Archive | Business Travel

Irma Aftermath 2: Meaning of “Mandatory”

“Mandatory” is defined as compulsory. “Mandatory” is also synonymous with obligatory, binding, required, requisite, necessary, essential and imperative. “Mandatory” means “you gotta’ do it.” In the case of a hurricane, “mandatory” evacuations are often ordered, but because no one is likely to be arrested and jailed for not abiding by such an order, there are […]

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Mandatory means mandatory.  Some people I know evidently believe mandatory means voluntarily, or “I will if I feel like it,” or a variety of things that imply a choice.  When someone lives in a low lying area, for example, near the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico, he/she should expect to be among the […]

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Irma Aftermath 1: Being Proactive

“Here we go again” I thought, repeatedly, in the last couple of days as we watched the largest hurricane on record churn toward us in the Atlantic Ocean. My mind even took this one step further and adapted this phrase to the Dolly Parton song, “Here you come again…”, resulting in an annoying earworm as […]

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Having to postpone, then re-schedule, a client’s research project is never easy. When the postponement is due to a natural disaster, such as a hurricane or fire, everyone’s stress levels are high. Hurricane Irma was not the first natural disaster to cause the postponement of a research project and, things being what they are, I […]

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Gender Barriers

Recently an article appeared on the front page of the Sunday New York Times entitled “When Job Puts Sexes Together, Workers Cringe.” Great title – it called out for the story to be read. But, Melissa, who read it first, and I found the story shocking in terms of the data it reported. The data […]

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The article from the New York Times that is the subject of this post appeared on page 1 on Sunday, July 2, 2017. The title intrigued me with its implication regarding workers cringing when working with opposite sex co-workers. My first impression was that the article’s focus was on occupations that were traditionally male, such […]

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Knowing where you’re going

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On July 25, 2017

Category: Business Frustrations, Business Travel, Careers, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel

Some people do not know which way is which. By this, I mean some people are directionally challenged, in that they do not know which way is north, south, east, or west. I am thankful not to be one of these people. I love maps, reading maps, plotting my course, navigating on land and sea, […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On July 25, 2017

Category: Business Frustrations, Business Travel, Careers, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel

A frustration I have with the tech tools that tell us where to go these days is that they often don’t tell you the big picture. More and more, they provide step by step directions that reveal themselves only as you get to each waypoint. Though this is helpful, I prefer to have a big […]

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Knowing where you’ve been

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On July 18, 2017

Category: Business Frustrations, Business Travel, Careers, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel

I have traveled to many places for most of my life. Since the 1980s, I have traveled far and wide, for business as well as pleasure. There are many places I would like to re-visit, many I vow to visit only on business, and many, many more places I’d like to go, when the time […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On July 18, 2017

Category: Business Frustrations, Business Travel, Careers, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel

I don’t recall all of the details as well as Melissa does – but it is a fun exercise to mentally walk down the street retracing steps long ago taken.  One of the tests for me was re-finding my way in Sydney after having lived there for a year.  On the 2 occasions when Melissa […]

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When driving the boss’ car

For most of the two plus decades David and I have co-owned our business, we have had three vehicles: his primary car, my primary car, and the so called “company truck.” The company truck is, in reality, not owned by our company but instead, is co-owned by David and me just like our other vehicles. […]

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Driving the “company” car, or “boss,’” car is a privilege not given lightly. In our business, of course, we know about the liability issues that are also a part of the equation. But, you have to get the job done and, as Melissa said, we have always expected that common sense would dictate that an […]

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Road trips

When I was growing up, my parents and I regularly took road trips. Sometimes, the road trips were relatively short, for example, to Wakulla County in north Florida, where my dad was from, to visit his relatives (to whom he referred as his “kin folk”). Other trips were of 2 or 3 weeks duration, when […]

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Those who are reading this post know that the road trip Melissa mentioned that we were planning turned out well.  The Mississippi Delta provided fun, good food, new friends, and some life expanding experiences.  Growing up, I did experience a few road trips, but, probably because my traveling Dad didn’t always find road trips to […]

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B&Bs v. hotels – what kind are you?

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On March 21, 2017

Category: Business Travel, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel

I have traveled, for both business and pleasure, for decades. I have traveled extensively throughout my native state of Florida, in all 50 states in the U.S.A., and in many places internationally. Over the years, I have developed a keen understanding of the types of accommodations where I like to stay, when possible. I include […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On March 21, 2017

Category: Business Travel, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel

When I did the backpacking thing in Europe (and Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and more) after a year of grad school “down under,” I found myself in many youth hostels, with many varied types of accommodations. These included open air co-ed bunk beds in Fiji, to double rooms in Paris and Madrid – with bathrooms […]

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Escape route plan

A Point of View

Melissa Pigott, Ph.D.

On September 27, 2016

Category: Business Travel, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel

In today’s world of increasing violence in places we once thought were safe, advisories regarding noting the closest exit have become commonplace. For example, movie theaters routinely show public service announcements prior to the film that contain a message about the location of all exits. I have always been on the alert for exits, regardless […]

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Another View

David H. Fauss, M.S.M.

On September 27, 2016

Category: Business Travel, Getting Through Life and Work, Life Outside of Work, Travel

It is difficult to expand on what Melissa has written in this blog because, to me, the concept is common sense. But, it probably isn’t in the world we inhabit today. Further, the distractions we face in crowds, or even alone with our phones or other electronic devices, limit the ability for some people to […]

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Around by Tampa

As some readers of David’s and my posts know, I am a fourth generation Floridian who was “born and raised” in Fort Myers, on Florida’s Gulf coast. Fort Myers was a small town when I grew up and many things we needed, for example, specialty medical care, were not available there. My family spent quite […]

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I’m from the east coast of Florida, Jacksonville to be specific. Before I met Melissa, I had been to Tampa and a few other west Florida cities only a few times. I certainly knew the basic geography, but not necessarily the most efficient routes to get to places like Ft. Myers, or even Tampa. So, […]

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