coast Guard members go through helicopter training at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

Finally, Mike summarizes the various training options in Traverse City, pointing out the challenges posed by winter weather for flying. He wraps up the episode by teasing a future discussion about other airports in the region.

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In this episode of “Mike Dell’s World,” host Mike Dell provides a laid-back update on his day and upcoming plans. He begins by acknowledging the date, November 22, 2025, and mentions participating in Napod Pomo (National Podcast Post Month) on its twenty-second day. Mike shares details about his relaxed day, including a visit to the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) hangar talk session, which he humorously refers to as a coffee klatch.

He recounts dropping off his friend Kathy at the hospital for an MRI and then enjoying coffee with friends at the hangar. Afterward, he goes shopping at Costco, describing it as busy and noting the efficiency of their checkout lines despite the long queues.

Later, Mike reflects on his day and decides to record an episode since he hadn’t done so the night before. He briefly outlines his plans for the rest of November, which include episodes covering topics like the local aviation community, his memories of the Blizzard of ’78, his experiences living in Keflavik, Iceland in the early ’90s, and thoughts on Traverse City as a small town.

He also shares upcoming content related to the Northern Michigan asylum, now known as Grand Traverse Commons, and mentions the idea of potentially starting a daily five-minute show called “Coffee with Mike.” Mike discusses his other commitments, including his weekly show “Podcast Insider” and his role as a rotating guest host on another podcast.

He talks about preparing for the Podfest Expo in Florida, where he will be speaking and sponsoring an event. Mike reflects on the passing of his company’s founder and looks forward to representing the company at the expo.

Towards the end of the episode, he mentions some technical challenges his company has faced, including issues with CloudFlare and software glitches, but reassures listeners that everything is resolved. He wraps up by sharing his evening plans of having steak and baked potatoes for dinner, humorously noting his return to a keto diet. He concludes by inviting feedback from listeners regarding his potential daily show, and expresses excitement for discussing aviation in the next episode.

The artwork for this episode is creepy AI generated. Geez. 🙂

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In this episode titled “Ham Radio (Amateur Radio),” host Mike Dell reflects on his youth prior to the Internet and video games, mentioning his limited interaction with CB radio rather than ham radio. He explains the differences between CB and ham radio, particularly the wider range and more diverse frequencies available to amateur radio operators.

Mike discusses the various frequency bands in ham radio, starting with UHF, VHF, and HF, detailing their uses and characteristics. He explains concepts like frequency modulation (FM) and amplitude modulation (AM), along with how repeater stations work to extend transmission ranges. Mike also recounts his personal experiences with these frequencies, mentioning how he engaged with fellow hams while fishing and discussing the unique phenomena of tropospheric ducting that allowed him to communicate long distances.

He then dives into specific bands, starting with the two-meter band, explaining its popularity, accessibility for new technicians, and how equipment like inexpensive radios can enable communication across towns. Mike also shares anecdotes about his experiences and connections with other ham operators, emphasizing the camaraderie within the amateur radio community.

Continuing, he describes several other HF bands, explaining each band’s unique properties, propagation characteristics, and modes of communication available within them. Mike touches on historical aspects of obtaining licenses, mentioning how the requirements have shifted over the years, specifically noting the discontinuation of Morse code testing for access to ham radio.

Additionally, Mike elaborates on various digital modes that have emerged within ham radio, contrasting them with traditional radio communication, and shares fond memories of his early experiences, such as using packet radio to send messages to his father before email became commonplace.

As the episode wraps up, Mike reflects on the significance of ham radio in his life, noting how it has helped him form lasting friendships and connections. He concludes by expressing his commitment to the hobby and the joy he finds in it, inviting listeners to explore the world of amateur radio and reminding them that he will return for the next episode.

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In this episode, Mike Dell digs into “how to drive in the snow” — timely for Northern Michigan (and anywhere else where winter hits) and packed with practical advice from his experience.

Key Topics Covered:

The importance of reducing speed when roads get snowy — Mike’s rule of thumb: about 10 mph less than the posted speed limit when snow first covers the roads.

