laughlinconflictresolution.com

04/12/2024

National Pet Day! How can I let the day go by without honoring our boy. We love you Mason

03/16/2024

Our pup, Mason (on the left) in prison with his BFF, Victor. Actually, they are at Doggie Day Care. Mason, my wife, and I wish everyone a Happy St. Pattys Day!!

01/11/2024

Meet Stanley! One of our newest and unexpected residents at the rescue. Stanley is a 2-3 year old Bully Breed/Great Dane Mix. Stanley was abandoned outside of our center after his former guardian walked in and stated he no longer wanted him due to having to move. He had Stanley in his car and stated if we did not take him in that he would tie him up outside. At the moment we did not have a kennel large enough to adequately house a dog of Stanley's size and had pleaded with his former owner to take him home and give us time to find a solution.

As the story goes, like to many, Stanley's former owner exited the building and proceeded to tie him near our dumpster. By the time anyone had noticed, the man was long gone and Stanley was left confused and terrified. Stanley is a very large dog and weighs approximately 90lbs. Stanley has a lot of energy and is incredibly strong. He is friendly with people but would do best in a home with no other animals. Stanley will need family who is willing to provide him with the proper training and guidance a high energy, large dog needs. Stanley is safe here at our center and we are working on making more suitable accommodations for him, however we are completely overloaded with larger dogs and no incoming applications for them. Please consider opening your home to this wonderful sweet boy.

09/11/2023

When I took my pup out for his morning potty, The sky here in Columbus was crystal blue. It reminded me of a morning 22 years ago, and where I was at 10 am that morning. I was attending a convention at the Columbus Convenion Center, and sitting across from me was a colleague whose offices were on the 16th Floor of the Tower 1 Trade Center in NYC. We sat (or stood) transfixed by what the tragedy that was unfolding on the TV monitor showed us. Please, never forget the innocents who died that day there and at the Pentagon. And please, never forget the heroic police, firefighters, emergency personnel, and the hero’s who died at Schanksville, PA that day. The good news for us that day was that all of my colleague’s co-workers made it out of the building safe.

09/11/2023

It’s National Pet Memorial Day l. In honor of my precious Max (here with my precious grandson Brayden). also in memory of the many other dogs and cats I have loved and still love. In particular, Harley, our gentle, beautiful Rottweiler.

09/01/2023

Got Noise?

Here's a question for you: Have you ever taken the time to look at the actual file size of your images? I am not talking about the pixel dimensions, but the megabytes. If not, do it. You might be surprised that the numbers are all over the place. It doesn’t matter that you’re shooting with the same camera, or that the images are all from the same day, or even the same shoot. Chances are, you will find quite a bit of variability in the amount of information contained inside each individual photograph.

One image might be 100mb. The next, 81mb. The following, 20mb. The maximum file size that you can capture with your images is, of course, dictated by the resolution of your camera. Naturally a 50-megapixel camera will have larger files than a 16-megapixel camera.

But sometimes it doesn’t.

So, why, if you are shooting with a 50-megapixel sensor in your camera, are you bringing home images that are sometimes the same size or less than those from your old 16-megapixel camera?

The answer to this lies in the thing that your camera’s sensor was designed to capture: light.

In digital photography, light is information.

Your camera is not capturing the life force of an animal, it is capturing the light reflecting off that animal.

Recording light is the primary job of our imaging sensors. The more light you have, the more information you have, the larger the file size you have to work with. Likewise, the less light you have, the less information you have, the smaller the file sizes.

But none of this has anything to do with the amount of available light you had to work with when creating the photograph. The fact that the sky was overcast or sunny, or it was dawn, or noon, or an hour after sunset is completely irrelevant to all of this. Instead, it’s about the amount of light you ALLOWED your camera to capture.

You see, all of this is a choice – whether you realize it or not at first. You make a choice every time you trip your camera’s shutter as to how much information you are going to record and therefore how big and clean your files are. Which, by the way, bigger file sizes are better.

This choice comes in the form of your exposure. How large or small is your aperture? How high is your ISO? What about your shutter speed? All these things come together to dictate how much light your camera’s sensor will record.

So, if we can agree that more information is better, why would you make the conscious decision NOT to capture the biggest and most information packed files possible? Why would you consciously degrade your photographs in the field?

