by Diana L. Martin

The debate on full return to office (RTO) versus remote or hybrid work schedules continues to rage. Multitudes of articles have been written on the topic and so many statistics have been thrown around that it’s hard to keep track or know which ones to believe.

According to an August article in The Washington Post, full-time remote work decreased by 10% from February to June 2022 and hybrid schedules rose by about as much, so it appears that hybrid work is winning out over a full return to the office.

Breathable, protective, comfortable, stylish... What's most important to you? Print Manager, Alex Plachta, walks us through the most commonly sold facemasks over this past year.

Office Express CEO, Anna Sinagra, and President, Jeff Eusebio, reflect on navigating the challenges of 2020 and preparing for 2021 as a small business.

Jeff Eusebio, President of OEX, talks about the power of habits, brain juice, winning back a customer from a competitor, and… bourbon?

Today's world concentrates on success.  We teach our children that getting good grades is necessary to get into a good college and good grades in college are necessary to get a good job.  Work hard at that job and you'll get raises and promotions and you'll be successful and achieve the American Dream.  We like winners.  We can recite the winners of sports championship games like the Super Bowl, or World Series, TV show winners like American Idol, Survivor or Dancing with the Stars, or the Best Picture Oscar.  Theodore Roosevelt won the presidential election in 1904.   He was "successful."  Who did he defeat - do you know?  I didn't.  Does that mean the other candidate wasn't successful?

I thought you might enjoy these humorous quotes about Thanksgiving.

Vegetables are a must on a diet.  I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie.  

                                                                                                                                   Jim Davis

My son turned 18 years old a couple weeks ago.  He is now legally an adult - off to college, learning how to be responsible for every aspect of his life.  I have one piece of advice to give to him that I wish someone had given to me when I was his age.  I don't know who really said it - there seems to be a bit of disagreement out there.  Sometimes it is attributed to Harley Davidson, other times to Anonymous.  Regardless of the author, it is a lesson I hope he heeds.  

Lots of humorous quips exist about the differences between men and women - and I find a lot of them to be true (LOL).  Growing up with my dad (I love you, Dad!) I find this one to be especially true:

Today I'd like to share a few humorous thoughts with you.

First, why is it that if someone tells you there are 1 billion stars in the universe you will believe them, but if they tell you a wall has wet paint you have to touch it to be sure?

We all have struggles in our lives - at school, at work, at home.  Maybe you're having personality issues with a coworker or feel that you're not getting the recognition you deserve or you feel that your significant other isn't helping enough with the housework.  I ran across this quote a few days ago and I think it offers some very wise advise, so I thought I'd share it with you.

My mom always told me to dream big.

We all have those moments when something just strikes us funny or we wonder why something is the way it is.  As I was checking my battery drawer to see if I had the right battery for my flashlight, I wondered:

Life is too Short......

                      .........to wake up with regrets

                                                .........to have boring hair

                                                                         .........to drink cheap wine

                                              .........to be serious all the time

                                   .........to be mad

I recently attended a banquet and the keynote speaker was telling a story.  In the process of telling that story, he shared something that he had been told and it really struck me.  You may have heard this quote before - as I did a little research on it to see who originally said it, there seems to be a couple different versions of it out there, attributed to different people.  If you haven't heard it before, you'd better sit down first - it's pretty powerful.

Is the glass half empty or half full?  This is an age old question that has a lot of answers.

The optimist says the glass is half full.

The pessimist says the glass is half empty.

"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."

Paulo Coehlo

I was recently working on a personal problem and was running up against a stone wall.  Just as I was about to throw in the towel, I came across this quote by Ryan Blair:

John Lennon said,

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life.  When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I wrote down 'happy.'  They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life."

When I wrote my very first Thought for the Day post, I said, "They will be short and sweet; sometimes they will be philosophical, sometimes they will be humorous.  Whatever strikes my fancy.  Just a blip in the middle of your day."  Well, this one will be a little off track of what I usually do, but I just have to say this.

I grew up on country music.  I don't listen to it much anymore, but it was all that was played in my house as a child.  Schoolmates would make fun of me because I didn't know the latest and greatest artist or the current #1 song in the pop/rock world, but country music has some fantastic artists and really cool song lyrics.  As an adult, I made a list of my 10 Rules to Live By and one of those rules is a lyric from a country song.