This week, I attended the 2018 Toastmasters International annual convention in Chicago. Despite being a Toastmaster for five years, it was my first time going to the convention….and my first time competing in the International Speech…
Fifteen years ago, September 11, 2001. I was working around the corner from the White House, sitting in a facilities meeting, talking about disaster recovery. Someone stuck their head in the door and said a…
Another orbit around the sun….and 2015 is history. It’s been quite a year, with a lot of highs, a few lows, and a number of changes that I haven’t quite figured out yet. I’m grateful…
Have you ever finished a major project or completed a goal that should give a feel of accomplishment, only to feel a let-down? Has all that drive that you put into the goal now dissipated,…
This past weekend, I ran in the DC Ragnar Relay. What is a Ragnar Relay? It’s a 200-mile relay with up to 12 runners on a team. Each runner completes a leg from 3-8 miles of…
One of my favorite movies to watch (and re-watch) is Star Trek: First Contact. The 1996 movie has all the best parts of Star Trek, with an engaging story, a seemingly unbeatable enemy, and some…
Have you ever been so frustrated (or tired, or upset)….that you just wanted to quit? I know the feeling. I’ve been there lots of times….from jobs that seemed to be going nowhere, to relationships that…
Have you ever tried to write something….and all you got…was nothing? I get that all the time…..and that’s one of the reasons my blog posts aren’t as frequent as I would like. I’ve sat at…
All my life, I’ve had a fear of heights. When I was young, I found it difficult to get on rides at the county fair…and it was almost impossible to get me on a roller…
Have you ever felt that you HAD to be right about something? When the local radio station reads their daily trivia question, do you rush to the phone to be the first caller with the…
This past year, 2014, has been quite something. I did a better job of setting and tracking goals than I have in the past, and looking back at the calendar, it shows. The year was…
Back in the 1980’s, I was an MP, stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. I was “sort-of” a police officer, running traffic enforcement, responding to alarms and urgent events and breaking up fights at the local…