• Planning extra time for trips: leaving earlier, anticipating traffic delays and slower conditions.

• Tire considerations:

  • Ensuring you have good tires — if you’re riding on bald all-seasons or summer tires, winter traction will suffer.

  • The value of genuine snow tires (Mike’s wife uses Nokian Hakkapeliitta).

  • Using your 4-wheel drive / all-wheel drive appropriately: yes, it can help with takeoff, but it does not help you stop any faster.

• Practicing skid control: find an empty parking lot and experiment with sliding, skids, recovery — to build feel and confidence before you have to use it on a public road.

• Clearing your vehicle of snow & ice before driving: windows, side & back, even the roof can matter (if snow slides forward, covers your windshield).

• Vehicle maintenance tips for winter: topping off washer fluid, checking tires, inflation, fluid levels, making sure everything is in good shape before the real winter hits.

• The overarching message: slow down, leave earlier, prepare your vehicle, drive mindfully — all so you avoid bending your car, hurting someone, or getting stuck in a snowbank.

Quote Highlights:

“Don’t ever be in a hurry while driving on snow.”

“Just please, please realize … four-wheel drive does not make you stop any quicker.”

“If you’re not used to driving in snow, go find an empty parking lot … figure out when the car goes out of control and how to get it back.”

Why this matters:

For those of us flying, working, commuting or traveling in winter-weather regions (like Northern Michigan), conditions can change rapidly. The same mindset of preparation and respect for environment that applies in aviation carries over to road driving: equipment (tires, maintenance), environment (snow/ice, slower speeds), and mindset (leave earlier, anticipate, stay calm). This episode is a great reminder to apply that disciplined approach to driving when the snow starts.

What’s Next:

Mike mentions he’ll be talking about ham radio stuff in the next episode — so stay tuned.

Who’s this for:

• Drivers in winter-weather climates looking for refresher tips.

• Anyone who owns a 4WD/AWD vehicle and doesn’t fully understand its limitations in snow.

• People who might have to drive in snow but don’t feel confident — this could help build awareness and reduce risk.

• Listeners who appreciate aviation-style pre-flight (pre-drive?) checklists and disciplined preparation.

Call to Action:

• Before the next snow, check your vehicle: tires, fluids, wipers/washer fluid, defroster, windows.

• Practice a skid-recovery session in a safe, empty area.

• When roads get snowy—slow down, leave earlier, and remember your stopping distance grows.

• Share this episode with someone you know who may not be comfortable driving in snow.

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In today’s episode of Mike Dell’s World, Mike reflects on the hectic pace of life, the whirlwind of Zoom meetings, and the importance of being intentional about slowing down. After a long, stressful year marked by personal challenges and the loss of Blubrry’s founder, Mike shares how he’s planning to reclaim some peace and quiet this winter.

He talks about waking up too early, back-to-back Zoom calls, and the extra layer of chaos that comes when major services like Cloudflare go down. But mixed into all that is a message: it’s okay to pause, to set boundaries, and to purposely not be busy.

This winter, Mike plans to simplify things—like leaving the tractor at his mom’s place for driveway clearing, taking snowshoe walks, heating with wood by the fireplace, and carving out real downtime to read, relax, or just get bored on purpose.

He also talks about how constant digital distractions make it hard to truly unwind—like instinctively grabbing the phone for YouTube Shorts the moment a show is paused. Maybe boredom isn’t such a bad thing.

Mike wraps up by teasing tomorrow’s episode on winter driving—something that pairs perfectly with the theme of slowing down.

Episode Highlights

• A day of nonstop Zoom calls and early wake-ups

• Reflecting on a stressful year and big life changes

• Losing Blubrry founder Todd Cochrane and navigating the transition

• Handling winter chores differently this year

• The value of intentional downtime and not over-committing

• Heating with wood and embracing cozy winter days

• Tech dependence, boredom, and the lure of YouTube Shorts

• Cloudflare outages and customer anxiety

• A preview of tomorrow’s topic: winter driving

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Today I talk about heating with wood and a little bit about Podcasting.