I take a peek out the front window every few minutes. I pace the floor. I expect a team of police officers in riot gear and a battering ram to knock down my door at any minute. A whole week has gone by and I'm still waiting for them. In my mind, I see them... Continue Reading →
Overcoming my stutter
(Reposted from December 2019.) The teacher stood over me like an angry giant. Looking back now I’m guessing that he couldn’t have been more than 5’8 or 5’9 tall and probably just graduated from college, but to my eyes, he held a position of authority, seemed pleased to catch his prey out of the classroom,... Continue Reading →
A failure to communicate!
Axios HQ, a global management firm, surveyed 540 executives and over a thousand employees earlier this year and estimated that the cost of ineffective business communication annually in the U.S. runs companies more than $2 trillion. The number grows exponentially when you factor in the billions spent each year on business communications training courses with names... Continue Reading →
E.T. phone home
The engineers and scientists at NASA are some of the smartest people in the world — their mission calls for them to explore the unknown in air and space, innovate for the benefit of humanity, and inspire the world through discovery — but they need some help with their interpersonal skills. How do I know... Continue Reading →
A teacher going the extra mile
The professor asked the class to drop off our papers on our way out of the room. My heart sank. I knew it was a long shot, but I had hoped he would forget, and I’d get a reprieve, at least for the weekend. I pulled my paper out of my bag and waited my... Continue Reading →
Do you have a pen and paper?
I run down to our kitchen to grab a quick cup of coffee before my next meeting. I need the jolt of energy. I pour the coffee into my cup and instantly see a note in my wife’s handwriting on the breakfast bar. The note asks my daughter or me to pull the laundry out... Continue Reading →
When you don’t wanna go first
We were on a Microsoft Teams call, but we may as well have been on different planets. My friend Mike rolled his eyes and covered his mouth to hide a smile, while another coworker temporarily muted her audio. Of course, I looked down at my pen as if it might give me the answer. Our... Continue Reading →
If our pets could talk
Our family dog, Nittany, a Lhasa Apso – Bichon Frise mix, looked up at me with drowsy eyes from her perch on our bed. Before I got up and got a shower and got started with my work day, I rubbed behind Nittany's ears and up and down her belly. Nittany, who is now 11,... Continue Reading →
Fighting writer’s block
The words and ideas come fast and furious. I can’t get them down on the laptop screen fast enough. They spill out of me bucket after bucket, more defined than the one before. I string two phrases together and two more replace them around the bend. I finish with one blog and before I know... Continue Reading →

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