Category Archives: The Union-Recorder

I am, among a list of other professional duties, an HR Manager. I often find humor in that. Why? Because I love the job, just not always the people. Give me paperwork and clerical things to do and I’m in heaven. Really. I love it so much so that I actually have a business, Davidson Administrative Services, for that purpose. I’ve always been drawn to HR in the same way that I’m drawn to libraries – I like rank, structure, regiment. It wasn’t until lately, however, that I gave more thought to how job expectations have changed and how common courtesy and thoughtfulness is a bygone practice.

When a company hires someone for a job there are many ways that they could’ve done so. Traditionally, one would assume that publicly listing a job may mean that they will not be filling the position internally thereby not wasting anyone’s time. However, that’s not always the case. In today’s economy where so many people are struggling to stay afloat I am angered by some of the practices in this field. It has hurt me to see someone close to me go through the job hunting experience and to be beaten down and taken advantage of along the way. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure within less than a week (or maybe two for the more dedicated ones) your New Years Resolutions went out the window. Honestly, most of mine did. While I’m disappointed, I’m not squirreled away overly indulging in ice cream…well, not at the moment. It happens. And the great thing about resolutions is that you can try, try again. I still think that it’s a good idea to set goals. Even if we don’t achieve them in the time that we’d like, we’re still moving forward and persevering.

I often struggle with the lack of motivation. Even though I wish I could always attribute that to my menses, I know that day-to-day the hardships and inconveniences that happen in life makes it easy for you to worry too much about a resolution list. I’m hopeful, usually. And I believe that considering how realistic and attainable my goals are, it’s only a matter of time before I’m back on the wagon. It’s so easy to make excuses. Similarly to the Charlie Peacock lyrics of In the Light, “I am the [queen] of excuses, I have one for every selfish thing I do.” It is rather selfish of me to ignoring things of self-improvement. Read the rest of this entry »

In just a few months I’ll go from divorcée to married woman. In a small family no-fuss ceremony I’ll be marrying for the second time. And while that in itself is exciting, it does pose a dilemma. What should my last name be? We are often identified and defined by our names. For women it can be even more difficult given the tradition of taking their spouse’s last name.

My first marriage was brief. However, in my youth I thought nothing of dropping my maiden name (I don’t agree with dropping middle names as we already sacrifice enough). In hindsight I wish I had given it more thought. My mother and others suggested then as they do now to hyphenate my name. However, given my aversion to again removing my maiden name, an already long full name will lengthen beyond the number of letters in the alphabet. Read the rest of this entry »