Spic N Span

I have a few good casserole dishes that I have used for years. Over time, after years of baking various foods in them, they have become a bit stained. I have tried to remove the stains by normal scrubbing but they are not only ground in, but also baked in. A few weeks ago I was invited to a party and brought along a cooked dish, in one of my casseroles. When it came time to leave, the hostess reminded me to take my baking dish home. When I went into the kitchen to retrieve it, I didn't recognize it. It was spotless. She must have scrubbed it very, very, very vigorously to get the stains out. No matter how hard I had ever tried, they never came out. She must have thought that the stains were fresh and was embarrassed to have me take home a dirty dish. The next time I go there I will bring a different dish until all of my casseroles look like new.

Eighty Nine and Feeling Fine!

Today is my father's birthday. He is eight nine years old. I am blessed to have two parents that are healthy and happy. I forget how old they actually are because of how they live their lives. They do everything on their own without any assistance. They shop at the mall, eat dinner out and have even added a weekly trip to the new casino to their repertoire. Truth be told, they have more energy than I do. When we go to weddings, they do not want me to drive them because they think I leave to go home too early.They like to stay until the music stops. I think leaving after the coffee is served is sufficient. My sister and I refer to them as the "kidz", spelled with a z at the end. It just seems cuter that way. It makes me laugh when my parents say that they do not like to be around old people. I ask them, "How much older can someone be if you are 89"? That has become a running joke. I hope to be celebrating at least another ten birthdays with my parents. That's not asking for too much. 

Have It Your Way

Burger King used to use the slogan, "Have It Your Way". For the past few weeks I have been having a running argument with one of my patients regarding how he pays his bill. We are a time of service office and that means you pay us the day you have your appointment. When we see our patients on an intensive level (many hours a day, a few days a week), we collect in advance, in two week sessions. This patient has children that are seen four times a week. When I asked for payment in advance, he said it was too confusing. Then I asked for daily payment and he said it was too confusing. I asked him to pay with credit card and he said it was too confusing. I asked him to pay with a check and he said that no one uses paper checks anymore so that was not an option. I informed him that the majority of patients use paper checks. He said that was too confusing. I asked him to pay with cash and he said that was too confusing. I asked him what he felt would not be too confusing. His option was for his children to come here for a month, then fax the bill to him and he would go online to pay it and we would receive it a week later. That means we would always be five weeks behind in payment. I informed him that would be too confusing and if he is not happy paying daily, go somewhere else.

Clarity

Most misunderstandings between people arise because no one is clear on what is going on. In work or in a relationship, the expectations of each situation need to be clear in order for there to be harmony. I guess that is why contracts exist. Even then, if every point is not detailed, things go awry. This is happening in my office right now. One of the young doctors signed a contract that says she will spend "some of her time" doing marketing and media. Her understanding of the word "some time" is about 5 hours a week. The director's understanding of "some time" is every waking moment. No one is happy and the tension can be felt by everyone. I advised the doctor to sit down with the director and outline point by point, in writing, what her responsibilities are. Until that happens, there will be two unhappy people.

Yom Kippur

Today is Yom Kippur, the 10th day of Tishrei 5773 in the Jewish calendar. It is a day of atonement. For Jewish people it is the holiest day of the year. I woke up this morning feeling a bit sad. When I went downstairs into my kitchen, I saw the yartzeit candles burning. We lit them last night for our departed family members. Each year as the candles are lit, it reminds us of how precious our families are. Time goes by so quickly and sometimes it is wasted on self made problems. As I look at the candles, I always think of what I would do if I had just one more day with the people that the candles represent. I know for sure it would not be wasted on senseless issues.

The Middleman

I think the phrase "middle age" came about from being caught between people that are younger and older than I am. Not only caught in the middle age wise but also thought wise. I like to think that I am a sensible person. Somehow my sensibilities differ from the people that are on the opposite ends of the age spectrum. The younger generation thinks that I am too uptight and need to relax my ways of thinking. They feel this way because they are young and have not had enough experiences to teach them otherwise. I understand that. The older generation thinks I am uptight and need to relax my ways of thinking. They feel this way because they have lived through more experiences than I have and have become rebels in their own way. I do not want to say that they are too old to care. They are just older and wiser and have seen too much to have unimportant things bother them. They save their energy for what really matters. As for me, I am happy being the filling of the cookie.

