Monthly Archives: June 2011

30 June 2011

Standing My Ground

By Nicki

I have a draft started that contains the quote “Stand for something or fall for anything” attributed to anonymous.  I think I have recently experienced this issue first hand.

 

Am I saying I never understood what it means to stand for something – a cause, a belief, a person – before in my life?  Absolutely not.  I understand the concept.  I just had never had to fight so hard to take my stand until this week.  And, then, worse than taking a stand that is different from others around me, I had my integrity and my reasoning for said stand called into question by those I have to work with on a continual basis.

 

So let’s start at the beginning in this vague story.  I belong to a group that generally seems to always be on the same page every time a decision has to be made.  Have I asked a lot of questions about decisions within this group?  You bet I have.  Have I ever been in the minority of some decisions?  Sure.  Have I ever had my personal integrity questioned because I did not agree with the group?  No.  Well, now I can say I have.

 

Worse than that, I let this “attack,” for lack of a better word, take my mind into a spiral of a dark place.  I couldn’t get my mind out of that hole as I sat and did little or nothing for a day.  I knew, in my heart, that my decision was the right one.  Yet, I let someone else make me feel less than sure about my decision, my decision-making process and myself.  This is the part of standing my ground that really bothered me.  I could talk a good game to others.  We are all able to have our own opinion.  We should all be able to express that opinon.  Yet, I  couldn’t shake that my opinion was being called less than worthy.

 

To put this decision behind me has been difficult.  I was very emotional for a day or two when I thought about the decision and when I had to discuss it with other members of the group.  I am moving forward, knowing that I have done what I was suppose to do in making this decision.  I hope those who called my integrity into question because of my decision can move forward also.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Just my Thoughts

26 June 2011

Imperfect Birds: A Book Review

By Nicki

I just finished Anne Lamott’s Imperfect Birds.  The problem is now I will be suspicious of everything my children ask to do as I have an almost 17 year old who is about to start the summer before his senior year in high school.  Do I think he is similar to Lamott’s Rosie?  Absolutely not.  Do I think he could possibly be?  All teens could.

 

Lamott tells the story of a family who is looking at the promise of youth, a family that was once struck by tragedy and has rebuilt.  Many families fall into this description which is part of the wonder of Lamott’s story telling.  This could be any family.  Just because the setting is in California, it does not mean that this could not be in New York or Nebraska.  Just because the tragedy was the death of a spouse, a father, it does not mean the tragedy could not be divorce or debt.

 

Lamott weaves the story of teenage deception into an already damaged family.  When I look around, this family could be many that I see, including my own.  Maybe the deception is not drugs but we all have our share of deceptions.  Any teen could be the one lying.  The lies could be about alcohol, about drugs, about sex.  On top of that, very few families these days are whole.  About half have suffered divorce and have tried to mend themselves in different ways from that.

 

The part of the book that is redemptive is that the adults find hope.  They find hope in each other and in a faith community while they profess to not believe.  Elizabeth, Rosie’s mom, even finds hope in herself while taking part in a women’s sweat lodge. Feeling she was not strong enough, she amazed herself by staying for four rounds while her friend Rae crawled out during the first round.

 

I highly recommend Lamott’s Imperfect Birds to anyone.  The story telling itself is wondrous, weaving all major fiction components from the characters to the setting to the plot.

2 comments | posted in Book Reviews, Just my Thoughts

23 June 2011

Shedding

By Nicki

Just a quick preface to this post.  I started writing this back in September of 2010.  Not sure what caused me to stop writing back then but I only wrote two short paragraphs and will finish now.

 

I am shedding. I have decided to clean house in a manner that leaves me with more house to live in so things are going out in the garbage and recycling. I have boxed up papers I am keeping – for who knows what reason as I am not totally sure – and am putting the box in the garage. I know most of us use our garages for cars but mine is my only storage area as my basement is a cellar with a dirt floor and stone walls. On top of boxing things up for the garage, I am thinking, if I am given some good weather without a ton of other things going on, I will even clean out the garage.

You may ask what is up with all this “hoeing” out. I have to say that a lot of it is thanks to Bindu Wiles and her shed project. I know I don’t need a lot of this stuff. I just want to get rid of what I don’t need to live so I can live better with what I do need.

