Author: ExGen

Today is Tuesday, November 6th – Election Day. Did you know:

Election day is set for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November?
In every even-numbered year, all seats in the House of Representatives are voted for?
On every year evenly divisible by four, the President and Vice-President are voted for?
That November was thought to be a good time for elections because, in our early agrarian society, the fall harvest would have been completed but the winter storms would not have hit yet?
Tuesday was thought to be a good day for elections because it would allow people in rural parts of the country to begin travel on Monday, rather than Sunday (so traveling would not interfere with Sunday church services), to get to the voting location?
Women were given the right to vote on June 5, 1919, with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment?
Grover Cleveland was the only President to be elected, defeated, and then elected again – becoming the 22nd President from 1885-1889 and the 24th President from 1893-1897?

[tags]Election, Politics, Society, DYK[/tags]

What Marine Corps boot camp is like…

Post author By ExGen
Post date November 5, 2007
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Have you ever been curious about what Marine Corps boot camp is really like? This video shows it fairly well. When people have asked me about boot camp, I’ve always told them that it was like Full Metal Jacket – except I had five drill instructors instead of just one. I didn’t create this video… you can find it on YouTube. And although the video says this happened at Parris Island, the comments on the main page seem to indicate that it might have been at MCRD San Diego. It doesn’t really matter where this video was taken – Marines will tell you that the training, and the viciousness of the drill instructors, are the same at either location.

– Semper Fidelis –

[tags]Marine Corps, USMC [/tags]

ExGen

Tactics and techniques for distributive bargaining

Post author By ExGen
Post date November 5, 2007
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Exceptional People Silhouetted Many consider collective bargaining to be the foundation of the business relationship between employer and employee. During the contract negotiation process, representatives from companies and labor unions are required to bargain in good faith. Beyond this, there are many tactics and techniques that can be used by both sides to achieve their desired objectives. An analysis of a few of these methods can lead to a greater understanding of the negotiation process, and put you in a better position to bargain in the future.

What is distributive bargaining? In the book entitled Labor relations and collective bargaining: Cases, practice, and law, Carrell and Heavrin define it as “a type of labor negotiations viewed as a ‘win-lose’ situation.” In addition, “resources are viewed as fixed and limited, and each side wants to maximize its share.” When distributive bargaining is used, each side views an increase from the current contract as a gain or win for them, and a loss for the other group. Although other types of bargaining are used, distributive bargaining remains the most common method of negotiation. Since both management and union will be attempting to secure the better deal, it is important for the negotiators to be aware of a few positioning tactics that may be used by the other side.

Did you know?

Early this morning, many of us in the United States set our clocks back one hour due to Daylight Saving Time (DST). Did you know:

That DST was introduced by an Englishman named William Willett in the early 1900’s?
In 1918, the United States Congress put the entire country on DST for the remainder of World War I (the law was later repealed)? From 1942-1945, the U.S. was again on DST due to war.
It wasn’t until the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that the U.S standardized the use of Daylight Saving Time?
For the years 1945-1966, each state and locality established whether or not they would observe DST?
In 2008, the United States will observe DST from March 9th – November 2nd?

To learn more about DST in the United States than you could ever want to know, click here or here.

[tags]DST, Time, DYK [/tags]

Health Random

Good luck on God’s ‘parent test’… I hope you pass.

Post author By ExGen
Post date November 2, 2007
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In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…. Then, God said ‘Let there be light… and croup.’ You probably won’t find that last part anywhere in the Bible, but it should have been put in there. Croup, I believe, is God’s test for parents. When your child has his or her first croup attack (and pray they don’t!), it is one of the scariest moments of your new parenthood. If you haven’t heard of croup already, let me tell you a little story.

My first experience with a croupy child occurred about two years ago. I was in bed sleeping, when I heard my youngest son coughing and struggling to catch his breath. At first, I thought he was just getting sick… maybe a little cold. But the breathing got progressively worse over the next few minutes, until he was hardly breathing at all (or so it seemed). There was a few second delay between each labored breath (that I later found out was caused by swelling around his airway), and his coughing sounded like the barking of a baby seal. The coughing and breathing troubles made my little guy cry, and all that did was make the situation worse. It was horrible for me. Here was my baby, suffering, and I couldn’t do anything to help him feel better. Since I didn’t know what to do, I immediately took him to the emergency room. On the drive there, the symptoms got much better and they were hardly noticeable by the time we checked in (because he was breathing in the cold winter air, as I will talk about later). After a steroid shot and a hospital stay of a few hours for observation, we were released. The rest of the night, my son slept in my bed so I could keep an eye on him. He slept fine after that, even if I couldn’t sleep a wink.

Random

How you can make a difference.

