The Panda Bear is recovering from a colonscopy/ The procedure went well and the Panda Bear won't need one for another ten years. However, it makes the Panda Bear like she is aging because it was a routine screening for people over fifty.
Another thing that makes Panda Bear feel old is popular/rock music. Now the Panda Bear is not a high music person. She enjoys rock/popular music that was written before 1995. (Now the Panda Bear likes Jazz, Blue Grass and Classical). However, the popular/rock music written afterwards does not appeal to her at all.
The Panda Bear has two theories for her change in taste in music. The one she would like to believe is that popular/rock music got worse after 1995. However, the major rreason for the change is that the Panda Bear believes that a lot of popular culture is aimed at young people. After people hit a certain age it stops appealing to many people. However, people keep a sentimental attachment to the music one liked when one is young..
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Panda Bear on Ayn Rand, Career Coaching and LinkedIn
When people ask the Panda Bear the purpose of her blog, she says she seeks to be the voice of a certain type of intelligent average person who is muddling through life.
As the readers of the Panda Bear Blog know the Panda Bear daytime career is stalled. She has been in her present position for six years with no indication that she is promotable from the organization despite getting some excellent performance reviews. She has held a similar kind of position in other organizations for ten years. Her day job is an administrative position for a large Boston nonprofit organization.
Recently, she found out that the organization she worked for has a career coach(after working there for six years). This morning she had a phone interview with the career coach. The career coach said the Panda Bear would have to apply and let her manager know she was interested in career coaching. The Panda Bear says that her manager already knows she is interested in career development. In fact the Panda Bear has been quite open with her organization that she thinks there lack being lack of organizational career paths is a problem for the organization especially as it is a large organization has the capacity for a workforce development program.
The Panda Bear started her work life in a large profit making corporation. They had corporate career ladder. While workers, were not guaranteed promotions, a good worker who wanted to move ahead had a fairly good chance of doing so and the company provided some help and gave workers some sense of what they might need to do to get ahead. The Panda Bear on the whole was happy working for this organization. She felt her efforts were appreciated in what were very humble positions and she received six promotions in seven years. The Panda Bear was layed off from this organization.
The Panda Bear misses the lack of organizational career path. She thinks it is a good thing both for the organization(it keeps skilled talent) and for the worker(the worker can keep senority). The Panda Bear thinks in a capitalistic society people expect hard work to lead to advancement and will feel frustated if it does not.
Often when the Panda Bear feels overworked/under appreciated she will think of Ayn Rand's philosophy in that she is has some self interested reasons for doing the work that she does. However, the Panda Bear has many misgivings about the philosophy of Ayn Rand. This link has some interesting discussion about Ayn Rand and her philosophy. The Panda Bear read both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and she did not like either book. However the Panda Bear did like the book We the Living which takes place in Russia which is probably part of the reason the Panda Bear liked this book.
However, some women have taken to Ayn Rand because she is a woman philosopher. In this respect the Panda Bear has some respect for Ayn Rand and a greater sympathy for her perspective. According to the link mentioned above Ayn Rand was a great business woman and she was very successful in getting her way on things. The Panda Bear has often felt that women are expected to put other people's interest ahead of their own and be "nice" and cooperative in a way that is not expected of men. From this perspective, the Panda Bear have some argreement for Ayn Rand's philosophy in when women work the motivations are purely altruristic and they have the right to expect advancement.
The Panda Bear wishes to end this post on work issues by discussing LinkIn. When the Panda Bear joined linked in about two years ago she did not find it very useful. However, within the past two years LinkedIn professional network has vastly expanded and the Panda Bear finds many people in her field now part of LinkedIn. The Panda Bear now finds it to be a valuable part of her profesional life.
As the readers of the Panda Bear Blog know the Panda Bear daytime career is stalled. She has been in her present position for six years with no indication that she is promotable from the organization despite getting some excellent performance reviews. She has held a similar kind of position in other organizations for ten years. Her day job is an administrative position for a large Boston nonprofit organization.
Recently, she found out that the organization she worked for has a career coach(after working there for six years). This morning she had a phone interview with the career coach. The career coach said the Panda Bear would have to apply and let her manager know she was interested in career coaching. The Panda Bear says that her manager already knows she is interested in career development. In fact the Panda Bear has been quite open with her organization that she thinks there lack being lack of organizational career paths is a problem for the organization especially as it is a large organization has the capacity for a workforce development program.
The Panda Bear started her work life in a large profit making corporation. They had corporate career ladder. While workers, were not guaranteed promotions, a good worker who wanted to move ahead had a fairly good chance of doing so and the company provided some help and gave workers some sense of what they might need to do to get ahead. The Panda Bear on the whole was happy working for this organization. She felt her efforts were appreciated in what were very humble positions and she received six promotions in seven years. The Panda Bear was layed off from this organization.
The Panda Bear misses the lack of organizational career path. She thinks it is a good thing both for the organization(it keeps skilled talent) and for the worker(the worker can keep senority). The Panda Bear thinks in a capitalistic society people expect hard work to lead to advancement and will feel frustated if it does not.
