ONGOING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT MODERN LIVING…
Kitchen clean-up: sponge or paper towels?
One of the things that screws us up in life is the fact that we often end up doing something the way we’ve always done it, without stopping to think about about whether or not it’s really the best way. In my case, it’s an ongoing insistence that the proper method for cleaning your kitchen countertops is with a sponge.
I know where my dedication to the sponge comes from. My mother used to wipe everything with the kitchen sponge, including our faces. Unfortunately, it has recently been pointed out that kitchen sponges provide a rich breeding ground for stuff like bacteria, which would explain why I still remember exactly how that sponge smelled back in the days of black and white television and rotary phones.
My wife insists on using paper towels and/or those pop up wipes, but this ends up feeling wasteful and just, well, wrong. Thoughts?
How do you cope with burnout at work?
One of life’s cruel jokes is that no matter how great your job is, there are going to be parts of it that you will despise.
Be careful if you find yourself surfing the web. Constantly.
Please share your coping strategies…
How do you change a behavior you don’t like?
There are lots of things we do in life that we know we shouldn’t do – anything, from shoplifting to smoking to eating the wrong foods – but often it’s difficult to stop ourselves from doing them.
Why to we do these things? That’s one for the ages. Better we spend our time trying to figure how how not to do them.
Have you successfully changed a behavior you didn’t like? Please share your experiences in the comments section.
What makes a great job interview?
In a good economy, a job interview is stressful. In a bad economy, it can feel like a “make or break” proposition. (Can’t you just feel that knot in the pit of your stomach?)
Whether or not you feel any pressure, the interview is one of those “on stage” moments that are both inevitable and terrifying.
Was there a job interview you participated in – either as an applicant or as a prospective employer – that made you stop and think, “THIS is how it’s done!”?
How do you deal with insomnia?
Insomnia drives a lot of people crazy. Me, I usually sleep right through it.
I’ve always wondered who came up with the concept of counting sheep to fall asleep. Why not, say, monkeys? Sheep just sound so… trippy.
So, as you can tell, I haven’t got a clue. If you have any thoughts or experiences you’d like to share, just visit the comments section and have at it!
What’s the one thing every newlywed should know?
A newlywed once asked me for advice just after she returned from her honeymoon. I came up with something about the importance of “communication”.
What I should have told her is that a relationship is work and if you don’t put in the effort – which, paradoxically, also involves working on your own crap – you’re headed for trouble. The problem is that no one tells you this stuff before you get married, so you better learn to be brutally honest with yourself first, and only then should you consider getting involved in a serious relationship.
What would your advice to a newlywed be?