By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I have a love/hate relationship with technology. I love to have the latest, fastest, and most powerful tools and toys, but I hate the time it takes for implementation, requiring that I preempt more important activities to install, fine-tune, and master my new technology. Therefore, I tend to stick with what […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I’ve been thinking a lot lately about customer service via the telephone, even more so than usual. There are some things that I am excited about, while others are a concern. On the negative side, consider a large telecommunications company that provides cell phone, Internet, and long distance. Another is […]
Last week, I shared some biblical advice to writers. Here are some more items to ponder: Write on!
I am a student of the Bible, reading and contemplating it daily. (See my blog posts about the Bible for some of my thoughts and observations.) With me becoming more serious about the art and craft of writing, I’ve begun to notice relevant writing insights in the Bible. Yes, the Bible advises writers. Consider these […]
Once at a writers’ conference, I met with one of the speakers. I asked if he would provide feedback on an article I wrote. He readily agreed and carefully read my composition. After a few minutes, he informed me I had incorrectly formatted my dash. That was his only criticism. Then he listed what he […]
I struggle with spelling. I always have and despite some improvement as I write more, I fear I always will. I suspect the root cause of this dilemma is that when I read longer words, I don’t look at all its letters, but merely the first few, along with the overall shape and length of […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. During uncertain economic conditions, it is critical for healthcare call centers to explore ways to bolster their revenue stream or insure their ongoing existence. One option is to collaborate with another call center or health organization towards their mutual benefit, such as a medical answering service working with a nurse […]
Last month I mentioned that I entered a writing contest, my first one. I opted to enter this particular contest simply because it would not require a great deal of time or effort. It’s not that I’m lazy. It’s that if it required writing a short story or essay, I would be hardpressed to invest […]
Over the years I have written many formal papers, including two theses and two dissertations. In doing so, I have been required to follow various writing guidelines, such as the Chicago Manual Style, the MLA (Modern Language Association) style, and now “Turabian.” Nicknamed after its author, Kate L. Turabian, the book’s real title is “A […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD This week I received my quarterly health insurance bill. Boy, was I in for a shock! It showed a 49 percent increase in my premium. Convinced it was in error, I naively called the company’s call center to get it corrected. The rep was nonchalant about the whole thing, acting […]