Dinner with a Millennial

We sat across from each other at dinner,
a worn fern bar table and four decades separating us.
She, the Millennial, full of youth, beauty, and promise.
Me, the Boomer, bone tired and beaten down,
neither attractive nor promising. Old certainly.
We spoke of many things, conversation flowing effortlessly, honestly.
She crackles with energy that, harnessed, could power
the mid-Atlantic states.
I absorb it, refreshed [...]

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A whimsical look at TV rating codes

Have you kept up with the seemingly ever-changing TV rating codes? Long ago it was simple enough. An X rating meant it was nasty stuff for a variety of reasons. An R rating meant it was racy, but not in a NASCAR sort of way. Everything else was pretty tame.
We are more sophisticated now. The [...]

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Life’s little ironies

It’s tax time in America. This great American season makes grown men cry, competent women tremble, and young people new to the process long for the innocence of childhood.
But it has its ironies. Two illustrations:
1. A firm is advertising its help with investing in the stock market. The last name of one of its counselors [...]

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Preparing students to be self-actualized: Am I teaching the right things?

In a previous post about financial management, I said, “I believe the purpose of college is to prepare students for careers that will enable them to be independent, productive members of society capable of managing all aspects of their lives.” I stand by that. Ah, make that, I sit by that (think about it).
My specific [...]

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Ethics as a firm foundation for success

“In responsibility both obedience and freedom are realized. Responsibility implies tension between obedience and freedom. There would be no more responsibility if either were made independent of the other.”
– Dietrich Bonhoffer, “Freedom,” in Ethics
There comes a time when we have to adopt an ethical code to govern our lives. To live a professional life, as college [...]

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Technology as Repo Man

Continuing the theme of financial management, I heard something interesting today listening to Ric Edelman’s (see previous post) radio show. Banks that make car loans have a bold new way of dealing with customers who miss payments.  When a loan is made, banks have a device installed on the car that it can activate and render the auto [...]

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