Yah, sorry...wrote that just after driving into work and having to deal with some goofballs on he road.

How 'bout: "We ain't in Kansas anymore, Dorothy!"
or: "It was right after we took this picture that our Honda Civic turned itself around and peeled out heading south with its engine screaming like a little girl."
or: Motorcyclist says to himself: "you've *got* to be kidding me."

One more reason to PUT THE CELL PHONE DOWN and pilot your vehicle!

Right on! Good parenting, too. ;-)

Mark,

I agree with you -- the quality of life issue has a direct bearing on the person who is also an employee. Two points...

One, I think it's not so much about gear-in-the-garage and the outdoorsiness we have out here; I think it's more that the social contract overrides the market contract naturally, as opposed to the other way 'round. Perhaps this isn't as wide spread as I think, but we certainly try to maintain the notion that everyone is a person first, an employee second. And, if you take that approach, then you prioritize the things that make you feel alive, or good, or whatever it is that spins up your tach. I'm probably a lousy excuse for a Utahn because I'm not an avid skier or hiker, but I do really enjoy watching my chickens peck around the yard and taking a motorcycle ride through a canyon. Others in our organization would rather spend the day reading fiction. So I think the battery-charging notion is right on, even though I'd argue that it's not so much how that happens but that the battery-charging is valued.

Second, and I know I'm fighting a losing battle on this front, but I get my fur rubbed the wrong direction everytime I hear "human resources." Instant dehumanization. Blech. Every year or so I go on an all-hands rant over email about how language influences our thinking, so the continual use of 'resources' as 'people' eventually changes your mental representation of a person's value.

Later, man.