 

These two paragraphs above keep coming back to me again and again.  I started them, as I said at the start here, about nine months ago.  Now, though, my thought process is going to a different type of shedding.  As I was cleaning out some spaces, I came across photos.  These were photos of me in the mid to late 90′s.  I hardly recognize the woman.  What I cannot figure out is why someone didn’t tell me how large I had gotten.

 

Those days were tough days.  My marriage had ended and I was working outside my home full-time.  At the same moment, I had my oldest in the throws of teendom and my youngest not quite ready for school yet.  Needless to say, I was overextended and tended to eat to sooth emotional issues.  And, there were lots of emotional issues surrounding everything going on in my life.

 

So what changed?  If you have followed my healthy lifestyle journey posts, you will know it was the health issues of my parents that finally made me see the light.  Both of my parents have, or in the case of my father had, health issues.  I didn’t want these.  I wanted to be able to go out and have fun with friends and not have to worry about what I was eating.  I wanted to know that when I hit 50, the wheels were not going to fall off the bus.

 

How was I going to avoid what heredity had in store for me?  I decided, at the age of 46, I was going to outrun it.  I know it sounds crazy.  I started slowly.  Never having heard of Couch to 5K at the time, I began walking and running.  There was a little more running each time I went out.  I sprained an ankle so took the knowledge I had gained from being a soccer mom and taped my ankle and went out anyway.  I just kept going, slowly but surely.  I was not the speediest person out there but was definitely running more than walking.

 

Then, I met a friend who had taken up running and he dropped 40 plus pounds.  I saw photos of him from before running but never thought I would be able to do that.  He was encouraging.  I registered for my first race.  I loved it!  I had caught the racing bug.  No way around it – I was a runner.

 

I want to encourage you, if you are reading this, to get up and go do something.  I know everyone is not a runner.  I am not speedy by most people’s standards so realize that running is a personal thing.  You do not compare yourself to others but to yourself.  How did you do on this route the last time you ran it?  What was your time the last time you ran this race?  You can make your own pace, your own routes, your own runs.  Do you see?  YOU are in control.

4 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Fitness, Just my Thoughts

21 June 2011

Foreign Language Testing

By Nicki

Please realize these thoughts are mine and mine alone.  They do not reflect the feelings of the school district my child attends and of which I am a member of the board of education.

 

We live in a global economy and a global social setting.  While people in Greece may be experiencing economic issues, people around the world should be watching.  While people in Germany celebrate Octoberfest, people around the world watch and, in some locations, mimic or celebrate themselves.  What once was considered a large area – the world – is shrinking daily.

 

With this global shrinking and interdependence in view, the NYS Board of Regents cut the last of the foreign language Regents as a cost saving measure in May.  A little background.  In NYS, Regents are final exams.  Many times these tests are cumulative with English being given in 11th grade, Global History being given after two years of study and foreign language being given at the end of three years of study.  These tests are given across the state with no alterations, although students with IEPs may have some type of test accommodations if these are written into the IEP.  The cutting of foreign language Regents has been a two year process.  Last year the Board of Regents cut this exam in German, Hebrew, and Latin.  This  year was the last year that the exam will be given in French, Italian, and Spanish.

 

The NYS Regents in a foreign language is not simply a written exam.  The exam contains a verbal portion and then written material.  The exam is not easy to administer and is cumulative over three years of study.  What message does ending these exams send to students?  Regardless of what the ethnocentric US thinks, English is not the language of the world.  The Board of Regents are sending a message that we should not prepare students for life in a global community.  This message is not only the wrong message; it is dangerous.

 

Think of this in terms of raising a child.  When a parent tells the child one thing and then does something opposite, what do you think sticks with the child?  Usually, the actions stay around longer than the words.  To draw the analogy, we – the adults in charge of the education system – tell students that a global economy and a global community are the ways of the future.  We then take away a test that encourages learning about other cultures and other languages.  A contradiction? Definitely.  Good for the future? Definitely not.

 

Realize that NYS still requires a foreign language class for graduation from high school.  The state is not totally ignoring foreign language.  It is still a requirement for graduation.  It is just not important enough to be a subject on which  the state will test students’ knowledge.

 

To me, this position of the Board of Regents is a large contradiction.  I am the type of person that took French when I was in 2nd through 4th grades.  I took two years of Spanish in high school.  In my first two years of college, I was close to the Quebec border with NYS.  I would read the newspapers written in French in the library.  When I started raising my children, I would buy picture books where I could get a copy in English and a copy in Spanish.  I truly believe we need to educate ourselves, not only our children, on what goes on in other cultures and in how to speak other languages.

