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Vulnerability As A Strength To Start The School Year

As I start each workday, I make a choice to reflect on a message or theme. I have a set up at the office where I have created a bit of an inspiration station with color, quotes, drawings, photos and charts. I say it’s a choice because it takes a split second of intention to do. This choice provides me a consistent reminder that the world is complex and full of opportunity. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced work to be more home-based, my morning prompts were different. Working from home I had more predictability in some ways but a more personal and responsive set of inspiration. I had ...

Taking Risks With Other People’s Cash

There is an old financial term called OPM, Other People’s Money. It describes the way that business owners and managers obtain funds from other people to leverage the capital that they put into a business. It is a legitimate way to help finance operations and investments. Just as physical leverage can be used to lift more weight, financial leverage can enable an organization to engage in larger investments and expansions of operations by borrowing resources from others. It lengthens the metaphorical lever of finance. When things work out right, a relatively small investment can have an ...

Gone? Not Toilet Paper, But Computer Printers

About two weeks ago, I shopped for canning supplies: Jar lids and bands and a new pressure canner. There weren’t any to be had locally. My wife told me about another shortage. A local farm selling pastured meat products is having trouble finding freezers. We are guessing that the COVID lockdown persuaded some stuck-at-home folks to start or enlarge gardens, especially if they are also out of work, as a feed-the-family necessity. That would drain the supply chain for canning supplies and freezers. I asked some friends via Facebook about shortages. Then, abruptly, I went ...

Help Available To Those In Hostile Situation

All over the world, people have been asked to stay home due to COVID-19, and everyone’s safety. The term “safety” in this case is in regards to health. Unfortunately for victims of domestic violence that request may be keeping them safe from the pandemic but is causing a dangerous situation. Where victims were able to leave if a volatile situation arises, they are not able to do so. Avoiding the residence is not possible for those who have to work from home or not go into work. A quarantine puts a victim in a situation where they are in constant contact with and control by their ...

An Oft-Told Lie Doesn’t Become Truth

If you tell a big enough lie, and tell it often and loud enough, people will believe it is true. The Nazis and Soviets had it down to a science, with their propaganda ministers, like most totalitarian states. Modern day propagandists, however, are taking it to a whole new level. While it is true that there are some outrageous conspiracy theorists, who weave together a narrative that everything bad that happens is a part of a vast, overwhelming conspiracy, their existence does not negate the existence of real conspiracies, and there are many wide-ranging examples. Edward Snowden did ...

Looking For Canning Supplies?

It appears that canning supplies are among the things that have been hit by the pandemic. I, personally, have not looked for lids or jars, but I noticed that some are being offered for sale through the classified. That tells me that they are of limited availability. Earlier when I was out shopping, I saw some canning supplies, but now that they are needed, they seem to be scarce. We have gone through shortages before. I remember one year sugar was in short supply. You could not go to the store and just pick up a bag of sugar. If they had any five-pound bags there was a limit of ...