A few days ago, I listened to a group of women discussing footwear. They discussed the best places to buy them and different styles. Typical conversation at a coffee shop or the mall? Not even close. They were discussing work boots.

I use the facilities at the West Virginia State University Economic Development Center from time to time, giving presentations for the Creators Program and using the co-working facilities. On a recent visit, I met Misty Mayville and learned a bit about the Step-Up for Women program she runs from there. I was intrigued enough by what I heard to go see them at work.

Step-Up for Women gives women the skills to work in construction. They get hands-on experience with carpentry, plumbing, electrical work and more. The women leave the program ready to join a union apprentice program (for example) or get to work. Obviously, there’s a lot of on-the-job training after the class, but that’s true for any employee.

The program also covers topics like effective communication, budgeting/credit, resume writing, where to look for work and interviewing. The class even comes with gym membership because they need to be fit enough to do the job. Each semester, the program starts with around 16 women although inevitably a few drop out for one reason or another. The program lasts for 11 weeks and is totally free. They even help the women out with clothing, tools and mileage expenses.  There are programs in Martinsburg, and Morgantown as well.

The women were busy building a 10×12 foot storage shed while I was there, but I got a chance to talk to Heather Cain of Cross Lanes for a few minutes. Cain has a Bachelor’s Degree and has worked as an accountant and as a blackjack dealer. But she said she wanted to do something with her hands and work outside.

“Like a lot of us, I’m a single mom and in my last job I was working nights. I slept all day and didn’t have time for my kids,” Cain said. “For me, family is more important than money. There aren’t a lot of jobs working midnights in construction.”

Her short-term goal is to get her apprentice license as an electrician and eventually she wants to own her business as a general contractor. Cain also noted that sometimes women feel they get taken advantage of with mechanics and contractors. “I’ve got a lot of things to do around the house. Now I can do them myself.”

Cain even recommended the program to her soon-to-be 18-year-old daughter.

In an election cycle where, inevitably, politicians talk about “jobs” in the abstract but really don’t have a clue what it takes to create them or train people to do them, Mayville and her crew impressed me. They wanted to work.

For more information on the Step Up for Women program, visit the website at wvwomenwork.org or call 304-720-1402. And, if you’re interested in buying the storage shed, it’s for sale. Call Mayville to discuss price and delivery..

My father-in-law is fond of the phrase “growing old isn’t for sissies” or variations of it. He used it on me recently when I got a new medical device. I really hadn’t planned to tell this story, but judging from the reactions several friends have given me when I told them, I think I have to.

I have a hearing aid.

For most of the last year, I’ve been getting headaches and have been a bit more tired than normal. Sometimes my ear bothered me, but I thought it was just waxy buildup. Or an ear infection. Or one of several other self-diagnoses. I thought the headaches were caused by eye strain and got stronger reading glasses. That didn’t help.

Finally, it got bad enough that I really began paying attention to the problem and I realized I had tinnitus. The constant ringing and headaches were making it difficult to concentrate and my writing productivity dropped off considerably.

When I really thought about it, I realized the ringing noises were primarily in one ear. After some medical exams and false starts, we determined I have some degree of hearing loss in my left ear. Not sure why…other than possibly it is my “driving ear”. I’ve always loved to drive with the windows down (and no, I don’t hang my head out the window like a dog…at least not often).

So, now I have a hearing aid. It’s really helped considerably. I don’t say “huh?” nearly as much. And I can actually hear the television…most of the time. The headaches are almost entirely gone. Best of all, my focus has returned. My hearing aid even comes with a built-in background noise if I want to use it to distract me from the ringing when I’m reading or doing something quietly. I really haven’t needed it, but it’s like having my own muzak.

The most interesting part has been the reactions I’ve gotten from a number of my friends. Several friends have told me that they thought they were just going to have to struggle with hearing loss. That it was just part of getting older. I typically have to show them my hearing aid because they don’t see it normally. Hearing aids aren’t cheap, but my insurance paid for quite a bit of it.

I make a lot of jokes about my hearing aid, but in general I don’t think of it as being any different than wearing glasses. Instead of suffering from eye strain, I get headaches from ear strain. Simple as that.

If you’re struggling to hear, or with headaches or tinnitus and think it is just something you have to deal with, don’t. Talk to your doctor. Hearing aids are smaller, more effective and more affordable than ever.

Growing old may not be for sissies, but we don’t have to accept it gracefully either..

Two friends of mine challenged me to dump ice water over my head for ALS and a third asked me if I wanted to be “challenged”. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re in the minority.) I chose to ignore the challenges.

It wasn’t that I’m not sympathetic to ALS. For all I know, it is a great charity. (If you’ve seen a “story” saying that most of the money given to the ALS Association is for salaries and such, not for their mission, it’s a lie. Politifact gave that claim a “Pants on Fire” rating.) They have definitely hit the mother-lode in fundraising. One report I saw said they have raised $100 million dollars because of the challenge. I pray they use that money wisely. The worst thing in the world that could happen to charity fundraising would be some scandal.

I had two reasons for avoiding the challenge. First, it struck me as being “fashionable”. I’m not a fashionable person, just ask my wife. There is a passage in the bible that says people who pray loudly and in public get their reward on earth while people that do it in private get their reward in heaven. (I’m paraphrasing). A friend of mine changed that to “karma points” but the idea is the same.

