It's Sunday morning and I want to be somewhere else, in another time. I suppose that's the impetus for most fiction writers. They all imagine other places and times to be theirs, and that they are just as comfortable, just as amenable to their own peculiarities - maybe more - than their current lives. Which idea is, of course, absurd; today is always the most comfortable time. The past is full of ignorance and cruelty - even just yesterday. I imagined going to the church next door, stoned out of my mind, so I might lapse into singing and praising Jesus as if I were one of them, which I once was, and it would be like 1983. Is that because I want to go back in time, or because I want to feel like part of a group? Do I really want an instant group of sorta-friends? They will love and support you, be your buddy, "go there" if necessary - unless you stop attending the church and toeing the line. This is not a condemnation of religion (not yet); they're no different th...
Don't be fooled; just because there is a hierarchy at your place of work, it doesn't mean that smarts and professionalism are apportioned according to the pyramid. The guy on top likely isn't the smartest or most capable - he probably has the largest teeth and nicest hair of his crop of MBA graduates, but not much else. And your boss isn't necessarily the best and brightest - it's more likely that their plodding, consistent traits are favored by upper management, over your annoying insistence on constantly having original thoughts. So you need to get out in front of this potentially career-ending issue, causing you to leave your cubicle for fairer pastures many weeks, even months before you had originally planned to bail out in a huff, escorted by the Maintenance Engineer. You have to manage your boss, or your boss will (shudder) manage you. Here are some tips: 1) Always Take Notes. Even (Especially!) in Private Conversations Your boss will, at first,...