Q: I hope that I can get you to help me with a little project. I am trying to get a walking club going. Every morning, a number of our locals meet at coffee row in the one remaining coffee shop on the corner of Main and First. We do the usual there — bash […] Read more
Tag Archives Speaking of Life column
Boss’s deadline obsession requires a frank conversation
Q: The assistant branch manager in the little bank where I work attended a workshop for all branch managers teaching them the art of employee motivation. Our guy fell into an obsession with deadlines. Apparently setting deadlines is one of the strategies managers can deploy when they want their staff to spruce up productivity. But […] Read more
Lower intensity can help make arguments less damaging
Q: I’m scared. My wife and I argue with each other a lot. Although we can sometimes get to be quite nasty with each other, neither of us has as of yet threatened to pull the pin on our marriage and file for a divorce. But it could happen and that scares me. I really […] Read more
Need for relevance can affect experience in care home
Q: About a year ago we talked my mother into accepting her need for support and she got accepted by a long-term care facility. My husband and I spent more time looking after my mom in her house than we did caring for both our children and grandchildren in our house. Getting Mom into long-term […] Read more
Christmas in a seniors care home can be disappointing
Q: Years ago, I used to think that Christmas was the most wonderful season of the year. I would be up early Christmas morning to finish filling Christmas stockings for the children, then off to the kitchen to put together a big Christmas breakfast before we opened our presents. Then it was back into the […] Read more
Few legal options for addicts’ bad decisions
Q: Our son is addicted to cocaine. At the moment he is in a treatment program where by all reports he is doing very well. He is at least doing better there than he has done elsewhere. Dare we be so hopeful as to think that maybe this time he will get on top of […] Read more
Winning the sweet tooth battle not easy to do, but it is possible
Q: I think that I am the world’s worst sweet tooth. Walking past a doughnut shop is almost impossible for me and when I give in to my whims and duck into it, I emerge with the biggest and gaudiest piece of pastry you could ever well imagine. I have not yet hit the obesity […] Read more
Community grieves after sudden death
Q: A short while ago, a man who played first base on our slo-pitch team was killed in a car accident. We are like brothers and sisters out there. We care about each other. Our problem is that our friend’s family is not planning a funeral any time soon. He comes from a large family. […] Read more
