August 27, 2008 by dave.

I believe a significant percentage of individuals dislike or are unhappy with their jobs.  I run across individuals who often complain about their jobs….dread going to work….and develop negative attitudes about their work place.  When asked why they stay in their jobs they say ‘the money’.  Well….this is horrible.  We spend about 40 hours per week in our jobs so we need to enjoy it.

I honestly am very happy in my job.  Like all individuals, I have days where things are rough….or, due to the type of job I have, I get stressed out.  I used to be a lot more stressed about my job because of the impact it has on my work place.  Some of the things I oversee impact all of the faculty, staff, and students at my workplace and are used 24 hours a day.

I believe I finally was able to shed most of the stress one day when my Director once said “it’s not worth having a heart attack over”.  I am very lucky to work in such a supportive environment and his statement stuck with me and led me to develop a set of thoughts…or philosophies on my work.  If I feel stressed, worried, or annoyed I remind myself of these statements (I have them printed out on a bulletin board).

They are good statements and I hope they assist you - or at least prompt you to contemplate your own.

Posted in Health & Environment, Higher Education, Technology | 1 Comment »

August 20, 2008 by dave.

I won’t elaborate on the title of this entry….because there’s nothing new to say about it.  Look at the economy, the wars that were prompted by incorrect or non-existent ‘intelligence’, the consistent disregard for constitutional rights / laws, and the abominable ways in which the administration has handled foreign affairs.  He has embarrassed the  United States in the eyes of the world….and he embarrasses me as a citizen of this country.

I had supported Bill Richardson as a candidate until he dropped out.  Barack Obama was my second choice.  As I look at him versus John McCain…it’s obvious.  John McCain would be a better president that George W. Bush (that’s not saying much at all)….but Barack Obama is the person that will have the best chance at cleaning up the mess he will be inheriting.

A friend forwarded this CNN article to me and it puts things into perspective in terms of John McCain as a presidential candidate.  I am open-minded enough to know not to believe everything you read….but I’ve seen a lot of what is referred to in the article.

Note: Image is from  www.president-bush.com

Posted in Politics, Web Sites, Annoying Things | 1 Comment »

August 11, 2008 by dave.

I’ve lived in NH for most of my life and do not recall any ‘historic’ weather events…..that is until just a few years ago.  It started with some parts of the state getting floods in 2005.  This past winter we had the second highest snowfall on record (we missed the all-time snowfall by about 3 inches.  Realize that the snowiest was back in the 1800’s so it puts the ’second place’ into perspective.  About 4 weeks ago the state of NH had a decent sized tornado. It hit 11 towns, had a 50 mile track, and it had a strength of an EF1 and EF2.  Realize we simply don’t ‘get’ tornadoes here.  Stats show that we do average something like one per year but I believe when they do hit it’s a very minimal one with a very minimal touchdown…..so they are pretty much not expected.  A few weeks before this tornado I was camping with my wife and children and while at the campsite someone came by to tell us we were under a tornado watch.  We simply got under our tarp and rode it out…..knowing that historically we had nothing to worry about.  Realize that was weeks before the real tornado hit.  The most recent weather event (check it out here) was last week (August 7th) when we had flash-flooding as a result of severe thunderstorms move through our area.  The worst of the storm hit the towns of Ashland, New Hampton, Meredith, and Laconia.  I had never witnessed or understood what a flash flood was….but reports stated that we got somewhere around 5 inches of rain in about 1/2 hour.  We now have roads that look like earthquakes hit…..major sections of roads washed out…..and unfortunately a little girl lost her life when her family’s vehicle got swept down into what had been a ‘brook’.  Here are a few pictures of the most recent event (the flash flooding).  Some taken by my wife and some by a friend:

Everyone looks at this and says ‘global warming‘ is causing the odd weather.  Well….I’m not sure and don’t believe in simply jumping on a bandwagon of common thought.  I do believe something has changed.  What next?  I guess we’re due for an earthquake….

Posted in New Hampshire, Health & Environment | 1 Comment »