Secondly, I prefer to act locally. While I understand the need for central places to collect money, and the power of a national charity is immense when it comes to research and such, it is easy to forget the local charities struggling to make ends meet and meet the needs of the people they are trying to serve.

And then I saw a Facebook post from a friend saying that the Mountain Mission food bank was basically out of food. They needed help just to meet the demand from struggling families and kids who needed basic nutrition. So, I went to the store, bought a box load of canned food and pasta meals and dropped them off.

Please don’t misunderstand. I am not trying to make myself sound “better” or suggest anything of that sort. Not at all.  It’s just a choice I made based on where I thought my time and money would do the most good.

I don’t hear it said much anymore, but people used to use the phrase “Think globally, but act locally.” That meant you should think about things going on in the world, but you should pay attention to what is going on in your own backyard.

There a number of charities in town that could use your money or help. They feed families, give assistance with bills or help people break addictions. And most of them work together to make sure no one is working the system and getting more than their fair share.

If you want to support ALS, or Komen or any one of a dozen other national charities, please do…whether or not you make a video of yourself pouring water over your head. At the same time, don’t forget local charities. Most of them do tremendous work without any fanfare. And that’s the way they want it, too..

As of today, the general election is less than two months away. And you are probably already sick of it. I know I am.

Our televisions shows are getting filled up with commercials. Yard signs are sprouting up. And so are billboards and newspaper ads. It is so easy to just want to tune it all out. About the only people that I know are happy with the proliferation of ads are the people who sell them. And even they get tired of it.

I’m not a huge television fan in the first place. Most evenings I would just as soon turn it off. DVRs do make it easy to skip those ads, of course, and I will freely admit that I often do. Nothing beats pausing the television, heading to the kitchen for a snack and then coming back after you’ve built up a couple minutes of credit to fast forward past the offending commercials.

Last night, though, I actually rewound the television (I do love the technology) so I could actually watch and listen to a couple political ads that I had never seen before. In one case, I heard something from a politician I had never heard speak. In the other, it was a politician who has been around a while, but it was a new ad.

This election is a mid-term election; notable for lower voter turnout and less involvement. That said, a story came out last week that showed that voter turnout exceeded 40 percent when approval of congressional leaders was low. Right now, that approval is at an all-time low so maybe there will be an all-time high turnout for this election.

My humble requests:

• To the candidates: Tell me something about you. Tell me about your vision. And not just “jobs” or “lower taxes”. Other than public works programs the government doesn’t “create” jobs. Lower taxes are fine, but tell me what spending you’re going to cut to pay for it. In other words, I want to see your actual plan.
• To both major parties: please stop running against President Obama. He isn’t on the ballot. I know he is unpopular in this state, but draw a distinction between you and your opponent. Stop tilting at windmills.
• To the electorate: Don’t just accept what they want to tell you. Ask questions. Be informed about your choices. In a couple key races, there are independent candidates. Unfortunately, we haven’t heard much about them, but I hope that will change in the coming months.

If you are angry about the direction our country is headed, and like to vent on social media about how bad things are, don’t sit on the sidelines. Get involved. You don’t have to volunteer for a candidate, but you do have a responsibility to be informed and use your vote responsibly..

We live in a very different world today than when Labor Day was a local/regional holiday. The first Labor Day parade was held on September 5, 1882 in New York City when 10,000 workers took unpaid time off to march. The “workingman’s holiday” didn’t become a national event until 1894 following the American Railroad Union’s strike against the Pullman Palace Car company, protesting wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. Riots followed the government’s intervention (they sent in troops to break up the strike) and more than a dozen workers died. To repair ties with American workers, and the unions, Congress made Labor Day a holiday.

West Virginia’s labor history has been an interesting one. The first (and I’m pretty sure only) time the federal government bombed Americans on US soil happened in West Virginia during the 1921 Miner’s March on Logan. There have been scores of strikes, marches and protests over the last hundred years, in the coal industry and in others. Growing up, my dad was in a union and I remember my mother’s worry when he was facing a potential strike. (I think they went out for a couple days, but it was quickly resolved.) There were other times a strike was possible, but it was averted by last-minute negotiations.

One hundred and twenty years later, union membership has waned significantly (although there are still some very strong labor unions) and one-third of Americans work for small companies (fewer than 50 employees). Employment conditions have certainly changed, too. The strikes and boycotts of the industrial revolution led to the eight-hour work day and 40-hour work week, with paid vacation time, rules on child labor and many of the other benefits we consider standard.

In some ways, we are going through a new revolution; this time it is a technical one. As a nation we still produce coal and steel, cars and many, many other things. Technology and automation allow us to do the same jobs with fewer people. These changes hurt. People lose jobs they expected to have their entire lives. Groups like What’s Next, West Virginia? and Create West Virginia are interested in capitalizing on the work ethic and strength of the West Virginia worker and revolutionizing this state.

While the original purpose of Labor Day may have been to appease the labor unions and the labor movement, I think it was a tribute to the American worker regardless of where they work. On this upcoming Labor Day, enjoy the traditional end of summer; attend a football game or a picnic…or both.

At the same time, think about how you can create a new West Virginia. And ask yourself What’s Next?.