Four Years

November third 2020
Sitting anxiously on my bedroom floor
I've got other things to worry about
Like how I did on my test today
But rather than worrying about my grades
I'm afraid my rights are gonna get taken away

That's the opening verse to Four Years, a song my 14-year-old daughter wrote on the afternoon of Election Day. She's really proud of it and I'm really proud of her; with her permission, I'm sharing it with you.

Elections profoundly impact people. They matter. This year's election hit harder and mattered more than any other in my lifetime. I've enjoyed watching that impact through the eyes of my two kids, who aren't yet old enough to vote or to have a meaningful voice in the process. I know one of mine is very much looking forward to four years from now when she can turn her voice into a vote for the first time.

Coronavirus Update 11-9-2020: COVID-19 and no-fault attendance policies

Can you "point" an employee under a no-fault attendance policy for a coronavirus-related absence? For example, an employee sick with COVID-19 or awaiting test results, quarantined because of an exposure, or at home because a child needs care?

For the uninitiated, no-fault attendance policies operate by having workers accumulate "points" for missing work, arriving late, or other attendance-related issues; after the accumulation of a pre-determined number of "points," employees face discipline or even termination.

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, these policies are not only unnecessarily cruel, but they also might be illegal.

Coronavirus Update 11-6-2020: Accountability

The NFL has fined the Las Vegas Raiders $500,000 and stripped them of a 2021 draft pick for "brazen and repeated violations" of the league's COVID-19 protocols. The violations include repeated incidents of players and coaches not wearing masks and permitting players to attend a charity event maskless while mingling with the crowd. The fines and penalty came after repeated warnings (and prior fines) by the NFL.

If your business's COVID-19 rules are to have any meaning, you need to be prepared to stand behind them with discipline and even termination if necessary. These are important safety rules that are absolutely necessary to beat back this virus, especially as cases are spiking and we are hitting record numbers on a daily basis.

Coronavirus Update 11-5-2020: OSHA levies $2 million in COVID-related citations and penalties

Are you tired of the endless din of vote counts and election news? Let's get back to the uplifting topic of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

OSHA recently announced a spate of COVID-related citations totaling $2,025,431 in fines. 

If you care about the future of democracy, then we have to count every single vote

As I type at 6:30 am on the morning after, we still don't know who won the presidency. There are 9 states and 87 electoral votes undecided, and few of those states (Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, and Pennsylvania) will ultimately determine the winner.

Yet, in the wee hours of the morning, Donald Trump took to a White House podium and stated his clear and unambiguous intent to go to the Supreme Court to stop the counting of outstanding votes, which he says is "a fraud on the American public." 

Music will get my through the next few days (I hope) — my survival playlist

There is no doubt that life is stressful right now. Between the exponentially and dangerously rising COVID-19 numbers (and the unwillingness of enough of us to take the basic health and safety measure to tame them and protect us all) and the election (which literally feels like the future of our nation is on the ballot) I'm bundle of nerves.

When I feel this way, I turn to music to calm me. So I thought I'd share my Desperate Times — Songs to Survive By playlist (ed. note: not everyone would consider all of these songs to be "calming," but my list my songs). Some are protest songs that feel particularly timely and some just flat out bring an optimistic smile to my face.

How are you planning to survive these stressful days with your sanity intact? Any songs you'd recommend I add to my playlist? Drop a comment below, @ or DM on Twitter, or leave a comment on LinkedIn here.

Coronavirus Update 10-30-2020: I’m tired

As we round the corner to month eight of "living with COVID-19," I thought now is a good time to ask everyone, "How are you doing?"

Me? I'm tired.