Archives

Classroom Frustration for those over 40

Its been  a while since many of us have been in a classroom setting for an extended period of time.   For some it may be over 20+ years!  We are learning a program called Xactimate.  It is a claims estimating tool that is both powerful and complex.  Our knowledge of this software is key to us [...]

The Home Office

The discipline to have a home office I learned through time.  In former positions with prior companies I had the home office.  An uncle give me great advice that rung true and that is it has to be an office.  So when we were house shopping for the move I made sure we have the “home [...]

Daddy Got to Ride on the Yellow School Bus

My kids are in 5th and 3rd grades so their reality for what school is like is a little different than mine.    Kids love field trips.  Its an opportunity for them to do something different at school, see something new and learn something without knowing they are learning something.  For them the bus ride is a [...]

Going Back to School

After being out of college for 19 years I was actually nervous about going back to school to become an independent insurance adjuster.  Its not that I haven’t had to continuously learn throughout my career in Information Technology, attend classes, get certified on software and the like.  There was something different about this, first off it [...]

Daddy, did you do your homework?

I have two kids ages 10 and 8 and they are in 5th and 3rd grades respectively.  When I chose to go back to school and learn a new profession, insurance adjusting, they had some adjusting to get used to themselves.  If you are going back to school and have younger children, do not underestimate their [...]

The Downside of Telecommuting

Every 2 weeks I would hop on a Continental flight with three connections to get to upstate NY.  Yes, that’s 6 times a trip I would get on and off a airplane with all the coughing kids, grumbling parents and generally grumpy travelers who don’t seem to know what “No liquid or gels” through TSA means [...]

Water Cooler Talk

Water cooler talk is a major aspect of telecommuting that is missed by both the remote worker as well as the company.  The ability to just walk up to someones cube and have a chat about a client or product and work through a strategy.  As a remote worker, water cooler talk now has to be [...]

My Career Change

I’ve been in the delivery of technology based Professional Services for 20 years.  That’s a long time!  Over the course of the 20 years I developed what most consultants do, the crystal ball.  It’s also a curse that I can meet with a client and very quickly know how things are going to proceed.  Who will [...]