The Dictionary

I am a paper person. I love books. The real kind, made of paper pages and not plastic screens. I like to turn the actual page and not just rub my finger across a screen. I like to take books out from the library and not download them from thin air. When I need to spell a word correctly, I still use my 1980 Webster's Dictionary with the faded yellow pages. Many words that are common now are not even listed in the book, but the ones I need to clarify are always there. The pages smell like old print and the scent is unmistakable. It brings back fond memories of growing up.Today's generation will not have that experience.

Apple of My Eye

I have always wanted to go apple picking but for some reason or another I never did. Maybe because the orchards are an hour and a half away or maybe because we do not eat a lot of apples. Last weekend when I was in Massachusetts, my daughter-in-law baked an apple crisp from fresh picked apples. Every fall they pick apples and bake pies and crisps. I was determined to go to an orchard at least once in my life. I hate to use the phrase " bucket lis"t because it is so played out so I will use the phrase, "bushel list". My family always had the mindset that if you want apples you go to the store and get them. It only took 30 years to convince them that there is a big difference between apple buying and apple picking. We drove to the orchard, ran through the rows of assorted trees and took pictures to chronicle the event. We had  a "peck of fun".  This week we will bake pies and crisps and literally enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Awakenings

I always get up early in the morning. I guess my body clock is just adjusted that way. Occasionally I feel like sleeping late (7:30am) but for some reason I never do. This morning I was resting in bed at a little before seven and was not going to get up for an hour, or so I thought. At 7am on the dot, my house alarm started ringing. I have 2 sirens in my house and when they go off you can hear the blaring tones for blocks. I jumped out of bed and looked on the alarm box to see which room set off the noise. It said my den was open so I disengaged the sound and went to look. Everything looked fine but I did not open the den door yet. After a few minutes the alarm monitoring company called and he stayed on the line as I opened the den door and found nothing wrong. I guess I am not supposed to sleep late.

Hear Ye

As I am getting older, the people around me are telling me that I am speaking too softly. After months of talking louder, I realized that the reason that I am not being heard is because the people surrounding me are losing their hearing. As hard as it is to believe, my friends are either close to or already in their 60's. This is the age where our bodies change. We coasted along since puberty and now our parts are getting worn. For the past few weeks, I have been telling two people to go to the ear doctor and have their hearing checked as I will no longer repeat myself ten times nor shout. One of them found out that they have a 30% hearing loss and the other found out that there was a wax buildup the size of a marble blocking the ear canal. Finally, I will no longer have to shout and can give my vocal chords a rest.

The Pick Up Man

For as long as I can remember, there have been "pick up" lines. These were used when you wanted to meet someone but had no idea what to say to open up a conversation. Some standards were, "Have you been here before" or "What is your sign", (OK, I am going back to the 1970's). Other lines were situation appropriate depending on if you were in a mall or at a sporting event or at a club. A few days ago I was standing on line in the supermarket behind two men. They were in their mid sixties and looked pretty good for their age. I was close enough to overhear bits of their conversation. One of the men was telling his friend that 2 girls picked him up in the supermarket last week. His friend asked him how old they were and if they were pretty. The next question seemed a bit odd because it involved the store manager. After a few more minutes,  I realized what happened. It seems that the man fell down in the produce aisle and two pretty young girls "picked him up". I guess when you are over sixty, being picked up by someone has a whole new meaning.

Pay Phones

Years ago there was a pay phone on every other block. You could find them in office buildings, train stations and malls. Today they are scarce. I remember when it cost 10 cents to make a phone call. Then it rose to 25 cents. If you spoke for more than your 10 or 25 cents worth, which was three minutes, the phone calculated the overage. When you hung up the phone, it would ring back and an operator would tell you what you owed. Most of us paid the extra money. There were some of us that did not. People would hang up the phone and walk away briskly as the pay phone rang and rang. It was embarrassing if someone was behind you waiting for the phone because then it became their problem. When they picked up the receiver to dial their number, they would find an angry operator on the line demanding money. In those days, we were a more innocent society and were scared of her admonishing us. I would hate to think of how she would be treated today.

Alley Cat

On my way home from work, my favorite radio station played a song that I had not heard in at least 25 years. The song was named "The Alley Cat".  It was all the rage back in the 1960's. It was not only a song, it was also a dance. I have vivid memories of adults and children dressed in our summer peddle pusher pants (now called Capri pants), tapping our toes to this infectious tune. We lined up and pointed our toes and tapped to the right two times, the left two times, back two times on the right, back two times on the left and repeated a similar rotation one more time. The only difference was that at the end of the last toe tap, we clapped our hands and jumped clockwise, only to start over again. The Alley Cat was a predecessor to the electric slide and all other line dances. I found my toes tapping as I drove my car and smiled just thinking about simpler times. OK everyone, get up and try the Alley Cat.

