Life | BSitko

Why raising a daughter scares the crap out of me

Nov 06 2015

I remember the first time I had to change my daughter’s diaper. I looked down at the area I’d only known on a casual basis and gasped at the mess. A black tarry substance had coated itself amongst the, ahem, folds and other, err, areas. Gross. Nervously, I grabbed a wipe and proceeded to pat delicately at the soiled sections. Pat, pat, pat. I stopped to admire my work. The mess was wet and smeared quite a bit but otherwise, very little had changed. A nurse, whose breathing I could hear and almost taste behind me, let out a deep sigh. “No, no. You’ll never get it out like that. Haven’t you ever changed a baby’s diaper before?” “Yes, my[…]

Aug 10 2015

Some groups of people in this industry change jobs like I change my underwear – every few months. Their own personal job satisfaction is apparently hard to achieve or maybe it’s because they climb to the pinnacle of that position quickly and realize they don’t like the view. Some people give consulting a try which seems to be a great fallback for those individuals suited to dealing with that kind of stress. I’m not but God bless ’em. Some get scooped up in acquisitions, then are forced to stay in a place they loath, surrounded by people who are just as dismayed at their own sense of diminished self worth. Eventually they leave, after their non-compete contracts expire and go off to create[…]

Jan 09 2015

I’ve developed a technique, that I haven’t exactly patented yet, which involves using my fingers in a coordinated effort to dip both ends of a french fry into a small vat of buffalo sauce. I have mastered the art of unfolding the burrito at Chipotle to pour in more hot sauce and put it back together again correctly so it doesn’t collapse into a total mess. I can eat hot wings without leaving a trace of meat and I enjoy cheese steaks with mayo and hots. I can toss a cheese ball in my mouth without paying attention. Girl Scout cookies don’t come in enough rows. I love to eat. I also make poor choices. My body responds to these terrible[…]

Jun 26 2014

Without business networking, the telephone as we know it might never have existed. Forced to setup his seemingly unimpressive telephone prototype in the top floor of Machinery Hall at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was desperate. The hot summer sun had been assaulting guests through the glass roof all day and the judges, who had been forced to walk around in their formal suits, had reached their breaking point. They agreed to break early and judge just one more exhibit. With this being his last day, Bell had probably run out of time. Frantically, he made his way downstairs to where the judges and other exhibit presenters had gathered. It was then that Bell heard[…]

Jun 17 2014

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” ― Wayne W. Dyer Nowhere in my neurologist’s office did it say History Professor but when I noticed the Biography of Thomas Jefferson behind his desk last year, the history buff in me had to ask him about it. Little did I know I would spend the next 30 minutes talking to him about American History during the early 1800’s. Turns out, my Neurologist is also a History Professor and loves talking about history. Go figure. People would want to classify his life with a job title so let’s go with HistoricalProfologist. People really love job titles. In a psychology sense, it’s how people are able[…]

Mar 21 2014

“Middle aged is when you’re faced with two temptations and you choose the one that will get you home by 9 o’clock.” – Ronald Regan The gross realization that I am a man who has reached mid-life happened suddenly. I was taking my dog for a walk one evening last summer and as is the normal, I needed to use a doggie bag fairly quickly. There were no trash receptacles nearby so I had to carry the tied up bag in my left hand. 30 minutes later, as I got closer to home, I needed to use another bag. My dog eats a lot. With the leash and new bag in my right hand, and the tied bag in my[…]

Mar 16 2014

As I’ve told my wife, raising children isn’t necessarily hard work but a lot of repetitive work and constant reminders. Brush your teeth. Stop hitting your sister. Leave that alone. Get your hands out of your pants. No, you shouldn’t put ranch dressing on your fingers and eat it. One day last fall, while walking around a crowded festival we mistakenly thought the kids would like, I overheard an older couple talking: “You know what I always say, right?” “No, honey, what’s that?” “Raising kids is like getting pecked to death by a duck.” I laughed out loud. I wanted to hug that man for putting something into words that I was having trouble describing. What is having kids really[…]

Jan 17 2014

It was when I was in the 6th grade that I first realized the true finality of death. It was a watershed moment. I imagine you’ve had one of those moments too. You’ve been running the marathon that is life, and something triggers you to jump out of the race and pause; maybe grab a cup of Gatorade, wipe your brow and contemplate things. I remember one of the first times that ever happened to me. Halfway through 4th grade, a nice couple moved into that vacant white colonial, with the faded red shutters, that sat across my small New Jersey street. They would often come over and hang out with my parents. I was much too young to drink[…]

Jan 10 2014

There was a decision handed down just a few short days ago (January 8th, 2014) that I think will have quite a big impact on your anonymity with ratings and reviews online. The court decision was from a case in Virginia: Yelp vs Hadeed Carpet Cleaning. The owner of this establishment said that there were anonymous users leaving bad reviews about his company on Yelp. That’s no surprise right? What was different about this case was Hadeed felt that these individuals weren’t real customers of his. This last point is the most important because it established a Yelp terms of service violation. His attorneys issued a subpoena demanding the list of seven anonymous reviewers. The final ruling from the judge[…]

Aug 29 2013

I’ve read lots of blog posts in my day. Most of them talk about this sales technique, this fancy new gadget, why social media helps with this or that or why you’re a dummy if you can’t analyze your metrics right. There are lots of smart and overly serious people out there in the blogosphere. It’s not that I want people to think I’m some dimwit who is neither insightful nor progressive; of course I don’t. But unlike a lot of people, who we’ll file under the “too smart and serious for their own good” crowd, it’s hard for me to take myself that seriously. Here’s why: I never realized the term “wearing Daisy Dukes” actually referred to Daisy Duke.[…]

Category - Life

Why raising a daughter scares the crap out of me

The Job Change Conundrum

I need to start eating more carrots, I think

From rags to riches: The power of industry networking

Why I hate job titles

What being middle aged really means…

Raising kids is like this…

To Live…

A landmark new ruling that might help our case against ApartmentRatings’s anonymous postings

Why I have trouble taking myself that seriously.

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