Superstorm Sandy October 30-November 4

No lights, no heat, no telephone, no hot water, no stove to cook on. I was not able to write this blog for most of the storm as I had no computer access. Once I was back in work I could write from there. I usually write my blog at home as soon as I get up and I felt bad not doing it. Things are back on track now!

Where's Shelby?

Flashlights. Check. Batteries. Check. Food. Check. Lawn furniture in. Check. Shelby. Shelby. Where is Shelby? I am sitting here anxiously awaiting 8am, so I can call the vet and make sure they are open. I boarded Shelby for a few days when I went to Massachusetts and he is still there. The vet does not release the dogs on Sundays, so I could not get him last night. I hear the hurricane winds brewing and all I can think of is getting Shelby home. He is like a child and is scared of winds. There is no one there to hug and comfort him. That is my job. Twenty six minutes and counting. I want Shelby! Update: Shelby is home, safe and sound!!

Heading Home

We just got up and after breakfast we will head on home. As usual, we had the best weekend. Good food and great conversation. The next time I come here will be on the spur of the moment. The timing will not be up to me. It will be up to my  tiny unborn grandchild. It is funny how a tiny baby has the ability to rule our schedules. The baby has more possessions than most people and has no idea how many people are patiently waiting to hold him/her. Lucky kid.

The Stars Aligned

This is my family weekend away in Boston. Two cars were heading north at different times hoping to meet up at a common point for dinner. One car left at 9 am when traffic was light. The other car left at 2 pm heading into traffic. I did not think it looked good that we would be able to meet by 6 pm but hoped for the best. I wanted to start off my "Baby Weekend" on a high note with a casual dinner with both my son's and daughter-in-laws. At 5:30 pm I was in Massachusetts and my son was in Connecticut. It wasn't looking good. I hoped and hoped and miraculously the roads opened up. We all arrived within 10 minutes of each other and had a wonderful time. Life is good!

Baby Caravan

I hardly slept last night. I am so excited for today. In just a bit I will carpool my daughter-in-law to work so my son can pick her up in the afternoon and head straight to Massachusetts. I will be leaving at 9am with my husband and sister. This is the Baby Shower Weekend. I haven't seen my older daughter-in-law in weeks and by now she will look very different. She is one week away from her ninth month. This will be a  happy weekend spent with our extended family. Now it seems real. I will see the baby's room all set up and help to bring the shower gifts into the house. I feel like a little kid, all excited!

Eyes

There is a saying that our eyes are the windows to the world. It makes sense since we look out through our eyes. In reality, our eyes were only intended to look out. Most people love to look at other people and judge what they do, what they say and how they look. Imagine if G-d made our eyes facing inward. We would have to look at ourselves from the outside in and see what others see. We would have the ability to judge ourselves impartially. That would be a hard task to do on a daily basis.  Only then, would our eyes truly be opened.

Rest In Peace

I find it very hard to write this blog. In fact, I find the subject so upsetting that I was going to avoid it. Within 5 days, two Nassau County Police officers have been killed. One was hit by a drunk driver as he was attending to an accident scene on the Long Island Expressway. The other was shot point blank after stopping a suspect in a hit and run accident. The officers were 43 and 29 years old. In the prime of their lives until 2 morons took their lives away. I cannot fathom the sorrow that their families are feeling. I did not know them and my heart is breaking. I cannot get their smiling faces out of my mind. I try to rationalize it by saying they are with G-d now and in a better place and that G-d takes you on his schedule, not ours. It make me think that most of our days are spent dwelling on nonsense and minutia. I pray for Officer Olivieri and Office Lopez. Rest in peace. It's funny, we all want to go to heaven but why do we have to die to get there?

Safe And Sound

The journey is over. The "kidz" as my sister and I refer to them, have arrived at their Florida home. I give them credit for being able to take that long trip alone. As soon as they arrived in Florida they felt energized. They drove down the Turnpike for about 4 hours and then brought about half of their luggage into their house. They changed their clothes and went out to dinner with friends. By the time I called them in the evening, they were having a great time eating rocky road ice cream at The Golden Corral. Does life get better?