Oreo the Hero

Last December for Chanukah, my daughter-in-law purchased a 14 gallon fish tank for my son. This was something he had always wanted and knew that it was a commitment. He filled the tank with water and added the chemicals needed to neutralize the water and later that week he filled the tank with a few fish. Overnight they died. He went back to the fish store and got clearer instructions and tried again. This time was a success. He bought six fish. Four brightly colored ones and 2 black mollies. One of the mollies had a few white speckles so my son named him Oreo. None of the other fish had names. Everything went along swimmingly (no pun intended) until last week. He cleaned the tank as he had done for the past few months but one fish died. He took a sample of the water to the fish store and they tested it. It had a high nitrate level and the salesman told him how to get the levels back to normal. When he came home, he noticed that one of the black mollies was acting funny. He was hanging around on the bottom and had no strength to swim to the top for air or food. That is when Oreo swung into action. As his friend sank to the bottom, he would swim under him and glide to the top with his friend on his back until the struggling fish gulped some air. Each time the fish slid off of Oreos back he caught him and swam to the top again. We watched for almost one half hour as Oreo valiantly tried to save his buddy's life. Sadly, he could not. We all sat there amazed to think that a tiny fish had the instinct to care for one of his own. Last night Oreo was a hero.

Disconnected Chain

We are still in Massachusetts enjoying our time with our children. Yesterday we purchased baby furniture and it only took 3 stores to complete the deal. All three stores were from the same chain. Each one did not know what the other one had in stock or the other store's guidelines. The store that was furthest away sent us to the store that was closer to my son's house so we could save on the delivery fees since they charge by the mile. When we got to the closer store, they informed us that they do  not deliver and we needed to go back to the first store.We compromised and ordered the items there but had them shipped to the other store for delivery. Next, we had to drive to the third store to pick up the last item. In the end we got everything we needed and had such a good time together, but could have done it more efficiently.

Seeing My Baby

In a few minutes we will be driving on the interstate parkway to see my son and daughter-in-law. When we visit them, we have to coordinate the days as he works a rotating schedule. This is a weekend that is a good one, so off we go. This will be a different type of visit because it involves a new family member, the soon to be born baby. It is a weekend all about him/her. We will purchase furniture and bedding and lots of other goodies. I want to know that each night when he/she gets tucked into bed, his/her grandparents are there with him/her. My children are conservative and it will be hard for them to allow the shopping spree, but they are very appreciative. I cannot believe how much I already love someone I have never met.

Four of A Kind

This morning my sister and I will drive to my parent's house to spend the day with them. We will do errands and take a walk and shop. We planned this day a few weeks ago and when I got up this morning the sunshine started the day off right. I do not even care if there is traffic on the way there. We will still have the best day. The four of us are like a deck of cards. Four of a kind. We are all on the same wave length and being together is just easy.

800 Envelopes

Since my office is having a few workshops, we decided to send out flyers to announce the dates. We have 2 separate organizations, one non-profit and the other one is the regular office. We printed labels from the non-profit database and everyone pitched in to stuff the envelopes. Two flyers were for the non-profit organization and two flyers were for our regular practice. Every staff member sat in the conference room to stuff and seal the envelopes. When I came in the next day, I saw all of the envelopes sitting on my desk. I guess no one wanted to make the long walk outside to put them in the mailbox. For once their laziness paid off. At 7:30am that day, my administrator called frantically. She was sound asleep and abruptly woke up with the thought that we could not use the non-profit mailing list to mail flyers from our regular practice. HIPAA Law says the two needed to be independent of each other. Now we had a real problem. The envelopes were already stamped and over $350 was at stake. My bookkeeper and I had the daunting task of prying open 800 envelopes, taking out the two flyers and resealing each one. It took four hours but we did it. We decided not to tell our director as she was leaving for vacation the next day and it would have upset her. We took one for the team.

