👓 I ghosted my ex, and she’s about to be my new boss | Ask A Manager

Read I ghosted my ex, and she’s about to be my new boss by ALISON GREEN (Ask a Manager)
I was hoping you would be able to help me with a conundrum I got myself into. I have been an expat since graduating and have been moving a lot. More than a decade ago, when I was still young, I was in a relationship with a woman, Sylvia, in a country where we both lived. Sylvia wanted to settle down but I was not ready to commit so young. We clearly had different expectations from the relationship. I did not know what to do and, well, I ghosted her. Over the Christmas break, while she was visiting her family, I simply moved out and left the country. I took advantage of the fact that I accepted a job in other country and did not tell her about it. I simply wanted to avoid being untangled in a break-up drama. Sylvia was rather emotional and became obsessed with the relationship, tracking me down, even causing various scenes with my parents and friends. Anyhow, fast forward to now. I now work as a math teacher in an international school. I have been in other relationships since, so Sylvia is a sort of forgotten history. Sadly, till now. This week, I learnt that our fantastic school director suddenly resigned due to a serious family situation and had to move back to her home country over the summer. The school had to replace her. We are getting a new director. I read the bio of the new boss and googled her and was shocked to discover it is Sylvia. We have not been in touch and do not have any mutual friends anymore. I am not a big fan of social media and had no idea what she had been up to since the unpleasant situation a long time ago. I have no idea what to do and how to deal with this mess. It is clear this will be not only embarassing but I will also be reporting to my ex. I am not in a position to find another job at present. There are no other international schools so finding another job in this country is not an option. Even finding a job elsewhere is not possible on such a short notice. These jobs usually open for school terms so I have to stay put for few months. But more importantly, I am happy and settled here so do not want to move. To make the situation worse, the expat community here is very small and tightly knit so teachers also socialize a lot. Do you have any suggestions for me how to handle it and what should I do? I understand that this would not have happened if I did not ghost her back then, but I cannot do anything about it now. I gathered from the comments that readers usually have a go on people like me for “bad behavior” but I am really looking for constructive comments how to deal with the situation.
A great small world story. It was most interesting to see the reactions in the comments and on social media about this story. People definitely are taking different sides based on some pretty slim and one-sided detail.

👓 Aram Zucker-Scharff named Ad Engineering Director for RED | The Washington Post

Read Aram Zucker-Scharff named Ad Engineering Director for RED (Washington Post)
He will be focused on developing and launching new ad products that will be offered to clients on and off The Washington Post.

👓 We Called it Gutenberg for a Reason” | Matt Mullenweg

Read We Called it Gutenberg for a Reason by Matt Mullenweg (ma.tt)
Movable type was about books, but it wasn’t just about books. Ideas spread. Literacy spiked. The elite monopoly on education and government started to crack. Luther’s 95 Theses were printed a press, rocking Europe, and he issued “broadsheets.” Broadsheets became newspapers; newspapers enabled democracy. The printing press ushered in social, political, and economic sea changes. Gutenberg changed everything. WordPress has always been about websites, but it’s not just about websites. It’s about freedom, about possibility, and about carving out your own livelihood, whether it’s by making a living through your site or by working in the WordPress ecosystem itself. We’re democratizing publishing — and democratizing work — for everyone, regardless of language, ability, or economic wherewithal.

📺 Face the Nation 8/27/17: Abbott, Bossert, Winnefeld, Donilon

Watched Face the Nation 8/27/17: Abbott, Bossert, Winnefeld, Donilon from cbsnews.com
This week on "Face the Nation," CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett guest hosts the broadcast covering the latest on Hurricane Harvey and the week's foreign policy news.

A generally mediocre episode. I would have preferred more political news and less on the hurricane in Texas, which is already oversaturated in all senses of the word. There’s not much to say about the hurricane and the administrative response to it yet, so keep the air time for next week instead.

Pushing the emergency response guy on Trump’s positions with respect to Arpaio was a bit over-the-top. He’s obviously not going to say anything substantive on the topic. Naturally since he’s the only person the administration would put up this week, you’ve got to ask the question, but the administration (and Trump specifically) are taking the weak/loser way out of the topic. The better way to have handled it was to ask for his personal position on the topic and moved on.

👓 Reply rate of the top 10 journalists on Twitter | Matt Maldre

Read Reply rate of the top 10 journalists on Twitter by Matt Maldre (mattmaldre.com)
Barkha Dutt of the Washington Post is the most-engaged top journalist on Twitter. 64% of the reporter’s tweets are at-replies. That’s how to use Twitter–as an engagement platform, not a broadcast platform. How do the other most-followed journalists on Twitter rate with their response level? Poynter published a list of the the most-followed journalists on Twitter:
This article has some interesting data, but I’m not sure that the emphasis on the value of replies is necessarily the correct one. Journalists have a specific job and work in specific media, so I don’t think necessarily that their reply rate on Twitter is something that should be gamified this way. First one should look at what the individual’s needs, wants, and aims are for using the platform. Also, are these “corporate” accounts or “personal” accounts? The distinction here can make all the difference.

Other useful questions to ask:
Are they using the platform as a tool to do their work? Are they using it simply for PR? What other avenues do they use to reach their viewers? Are they using it to disseminate actual news? Does their beat dictate specific needs for Twitter? (Tech journalists may be more heavy Twitter users, for example.)

👓 Taking Notes Is a Two-Step Process | Chris Thilk

Read Taking Notes Is a Two-Step Process by Chris Thilk (christhilk.com)
A post on The Writing Collective about how it’s fruitless to search for the perfect note-taking app because it doesn’t exist caught my eye and got me thinking about my own preferences and habits for taking notes.
The important part is usually coming back to them to do something about what you’ve written.

Note taking