If there were no such thing as the ubiquitous office cubicle, there would be no Dilbert comic strip.

A whole generation of managers, office dweebs, nerdy engineers, and cubicle dwellers have relied on the wry humor and dead-on happenings that Scott Adams wrote about in the iconic office space design of the ’60s.

Now, it seems the office cubical is undergoing a much-needed redesign. Led by big-name design firms Knoll and Herman Miller, the cubicle is moving away from rows upon rows of stark utilitarian spaces and towards features that emphasize comfort and collaboration.

Read more about it in the July/August issue of “Fast Company” or take a quick look at the online version here.

What’s your favorite Dilbert cartoon or personal cubicle story?

You become a father in a few short seconds…

…fatherhood takes the rest of your life.

On Father’s Day 2011 I find myself in a unique place in time:

• My father continues to move inexorably toward a time when things weren’t like they were, nor as we wish they could be
• For the first time in 30 years, I celebrate Father’s Day without any children physically present
• My two oldest sons celebrate Father’s Day as fathers in their own right: fathers of a 3-year-old and a 9 month old
• Aside from visits to our home, all four of our kids are out of the house now
• Yet the flip side: Tuesday my second oldest son reports to the Air Force for basic training, and his wife and 9 month old daughter move in with us for the duration of basic; so I get to be a GrandBob with a baby in the house!
• My daughter finished college in three years and has just completed her first year of graduate school; she is also working part-time as a communications specialist for the North Carolina Women’s Missionary Union; while working and going to school she lives with 3 other girls in a house near her school
• My oldest son continues to enjoy life as a Kitchen Manager for Outback and as a regional trainer for new menu items coming out to all the restaurants; his son, a very energetic 3-year-old, is a chip off the block (can you say “pay for your raising?”) and GrandBob’s buddy
• My youngest son just graduated from high school, then promptly headed off for his third summer as a counselor at a Christian boys camp; he will return at the end of summer just a couple of weeks before starting a culinary/business degree at Johnson & Wales University, living in Charlotte

Fatherhood is a journey, and each step along the way brings a new opportunity to grow and learn just how to be a father. 30 years in, and sometimes I feel like it has just begun.

At other times, I look back and wonder where the time has gone.