Purely Personal

Halloween Handiwork

Posted by Chris Berry on October 31, 2008 in Purely Personal

The street we live on is famous throughout the Roanoke Valley for being a great place for trick or treaters. It’s the kind of place parents drop off kids by the carload from other parts of town. Residents of the two block stretch of Stanley Avenue between 24th and 26th street will have upwards [...]

How Many Of Us Earn A Truly Honest Living?

Posted by Chris Berry on October 29, 2008 in Jobs and Careers, Purely Personal

Yesterday I wrote about the son of Senator Ted Stevens making a lucrative career out of trading on his father’s name. The case of Ben Stevens is remarkable since he truly had nothing to offer his clients other than access to his dad. In return for this access, he was paid millions of dollars in [...]

An Update On Man’s Best And Most Expensive Friends

Posted by Chris Berry on October 15, 2008 in Purely Personal

Back in June I wrote about my two dogs and their ongoing health concerns. If you didn’t read the original post, this probably won’t make much sense. Since that time, Grover has suffered another nearly fatal bout of pancreatitis and endured several more grand mal seizures. His massive daily dose of Phenobarbital is gradually becoming [...]

Reflections On A Sunday Walk Down Memory Lane

Posted by Chris Berry on October 13, 2008 in Purely Personal, Roanoke Valley

I’ve taken to walking recently, in part to counteract the inevitable weight gain and the mind numbing boredom that come along with months of unemployment. I try to walk anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours each day, and I’ve developed a favorite route that I take at least 3 times per week. From my [...]

Someone Please Tell Me If I’ve Lost My Mind

Posted by Chris Berry on September 30, 2008 in Introversion, Purely Personal

I started this blog in March, primarily to occupy my time while I was unemployed. My original intention was to focus on local economic development issues, but over time I’ve strayed from that path and written about everything from healthcare to introversion. It has provided me with an opportunity to carefully formulate my thoughts on [...]

Why I Stay In Roanoke

Posted by Chris Berry on September 23, 2008 in Purely Personal, Roanoke Valley

Even though I have been unemployed for the past six months, the idea of leaving Roanoke to seek opportunities elsewhere has rarely entered my mind. In my younger days I was always prepared to pack up and relocate to take advantage of an opportunity for career advancement. This quest led me to a number of [...]

A Father’s Dream Come True

Posted by Chris Berry on August 25, 2008 in Purely Personal

I took my son to play golf on Saturday, something I’ve been looking forward to since the day he was born. This was a big deal to me for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I truly love the game and I hope that Robert will one day share my enthusiasm. It was also [...]

Looking For Work That Brings Out The Best In Me

Posted by Chris Berry on August 20, 2008 in Introversion, Jobs and Careers, Purely Personal

One of the challenging aspects of my personality type is the fact that my mind bombards me with a constant stream of new ideas. Some are big, some are small, and they are rarely related to one another. I might have an idea for an entirely new product or service one day, and a unique [...]

Blogger’s Guilt

Posted by Chris Berry on July 24, 2008 in Purely Personal, Writing and Blogging

Even though I started this blog purely as a means of self-expression, I’ve begun to feel guilty whenever I go for more than a couple of days without posting. It’s not as if I’m getting paid for doing this, or anyone out there is just dying to know what I’ll have to say next. I [...]

Now I Know Why People Hate Microsoft

Posted by Chris Berry on June 30, 2008 in Purely Personal, Writing and Blogging

I’ve always defended Bill Gates whenever anyone criticized Microsoft for it’s virtual monopoly in PC operating systems and desktop applications. I remember the days before MS-DOS and Microsoft Office, and the total lack of standards made it virtually impossible to share documents with anyone who wasn’t on the same system. One of the major reasons [...]

Is Introversion An Inherited Trait?

Posted by Chris Berry on June 18, 2008 in Introversion, Purely Personal

Recently I’ve become fascinated observing the way my son interacts with other children. At the age of three, he is developing distinctive personality traits that remind me of myself, and it leaves me wondering whether personality types can be inherited. Thanks to Mr. Mendel and his peas, we have a pretty complete understanding of the [...]

Man’s Best And Most Expensive Friends

Posted by Chris Berry on June 10, 2008 in Purely Personal

During all of the years that my wife and I tried unsuccessfully to have a child, we were one of those couples who lavished all their attention on dogs. My sister once told me I wouldn’t love them the same way once we had a “real” child. I refused to believe her at the time, [...]

The Joy Of Home Ownership

Posted by Chris Berry on May 16, 2008 in Purely Personal

When my wife and I moved to Roanoke in the late fall of 2002, we were faced with a real challenge finding a home. Searching for a house involved driving roughly 1200 miles back and forth from Lockport, NY, and we made the trip twice before we found something we could agree on. There normally [...]

Choose A Career That Fits

Posted by Chris Berry on April 4, 2008 in Introversion, Jobs and Careers, Purely Personal

I’ve spent a great deal of time lately trying to figure out what to do for the next stage of my working life. As a serial career changer, I’ve been through the process before, and each time I re-evaluate the possibilities, I become more convinced that the key to success lies in understanding myself. Finding [...]

Farewell To Foodies

Posted by Chris Berry on April 4, 2008 in Jobs and Careers, Purely Personal

Tuesday evening I performed my last official act in connection with Foodies. After dedicating 4 years of my life to the company, I had expected that it would be very difficult to walk away. Fortunately, I’ve had several months to adjust to the idea while I continued to teach classes for the new owners. When [...]