When the world feels like too much

Posted on May 19, 2023 by Stan

Guest writer: Serra Sewitch-Posey

Something is happening to me. Or more than that it’s like, parts of myself that have always been there are starting to expand and overwhelm other parts of me. It feels a bit alarming, like I’m mutating in ways I can’t control. And it also feels so personal, so unique to my own experience, and yet I have a strong feeling that this is normal for someone of my age at this time in my life. And normal for someone living in this society at this point in history.

Ok, I’ll get to the point. The point is, I’ve always been sort of half and half introvert/extrovert. I like hanging out with friends, I like parties, I like conversations and social events in general but then of course I need to recharge by having time by myself. Up until now it has felt pretty balanced. I don’t know if it’s my job or what, but my tolerance for social interaction has been getting lower and lower. I’ve been hitting my limit a lot quicker, and needing more time to recharge afterwards.

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The proposed four day workweek vs reality

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Stan

There is a range of versions that states and Congress are considering recently, to enact a reduction in the standard work week. One version, working 40 hours in four days, has been an option for employers for many years, as long as the employees agree to it as well. This allows the overtime rules to still apply to “non-exempt” roles, i.e., those which are paid for hours worked and must be given overtime pay rates when working more than the daily or weekly standards.

For positions that are “exempt” from wage and hour laws–those that are the type of role which qualifies for the exemption, and which must be paid a fixed salary above a certain threshold–there are no wage and hour rules for working hours per day or week. An exempt role gets paid for results, not for hours worked. Such roles include those that are generally termed “professional” or “knowledge” positions, leadership roles and sales jobs.

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The power of the holdout

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Stan

The current once-in-a-century multi-vote (and still counting as of this writing) election of a new Speaker of the House is a case study in a time-honored method of a small minority dictating the outcome of collective effort. If the margin of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives was larger, twenty-odd Congresspeople would not be able to wield such power.

Going back to the time of Machiavelli, and no doubt earlier than that, minority control has been often used to advance the interests of a few people, or even one, at the expense of an otherwise unified majority.

Lessons of power politics from the time of Machiavelli
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Words of wisdom

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Stan

A colleague of mine said this morning that he was awaiting mine.

After about ten minutes, I realized I was probably being insulted.  Wisdom is often defined as the ability to perceive, think, decide and act rightly, developed from experience.  To get that experience, you have to attempt things you’ve never done before, over and over again.  Which means you’ve made a lot of errors.  So my friend was saying, “You’ve obviously made a lot of mistakes.  Share some of them with us.”

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