 

If you live in NYS, what are you thoughts on the end of foreign language Regents?  If you are from another state, what type of foreign language requirements does your state have for high school students?

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20 June 2011

January Regents a Thing of the Past

By Nicki

Back during the making of the New York State budget, the Board of Regents requested $15 million dollars to develop and administer NYS Regents.  A regents is a test that is given in high school, statewide, at the same time and day everywhere in the state.  These tests include a Global History regents (given at the end of 10th grade after two years of global history), US History (given at the end of 11th grade), English (this has been a variety of tests over the years but always at the end of 11th grade), various maths and sciences.  NY is one of the only states that gives these tests in so many subjects and, until last month, offered the exams three times a year – January, June and August.

 

The budget request for $15 million did not fall on deaf ears but did fall somewhere as NY is in a huge fiscal crisis.  The Regents received $7 million.  As a means of saving $1.4 million, the Board of Regents decided to stop offering January exams.  An additional $700,000 savings will come from totally removing foreign languages from the Regents.  The Regents only offered a third year exam in Spanish, French and Italian at this point in time and the last of these will be given this month.

 

Do I think this move will effect me, or my family, personally?  No.  I have one high school student left, out of six children.  He took his English and US History Regents last week and will take a Chemistry Regents on Wednesday.  He should pass all of these.  Truthfully, he need only pass the English and US History to graduate high school.  He has already passed two other science Regents in previous years: Earth Science and Living Environment.

 

Will this move effect other high school students in the state?  Definitely!  Many years back when the first major change was made to the English Regents – the exam went from a one sitting of three hours maximum to a two sitting of six hours maximum, many school districts were fearful of the pass rate in June.  Consequently, the districts opted to give the English Regents to 11th graders in January.  Those who did not pass – and they needed to pass with at least a 65 to graduate – had four more chances to take the test before actual graduation.  Once the test was a known commodity, additional districts opted to give the English Regents in January as 11th grade also includes the US History Regents, possibly a 3rd year foreign language Regents, possibly a math Regents, and possibly a science Regents.  In addition to these Regents tests, many 11th graders are also taking Advanced Placement tests just prior to end of year testing.

 

Many people believe that eliminating the January testing dates will put too much pressure on students who MUST pass the exam to graduate.  Many large city schools also feel that their at-risk populations will have trouble with two less chances to pass required-for-graduation tests.

 

My personal thoughts are this is going to hurt those who are most at-risk for not finishing high school.  Those who are AP (Advanced Placement) or IB (International Baccalaureate) students will manage their stress and take the Regents when they are offered.  Might it have been easier to have a January option?  Undoubtedly.  Is it a necessity?  Definitely not.

 

If you live in NY, what are your thoughts?  If you do not live in NY, what does your state require, as far as testing, for graduation from high school?  I will write my thoughts about the abolishing of foreign language testing at a future date.

 

Please realize these thoughts are mine and mine alone.  They do not reflect the feelings of the school district my child attends and of which I am a member of the board of education.

1 comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Just my Thoughts, Politics

17 June 2011

Education Funding

By Nicki

Please realize these thoughts are mine and mine alone.  They do not reflect the feelings of the school district my child attends and of which I am a member of the board of education.

 

Friday morning a group of unsuspecting folks on Twitter were discussing educational reform. I think this is fantastic as I find the subject nearly impossible to discuss in a blog post, let alone in 140 characters. Worse than the whole character limitation was the fact that the original link that was shared was followed by a comment that sharing such on Facebook would garner all kinds of attacks.

The public education system is broken. This is the start of the conversation: not what is broken or how but that the system is broken.  It is not broken to the same extent in all locations but it is broken, none the less. There are many reason for this state of broken-ness. It can come from many reasons. Funding reasons are the biggest one, at least in New York State.

New York State funds differing school districts in differing amounts. State funding comes from state taxes. Local funding comes from property taxes. So basically public education is funded by the taxes of the people of the state. The biggest issue in NY is that school district budgets are close to the only way for voters to express any amount of dissatisfaction with government. Town and municipal budgets do not get voted on by the taxpayer. Votes are for school budgets and for elected officials. Consequently, school budgets seem to get the brunt of voter dissatisfaction.