Post author By ExGen
Post date November 1, 2007
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When I was a child (not too long ago, by the way!), I attended a very interesting school. The school taught kindergarten through 8th grade, and had an enrollment of approximately 50 students. The building itself was very small, consisting of only 3 classrooms and a large finished basement that housed the lunchroom/library/music room/teachers’ office. Since there were only three classrooms, the grades were mixed together in a unique learning environment. When I was there, for example, the setup was 1st-3rd grade in one room, 4th-5th in another room, and 6th-8th in the last room (the kindergarteners spent their half-day in a ‘classroom’ in the basement). Each classroom was taught by only one teacher, who would coordinate the teaching by grade level. For instance, she would call 8th graders (there were just two of us) to the table at the back of the room to do math. While we were back there, the other two grades would be working on projects or their homework. When our session was done, we would return to our seats and the teacher would call back another grade for their math class. The same format is still used to teach at the school today.

This type of environment created a close-knit community of students, and helped me form a very personal bond with the teachers and the school in general. Because of this bond and my passion for lifelong learning, I have been volunteering with Junior Achievement for the past four years or so at the school. In this role, I return weekly to my old stomping grounds and present a one-hour class on business and economics as it relates to our society. The classes come prepackaged from JA, complete with lesson plans, handouts, posters/wall charts, and all materials needed to complete the class. I have taught over 10 of these classes so far, and the children are very receptive and open to learning. Each day when you walk into class, you can feel the excitement radiating from the students (I’m not sure if they really like me, or if they are just glad that their not doing real homework). For me personally, I enjoy volunteering with JA because it allows me to give back to the school that I attended. I can honestly walk into a classroom and say ‘Look at me. I came from the same background as you and I was once sitting in the same room as you are now. I am proof that you can do anything you would like to with your future, as long as you believe in yourself and reach for your dreams.‘ It is a powerful speech that seems to connect with the children, and always leaves their teacher smiling.

To learn more about Junior Achievement and how you can help make a difference, click here.

Did you know?

Did you know that the carving of jack-o’lanterns originated as an Irish tale about a man named ‘Stingy Jack’?

According to the myth:

Long ago, Jack tricked the Devil into promising that he (the Devil) would not bother Jack, and that, upon his death, the Devil would not take his soul. When Jack finally died years later, God would not let him into heaven due to his dealings with the Devil. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) for Jack, the Devil was true to his word and would not take his soul either. Jack was sent on his way with a glowing ember in a turnip to light the way through the endless night. Later, people would make their own version of Jack’s lantern out of turnips and put them in their windows to keep Jack (and other evil spirits) away at night. When the Irish in America discoverd pumpkins, they realized that carving them was far easier than carving turnips – and our tradition was born.

To read a nice telling of the story from History.com, click here. Also found on the site are links to other Halloween information, including holiday origins, fast facts, and famous haunts.

ExGen Languages

Learn Japanese Through Osmosis!

Post author By ExGen
Post date October 29, 2007
1 Comment on Learn Japanese Through Osmosis!

If you have read through the About page, and glanced at the previous posts, you have probably discovered by now that I love to learn new things. One subject that I find truly fascinating is foreign languages. Looking at my bookshelf, that fact would be obvious to you – since I have multiple books on learning Chinese, Dutch, Spanish, and German. The problem is that I haven’t read any of those books. It’s almost like I think I’m going to learn another language through osmosis. Maybe if I just keep these books next to my bed, I’ll wake up one day and be fluent enough to actively hold a conversation with a native speaker. That, obviously, is never going to happen. Every now and then, though, I’ll get on a new kick and rediscover the excitement of languages. One of my favorite languages (currently?) is Japanese. I love the beauty of the written kana and kanji, and the overall kawaii of Japanese culture. If you are interested in learning Japanese (or any language of your chosing), there are two sites I would like to share with you…

Did you know?

The Boston Red Sox have just swept the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series.

Did you know:

Before Fenway Park, the Red Sox played at Huntington Avenue Grounds (opened: May 8, 1901; last game: October 7, 1911)?
Cy Young threw a perfect game for the Sox against Philadelphia on May 5, 1904 (aided by Huntington’s 635 feet deep center field!)?
Only one Red Sox player has hit for the cycle two times in his career (Bobby Doerr – May 17, 1944 and May 13, 1947)?
The Red Sox have retired six numbers (1 – Bobby Doerr; 4 – Joe Cronin; 8 – Carl Yastrzemski; 9 – Ted Williams; 27 – Carlton Fisk; 42 – Jackie Robinson)?
Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s #42 in 1997 for all teams?
The first time the season attendance surpassed 1 million was in 1946 (1,419,944)?
Ted Williams in 1941 bacame the last man to hit over .400 for a season (.406)?

Did you know?

Saturday is college football day in my house. To me, college football is epitomized by Notre Dame and the Southeastern Conference. Did you know that the SEC has been around for 75 years and the current commissioner is Mike Slive? And in case you didn’t know, the following schools are members of the SEC:

Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Ole Miss
Miss. State
South Carolina
Tennessee
Vanderbilt