Roger McEwan's Blog

This is your life, and its ending one minute at a time . . .

Most of the world is experiencing some sort of lock-down. In New Zealand its restrictive, all schools and universities are closed and only essential businesses are allowed to operate. Its been this way for nearly a month.

Even when the government elects to loosen these restrictions, it wont be going back to the way it was (which wasnt normal by the way. A quarter of a million children in poverty is not normal).

Most...

You probably have to be a New Zealander (Kiwi) to get the political satire accidentally, I presume, made.

Feel free to buy me a coffee........

I’m sorry my disapproval of your behaviour and sense of entitlement makes you uncomfortable.

There comes a time when your children will play either the “I’m a child” or the “I’m an adult” card depending on the situation. In effect, they want you to treat them as fully functioning adults except when they want to be treated as incapable children. It’s confusing and can be painful.

I’ll use my daughter as an example, I’m sure she will mind. I will also find out in quick...she

We haven’t the money, so we’ve got to think.

I just had an interesting chat with a colleague. The main thrust of the conversation concerned work and what we wanted to do in the future. I remembered, and related, a story that clarifies how I believe we should start thinking about this.

I had a job at the local health board which was “okay” but I wasn’t enjoying the role and aspects of management. It was time to m...

The Rate Race - a way of life in which people are caught up in a fiercely competitive struggle for wealth or power.

Have ever felt like a rat on a wheel when it comes to earning money? In fact, it would be more appropriate to ask if you have ever NOT felt like a rat on a wheel? Especially considering, as a single dad, there is no rat alongside me so I can sit down and have a rest!

The society we live in demands we earn money to literally survive. New Zealand is, or maybe...

Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else

It’s been a while between posts and I blame money, or in this case the lack of it. This image sums up what I think it is like in our world. If you stop running, the money stops and bad things start to happen . . . Better keep running.

While I haven’t been posting I have certainly been thinking. Thinking about parenting and, as my teenage children will soon be off and gone, society in general. I have been building a lis...

Time is an illusion, timing is an art.

Getting the transition between parenting (and control) and guiding (and freedom) is tricky. In fact it’s damn hard because often the “right” answer is only obvious in hindsight. That means there is no right answer at the time (i.e. now).

As a parent we spent sixteen or so years in control of our children. At least most of the time! We understand that a major function is keeping them safe. This doesn’t mean wrapping them in cotton wool...

My motto is you can’t spell “wHo caRes” without HR.

There has been much written and discussed (one could say spewed) about organisations trying to help their employees attain the mystical nirvana of work-life balance. In truth, the vast majority of organisations simply pay lip service to work-life balance. There is the odd exception, but, when all is said and done, it is money and “the bottom line” that matters most and not your life, children or pets.

The syst...

May you live in interesting times.

When your Ex finds a new partner you enter interesting times.

In the early days of my separation, my Ex taking a new partner was a principal concern. Not that she found someone new per se, that was fine, but how this new person would impact on, and interact with, my children. I must record that my concerns were never realised and both my Ex and I have managed new partners and our children well.

New partners are obviou...

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.

Every now and again you stumble across a piece of insightful advice from left field. For example, from an okay novel came the gem from the main character - when I meet new people I always ask questions because I already know what I think.

I was listening to an audio book – Macbeth by Jo Nesbo – and the lead character (unsurprisingly Macbeth) said:

When you are confronted wit...