Archive | Getting Through Life and Work

Speed reading

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 26, 2019

Category: Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Jury Consultants, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research

Thank goodness for speed reading! In the mid 1970s, when speed reading was all the rage, I worked at the American Speed Reading Academy in my hometown of Fort Myers, Florida. My job was to cold call potential customers in an attempt to sell them a speed reading class. After working at the speed reading […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 26, 2019

Category: Getting the Job Done, Getting Through Life and Work, Jury Consultants, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research

Melissa’s brain does work fast in many ways. But the way she gets up to speed on a new case is impressive. We’ve gone through various iterations of ways to facilitate her reading, settling on her reading on a large iPad after going through loads of paper, then on to computer screens, then regular iPads […]

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Freed to Run

A Point of View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 21, 2019

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Giving Back, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research

That’s Mike Freed, client, friend, and fellow alumnus of Jacksonville University. We’re proud to boast about his efforts to raise awareness and funds for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. His first marathon of marathons (6 days, 1 marathon per day, from Tallahassee to Jacksonville along U.S. 90) garnered attention. His 2.0 version in 2018 included teams […]

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Another View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 21, 2019

Category: Getting Through Life and Work, Giving Back, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Magnus Research

Congratulations to Mike Freed! David and I are proud to know such a wonderful person. I know a lot of people who jog, who are marathon runners, and who run various other types of races (including mud runs), however, I have never known anyone, other than Mike Freed, who has found a creative way to […]

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Celebrate all occasions of importance

I recently wrote about my mom’s philosophy, “Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.” This post is a follow up and a continuation of the theme that I choose to live my life as joyfully as possible. Once again, credit is due to Mom, who believed each day should be lived to its fullest. When […]

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Too often, life seems dominated by the negative. We live in a time of stress and strife. As readers of this post know, Melissa and I have dealt with, or are dealing with, difficult issues with the aging and illness of family and friends. But, we have to have some rays of sunshine in life, […]

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Facing Aging

If you are wondering what this topic of Facing Aging has to do with our trial consulting world, I’ll state right off the bat, not much. Except that, when we’re living with these issues among family and friends, it does impact our lives. It hits very close to home! And, some of the issues impact […]

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My friends and I have reached the age when we are facing many maladies, both physical and mental. When various friends of mine lament about their ailments, I remind them that we either get older or we don’t. There are only two alternatives and one is death. With the other, getting older, there exists the […]

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It’s later than you think

My late mother used to say, “Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.” Many years ago, Magnus used to have a restroom in our office on which we wrote graffiti. We had colored markers and we invited people to write positive, uplifting messages on the bathroom walls whenever they had a creative urge. On one […]

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I think another way this concept is captured in a phrase is “you only live once” – YOLO. Whether YOLO or going with Leola’s phrase, the point is to live life while the living is fun. There are those who save for retirement, or some target age, and may not be in good enough health […]

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Growing Old is not for Sissies…

The title of this post, Growing Old is not for Sissies, was a favorite saying of my grandmother, whom we called Olie (see https://magnusinsights.com/2015/02/olie/). Bette Davis is pegged as the source of this insight, sometimes reported with a variation from this exact language. But, the bottom line is clear. And, it is clear that with […]

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David and I have reached the age when we, as well as most of our friends, have succumbed to many of life’s maladies. I recently had a get together with some long time friends who regaled our group about the various ailments from which they suffered. I sat by quietly, until I could no longer […]

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Be ready/stay packed

I have traveled far and wide for most of my life. When I was a child, my parents and I went on numerous cross country vacations, with the 2 to 3 week road trip we took every summer being the highlight of my year. In between, we regularly traveled in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, […]

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Ready, set go. A great motto for road warriors or even beginning ones. Travel, for business or pleasure, is stressful enough even when using tried and true techniques to reduce the stress, such as being ready to go at all times. I’m not talking about those who have a bag with them in a car […]

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“Cool” is as “Cool” does

Several years ago, a childhood friend of mine called to ask me if I thought he was “cool” during elementary, middle, and high school. (It seems that famous, attractive, intelligent, humorous people have self doubts like everyone else.) I didn’t have to think about my answer, which was a definitive “Yes!” to which he replied, […]

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Cool should mean more than being in the “in crowd.” And, Melissa’s definitions are beyond that. Being tolerant, being understanding, celebrating things that bring joy and happiness are among other aspects of this. Standing up for others – i.e., being a “stand up person” by standing up to injustice fits here as well. Cool often […]

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Crazy Courthouse Story #4 911

I have studied the phenomenon known as autobiographical memory since I was in graduate school. Autobiographical memory is a distinct type of memory due to its shared meaningfulness to many people. For example, most people of a certain age can remember where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated. This tragic event was shared by […]

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Also sometimes called “flashbulb” memories, events such as 911 tend to stay with us with some degree of accuracy. I was attending a meeting near the Broward County Courthouse on that fateful morning. We were meeting in an office which had considerable video capabilities. Though the news was not turned on in the conference room […]

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Dance

Dance! Dance to the music! I dance often, daily, in fact. I “shake it,” “move that bass,” “boogie,” “get down,” “get funky,” or whatever anyone wants to call moving one’s body to the rhythm of the music. I dance at home, or pool side, or even while riding in a car (as long as someone […]

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I can attest to Melissa’s dancing propensities. Just this morning, before going to court to help select a jury in a challenging case, there she was, dancing while eating her breakfast in the hotel room. The dancing, I should add, is always to music. That is, music is, perhaps, the driving force in her dancing. […]

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