My husband worked over 100 hours in the last seven days. This means that I have logged over 100 hours in the last seven days of providing exclusive childcare for our 10 month old daughter. I love my daughter. But spending all day with a 10 month old can become very monotonous. I started to feel like I was living the movie Groundhog's Day, so I ( Read more... )

I feel strongly about the idea that very few people are really working at being a parent 24/7. While they may be on CALL 24/7, very few people are actively parenting 24/7, either because they have another parent to switch off responsibilities with or because they go to a paid job part of the day ( Read more... )

The quality of my life in a place is not really determined by my financial situation, the physical beauty of the environment, hobbies or cultural opportunities, or even the quality of my employment. My quality of life in a place is almost entirely determined by the quality of my friendships. It's always been this way for me. That makes it very ( Read more... )

Other interesting ideas from To Sell is Human

1. Motivational interviewing: Interviewer: “On a scale of 0-10, how motivated are you to change this thing ( Read more... )

I did an online focus group on life insurance the other day. It's my first time doing an online focus group and it was a good experience. I especially note that I think a focus group is a lousy method to get at lots of kinds of information. The 90 minute focus group with 6 people would have yielded much more valuable information if it consisted ( Read more... )

I found this metaphor surprisingly helpful ( Read more... )

Hot CoffeeThis documentary recounts the real experience of the woman who burned herself on hot coffee and McDonalds and later sued for damages. It's fascinating to hear the real story and it has completely changed how I view this issue. One of the things that stood out to me is the debate about caps on damages. Several states have caps on how ( Read more... )

A few days ago, I watched a sad documentary on international adoption. In a particularly touching scene, an adult adoptee makes arrangements for her adoptive father to be inducted in the Sons of the American Revolution Organization. As a special surprise for him, she arranges for him to apply to the organization and do a special visit to some ( Read more... )

I watched a very sad movie about international adoption (Adopted: the Movie). It got me thinking about a language miscommunication I had when I was living in Taiwan ( Read more... )

I spent over a decade and thousands of dollars building an academic library. I had a vision of myself and all of my academic-y books in a stately office with dark wood and cigar smoke somewhere. This vision sort of fell apart when I quit my job. I knew it would cost several hundred dollars to move my library to my new house across the country, ( Read more... )