This funding method has caused some great divides between wealthy and not so wealthy districts within NYS. Places in the state where businesses are booming, granted at this point in time no part of the state has a fantastic economy, there is a tax base to fund schools – academic programs, athletic programs, teachers, aides, monitors. Places in the state where the economy is closer to stagnant, there is not a tax base to fund schools. As municipalities look to offer incentives for businesses to locate in that municipality, school districts are not sure if I want to use this portion

Many people think that because local funding comes from property taxes that only local property owners should be allowed to vote. The fallacy in this is that most property owners figure their property taxes into what they charge for rental units. In addition to this, renters are eligible, by state law, to be members of boards of education. Consequently, thinking that renters should not be allowed to vote on school budgets, and by association on tax levies, is flawed.

Funding is definitely an issue in the mess that is public education in NYS. Another issue is laws that require the last hired to be the first let go in times of layoffs. This issue has caused some heated discussions in all circles as school districts statewide notified teachers of the possibility of layoffs this spring. In a small two county area in upstate NY, over 400 positions were lost from school districts this year. The impact will begin to be felt as these people vie for the few jobs that are available in the fall. The impact will be felt as these families have less income and are not frequenting restaurants and stores in the area. To top that off is the fact that this is a small area. Most larger city areas incurred much larger layoffs.

Let’s look at options. None of these options are totally thought through yet but all have some sense of viability. First there is the last in, first out process. Teachers should not have guaranteed employment just because they are teachers. Tenure is a bad thing. It guarantees lackadaisical behavior on the part of teachers. In addition, tenure is granted after a short period of time in most cases. Tenure needs to be granted after five years in one district at the least. Tenure also needs to be renewable. In other words, there is no “job for life” guarantee that most teachers feel they have once they have received tenure. Please realize this discussion is a generalization and not all teachers are like this.

Another option is to change the funding formula. In NYS, the current governor, Andrew M Cuomo, is trying to do just that. The governor is proposing a tax cap – this is a cap of the tax levy, not the actual tax rate of a property – at 2% or the rate of inflation, which ever is lower. Had this law, the way it was originally written, been in place for the 2011 budget vote, school districts across NYS would have had to have a 0% tax levy increase, excepting previously voted on capitol projects. The only way to get around this lack of an increase would be a “super majority” vote or approval by more than 60% of the voters.

Can education be fixed? Can schools start at zero and work up from there, cutting items that are not essential? Can schools figure out a way to educate our students without breaking the bank? This issue will go on for a long time as no school district can start with a zero and build a budget up as there are contractual obligations that must be fulfilled. So what is the answer?

Do I have the answer? No. I have thoughts that may or may not work in differing districts and communities around the county. What I do know is that the method has to change and change now. What I do know is the community must be involved in the solution. What I do know is that, regardless of what happens, there is absolutely no way to make everyone happy.

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17 June 2011

Healthy Lifestyle Journey – Part III

By Nicki

The last installment on my journey saw me still 40 pounds overweight from having twins and finding myself pregnant with number four.  While I did not gain massive amounts of weight with the fourth pregnancy, I did start off at too high a weight so was in a bit of a quandry.  I couldn’t, or shouldn’t, diet while pregnant but did not want to lose the momentum I had gained thus far.

Needless to say, I topped this pregnancy out at around 200 pounds.  Yes, that is a 5 foot, 4 inch person carrying around all this weight.  Never once did it occur to me, back then, that this was not healthy.  I had no pregnancy health issues and had a full term – actually 12 days late – baby girl.

With four children under the age of four, life was hectic.  I was preparing bottles and breastfeeding.  I was considering going back to work and considering becoming a stay at home mom.  My head was all over the place and yet nowhere at all.  I totally threw myself into raising kids and stopped thinking about me.  Two years later, pregnancy four came and went without any issues.

Four years after that, pregnancy five came.  This one was different.  I was too heavy.  I didn’t feel I was eating enough.  I was diagnosed with pregnancy-induced hypertension.  I had blood pressure so high that my OB/GYN eventually put me on blood pressure medication.  I didn’t feel good a lot of the pregnancy but a good portion of it was in hotter months so I blamed it on the heat.  I was eventually told to have a C-section about two weeks early due to my blood pressure issues.  Sure enough, once baby was delivered, my BP dropped to pre-baby levels.  Life was good and I was done with having children.  That was 1994.