Caught in the Middle

I hate bureaucracy. Unfortunately  for the past three months I have been involved in it with my cable and cell phone company. The company has a billing system called "one bill". They should rename it "one big mistake". In July the bill arrived and it was about $100 more than it should be. I called the cell phone division and they said that maybe the cable company didn't credit the cell portion yet and by next month things would be right. The next month the bill was still over by $100. I called again. Each call took about 1 hour. They said they would straighten it out and next month it would be fine. The other day I got the bill and again it was $100 over. I called and spent over two hours on the phone because no one knew how to do a credit. The cable division said the cell division needed to issue a credit. The cell division said that they had a zero balance on the account so there was nothing to credit, that's why the cable one bill people needed to do it. Back and forth on a three way call with me, the cell lady, the cable lady and their supervisors. When the conversation finally ended, everyone agreed that I do not owe the money and the two divisions will need to file a claim on the balance and fight it out between themselves as to how a credit will appear. I am confident that my next bill will be $100 over.

Where Were You?

There are some days that I cannot remember what I ate for breakfast even though it was 3 hours before. There is one day I will never forget. September 11, 2001. I remember vividly where I was and what people said at the moment we all knew that life had changed forever. I was sitting at my desk, at a previous job, when a patient said that there had been a plane crash. We were all upset and did not know at the time that in a few minutes there would be another impact. Even after finding out that two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, we couldn't comprehend how or why. It was surreal. One of the office girls had a nephew who was in one of the towers and she began to frantically cry. My boss, "Dr B", walked into the front office and said, "Oh blah dee, oh blah da, life goes on". That is a lyric from an old Beatle's song. At that moment I lost respect for such a shallow human being. Life may have gone on for him but it stalled for many years for others. My deepest sympathies go out  to every person who lost a loved one that day.

If The Shoe Fits

I love beautiful shoes but as I got older I realized that some shoes were only for looking at, not wearing. When I was 18, I could wear 4" heels. Usually by the end of the day my feet were burning as if I just walked over hot coals. In the past few years I have noticed that the trend on television is for the women to wear high heels that are over the top. Straps, buckles webbing. I could not even imagine who designs these monstrosities. The last time I went shoe shopping, I decided to have some fun and try on a pair of 6" heels, the ones the movie stars wear. I could barely balance myself as I stood up, and walking was not an option. I quickly returned them to the box. Last night as I was watching one of my mindless reality shows, I saw the camera pan to one of the stars feet as she walked in a parking lot in 6" stilettos. Plop. Down she went and sprained her ankle. For some reason I felt validated that even she could not walk in those ridiculous shoes.

Rely

How many people in the world can you truly rely on? If you have one or two you are doing well. I am talking about the kind of person that you can ask a favor and not have to worry if they will pull through. Nothing is worse than needing someone'
s help and then having to worry whether or not they will remember. I had this happen the other day. I needed a ride to work and had asked a coworker to pick me up. She agreed but never wrote it down. For 2 days I worried that she would forget but I did not want to seem like a nag and mention it. I hoped that she would be able to remember a simple task. I was wrong. About 15 minutes before the scheduled pick up time, I called her house to say I was ready early if she wanted to come then. We all know that this call was really a reminder. It seems that she totally forgot about getting me and if I did not call I would have been standing at the door waiting for no one.

Dog Days of Summer

I made an appointment with a new dog groomer in town. The girl that actually grooms the dog changed jobs so I followed her. I had a 9:30 am appointment and arrived at 9:29 am to find the store closed. After waiting about five minutes a woman who turned out to be the owner and Kim the groomer come running from across the parking lot, apologizing. As I walked into the shop I see a sign that says please go online for a $5.00 coupon off your first visit. Prior to the appointment I did look online for any coupons but none appeared. I said to the woman that I looked online and did not find a coupon so could she take off the discount anyway. She said that I needed the paper. I said that I really did not want to go home and search for it and print it but I would do so if I had to. She said that she needs the coupon because "if she did it without the paper, people would use it more than once". I verified that this was a $5.00 off the FIRST visit coupon and she said yes. Well, if you need to register the dogs information and they keep a record of all visits, how could someone use a FIRST time coupon, twice? She looked at me blankly so I continued talking. "There is only one first time for something" I said. The next first time is called the second time. After that it is the third, etc. I saw her calculating the math in her head and then she got it! Right... one first. She said she would apply the discount to the service. All in all it was poor time management (opening the store late), poor math skills (how many firsts are there?) but a good haircut. I will go back there again.

A New Road

After one year, many resumes, and lots of phone calls, my daughter- in -law starts a new job this morning. Over the past few months she decided that she had to have a focus on a career plan instead of just having a job. She realized that she would be happiest in a school setting working with Special Education students. For five years she had worked with disabled adults and found that to be fulfilling but not enough. With the job market being poor, there was only one opening in the 14 neighboring towns. She was lucky to have found out about the opening as soon as it was posted and the school was lucky that she applied. After two weeks of paperwork, she was called yesterday to begin today. She is going back to school at 29 years old but this time on the other side of the fence.

