Whenever you walk in on someone crying, you can’t help but think “who died"? Yesterday, tragically, my question was the right one. I learned that a very close co-worker had passed unexpectedly the night before.

This news comes on the heels of a previous loss last week – one of our sales people died. HR had already done what they do in these instances – made sure everyone had the EAP number, worked with leadership to pass along information while retaining privacy for the family, looked…

As a die-hard Mariners fan since 1994 and dedicated Yankees hater, this week’s trade of Ichiro Suzuki to the Yankees (the YANKEES) just about killed me. Ichiro has been a much loved member of the Bad News Bears Seattle Mariners for 12 seasons. As if his departure wasn’t painful enough, he actually played his first game as a Yankee at Safeco Field against the Mariners. It was so bad that when a hiring manager stopped by my desk shortly after I heard the news, he…