I know many people will find it hard to believe but it took me 13 years to really come to terms with the fact I needed to change the way I was living.  In that time, my marriage ended.  I had four children graduate from high school and go to college.  I had no “little” kids anymore.  I could go out and walk, or – as the case would end up being – run, when I wanted without worrying about a babysitter.

Also, in that time, I had learned a bit more about what was coming at me if I didn’t make some drastic changes, and soon.  My father was an insulin-dependent diabetic.  My mother was a diabetic who controlled her disease with medicine and diet.  My father and my mother both have high blood pressure.  I could not keep going as I was in 2007 without knowing that I was in for trouble the rest of my life if changes were not made.

Maybe it was my parents’ health at the time.  Maybe it was the fact I was almost 46 and knew that 50 was approaching but I went to a good friend’s for a party Labor Day weekend in 2007.  I stepped on her bathroom scales that day and when I stepped off, my mind was made up.  The following Monday, I started “running.”

I say “running” because when I first started, I couldn’t really run.  I would run about 20 seconds and huff and puff my way for a minute or two.  Then, I would run a bit again.

I am sure there is more to come.  I haven’t gotten to actually racing yet and there is the eating component to healthy living.  I figure this is probably as lengthy as a piece should be, though.  You can read installment one here and installment two here.

2 comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Family, Fitness, Just my Thoughts

13 June 2011

Summer’s Almost Here

By Nicki

I can’t believe it is almost the middle of June already.  Where as 2011 gone?  I think part of my problem is that my year has frequently been marked, at least for many years, by other milestones.  This year is unique.  The only thing to deal with, as far as summer is concerned, is does everyone have the clothing they need in their drawers.

In the past, when my children were younger – that should read the oldest being anywhere from 5 on up, I would start the summer planning in February.  There were camps to check out, budgets to make.  Then, once decisions were made the dreaded logistics would start to form.  Could I drop kids off and do pick up?  Did I know anyone else going to the same combination of camps/classes?  Could we carpool?

Let’s just look back about 17 years which would be the last summer I was pregnant.  I was very pregnant as the youngest, that would be #6, will turn 17 in July.  This means that there were five children to plan for between the ages of almost four and almost ten.  #1 was going to soccer camp.  Numbers 2 and 3 were going to a summer enrichment program that the local school district ran.  #4, now that I think about it, she was going to summer enrichment also.  #5 was the issue.  What would I do with him for the summer?  He did have some speech issues and speech therapy to attend over the summer but there needed to be fun also.

Now, let me tell you about the lovely weather.  I was extremely pregnant with #6 being due in August.  Yes, I said earlier in this post that he will be 17 in July.  This is the only, even through a pregnancy of twins, pregnancy that I was not 100% healthy throughout the term.  I had developed pregnancy-induced hypertension.  My OB had tried everything to keep my blood pressure down – (those of you pregnant now realize this was “back in the dark ages”) a baby aspirin a day, actual BP medication, instructions to get in a cool pool every day.  I had no edema but did have BP so high that I was making weekly trips to the OB.

The last week in July rolled around and #1 headed to one end of the county, opposite where we lived, for soccer camp with a good friend.  #2 and #3 and #4 headed off to summer enrichment for a half day.  #5 was going to stay at a friend’s house while I went to the OB’s office for my weekly visit.  I had no doubt I was going to be pregnant for at least another couple weeks as my due date was at least 10 days off and I had never been on time since #1.  Big difference was this pregnancy was not a healthy one – that old BP issue.

 

I went in for that check-up to be asked what time had I eaten breakfast.  Okay, I can roll with this.  Breakfast had been at 7 a.m.  It was now 10-ish.  I was told to find a sitter for my kids, call my hubby and tell him to meet me at the hospital.  Go home, get your bag and meet me at the hospital was what the OB said.  Do not eat another thing and you will have a baby by 3 this afternoon.  Probably what every pregnant woman wants to hear except I was on soccer camp pick-up.  #s 2, 3 & 4 were bused to the elementary school which was just shy of a mile from our house.  And, then, there was #5.  What would I do with him if I managed to get everyone else picked up and brought home to a sitter?  Thank heavens my next door neighbor had two daughters that babysat for me.

