A Success Story

I’ve worked for some fine people over the course of my career.  One of the best was my old manager from my past employer, Chuck Reedy.
I worked for Chuck for two years.  He was a good manager, treating everyone with dignity and respect.  He was dedicated, hard working, and pragmatic.  Unfortunately, Chuck was laid-off in [...]

A Vision Of Two Worlds

I missed last week’s post.  I’m in danger of missing this week’s as well.  There’s so much to do…
When I was laid-off in February, I didn’t anticipate how busy I would be in unemployment.  In the last two weeks, I spent a day’s time applying for food stamps and almost two days reapplying for financial [...]

Stories From Unemployment – 4

Earlier this week, I heard a news report stating the last time the national unemployment rate was this bad was back in the early 1980’s.  I graduated from college in 1983, at the height of the Reagan recession.  I had no interest in pursuing a graduate degree, and there were very few recruiters who visited [...]

Stories From Unemployment 2

It’s now a little over three weeks since the layoff.  The past week has been very busy and challenging, but also extremely rewarding.  One of the things this experience has taught me is that the rest of your life doesn’t end just because you lose your job.
For instance, our boy scout troop has a backpacking [...]

Mind Your Pace

It has now been a little over a week since the layoff.  300 people were let go over two days.  One of them was my friend Brad, who used to work in the IT Department.  The two of us immediately decided to form a support group.
I don’t know how I would have gotten through the [...]

A New Beginning

The rumor mill was buzzing at work when I arrived there on Wednesday:  layoffs were beginning again.  Coworkers were gathered in small groups, speaking in hushed tones.  As the morning dragged on, I overheard anxious and tearful clips of conversations as people passed by in the hallway beyond my cube.  The rumors were true.
I focused [...]

Skating Into The Moment

Sunday our boy scout troop went ice skating at the local rink in Newark, Ohio.  I’m a decent in-line skater, but I hadn’t been on ice skates since I was a teenager.  As it turns out, I’m able to ice skate as well as I roller skate, although my braking abilities leave a lot to [...]

The Miracle Of Seeing Again

The chickens came home to roost this year.
Back when I was in my twenties and my parents were approaching their fifties, I used to pick on them, in a good-natured way, whenever they couldn’t locate their reading glasses.  During visits this past summer, both my father and my mother caught me searching for the inexpensive Walmart [...]

It’s A New Day

Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow’s a mystery.  Today is a gift.  That’s why it’s called the ‘present.’
How many times have we all heard that little adage?  It’s being tossed around so much lately that it has become a little worn, almost cliche.  “Present?  Come over here and I’ll give you your present…with my fist!“
Yes, it’s a [...]