THE MERRILL PAGES

2008 INDEX OF ARTICLES

60 articles were published in 2008.  I have been at about 50% capacity compared to previous years for a couple of reasons.  Perhaps, I am reaching the limit of writing topics since my list is almost exhausted now. Secondly, I am taking a greater interest in meeting local town officials and others and trying to encourage more commuter bicycling and are doing more commute bicycling, having donned the car for almost 10 years now for all my local trips from 5-10 miles range. Third, I spend more time with local friends.  Fourth, and most important is the more frequent visits to Florida to spend time with the grand-kids (7 years and 17 months).

Once again, I thank my many UNICEF and other friends for their e-mails about these writings. I am glad to see that some of you express interest in the content of some articles.  I hope to continue this web log through 2009 as well.

2007 INDEX OF ARTICLES

2007 INDEX OF ARTICLES contain 112 articles of my favorite topics: personal finance, finance & economics, sports, health and recreation, human psychology and human relations. You can review summaries at this index or go also to the two weblogs: http://merrillc.typepad.com/2merrill and http://merrillc.typepad.com/unwind to review subjects by category. Some personal  postings and the main indexes are contained in this web log at http://merrillc.typepad.com.

I look forward to more writings in 2008, God forbidding.  I thank the many hundreds of readers who have expressed their encouragement and thanks by e-mail in 2007.

2006 INDEX OF ARTICLES

This weblog is not a personal diary, but a collection of essays and links that are educational and professional, mostly for the UN staffer. 169 articles were posted in 2006 on a wide array of subjects.  I started out this weblog in January 2006 on first writing a few articles on personal finance of particular appeal to UN staff. Then I branched on to writing a number of other articles on finance, management, human relations, web-tech, etc. All the articles appear in the two weblogs http://merrillc.typepad.com/unwind (UN issues) and http://merrillc.typepad.com/2merrill (non-UN issues). In these two web logs you can also review articles by subject.  I hope you enjoyed the read in 2006.

The UN weblog "unwind" has several categories related to finance, management and productivity ( Business issues, Finance & Economics, human relations, management, social sector, UN issues, web/tech and your career) and other miscellaneous categories (books, film and religion). The UN may be mentioned in several of the listed categories but those pertain to business and other non-profits as well. The category "personal finance" is stricly of an investment nature.

The Non-UN web log "2merrill" has categories of books, business issues, film, finance, current affairs, education, energy and health.

PLEASE CLICK BELOW ON THE HIGHLIGHTED TEXT TO REVIEW THE 2006 INDEX

THE COFFEE MORNING

Most weekdays I wake up in the morning, read a bit, have breakfast, stretch my arms out and head off on my bicycle for a swim.  One good thing of swimming is that you are in an enclosed area doing your individual sport and it is so easy to make friends.  Athough you cannot speak while swimming there is a lot you can do with the befriended after a swim.

About 4-5 of us swimmers (all retired from work) head out for a coffee morning (although I drink green tea) to chat for about an hour about almost anything.  In the company are two former medical doctors of which one is both a physicist and medical doctor (rare combination), a former police chief and a  street-smart guy who was in the food business and every other mentionable small business. Some others of different talents joins this regular group on occasion.  It is quite a learning experience to chat and discuss various issues.  And best of all, my friends are ungrudging of sharing knowledge, which I found was sometimes difficult to find in the regular workplace.

At work, at Budget Section, we had a great team.  And on many an occasion, colleagues would go for lunch to discuss an issue or resolve a problem.  I carried through what was started by Vincent D'Agati and today I am glad to see that that trend is carried through in the Budget Section of UNICEF, New York.  Unfortunately, today we have entered too much of impersonality in e-mailing each other. 

And here is some good advice to current UNICEF colleagues.  If you want to discuss a problem or resolve an issue, get to work 15-30  minutes earlier and have a coffee morning.  Nothing like the morning.  Or ask your boss for 15 minutes and head for the cafeteria to talk with your colleague, over a cup of coffee or tea.  Give this a try, the results will be amazing.

Bicycling in the snow in February 2009

Started February 1, 2009 bicycling to snow covered places.  It was a nice ride to the lakes in Tarrytown (Westchester, New York) to see the kids playing hockey and skating on the frozen river. Myself, beyond recognition (so clothed up)  had to be content to stand at the river's age before the bicycle wheels sink in some soft spot of the frozen river.  There are no shortcuts to anyplace going.  Many people make new year resolutions to exercise and only break them before March or April. If you must start exercising, do it now.  If your self-motivation is on a low-ebb, get a friend or relative to plod you along and monitor your progress.