First Day

Today is the first day of school in my town. Even though it has been years, actually decades, since my last first day of school, my memories are still quite clear. I remember how it felt to put on my new school shoes and brand new outfit. I had a friend that even had to wear new underwear and socks. I never got that carried away. A new outfit and shoes were fine. I loved the smell of my new loose leaf binder and pristine pencil case. Each year the theme was different. They ran the gamut from Barbie to Cinderella to Man From Uncle to the peace sign. A new theme for a new semester. Each year I had high hopes that this was the year I would write neat notes. I have a tendency to scribble and doodle. Each year I went back to my old ways and hoped for the best the next year. I remember those first days fondly but would never want to relive them.

Tourist Time

Yesterday at noon, we were supposed to have a guest speaker from out of town. We planned a luncheon for 12:30 pm, after the half hour talk. All of the doctors arranged their schedules to be free from 12 - 1 pm for the discussion. Twelve, twelve fifteen, twelve thirty, one o'clock, no speaker. We opened up the pizzas and ate. In the meantime I tried to call the man's cell phone but no answer. At 1:15pm a very nice man walks in the door. So, here is the story why he was late. He made a speech in Manhattan and then had to go to Penn Station to take the train to Great Neck. The taxi ride took 20 minutes and by that time he missed his train. He tried to call but there was no reception that far below ground. Since the doctors were now seeing patients, I had to sit in on the meeting to "fill a seat". It was actually very interesting. Now we get to the funny part. He never needed to take a taxi to Penn Station. He was 1 block away the whole time. He could have walked it in 3 minutes. Shame on the taxi driver.

Well Hidden

Have you ever hidden an object so well that you have no idea where it is when you want it? That has happened to me a few times and usually I find what I am looking for when I no longer need it. That is what is happening to me today. Many years ago when my older son was about 3 years old, I had a picture made for him. I was in Lake George and we were at a wild west town. I purchased a newspaper that had the headline saying "(my sons name) Captures Outlaw". It was a prophetic headline because 19 years later it came true. I wanted to bring him this picture to have as a keepsake, but I do not know where I placed it for safe keeping. Each day I check a new hiding spot. Maybe when I am not looking it will appear.

Happy Labor Day

I have mixed feelings about today. It is an ending and a beginning. I am not sure which one I am happier for. Summer flew by and I can't even recall what I really did. I went to the same pool and hung out with the same people but everything was different. The conversation seemed redundant. It reminded me of the pool in a Florida condominium. Same seats, same conversation, same bathing suits. Maybe by writing this blog I am answering my own question. I guess I am happier for a new beginning. This afternoon my pool bag will be emptied and packed away until June. Tomorrow the traffic on the parkway will be heavy because the teachers are back to work. Beach mode will turn to school mode. The countdown to holiday season will begin. Maybe it all boils down to looking forward to change.

Light on the Sauce

I ate dinner last night at Bertuccis, one of my favorite restaurants. When the waitress took the order I said,"Please bring the rolls with butter, not oil, make the pizza with only a small amount of sauce and no basil." I also asked for water with lemon. I thought I spoke clearly and the order was not too complicated. I guess I was mistaken. She brought the rolls with oil, the water without lemon and the pizza had a ton of chunky sauce and was topped with an ample amount of basil. I should have known I was in trouble when she said she did not need to write down the order. When she brought the food to the table, we mentioned that everything was incorrect. She stared at us blankly. We decided that we were too hungry to have her redo the order and even if she did, there was no guarantee that it would be right. We skimmed off the extra sauce and picked off the basil. I hope this girl never decides to babysit. The baby may wind up wearing a diaper on its head.

Critical Thinking

I love it when someone uses their brain. Lately that has been a unique experience. Yesterday I opened a box that I had purchased at Home Depot. It contained a wicker chair. It was one of a set of four. When I took out the contents of the box, one of the cushions was missing. This had been the last box in the store so I could not go back and return it for another. Since it is the end of the season, no other store carried the item. I went back to the store and spoke to a customer service woman. She offered to call the online branch of the store but since they are two independent divisions, there would be a charge for the cushion. That was not acceptable as it was not my fault that the box was obviously opened and re taped by a previous person who wanted an extra cushion. After thinking for a moment, she came up with a solution. She would issue me a store gift card for the amount of the cushion, then call the online division and pay for it with the gift card and have it shipped to me. That way I did not have to be inconvenienced. Good thinking!