Category: Information & Education

Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights, is a book penned by Dr. Gretchen Sorin, a distinguished professor at The State University of New York College at Oneonta (SUNY). I was made aware of the book’s existence in a very unlikely place – a guest article in my latest edition of MotorTrend. For those of you unaware, MotorTrend is an American automobile magazine which dates back to September 1949. My wife and I had just completed reading several informative books on race – White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. I highly recommend both. When the September issue of MotorTrend landed in my mailbox with the Driving While Black guest article, it seemed like fate was…

You’ve probably never heard of the word “phubbing” before, but I’d wager to say you’ve applied what it means with some regularity. On Psychology Today, Emma Seppälä, Ph.D. writes, “Phubbing is the practice of snubbing others in favor of our mobile phones.” In other words, when someone is having a conversation with you or a small group, you’re on your cell phone pretending to listen. Such practice was originally thought to be linked to inconsiderate and entitled teenagers who had little to no understanding of what it means to be respectful. But phubbing no longer discriminates by age as 40 somethings and even 70 somethings now practice it consistently on their cell phones and smart watches regardless of whose company they’re in. A Time magazine article states, “Several studies have shown that…

During this global pandemic, many financial experts have offered advice on how much money should be in your emergency fund. Popular responses range from three to six months, with famed personal finance expert Suze Orman bucking that trend and recommending eight months. In her recent LinkedIn post, Orman says, “I have long told everyone to build an eight month emergency fund. And my goodness, I get plenty of blowback for that. The critics say it is too much and too impossible.” I offer the following statistics from a CNBC article on why Americans struggle to save for retirement, by contributor Steve Adcock. Adcock says, “A 2019 report from Ladder, a life insurance company, found that the average adult spends $1,497 per month on non-essentials. That’s roughly $18,000 a year on things…

“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” – Wayne Dyer I’m sure I’m not alone with my admission that the topics of health, finances, job security and fulfillment often litter my thoughts – more so than ever before. The burden of such thoughts occasionally leads to a sleepless night, and an impending day where it seems almost impossible to motivate yourself to do anything constructive. At times, my mental state has been known to dip below normal levels, which renders me somewhat unpleasant and difficult to be around. This past week felt like one of those occasions and I suspect a combination of the topics above were the definite contributor. This inability to motivate yourself during such emotional fragility is a time drainer, no…

Over the years, I’ve written a handful of posts on the topic of leadership – six to be exact. It’s a subject I feel very strongly about as it’s often misapplied and abused in governments, businesses and even our own homes. Perhaps what always surprises me about leaders is how capable and credible they all believe themselves to be. While a degree of confidence is certainly necessary for any leader, far too many confuse confidence with egotism, and that dear readers is where the problem begins on the topic of leadership. Today I saw a social media post from a former (and respected) colleague. Her office had recently reopened and a sound and appreciated safety plan had been instituted by her company’s leadership team. Wearing a face mask was a…