The Last Leg

I am waiting until 8am to call my parents and see how their night on the auto-train went. When we spoke last night, they were just finishing their dinner. Since they reserve a bedroom, their dinner is brought to them. The menu was salad, rolls, grilled salmon with lobster sauce, potato, vegetable, peach melba and wine. My mother opted for chicken nuggets and mac and cheese since she is not a big fan of lobster sauces. Both meals were delicious and you could hear the happiness as we spoke. They were debating on whether or not to watch a movie. The porter was coming at 11pm to "turn down their beds". Traveling this way is not cheap,   but at this point in their lives it is the only way to go. At about 10 am the train unloads and they start the last leg of their trip, a four hour drive to south Florida. They will be tired for a few days, but not the type of tired they were in New York. A good tired.

Part Deux

Today starts the second leg of my parent's trip south. I have to give them a lot of credit. At 89 and 88 years old they still have the stamina to drive to Virginia, take an 18 hour train ride and then continue driving 4 hours till their destination. I am getting tired even thinking about it. The first part of their trip went wonderfully and they are resting in a hotel, as I write. I guess when you have something great to look forward to at the end of your journey, it makes the trip much easier.

Migration

This month begins the great migration south. It is not a bird migration. It is a people migration. New Yorkers are flying and driving down to Florida in droves. They have spent a wonderful Spring, Summer and early Autumn visiting their children and now it is time to go back to an easier way of life. It is sleep away camp in reverse. There is sunshine and warmth. There are shows and trips and activities. Friends that you have not seen for months eagerly await your arrival. It is a well deserved quality of life. Packing up is the hard part but it will be well worth it when they enter the Sunshine State.

Traffic

Yesterday was a terrible day for traffic on Long Island. A police offer was struck down on a major highway while he was helping out motorists that were involved in a car accident. Another driver, who was drunk, sped by the accident scene and killed the officer. This is a police officer's families nightmare. I am still so upset just thinking about it and pray for the officer's family. Most of our patients missed their appointments because they were sitting on other roadways at a standstill. Traffic was rerouted all over the place. When people called frantically apologizing about the missed visits, I told them to put things into perspective. At the end of the day, they were going home to their loved ones. There is a family on Long Island that will never have that blessing again.

Flu Shot

I had my yearly physical yesterday. I thought it had only been six months since I was at the doctor but I guess the year just flew by. The only reason I made the appointment was to get my flu shot. Nothing changed healthwise. The only difference was that my doctor's office had become more cluttered. He had files lining the walls, almost three feet high.When he sat behind his desk, all I could see was the tip of his head. He took blood, did x-rays and a pulmonary function test. I hate that test. By the time I am done puffing, I feel faint. I had to fill out paperwork for the flu shot. To be quite honest, I never read what I was signing. I think I might have signed up for a timeshare. I had to check off that I am not allergic to eggs. I guess all good recipes are made with eggs. This morning I have a black and blue vein and an arm that aches. Maybe I should see a doctor.

The Long Way Home

I was driving home from work yesterday afternoon when the parkway came to a sudden stop. I realized that this was the road that led to Hofstra University, the location of the second Presidential Debate. I got off at the first exit and started to navigate my way home. I had never gotten off at this exit so it was unfamiliar to me. I keep going south and east and eventually got home, although it took 40 minutes for a 15 minute trip. When I went to sleep last night, I had a dream about being lost in an unfamiliar part of Brooklyn. When I reached for my cell phone, the case was empty. I had to ring on doorbells until someone let me use their phone. I guess subconsciously I was reliving being lost and having to take the long way home.

No Manners

Last week was the Vice Presidential Debate. It amazed me to see our current Vice President acting like a fool. In my opinion, our Vice President is a bit of a dunce. I love the word dunce. It is a cross between fool, clown and village idiot. I found myself watching him instead of listening to him. I guess if he had anything bright to say I would have been more focused. He grinned, giggled, smirked and interrupted. I think he needed a time out. He was rude and annoying. His opponent looked at him the way a teacher looks at an unruly child. You understand his limitations, but you still have the urge to slap him silly. It boggles my mind to think that this man is second in command. Shelby has more manners and I think more common sense.