Often when the Panda Bear feels overworked/under appreciated she will think of Ayn Rand's philosophy in that she is has some self interested reasons for doing the work that she does. However, the Panda Bear has many misgivings about the philosophy of Ayn Rand. This link has some interesting discussion about Ayn Rand and her philosophy. The Panda Bear read both Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and she did not like either book. However the Panda Bear did like the book We the Living which takes place in Russia which is probably part of the reason the Panda Bear liked this book.
However, some women have taken to Ayn Rand because she is a woman philosopher. In this respect the Panda Bear has some respect for Ayn Rand and a greater sympathy for her perspective. According to the link mentioned above Ayn Rand was a great business woman and she was very successful in getting her way on things. The Panda Bear has often felt that women are expected to put other people's interest ahead of their own and be "nice" and cooperative in a way that is not expected of men. From this perspective, the Panda Bear have some argreement for Ayn Rand's philosophy in when women work the motivations are purely altruristic and they have the right to expect advancement.
The Panda Bear wishes to end this post on work issues by discussing LinkIn. When the Panda Bear joined linked in about two years ago she did not find it very useful. However, within the past two years LinkedIn professional network has vastly expanded and the Panda Bear finds many people in her field now part of LinkedIn. The Panda Bear now finds it to be a valuable part of her profesional life.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The Panda Bear on Taking A Creative Break, Career Development and Open Leaks
The Panda Bear will be taking a creative break today. She is very busy in her day job; the summer is her busy season
As her readers may know from her previous posts, the Panda Bear's day career is stalled. Yesterday, after working there for six years, she found her company did have career coach(she thinks this information should be more available to its workers). She will make an appointment with the coasgh. The Panda Bear has been critical of her organization which is a large one for not offer more career development programs. She believes this is good for both the organization and the individual worker. In a capitalistic society, the Panda Bear believes most workers work harder, better and smarter with incentives. However, the Panda Bear has found it hard to find good career advise in her field. Her previous recent employers have been small employers(two of them folded into larger organizations) and have been unable/unwilling to give the Panda Bear much career direction despite the Panda Bear getting good job reviews and her considered to be very smart.
The Panda Bear has just finished reading a series of novels written by journalists about journalism. This includes The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, and Stieg Larson's Millennium Trilogy. The Panda Bear shortly will be reading Allen Drury's Capable of Honor. In a later post, the Panda Bear will be discussing what these novels show about journalism and what they show about people's conception of fiction. After all, these books are FICTION about journalism by authors who are journalists.
The Panda Bear has just finished reading Inside WikiLeaks My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the former spokesman for Wiki Leaks. In the book, Daniel Domscheit-Berg claims that he and Julian Assange had a major falling out. Daniel Domescheit-Berg and some of the early members of theWiki Leaks group have formed another organization called OpenLeaks. The book Inside WikiLeaks is a fascinating picture of real life hackers(the people behind Wiki and Open Leaks are hackers) and journalists. Daniel Domescheit-Berg claims to be motivated by idealism and that he tried to prevent innocent people from being hurt by the leaks. According to the book, Julian Assage who claims to believe in the totally open society ran Wiki Leaks in a closed and secretative fashion.
The Panda Bear feelings about these leak web sites. She believes probably these sites have done some good. However, these sites are being run by hackers-peoplewho believe it is their right to intrude on others.
As her readers may know from her previous posts, the Panda Bear's day career is stalled. Yesterday, after working there for six years, she found her company did have career coach(she thinks this information should be more available to its workers). She will make an appointment with the coasgh. The Panda Bear has been critical of her organization which is a large one for not offer more career development programs. She believes this is good for both the organization and the individual worker. In a capitalistic society, the Panda Bear believes most workers work harder, better and smarter with incentives. However, the Panda Bear has found it hard to find good career advise in her field. Her previous recent employers have been small employers(two of them folded into larger organizations) and have been unable/unwilling to give the Panda Bear much career direction despite the Panda Bear getting good job reviews and her considered to be very smart.
The Panda Bear has just finished reading a series of novels written by journalists about journalism. This includes The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, and Stieg Larson's Millennium Trilogy. The Panda Bear shortly will be reading Allen Drury's Capable of Honor. In a later post, the Panda Bear will be discussing what these novels show about journalism and what they show about people's conception of fiction. After all, these books are FICTION about journalism by authors who are journalists.
The Panda Bear has just finished reading Inside WikiLeaks My Time with Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website by Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the former spokesman for Wiki Leaks. In the book, Daniel Domscheit-Berg claims that he and Julian Assange had a major falling out. Daniel Domescheit-Berg and some of the early members of theWiki Leaks group have formed another organization called OpenLeaks. The book Inside WikiLeaks is a fascinating picture of real life hackers(the people behind Wiki and Open Leaks are hackers) and journalists. Daniel Domescheit-Berg claims to be motivated by idealism and that he tried to prevent innocent people from being hurt by the leaks. According to the book, Julian Assage who claims to believe in the totally open society ran Wiki Leaks in a closed and secretative fashion.
