- Be it ever so humble...
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This is an observation about the concept of "Home." I don't think we really appreciate home until we leave it for awhile, whether it is to go off to school, the military, or we simply grow up and move away. Even if we go on a business trip for a day, week or longer, we still want to get back to our own surroundings where we can kickback, scratch, belch, and be ourselves. It is our fortress of solitude.
If we've been away from home for an extended period, we notice small changes upon our return, perhaps a new street sign, new neighbors who painted the house next door or changed the landscape, or maybe the decor of your house has changed a bit. Nonetheless, you still know the roads, the people, the weather, the food, along with the schools and buildings. Even though your bedroom has been converted to a guest room, it is still "your" room with all of its hidden nuances.
This leads to an important point, I tend to believe that home is where your parents are. Sure, some things may have changed but home is still basically the same; your parents maintain the same routine, talk about the same type of things, and enjoy the same comfort food and special snacks you've grown accustomed to. This means there is a predictability factor associated with home. Even if your parents move, such as retiring to Florida, their new house or condo bears a striking resemblance to their old one; they decorate it the same way, they organize and store things the same way, and the tempo and cooking are still the same. In other words, you intuitively know where everything is and can predict what's for dinner, what they'll watch on television, and when everyone will go to bed.
Even when your parents pass away and the house has been sold, and you now live hundreds of miles away, there is still a special fondness in your heart for "home." Home is much more than a physical structure, it defines what we once were and who we are now; it is our roots, our values, our likes and dislikes, our beliefs, and it represents our growing pains where we experienced both triumph and disaster.
Unfortunately, some people drift through life without any concept of home, perhaps due to a failed marriage or maybe they were orphaned. Such turn of events can emotionally scar a person and leave them with an identity crisis, never knowing their place in the world. As such, home obviously represents much more than a roof over our heads; it is an interesting tapestry reflecting our personalities, our values, and how we want to live our lives. It is most definitely where the heart is. Pity those who do not have one.
Also published in The Huffington Post.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 40 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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As a youngster, one of the things I learned early on was that winning and losing was a natural part of any game I played, be it baseball, football, hockey, Monopoly, cards, you name it. Somebody wins, somebody loses. Nobody likes to lose, but as I have written in the past, there is nothing to be ashamed of if you have tried your best, but still failed. In fact, I have more respect for the person who valiantly tried and lost, as opposed to the person who won by cutthroat tactics.
I was recently asked how I learned to make the time necessary to accommodate the many activities I have been involved with over the years. Actually, it's not too difficult to answer: children. Prior to my wife and I starting a family years ago we both worked at separate companies and, because we were still young (in our twenties), we would frequently work late into the night. Often we would meet afterwards for a bite to eat somewhere. On the weekends we would have our own pet projects. I particularly relished mornings where we would devour the newspaper over a pot of coffee while listening to some Jazz or Sinatra in the background. But this all came to an abrupt end when our first child was born. It's truly amazing how a baby can monopolize your time. Life as I had known it was over, not that I minded as this is what we had intended all along, I just never realized the substantial difference it would make in our lives.
Now and then I like to write about Freemasonry, an ancient fraternity I have much respect for. It dates back several centuries, back when operative Masons were building the great churches, cathedrals, castles and other buildings of the time. Working as a group, the Masons of that period would mentor and teach their skills and building techniques to younger members of their group, thereby improving craftsmanship and bonding as a set of trustworthy brothers. Over the years, the society evolved to allow others to join the fraternity in order to build better men.
Back in 2011 I wrote a column regarding the growing college debt. At the time, the amount surpassed the $1T threshold, representing an acceleration of borrowing. For the first time ever, Americans owed more on college loans as opposed to credit cards, which is a frightening thought.
I have noticed as I get older I have developed a habit of talking to myself. Other friends of mine have commented they have done likewise. It would be rather cheeky to say it is the most intelligent conversation of the day, but this is not what I'm getting at.
For years in my youth, I was the "go to" guy for operating the family's technical equipment, be it tape recorders, record players, or even our Super 8 movie projector. As I grew older, I eventually relinquished my title to my son who is adept at setting up our High Def TV, cable box, DVD/VHS player, cell/smart phones, and other such devices. It was only when I realized we were as dependent on my son, as my family was on me years ago, that I began to ask why.
Watching the speed by which Information Technology (I.T.) has changed over the last forty years has been amazing. Hardly a day goes by without some new twist or invention. In particular, my interest is in how I.T. can be applied to support the systems needed to operate a business, such as for manufacturing, inventory, order processing, customer service, accounting, human resources, and much more. I have seen a lot during the last four decades, perhaps too much.
Recently, I attended a dinner in downtown St. Petersburg. I invited a young man I knew to accompany me to introduce him to some people for networking purposes. At age 25, he had already finished a hitch in the Army and served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and was now starting his professional career. As we drove home, we discussed the after dinner speaker who had made a reference to Jack Benny, the legendary comedian of yesteryear. My young friend innocently asked, "Who is Jack Benny?"
President Trump has been in office for just two months and in that short time the activities in our nation's capitol and around the country already reads like a Tolstoy novel. He began with an ambitious agenda, signing many executive orders that took the country by storm and alarmed the Washington establishment. In an attempt to slow him down and express their disdain, the Democrats boycotted the inauguration, moved slowly to confirm his cabinet nominees, and accused him of wrong-doing. They resisted just about everything in his recent address to the joint session of Congress. Democratic women flashed "thumbs down" signs and the rest basically sat on their hands to prohibit applause. In contrast, 70-80% of the country saw his speech as positive.
I recently had a strange experience in a restaurant over lunch. While sitting at the counter, an older gentleman came in and sat down next to me. On the surface he looked pleasant, but suddenly I was overcome by the strong pungent scent of his body odor, something that smelled like a cross between an open sewer and a dead carcass on the Serengeti (I wondered if vultures were circling overhead). His hair was slicked back and he was shaved, but I don't think he had taken a bath in quite some time. I used to know guys who believed a little body odor was a "manly" thing that attracted the ladies. However, the only thing this guy at the counter attracted was flies. The smell was so overpowering that I had to move to a table on the other side of the restaurant, much to the bewilderment of the man I was escaping from.