Archive | Magnus

You Will Get Fired if: You Forget to Press Record!

Few things are as important in our mock trials or focus groups as recording the presentations and, more importantly, the deliberations or participant discussions. We’re not in the video production business, but it sometimes seems that way because we have to capture the video, and particularly, audio, from our research sessions. This is a pretty […]

Continue Reading

Oh my!  Words I never want to hear during a mock trial, focus group, or any other type of research for a client are “Dr. Pigott, I forgot to press record when the mock jurors started deliberating.”  I particularly dislike hearing these words via a walkie-talkie while I am in the presence of the clients […]

Continue Reading

Champagne on 1st

David and I celebrate life. If we look around, there is something to celebrate every day. One event David and I have always celebrated is our anniversary. We were married on New Year’s Day, January 1. We selected January 1 because it is a holiday and, therefore, we would never have to work on our […]

Continue Reading

The sound of the pop of a cork always brings a smile to our faces.  Opening our many bottles of champagne (or non-French “sparkling wine”) has made me pretty good at it.  I have only had a cork fly away 1 or 2 times in all these years.  We try to keep well stocked so […]

Continue Reading

You Will Get Fired if: You Can’t do the Job!

This will be the first post in a series about being fired. I can’t believe I didn’t write these sooner, but it is not a happy topic. I put it on the list of things to write about many years ago, just never bothered until I, once again, had to terminate someone. For some people, […]

Continue Reading

Here we go again.  I frequently quote the psychological phenomenon regarding the requirement of both ability and effort to achieve successful task completion.  If one or both components are lacking, a task will not be completed successfully.  That is, if one has the ability to perform a given task, but one puts forth no effort […]

Continue Reading

Varying Types of Concert Fans

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On November 16, 2021

Category: Common Courtesy, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Mental Health, Psychology

I have attended concerts since 1972. Going to concerts is something I really enjoy! I gone to hundreds of concerts over the years. (Although I have a list, I have never taken the time to count the number of concerts I have attended or the number of performers I have had the pleasure of seeing […]

Continue Reading

Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On November 16, 2021

Category: Common Courtesy, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Magnus, Magnus Insights, Mental Health, Psychology

Yes, RUSH shows are unique.  Head bobbing to their irregular time signatures is much more common than dancing to RUSH music.  But, that is probably true of most prog-rock bands.  Still, there are variations – some people “dance” by thrusting their fists or arms in the air like they are cheering.  Others stand on the […]

Continue Reading

Technical Difficulties

Many of us are old enough to remember when one of the 3 television networks (yes, there were only 3 at one point) had technical difficulties and the screen went gray with a sign that said something like, “Please stand by. We are having technical difficulties.” The world has changed; now we have lots of […]

Continue Reading

I can’t believe we are writing a blog about a blog!  Things have gotten so bad with our blog that, after 8 years of bi-weekly posts, I’m close to throwing in the towel.  There are lots of things that happen behind the scenes after David and I write our respective parts of each post.  One […]

Continue Reading

Just Answer the Question

When I write some of these posts, Mom’s words come to mind and I can hear these words spoken in her voice. This is another one of those times. Some people are direct in their speaking style and in general, in their approach to life. In contrast, other people, as Mom used to say “beat […]

Continue Reading

I chuckled when I saw the title of this post, and not in a good way.  I was recently frustrated by a recently terminated employee’s inability to give a straight answer.  I will admit there are times when a “yes” or “no” is inadequate and a more detailed explanation is warranted.  However, in the midst […]

Continue Reading

Being Rich

Two recent things prompted me to write this post. This post is mostly about the first of these, the loss of a long time friend of over 40 years named Vince. COVID cut his rich life short. The second thing was a conversation I had with another friend who is rich – financially. These things […]

Continue Reading

Characterizing someone as rich only because he or she has a lot of money misses the point, in my opinion.  My mom used to describe herself as “rich” because to her, she was rich as a child of God while she lived her life on Earth awaiting her heavenly home with streets paved of gold.  […]

Continue Reading

Christmas with Mom

Many people I know celebrate Christmas by spending their time with immediate family members, opening gifts together, and enjoying a special meal. My family used to do that, until 1972, when my beloved dad passed away. Daddy was the center of my family and without his large presence in our lives, Mom and I were […]

Continue Reading

I love pecans, and pecan pie is one of my favorite things, so that was a big plus as I assimilated into Melissa’s and Leola’s world of Christmas routines.  Most of the visits Melissa mentioned had ended prior to my joining Leola’s traditions due to life changes, but I do remember a few of the […]

Continue Reading

Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know

“Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know.” This was the text of Facebook post I saw recently. And, my first thought was, of course they do, they know their name, address, hometown and many other personal details. But, as I thought about it, I realized how true this is on many levels. Everyone has […]

Continue Reading

David’s writing reminds me of the childhood taunt, “I know something you don’t know.”  It’s true; I do know something, many things, you don’t know.  It is equally true that you know something I don’t know.  It isn’t possible for any of us to know everything about everything.  Meeting someone in one’s field of study […]

Continue Reading

Lesson from a Roofer: “I just do my job”

I have learned some things while observing the roofers who worked on David’s and my roof for 4 months (that seemed like an eternity). I have written past posts about some of my observations, including my amazement at how happily the roofers perform their jobs. On the last day of the 14 day installation of […]

Continue Reading

Sebastian told me something similar when I told him it seemed unfair to make him work on a (dangerous) roof by himself.  He shrugged and said “It’s a job.”  He seemed indifferent to which roof, which tile, how many co-workers he had.  He just knew what needed to be done and went about it without […]

Continue Reading

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes