The announcement of the birth of Jesus has significance for all of us. The waiting is almost over. Before the week is out, we will have celebrated the Christmas holiday — with all of its traditional trappings. We will have sung the Christmas carols. Many of us will have had…

Our disunity and divisiveness will end up destroying us. Is that what we really want? — Jan 6. It was a snow day here in South Korea. We had just received 3 inches of snow overnight. In a country that rarely sees that amount of snow, it paralyzes everything. So, we were on a delayed reporting schedule. So I got some extra sleep in the morning. …

You may never know how your writing touches someone’s soul. — It’s been a long time since I have gone on a ‘writer’s binge’ or writer’s tear’ or whatever else you want to call it. It’s been a very long time, indeed. About two years ago, I was writing almost every day. Sometimes I would even publish two or three blogs…

Yes, my friends, office politics DO exist — and they can be truly horrible! My career as an Information Technology professional has spanned many types of organizational structures. While each one has its unique characteristics, some of them are set up in environments that tend to encourage toxic cultures. My…

Building fences is hard work but maintaining them can be even harder — I was enjoying a late morning coffee when my cell phone buzzed unexpectedly. “Who in the world could be calling me on Saturday?” I wondered aloud. I checked the number on the phone, and it was one of my coworkers calling from the United States. “That’s rather odd. It’s 10…

An unexpected change in jobs teaches me a lot about the importance of good workplace culture. — Eight months ago, I found myself in a work environment that was so toxic that it was all I could do not to walk ‘out the door’ and take early retirement. I was working on an information technology team where the customer thought the best way to manage our contract…

How a Medium Partner Program check and some unexpected praise rekindled my passion for writing — It’s been a long time since I’ve published anything on Medium. Far too long. Not even four short months ago, blogging was my passion — almost an obsession. Then, my life was turned upside-down. In four short months, I lost my job, moved (not once, but twice), attempted to retire…

These cross-country afternoons with friends were one of the highlights of my life in Colorado. — Cross country skiing is certainly not the most’ extreme’ outdoor winter sports activity that anyone could take up. But there is nothing like cross-country skiing as a perfect way to spend a late winter or early spring afternoon. The coolest thing about cross country skiing is that you can do…