Once again, I am fighting the good fight against the skin cancer on my nose. The dang stuff just keeps popping up and the doctors keep scooping out hunks of flesh to send off for biopsy. Thus, I am working a lot from home via email. And once again, I am reminded how important a well written email is for the reader and for efficiency.

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As the weather changes, you may be like me and begin to feel the effects of seasonal depression. The phenomena is so prevalent that healthcare providers have even given it a name and an acronym:  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). This is a type of depression that happens around the end of October with the symptoms being a lack of energy and feeling of hopelessness. Many connect it to the reduction in sunlight, but I think my onset is more from being cold. I don’t like to be cold.

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To rest easy, my mother always said she had to see where her babies, no matter how old, laid their heads at night.

With that in mind, Grady and I made a trip to Urbana-Champaign, Illinois to see where son Jack was now living. If you remember the past few months, he graduated from Ohio State University, got married, accepted a new teaching job at Illinois State University, and moved to suburbia.

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In preparing for my UIYB interview with Cole Rodgers, I read his book, School of Man. In this self-help book, Cole talks about man’s human frailties, and I am reminded of my own. He speaks of man’s struggles with communication and of their male falsehoods and self-imposed masks. Though it may be easier for women to admit their weaknesses, I am not sure that makes dealing with them any easier. To be human is to suffer on some level. Luckily, with age comes the recognizable warning signs and learned wisdom to deal with the devil speak.

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It is hard to believe, in this day and age, that small men with big egos are still willing and able to wage war on innocent women and children. If you could get through his carefully narrated propaganda campaign, you might argue he is doing this for his country, if his countrymen weren’t protesting in the streets.

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In 2007, I turned 50. For my mid-life crisis, I pondered a facelift, a boyfriend, or a new car. I opted for a used, 5-speed, convertible Mini Cooper. Driving it, with the wind blowing in my hair, it checked all the boxes: fast, fun, and dangerous.

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Why is New Year’s Day so full of optimism? It’s just another day on the calendar; or is it?
On New Year’s Day we close the books on business, Christmas, and the Winter Solstice. Though the days from January through March are often cold and snowy, they are also getting longer and brighter, so it feels better; like a time for self-improvement, a time to plan for springing into action.

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Covid has reared its ugly head again and so have my sleepless nights. Another COVID-19 outbreak will not only cost lives but, again, effect the world’s economy. In the microcosmic world of FAB, the concerns are the same. How would a Covid outbreak affect our company productivity and financial health?

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It is not an easy decision to retire from a life of work. Besides the obvious monetary changes to be considered, there is also the uncertainty of an idle lifestyle, and the connection between your ego and the question “What do you do for a living?” If one is retiring from a business they started and built from the ground up, one’s considerations and emotions could become even more complicated.

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In business, there is more to making a sale than just making the sell. First and foremost, there is the connection between the buyer and the seller: Can the buyer and seller communicate well, instill trust, and meet the customer’s needs in a timely and affordably fashion?

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