Some days, there are just a lot of little things going on that are worthy of a brief mention and comment. That’s especially true here in California (where the Workforce Management world headquarters is located).

That’s because so many innovative/shocking/kooky work-related trends seem to get hatched/created/concocted on the Left Coast.

So, here is a potpourri of items you might be interested in:

• It’s always a bad day when a female CEO gets canned, whether she got fired (as the San Jose Mercury News says) or left of her own accord (as the San Francisco Chronicle suggests). I hate to see CEO Diane Greene of software maker VMware depart, mainly because there are just so few female CEOs anywhere. A USA Today story last year said that only 2.4 percent of the Fortune 500 companies were headed by female CEOs, so losing one is akin to losing a black Division I college football coach. Perhaps Greene can break some new ground and find some fruitful employment in another Silicon Valley area dominated by white middle-aged males: venture capital.

• What qualifies you as wealthy? Does a family living in a major metropolitan area of California (Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego or The O.C.) making $150,000 per year qualify as wealthy, rather than middle class? The Democratic leadership in the California Legislature think it does, according to coverage in the Los Angeles Times of the latest plan to raise taxes and close the state’s $15 billion budget deficit.

• If you are a boomer, say a prayer for the future of Eddie Bauer. The famous clothing and outerwear manufacturer has fallen on tough times, according to the Seattle Times, so it has brought in some help to turn the company around. But the company’s problems, according to one consultant, come down to a singular lack of management focus. “They’re trying to be all things to all people. They’re trying to sell swimsuits against swimsuit experts, and sleeveless clothes against sleeveless-clothes experts,” according to Dick Outcalt, a retail strategist in Seattle. “The entire company should be focused on fall and winter merchandise for northern-climate stores.”

• My faith in my fellow California drivers has been restored. I thought there was going to be blood in the streets when the new hands-free cell phone law went into effect here in California on July 1. Getting people off their cell phones would be as tough as getting them out of their cars, period, or so I thought. I’m happy to be wrong about this, as the San Jose Mercury News points out.

• Here’s why I’m going home early today, and why you should too. Or as my grandmother used to say, nobody on their death bed ever said they regretted not spending more time at work.

Note to readers: Do you like me doing this kind of occasional roundup of management- and workforce-related stories? Let me know if you do, because if it is popular, I might be motivated to do it again. Just post a comment here or send me a message to jhollon@workforce.com.