Category Archives: Society and Culture
Bringing the Office Home
Our culture of overwork is increasingly pervasive and unhealthy. Perhaps it’s a Westernized thing. Americans work very long hours. Whatever the cause, the symptoms are clear. Time spent at the office oozes away from the plastic, income-producing world of work and seeps into the comfort and familiarity of what was once our lives. All is [...]
Life After School
The end of college is more than a mere turning point. Until this time, most young people have had the “next thing” to look forward to every year of their lives. But what is the next thing? It is the next institution of learning, of course. Sure, finishing high school and saying goodbye to friends, [...]
A Better Career – A Better Life
I’ve noticed a disturbing pattern developing amongst many people who feel trapped in office culture. It’s a pattern that combined an unhealthy dose of complacency, complaining, and a hint of anger. Mix those wonderful traits together with a touch of depression and you have your classic case of burnout: someone who cannot stand their job [...]
Facebook as a Marketing Tool
I fondly remember the late winter days of 2005 when I signed up for a facebook account to help stay connected with some of my friends. At the time, we college kids were thinking of using this site as a place to post funny photos, send messages and share stories in one spot. (At the [...]
The Year’s Biggest Shopping Day
Today. In the U.S. at least. The day after Thanksgiving has been the #1 shopper’s holiday since before I can remember. It is known as Black Friday, and it is the true face of an infectious disease known as consumer insanity. It has become so influential and reaching in its magnitude that there have even [...]
Work From Home Scams
Let’s be honest here: at least once in your life you have clicked on that “work from home” opportunity just out of curiosity. Everyone has. Who wouldn’t want to make a full-time income (or more) while sitting in their pajamas eating frosted flakes? It appeals to the child in us. Work from home scams are [...]
Early Education Pitfalls
In my opinion, elementary school is for three things: Socializing our kids Teaching our kids how to read pre-approved novels, multiply single-digit numbers in their heads, and memorize the “important” presidents like Abe Lincoln, John Quincy Adams and George W. Bush Beating some of their natural curiosity and imagination out of them and replacing it [...]
Minimum Wage
I hear the federal minimum wage in the United States is being raised to $7.25 by 2009. Celebrate good times! I think I’ll do a little dance in the street. Right. While this is a nice little step forward it isn’t really anything most people could hope to actually live on. Why is the minimum [...]
The Death of Intimacy
Scene: Late Fall, 2007, Portland, Oregon. A crowded light-rail train at rush hour close to full with people returning home from work (myself included.) It was just short of 6pm. To my right stood a man in a black suit and blue tie with a briefcase, his head shaved to hide his early-thirties-receding-hairline. He was talking [...]
Simpler Technology
In keeping with this weeks’ theme of simplicity… Our office copier is a state-of-the-art scanner/printer/copy machine/sorter all rolled into one. It’s got multiple settings for different print types, the ability to scan and send files to any computer on our network, and it can print in many, many different colors with high-quality finish. It probably [...]
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