 

I know probably not the summer story you would want to hear.  I use to plan it all out – down to who was doing pick up when.  Now, after having my plans come crashing down that summer 17 years ago, I have played fast and loose with summers. I have had kids on all-star baseball while I worked.  It always manages to work out.

 

Do you plan your children’s summers?  Do you even “just let kids be kids?”  What is one of your favorite summer memories?  I am a member of SocialMoms.com and summer memories is a blogging prompt for today.

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6 June 2011

How Do You View Yourself?

By Nicki

I use to think that body image was a teenage problem.  I am becoming more and more aware of body image as an all-my-life problem.  No.  I do not have a problem with  my body.  It is not perfect but it has born six children.  It has, and hopefully will continue to, serve me well.  I push my body to its limits frequently and it always responds positively.

 

What has me thinking that body image is not just rail thin models in magazines and plastic actresses on television and the silver screen?  I have been listening with a critical ear to my female friends lately.  I have asked several of these friends to join me in the pool mornings.  Granted, not everyone wants to get out of bed in time to be in the pool at 5:30 am.  The hour is seldom their problem with the pool, though.  More times than not, I hear that I don’t want to be out in public in a bathing suit.

 

Unless you have a backyard pool, if you do not want to be seen in public in a bathing suit, you best not own one.  Now, maybe I am in the wrong, but I do not go to the pool in the morning to check out other people’s bathing suits.  I don’t really check out other people’s bodies (okay, so this may be a bit false as I love to check out other’s strokes so probably check out the body in the process).  I get in the water and swim.  When I get out of the water, I head for the locker room unless I have to speak with someone who is in the water.

 

What message do we send to our children when we tell them models are not “real” in size and body shape and then we play insecure with our own body image?  We may not think this is a true issue with our children – regardless of their age.  The problem is our children pick up on these innuendos, and probably quicker than I did.

 

Women of all ages need to embrace their bodies as they are.  Our bodies are ours.  Our bodies help us through our lives.

 

Do you feel comfortable in your body?  Do you worry about being in a swimsuit in the summer?  How do show younger women, and men also, that you have a positive body image?

8 comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Fitness, Just my Thoughts

3 June 2011

The Benevolent Dictator – A Book Review

By Nicki

When first approached to review Michael Feuer’s The Benevolent Dictator, I was hesitant.  How could another book be written on how to start and build a buisness?  Is there really a new way to do this?  In the end, my hesitancy is what convinced me to read this book.  I knew  a publisher would not put a book out that did not have something new in it.

 

I was pleasantly surprised when I began reading Feuer’s The Benevolent Dictator.  First, it is an easy read.  This business book is written in short, almost how-to chapters called lessons.  Each lesson is told with examples from Feuer’s business life.  Feuer is the mastermind behind the success of Jo-Ann Stores in the late 70′s and the 1980′s before he founded OfficeMax.

 

The book is split, quite logically, into four sections: start-up, build out and idea testing, reinvention and payout.  While many of the lessons may seem like common sense, there are equally as many that are simply pieces of brilliance for the businessman or entrepreneur.

 

As is the case in many instances these days, I look at my race running and training as a business.  Consequently, when reading a business book, I tend to apply the lessons to my training.  I also apply lessons to my freelance business.  The lesson in start-up that most called to me as a runner and as a freelancer is lesson eight, competition stinks.  As a freelancer, I know that competition stinks.  Gigs are hard to find and secure.  More and more time is put into finding the next gig because of competition.  On the other hand, by finding my own strength, I can find gigs that are almost “tailor-suited” for me.

 

In the idea testing section, lesson 11 about plans screamed at me.  Not only should there be a plan, all good runners and entrepreneurs should have a plan B, plan C, maybe even plan D.  As a running, I set goals for my races.  I set what I hope to be a realistic finishing time goal.  Then, as I know I should, I set other goals.  Because you never know what is waiting for you during a race, other goals should be set with the final goal – when all others have alluded you – being to finish.

 

I strongly suggest anyone in business – whether a worker bee or a boss or an entrepreneur or a freelancer – pick up a copy of Feuer’s The Benevolent Dictator.  The lessons that Feuer has learned in his business life are ones from which we all can learn and take advantage.

 

I received an advance copy of Feuer’s book, The Benevolent Dictator, for purposes of this review.  The thoughts on the book are totally mine.

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