The Panda Bear feelings about these leak web sites. She believes probably these sites have done some good. However, these sites are being run by hackers-peoplewho believe it is their right to intrude on others.
Monday, August 1, 2011
The PB on the Debt Ceiling, Politicians, and the Millennium Series
The Panda Bear is not happy about the way the US Congress threatens to hurt the little person when discussing the US budget and the debt limit ceiling. The Congress is scaring people by threatening not to pay people on social security or in the military who have not personally caused the budget problems. Why shouldn't the first thing not paid if US cannot meet its monetary obligations be Congress's paycheck? Also the Panda Bear is upset that foreign aid and foreign wars aren't under closer scrutiny by Congress. The US is not now in a position to solve the world’s problems.
The Panda Bear was also upset about the Congressional bailout of the financial industries. Here the leaders of financial institutions that caused the nation's problems were being bailed out by Congress and were being called "indispensible" to the financial management of the US. Some of these people seem to be doing better than ever as the rest of the US suffers. However, the Panda Bear wants to put in a good word for some smaller banks and credit unions. She heard this weekend that they were prepared to cover overdrafts of social security recipients and military personnel if they occurred because the government not issuing these people their expected checks. The Panda Bear thought this was highly commendable and civic minded of some profit making instructions.
Also, the Panda Bear is also upset about her stalled daytime career. She feels the managers of her present job have no intention of promoting her though she has gotten good performance reviews. She feels she may have to look for advancement at another company which she would not mind except that it would mean that she would go down on vacation time. This year for the first time in over fifteen years she will have enough vacation time to take three weeks off-she has not be able to do this for over twelve years. However, if her current employment stalemate continues she feels she will decide that since the bulk of her time is spent working she would be better off in another company and give up her vacation time.
However, the Panda Bear has just got an e-mail stating that she should take a more positive approach to life. The Panda Bear is glad she has a job and is not actively suffering now when so many people are. She can be proud that she is not part of the ruling elite that seem bent on ruining the US. She feels by her blog she can contribute a small voice urging people to demand social change and greater accountability of US leadership.
The Panda Bear this weekend finished reading Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest" . She enjoyed "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" while not feeling crazy about the two sequels.
Part of the problem was that the Panda Bear kept on hearing the book discussed on various shows on NPR. She knew too much about the heroine Lisbeth Salander.
However, many of the NPR commentators kept stating the series contains important messagesfor our times. The novels are very cynical about the Swedish welfare state. The Panda Bear remembers g taught that Sweden was a model country in having this extensive welfare system. The novels also make Sweden seem very capitalistic while being very cynical about big business. The Panda Bear is also becoming cynical of big business and big government.
The Panda Bear thinks that part of the Millennium’s series success is that it is easier for Americans to see and discuss problems in Swedish society than in the US,
The Panda Bear was also upset about the Congressional bailout of the financial industries. Here the leaders of financial institutions that caused the nation's problems were being bailed out by Congress and were being called "indispensible" to the financial management of the US. Some of these people seem to be doing better than ever as the rest of the US suffers. However, the Panda Bear wants to put in a good word for some smaller banks and credit unions. She heard this weekend that they were prepared to cover overdrafts of social security recipients and military personnel if they occurred because the government not issuing these people their expected checks. The Panda Bear thought this was highly commendable and civic minded of some profit making instructions.
Also, the Panda Bear is also upset about her stalled daytime career. She feels the managers of her present job have no intention of promoting her though she has gotten good performance reviews. She feels she may have to look for advancement at another company which she would not mind except that it would mean that she would go down on vacation time. This year for the first time in over fifteen years she will have enough vacation time to take three weeks off-she has not be able to do this for over twelve years. However, if her current employment stalemate continues she feels she will decide that since the bulk of her time is spent working she would be better off in another company and give up her vacation time.
However, the Panda Bear has just got an e-mail stating that she should take a more positive approach to life. The Panda Bear is glad she has a job and is not actively suffering now when so many people are. She can be proud that she is not part of the ruling elite that seem bent on ruining the US. She feels by her blog she can contribute a small voice urging people to demand social change and greater accountability of US leadership.
The Panda Bear this weekend finished reading Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest" . She enjoyed "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" while not feeling crazy about the two sequels.
Part of the problem was that the Panda Bear kept on hearing the book discussed on various shows on NPR. She knew too much about the heroine Lisbeth Salander.
However, many of the NPR commentators kept stating the series contains important messagesfor our times. The novels are very cynical about the Swedish welfare state. The Panda Bear remembers g taught that Sweden was a model country in having this extensive welfare system. The novels also make Sweden seem very capitalistic while being very cynical about big business. The Panda Bear is also becoming cynical of big business and big government.
The Panda Bear thinks that part of the Millennium’s series success is that it is easier for Americans to see and discuss problems in Swedish society than in the US,
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