Continue Reading:
https://www.photowildmagazine.com/got-noise

08/29/2023

A good lesson

A Lady asked an old street vendor: "How much do you sell your eggs for?" The old man replied "0.50¢ an egg, madam.” The Lady responde, “I'll take 6 eggs for $2.00 or I'm leaving.” The old salesman replied, “Buy them at the price you want, Madam. This is a good start for me because I haven't sold a single egg today and I need this to live.”

She bought her eggs at a bargain price and left with the feeling that she had won. She got into her fancy car and went to a fancy restaurant with her friend. She and her friend ordered what they wanted. They ate a little and left a lot of what they had asked for. So they paid the bill, which was $150. The ladies gave $200 and told the fancy restaurant owner to keep the change as a tip.

This story might seem quite normal to the owner of the fancy restaurant, but very unfair to the egg seller. The question it raises is;
Why do we always need to show that we have power when we buy from the needy?
And why are we generous to those who don't even need our generosity?

We once read somewhere that a father used to buy goods from poor people at a high price, even though he didn't need the things. Sometimes he paid more for them. His children were amazed. One day they asked him "why are you doing this dad?" The father replied: "It's charity wrapped in dignity.”

I know that most of you will not share this message, but if you are one of the people who have taken the time to read this far...
Then this message of attempted "humanisation" will have gone one step further in the right direction.

Thanks for reading

08/28/2023

Shɑre my picture if you think I am beautiful ❤💞

08/24/2023

Who is Harley?

On the brink of death, after spending 10 years living in a cramped, filthy cage in a puppy mill – where he’d lost an eye when his cage was power-washed, Harley was finally freed. He immediately received much-needed medical care and found love with a special family. And he thrived. To the surprise of the veterinary community, this strong-spirited little 6-pound Chihuahua continued going strong in spite of medical conditions which were the result of his years living in a cage. For five years following his rescue, Harley worked hard educating children and adults alike about puppy mills. Harley had personally participated in the freeing of 760 dogs from puppy mills across the Midwest, and raised the money that gave freedom to thousands more.

Harley always seemed well aware that his life had a purpose. Whether it was a fundraiser in his honor that drew 2,000 people, or visiting an elementary school classroom to educate our youngest generation about where pet store puppies really come from, Harley’s magical personality grasped the hearts of all who met him. He’d been featured on the cover of popular magazines and on television and radio, and was considered a social media sensation.

Sadly, Harley passed away on March 20, 2016 … but his legacy lives on. This little one-eyed dog is known worldwide. Harley continues to inspire hope and confidence in people of all ages who are able to relate to his less-than-perfect appearance, and he continues to be the voice for the hundreds of thousands of dogs living in cages in puppy mills today.

Read about Harley's mission: www.harleysdream.org/mission-statement

08/23/2023

For anyone missing a beloved pet…

Emanuele Grandi's moving poem is dedicated to our precious animals

"If you are afraid of having given me few caresses, you should know that I have not forgotten even one.
If you regret having scolded me even once, you should know that I don't even remember it.
If you think you've left me alone for too long, you should know that I've always been waiting for you.
If you are afraid of having spent little time with me, you should know that I, even that little, have enjoyed every moment.
If you think you've played little with me, you should know that I've never counted the times you threw the ball at me.
If you think I've forgotten about your perfume, you should know that even now I'm smelling it in the wind.
If you wanted to be reborn in another life, you should know that I would like to be your puppy in that one too.
If you are convinced that you have some flaws, you should know that for me you have been the perfect one.
If you believe that love can have an end, you should know that in my heart the place of love is infinite.
If you think you have regrets about me, you should know that I would not change a single second of the life I have spent with you.
If you think I no longer hear your voice when you call me, just entrust the sunset breeze with the task of bringing me your words.
If you think I can forget your face, you should know that I wanted to live alone to enjoy your look.
If you think I could have loved someone more than you, you should know that I have loved you more than myself.
If you think I would like a soft sofa, know that with you I would also have slept on the stones.
If you think I wanted more than you gave me, you should know that I've always felt like the happiest puppy in the world.
If you have ever felt alone, you should know that I have never left my place next to you.
If you think my life has been short, you should know that I wouldn't have wanted to live a minute longer if I hadn't spent it by your side.
If you are afraid that I am no longer near you, know that as soon as you close your eyes I will fall asleep next to you.
If you think you have not made the right decision, you should know that I have always trusted you.
Always.”

