For reasons I won't share here, I have engaged in a personal boycott of Walmart for the last several years. My feelings toward the company turned a bit more positive last year when I learned store employees received holiday bonuses. Today, though, my negative feelings toward Walmart have returned. A story on Friday's Good Morning America revealed that Walmart makes it difficult for it's workers to call in sick when either they or their children are ill (Walmart Defends Sick Leave Policy Despite H1N1 Fears).

Walmart's sick leave policy was the subject of a report issued by the National Labor Committee. The report says that Walmart penalizes store employees who call in sick by giving them demerits and making them pay for their first day out sick with either a personal or vacation day. They are also given a third option of not getting paid. For someone who might barely be scraping by, that is hardly a real option. In response to the story, Walmart sent a memo to human resource managers that states no one will be fired for getting H1N1 (swine flu). I don't think that offers enough reassurance to employees.

Are you dissatisfied with your career? Maybe it's time for a career change. But how do you know for sure whether you need a career change or if a new job will do the trick. A career change takes time, energy, and money since there is a good chance you will need training in order to pursue your new occupation. Before you begin this endeavor take the Career Change Quiz. Find out if it's time for you to change your career.

More Career Change Advice:
How to Make a Successful Career Change

People are often surprised to hear me say I love my job. Either that or they are a little confused, after listening to me go on about how much fun I'm having doing this, to find out that what I do is really work (work, as in I get paid to do it). They wonder how I can love my job or how one can be paid to do something she considers fun. Well, I tell them, if you are going to spend at least eight hours a day, five days a week, doing anything, you might as well enjoy it. If you don't, you're going to be one unhappy person.

In an article for U.S. News and World Report, Curt Rosengren, writes about the 4 Myths of Career Passion. This article should be required reading for skeptics who think pursuing a career you are passionate about is selfish or unrealistic. I'd hate to look back on my career one day and realize that I spent my life doing work that didn't inspire me. Doing work you love won't make you into an overnight success, but either will doing work you don't love. As Rosengren points out, you will have to work really hard to achieve success ... just like with any other job, even one you don't like as much. Now, isn't it easier to work hard at something you like doing than at something you don't?

More About Career Choice:

• How to Choose a Career
• 10 Myths About Choosing a Career
• What is a Self Assessment?

I had the tv coverage of the NYC Marathon on while I was doing some work around the house yesterday and I heard a reporter talking about a female runner who was running alongside her injured competitor. That struck me as a great act of kindness and said a lot about that runner. It made me think about what our actions toward our co-workers say about us.

The runners are clearly competitors, yet one found it in her heart to support the other. How often do we hear stories of uncivil behavior in the workplace in spite of the fact that, unlike the two marathon runners, co-workers are supposed to be on the same team? Too often! I'm sure there are many instances of co-workers being nice to each other, but unfortunately we don't hear about it. Those stories may not be as interesting as the bad ones, but they sure are uplifting. Brighten everyone's day and tell us What Is the Nicest Thing a Co-Worker Has Ever Done For You?

Because Halloween is on a Saturday this year, more parents will be around to take their kids out trick-or-treating. There's a flip side to this — since a lot of people are off on Saturday, there may not be an opportunity for adults to wear a costume to work. Perhaps some will dress up on Friday instead. I was wondering though, how many of you usually celebrate Halloween by wearing a costume to work. Take my poll and then post your thoughts about celebrating Halloween at work by clicking on the comments link below.

So there you are at work with the computer right in front of you. The browser is already up because you were doing some research for your boss. What would be the harm in quickly checking in with Facebook or maybe Twitter? Then why not check your email. It will only take a few seconds more. Oh, but there's that quick reply you have to dash off to your friend. O.K., so what's the harm in spending just a few seconds more tending to personal matters. Before you close down your browser, you remember that you thought of a really funny status update you wanted to post. Back to Facebook. You'll be done in a jiffy. By the time you close down your browser, you've spent more than fifteen minutes not working — make that 20.

Your social networking activity could be costing your employer a lot of money. Morse plc, a U.K. company, released the results of a survey that indicated U.K. businesses are losing £1.38 billion each year because of their employees' use of social networking sites at work. I wonder how much would be added to that figure if you also included other online activities, such as checking email and shopping. Half of the 1,460 office workers who were surveyed admitted to spending "40 minutes on these sites each week, equating to just under a full working week being wasted each year by employees using social networking sites at work." They don't think they are as bad as their colleagues who, they reported (in a classic case of pot meet kettle), spend almost an hour a day on these sites.

More About Internet Use at Work

• Surfing the Net on Your Boss's Time
• Electronic Monitoring at Work

What makes a particular career "right for you?" Is it personality type? We know that people with certain personality types are better suited for some careers after all. Or maybe it's work values — the beliefs and ideas that are important to you? How much do these things even matter? Can you simply be satisfied with a career, and do well in it, if you just learn the necessary skills and have the ability to do the job? Actually, it's a combination of all these things — personality, work values, skills and abilities — that make someone well-suited for a specific career. In other words, you need all the right stuff.

How do you know if you have the right stuff to enjoy and do well in a particular career? Ahh — so glad you asked. You can take a career quiz to find out if you have the characteristics that make a career suitable for you (and you suitable for it). Remember that these quizzes aren't intended to give you a definitive answer regarding your career choice. You should always do more research before you make a final decision.

The other night I attended a workshop at my daughter's high school. The topic of extracurricular activities and college applications came up. The three speakers, all guidance counselors, emphasized that it is more important that the children be involved in a few activities about which they are passionate than a bunch of unrelated activities. They gave music and theater as two examples. One said that some students even end up pursuing a career that involves their passion. As I sat there I tried to come up with examples other than music and theater.

Environmental causes came to mind. If you are interested in environmental causes, perhaps you should consider a career that involves protecting the environment from further damage or repairing the damage that has already been done.

More: Green Jobs

While I was at the hair salon yesterday one of the women who works there started offering some political commentary. When another customer politely expressed an opposing viewpoint, the woman refused to even listen to it. The owner of the shop "pleaded the fifth," which in part was a wise move, but she probably should have looked for a way to put an end to the conversation.

I was surprised to find myself in the middle of a conversation about such a sensitive topic in the hair salon of all places. Why would someone risk insulting her boss's customers? Isn't there an old adage that advises us against discussing politics and religion? Guess she missed that lesson.

More: 6 Topics to Avoid Discussing at Work

Last month all families in our school district received a letter that outlined the district's policy on H1N1. Basically, we were told to keep our children home if they exhibited any symptoms of the flu which includes a fever of 100 degrees or above, sore throat, cough, runny nose, headache and fatigue. I'd like to think parents would keep their children home if they had these symptoms without having received the letter. About a week later I was shocked when a friend told me she was sending her under-the-weather daughter to play in a soccer game because "the kids aren't allowed to miss a game." It's not only the sports teams that have it wrong. When my daughter was in the middle school musical for the past few years, the students were told they had to be at every rehearsal during the week leading up to the show even if they were sick. It's no wonder these kids grow up to be adults who feel like the world will stop spinning if they call in sick to work.

You know who I'm talking about -- the person in the next cubicle who has sneezed 12 times in the last 10 minutes, the person across the hall who looks like death warmed over or the guy who just used the copier after coughing into his hand. Yuck! No one wants to catch even a common cold, but now with the country in a frenzy over H1N1, we're collectively even more worried about catching whatever our co-workers have. It's no fun being sick and even less fun thinking about all the catching up you'll have to do when you get back to work. Having said that, if you are sick and suspect you might be contagious, stay home. Work from home if your job allows you to and if you feel up to it.

More: Calling in Sick to Work