After tomorrow, rush hour traffic should be delightfully light, phones will be eerily quiet, Outlook calendars will have blank spaces,email boxes will not be quite so full,and cubicle workers will not have to plug in iPod earbuds just to drown out the noise from fellow workers.Ah yes, it's beginning to feel a like like Christmas Corporate American Style .

This is one widget I wish I didn't have to put on my blog. But,when you write about business/careers/worklife this is the Big Story. 1.9 million people have lost their jobs in 2008 - with one million of those losing their jobs since September.

What do women with advanced degrees want from life--and what do they get? Summarizing Harvard economics professor Claudia Goldin, Scott Jaschik writes at Inside Higher Ed,

It's human nature to overlay our own values and beliefs on other people's decisions -- particularly when the decision is to accept one of the most challenging and demanding jobs in the world. So you see this young mother with five kids who is given the career opportunity of a lifetime and you image it's you being asked to become vice president of the United States. You wonder, "Given the same circumstances, would you say yes to that offer?" While some would say, "Hell yes!" Many others would say, " Not a chance."

Love is glue, money is oil.  While staying at home with your children may be its own reward, the world runs on money.  So, it's possible, especially in today's economy, that you've considered moving from SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom) to WAHM (Work-At-Home-Mom).  You may have have decided that your family needs a financial boost, but lamented that you don't want to work outside the home.

Now two years out of college, my 24- year -old son is nowhere near being on a career track. I'm thrilled. In fact, as best as I can tell only two of his friends seems to be working in traditional jobs. One is in banking and after bonuses are distributed he may opt to leave that industry--before he gets laid off. The other works for a major advertising agency -- in our world that is considered a traditional job. My definition of a traditional job: benefits and paid vacations.

Until Friday I had never repeated something I had heard about Barbara Walters nearly 34 years ago. I told my daughter Berit. It must have been the rhythm of the highway. At the moment of disclosure I was behind the wheel of my car, six hours out of Minneapolis on the way to Chicago not knowing that I still had another 4 hours in the car --thank you road construction.

It is counterintuitive. When industries downsize its usually not good news for new graduates hoping to launch a career. In the past few weeks Newsweek announced it was laying off more than 100 employees; CBS just axed 160 in 13 cities; and the remaining reporters--post layoffs--- at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis received a memo saying management was building a "standup TV studio" and that, " some of you will be tapped to produce content for Strib TV...if you think you have a voice or a presence on camera, here's your chance to shine."

This whole post is going to sound like I've turned into a card carrying member of the "Family Values Republican Brigade," but I don't care, I'm writing it anyway. Here I go. I read this article yesterday about working Dads seeking more family time. It was in USA Today and written by Stephanie Armour. It said, among other things: "For generations, "Fathers have defined success as big cars, big salaries, big homes. But dads now define success as a good relationship with their children and spouse," says Armin Brott of Fathers At Work, an Oakland-based business that specializes in helping men find a balance between work and family." Read This Entire Post At Megan's Minute.

If you just casually glance around tech departments in companies and tech-oriented conferences, it's easy to get the impression that there aren't many women in technology these days. Yet it's undeniable that women are making a big impact on the technology world. (If you think it is deniable, then please keep reading.) Exploring this subject is a special series this month on O'Reilly: Women in Technology. Every day this month, an accomplished woman in technology shares her thoughts.*

Not long after I started my blog in 2004, I ran across someone who was calling himself a blogomist. Until that time I was still thinking of myself as a newspaper columnist who just happened to be writing on a blog.