Archive | Travel

Things We Can’t Charge to Clients

David’s mother, my dear mother-in-law, is such a nice, kind, compassionate person that the worst thing I have ever heard her say about someone or a situation is that he/she/it, it is “interesting.” When I say something or someone is “interesting,” I am using the word as it is typically used, to imply someone or […]

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Lest any client read this and think they have been charged for items #1 to 7, rest assured that, when compiling a bill, the charges are reviewed by me. I am pretty sure I’ve caught it when employees have attempted to slide something by in this regard. But, it has amazed me that these employees […]

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Irma Aftermath 3: Get Ready/Have a Plan

Maybe it is because I was a Boy Scout whose motto of “Be Prepared” has stuck with me that I have plans and have made preparations for hurricanes, the number 1 threat we face in Florida. We don’t get snowstorms, earthquakes (well, not often), or mountain slides, but as a Florida native, I know hurricanes […]

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David is as prepared for a hurricane as anyone I know.  The only way he could be more prepared is if he had an airboat loaded onto a trailer and ready to pull behind a big truck if needed.  (David, I sure would love to have an airboat, but for fun outings, not hurricanes!)  The […]

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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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Keep in Touch: Not out of Sight out of Mind

In a recent post, I mentioned my year of graduate studies overseas.  On a Rotary Foundation Scholarship, I attended the Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.  The year was 1985 and communications were not then what they are today.  This was before fax machines were common, […]

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As long term readers of David’s and my posts know, we are the type of people who have lots of friends. Having lots of friends, old and new, requires effort. As my late Mother used to say, “To make a friend, you have to be a friend.” Being a friend includes standing by one’s friends […]

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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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Get Rhythm

I cannot imagine what my life would be like without music. I am lucky to have two, very cool, older brothers who are married to my two, very cool, sisters in law. From an early age, my brother, Frank, was a huge influence on my musical development. Frank and Sandy, my sister in law who […]

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I share Melissa’s love of music, but unlike her, I’m not sure why. As a young child, I tried playing piano and guitar – neither were a “fit” for me. I had more success playing a large brass instrument, a baritone horn, once known as a euphonium. But, that didn’t last long either. Being a […]

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