04/21/2023

Hello folks, back again to share more information about workplace conflict. But first, just wanted to thank those people who have taken the time to read that first post. I hope to “see” you here again!

As I shared before, the data outlined below comes from research entitled, “Workplace Conflict Statistics 2023: Costs and Outcomes”. It can be found at: https://blog.gitnux.com/workplace-conflict-statistics/

What Causes Workplace Conflict?

According to research conducted at the University of Cal Poly Pomona (CPP):

- 49% of all employees see clashes between personalities or egos as the leading cause of workplace conflicts.
- 34% agree that workplace stress is another common cause of conflict.
- 33% find heavy workload without enough support the main conflict trigger.
- Poor leadership (29% of respondents), dishonesty (26%), and problems with line managers (23%) regularly cause conflicts at work.

Some Costs of Workplace Conflicts.

- a new study by Randstad US revealed that 58% of US workers have quit (or considering it) because of disruptive workplace politics. 38% want to quit because of poor workplace culture or a feeling that they don’t fit in. The overwhelming MAJORITY (86%) of jobseekers avoid applying to companies that have been reviewed poorly by their workforce.
- According to CPP, 89% of employees let their conflict with coworkers escalate, while 12% quit their job, another 10% of workers avoid going to meetings, and 9% don’t come to work for multiple days.
- the Office of Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) informs, that US companies have around a 12% chance of being sued by their employees. The average time for resolution of these lawsuits is 275 days, and the average cost of conflict in the workplace amounted to $125,000. In 81% of the cases, the insurer would refuse to cover the legal costs.
- in 2021, there were 61,331 workplace discrimination charges in the US, which resulted in more than 34 million USD in damages for victims in Federal Court.

Well, that’s enough BAD news for one day. There is GOOD news as well, as when conflict is minimized by policy or dealt with effectively, conflict CAN produce POSITIVE change in a company. I will be talking about that in later posts.

I present this information to inform people of a significant problem in our society. It is also self serving. I want people to learn more about my Mediation Practice. Please, if you take the time to read this, please share your thoughts, reactions, personal experiences. I would really like to get some dialogue going regarding this.

Thanks,

Mark

04/14/2023

Workplace Conflict - Conflict between employees in the workplace is a very natural outcome of - wait for it - individuals having different experiences, theories, ideas, approaches, solutions to resolving employment related problems. Many time an employee believes his/her idea is the most thoughtful, practical, in ther words, the BEST! Obviously, there is going to be conflict if more than one person strongly advocates for his/her idea to be the one chosen by the business to follow.

The thing is, in a healthy work environment, where things like trust, mutual respect, admiration for others, and two-way communication are present these conflicts can be resolved pretty readily. One approach is chosen to resolve the problem, and if it works, great! However, if it does not work, another former suggestion or new, alternative suggestions are put forth and implemented. The point is, collaboration takes place. And more collaboration in a business leads to a more smoothly run, usually successful business.

Unfortunately, not all work environments are healthy. Personalities get in the middle of things. Some people are intimidating, abusive. Others are passive- aggressive. Sometimes people just don’t like each other. Working in an environment like that can be unpleasant. Sometimes it can be unbearable. People become angry, depressed, and unable to work effectively. It can also have a negative effect on an employee’s home/family environment.

Recently I researched the issue of workplace conflict and came up with some interesting data. According to Alexandra Baruffati at (https://blog.gitnux.com/topics/statistics) data compiled in March, 2023, indicates that:

- Globally, the average time that employees spend weekly on resolving disagreements in the workplace is 2.1 hours. In the United States, it rises to 2.8 hours a week.
- 85% of US employees have some level of conflict at work. Managers spend around 6 hours per week (roughly 15% of their time) solving work conflicts.
- 56% of employees who experienced conflict at work reported that it led them to stress, anxiety, and/or depression. 40% reported being less motivated.

This is just a sprinkling of the data reported in this research. I will be sharing more information about this in future posts. Please feel free to comment.