January 8, 2009 by dave.

Why should our lives focus on advancement in a particular career?  Since I work in Higher Education this may come across as being an odd question.  It seems that so many individuals (whether they like or do not like what they are doing) are seeking to reach very high positions in their field.  Societal pressure also seems to encourage us to seek higher roles.  Individuals very young in their careers are setting long-term goals of being a ‘Director of….’ or a ‘Dean of….’ or some other high level position.

Don’t get me wrong….it’s great that some individuals seek and achieve these levels but I hope those that do are able to maintain a good balance in their lives.

I sincerely enjoy my current job; it provides a decent salary, allows me to be very autonomous, it’s flexible, and it is very family-friendly.  Society and pressure seems to push us to always seek more money or advancement to positions having a higher status and more responsibility.  I believe some of this is a status issue where an individual wants the perception that they are important (because of societal or peer pressure)…or in some situations it’s solely because they’ve never ’sat back’ and asked themselves why they want this overly stressful position.  I see a combination of this in higher education where it seems some individuals are ‘proud’ of the fact that their job requires them to do some work in the office each weekend…..or that they need to work extra hours each day to get their job done….or that they bring work home every night.   The traditional work week is 40 hours and we should work towards fitting all of our work into those 40 hours.  This isn’t to say that there won’t be times when an individual would need to work a bit extra (which is why many at this level are salaried)….it just should not be a norm.  We all need to start taking pride in the fact we work normal hours and have no stress at work.

I believe our priorities should focus on building a life where we have a strong family structure and quality time to do the things we want to do.  Career should come second to this (with the understanding that one does need a stable occupation that provides enough financial stability to support the main priorities). In my 25 years of being in the work force I have seen individuals perfectly happy with their jobs ‘move up the ladder’ and become miserable because they no longer like their jobs and are always stressed out.  I also see some who ‘move up’ and are able to balance things well and succeed.  I’ve also recently seen some individuals ‘downgrade’ to lower positions because they finally recognized that happiness and balance is more successful than status and stress.  I applaud these individuals.

A very interesting concept referred to as The Peter Principle (Dr. Laurence J Peter, Jan. 1967) supports the concept of being happy and competent in your work.  I won’t go into much detail since I feel the basic principle speaks for itself:

“In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence.”

There are a number of interpretations of Peter’s concept.  One that I contemplate and fits well with my entry is a statement by Dr. Edward P. Lazear that states:

“…employees work harder than normal to get a promotion, and then relax once the promotion is attained”

 We all need to stop worrying about ‘career advancement’ and focus on mastering and enjoying our jobs….so work becomesa less important focus of our lives.  We work so we have money and stability…..to support ourselves, families, and the things we want to do.  It’s time to change the mindset….

Posted in Higher Education, Parenthood, Annoying Things | 3 Comments »

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 »

May 20, 2008 by dave.

I used to feel privileged to receive solicitations from credit card companies. I also used to enjoy getting the occasional unsolicited catalog, and even junk mail once in a while. Well once I bought a house it got a bit crazy - the amount of unsolicited ‘crap’ that I was receiving. I recall a few years ago my wife and I had looked in to ways to cut down the amount we were receiving and we did succeed…things got better. I recall the solution had a finite time period attached to it. Recently though it seems to have picked up again….so I assume we’ve passed that time period. It also makes me aware of all the wasted paper. Go Green and stop some of the junk…..

Here’s some helpful sites to help you out. Don’t worry - they are not scams:

OPT-OUT of Direct Marketing (junk mail)

OPT-OUT credit card offers (they look at your credit report…don’t let them!)

While you are at it….don’t forget that we all get a free annual credit report. You can get a report from ALL of the 3 major credit reporting companies. You simply start at this web site:

Annual Credit Report

Lastly, since I’m being so helpful - here’s a way to get a ‘free’ long-distance phone number: See….in order to have an unlisted number you need to pay a monthly charge. The simple solution is to put your phone in another name. We use my wife’s maiden name which helps even more when we get an unsolicited call (don’t forget to sign up for the national DO NOT CALL list) and they ask for Mr. <insert wife’s maiden name>. I’ve also heard of others putting the phone in the name of a pet. I’d love to be able to tell a marketer that <insert cat’s name’> can’t come to the phone because they are busy in the litter-box.

Posted in Household Stuff, Health & Environment, Web Sites, Annoying Things, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »