According to today’s issue of the Roanoke Times, the state has reached a settlement with families of the victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech. Details are not clear at this point, but what is known is that “the majority of the families” have agreed to a settlement totaling $11,000,000.00. While I have nothing but [...]
With the start of the Summer Olympic Games just a few short months away, you have to wonder what was going through the minds of the International Olympic Committee members when the games were awarded to Beijing. Forget about the inevitable protests by human rights activists, and forget about the calls for boycotts that will [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
After fighting off a nasty flu for nearly 3 weeks, I decided to hit the golf course yesterday for the first time this month. It was my longest layoff in nearly a year, and I was looking forward to a quiet round by myself. I often play alone because I enjoy the solitude and the [...]
With every new presidential election cycle, the debate over healthcare returns to the front burner of American politics. There is no question that we have major problems with the delivery of healthcare services to the uninsured and underinsured among us. A host of complex factors contribute to the problem, not the least of which are [...]
The last time I had a job with a steady paycheck was 1988. I had never really given this much thought until a couple of days ago when I realized just how remarkable that sounded. This doesn’t mean that I’ve been unemployed for 20 years, only that I haven’t held a traditional 9 to 5 [...]
At a time when our city is in dire need of fresh thinking from our elected leaders, the city council has followed the predictable path in their choice of applicants to interview for the seat vacated by Alfred Dowe. Of the twenty-two people who applied for the seat, council apparently only sees fit to grant [...]
Depending on whose statistics you believe, most of us will change careers between 3 and 7 times during our working lives. We’re not talking about moving from one widget company to another, but switching career fields entirely. Many of these changes will be involuntary, resulting from downsizing or obsolescence. Other changes will be based on [...]
The local papers have been filled lately with articles and letters bemoaning the sad state of the Transportation Museum. Many writers place the blame directly on lack of funding from the city and state, while others seem to suggest that contributors to the new Taubman Museum of Art are somehow responsible, since they haven’t supported [...]