Postcards

I went to my parent's house yesterday to help them sort things out before their trip back to Florida next week. Their basement is a treasure chest of assorted items. Big, small, old, older and nostalgic, they have it all. A personal family museum. You never know what special find you will uncover. Yesterday, I hit a jackpot. My father took out a box of old postcards. Some of them were lithography type cards and some of them cards from old hotels. They dated back as far as 1906. While rifling through them, I came across a few special ones. They were postcards that were written by my grandmother to my father, when my grandparents were in Florida in the 1950's. I had never seen her handwriting and never knew that she wrote in English. My grandfather only wrote in Yiddish. Each card asked how the children were and told about the good time they were having. I took a few of them home. I now have another bit of family history and will cherish it forever.

Little Details

Last night I went to one of my favorite seafood restaurants. I probably will not be going there too much anymore. When I opened the menu, I saw that the prices had skyrocketed. The meal that used to be $10 was now $15. I have my limit for what I think is a fair price for anything and these prices are beginning to exceed that. We had a nice waitress but she was not paying attention to what we asked for. I asked for water with lemon. The water arrived without lemon. I asked for the lemon to be brought to me. Still no lemon. When I ordered my food, I asked for tartar sauce. The meal arrived without tartar sauce. I asked for it to be brought to me. After 5 minutes there was still no lemon and tartar sauce. She breezed by and said, "Oh, you need lemon and tartar sauce". After five minutes more it still had not arrived. Finally, I asked an unknown person wearing a white shirt and black pants. For all I know he was a customer, but he did bring me what I needed. At the end of the meal I had 20 tiny shrimp leftover. I lined them up in a row of 4 x 5, for no other reason than boredom. I asked for a take home box and when the waitress came over she said she would put it into the box for me. As she lifted the plate I said, "Could you please put the shrimp into the box in the exact order that I have them lined up in". She froze and looked petrified as the shrimp slid haphazardly into the box. After a second I said that I was only joking but bringing me lemon was a much easier request and should have been done an hour ago.

Trust

Trust comes in two forms. One is emotional and the other is monetary. The first type of trust means you have faith in someone or something. You feel confident that your judgement is good and you do not have to second guess the person or situation. The second type of trust means you do not really trust in the person or situation. That is the monetary one. There are a few kinds of trusts. One kind is when you put money away for an underage person. Sometimes they cannot have access to it until they are 21. Sometimes the age of access is 30 or over. What you are saying is that the money that legally belongs or will belong to someone is not readily theirs because you do not trust their judgement. With the elderly population they have the choice of two types of trusts. Each type has benefits. In this case, people are not trusting that the government will be fair when they are gone. They do not trust that outsiders will have their best interests at heart so they lock up their money in a trust. Trust is a word that has two meanings on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Marking the Years

I mark the years by two milestones. The day my sprinkler system is drained and the day I have my taxes done. I see the two men who provide these services once a year. Somehow the years are flying by faster and faster. As each one arrives, we say the same thing. "Wow, can you believe it's been another year?" These men started coming to my house when my children were babies. They watched them go from high chairs to husbands. They have seen a golden retriever brought into the house as a puppy and put to sleep fourteen years later. They now see Shelby growing. The funny thing is that we never see the changes in ourselves. I still have the frame of mind that these men are thirty years old and I am in my twenties.

Not Me

I handle almost every problem in my office. Sometimes patients demand to speak to the director. I had this request yesterday. One patient's father seemed to have "forgotten" that I told him his daughter's visits were not covered by insurance. She had no out of network benefits when she started so it did not matter. Somewhere along the way he decided to change benefits and never notified me.  He called me in a very agitated state when his insurance denied the claim. I explained to him that it was his responsibility to notify me of any changes. He got angrier and angrier and finally asked to talk to the director. I took a message for her. When I let her know that this man was expecting her call, she looked at me with fear in her eyes and said she would not call him. She doesn't like confrontation. I would think that a psychologist would know how to handle that. Now the problem is back in my court and I need to calm down a very upset man. I think I will offer him some sort of refund. I think that a bit of money can easily solve the problem.

Sock It To Me

Since last May, I have gone sock-less. I love the free feeling of slipping my bare feet into my shoes.Today I realized that summer is officially over and winter is just a few breaths away. Today I am wearing socks. I tried as hard as I could to stretch out the inevitable, but my time ran out. After spending the last few days shivering with ice cold feet, I was forced to give in. Now that the socks have arrived, can the boots be far behind?

Out Of ConTEXT

People have always had disagreements. That is human nature. If you had a problem that needed to be ironed out, people would sit down and talk about it or speak on the phone. Sometimes the problem was solved, sometimes it was not, but at least you looked the person in the eye or heard their voice, to know what they really meant. Nowadays people argue via text message. The term "text war" was added into our vocabulary. I think that more things can be misconstrued when the words are written but the tone is not heard. Without the tone, the intent is not there. I can say, "What's the matter" in a soft tone and seem caring and kind. I can say, "What's the matter" in a gruff and nasty tone and seem argumentative. When you read words instead of hearing them, the interpretation is left up to the reader. That is dangerous.

Happy Columbus Day

Today America was discovered. In reality it was never lost. It was always here, content to be left alone and unnamed. Human nature has us seeking more out of life and Columbus was sent to explore. He sailed fairly aimlessly and expected to fall off the face of the earth. A kamikaze voyager. He never got to the edge and instead found the land he named America. Unfortunately, his gain was the Indians loss. They had no idea they were "Indians" until he came. Once he arrived, their lives went downhill. He brought along disease and violence, but as my mother-in-law used to say, "That's water over the bridge". Many years later, the Indians finally got their revenge. They opened up casinos and are taking back the white man's wampum. Happy Columbus Day!

Bed And Breakfast

This morning is a first. For the first time in 32 years, my parents slept over. It was too late for them to travel home last night and my sister already had a house guest so the "reservations" were switched to my house. I tried to make the accommodations comfortable and since my house guests are still asleep, I think I did well. I have prepared a "country breakfast" as they like to call it, jokingly. There are bagels and lox, various cheeses, coffee, juice and I will even offer eggs if they desire. I want the return business so the first impression is important. I feel like I have two guests of honor and will treat them accordingly.

Getting Together

I woke up to a sunny and warm autumn day. I am glad the weather is beautiful because we have a special event planned. Today we will expand our family and meet my nephew's new family. His future wife is a wonderful girl. Her family planned this day for the grandparents and aunts and uncles to meet and get to know each other. It is a nice thought, that we will be meeting people who will be a part of our lives from this day on. By chance, I know my future niece's grandfather from the neighborhood and he is a nice man. I am sure the rest of his family is just as nice. After today, the wedding plans will begin and it will be an exciting year. We are glad to be expanding the family. The more, the merrier.

Big Talker

Two days ago was the Presidential Debate. It was a much awaited event. The President of the United States has been known for being a great orator. He did not speak up to his full potential at the debate. Or did he. When he gives speeches, he is well rehearsed and well scripted. He has a strong presence. The problem is, that a debate is off the cuff and non scripted. When he ran four years ago, his answers at the debate always came back to the word "change". Whatever the other candidate said, had the rebuttal of  "America needs a change". There was not much fact or planning, just the general word "change". This time around is a different story. After four years there has been a change. Too bad it is for the worse. While the President was at the podium he looked lost and ill prepared. He did not have a teleprompter to guide him. He was out on his own for all the world to see. He was transparent and there was nothing to hide behind. America does need a change. A change of President.

Figure It Out

Last week I purchased a gift for a friend. A few days later the item went on sale so I decided to go back to the store and have my account credited for the difference. I have every store receipt for items going back to 1980 but for some reason I could not locate this one. Murphy's Law. I know that this store can backtrack through the credit card so I knew there would be no problem. That would have been the case had the customer service girls not been lazy. When I got up to the counter and explained that I did not have the receipt for the gift, they asked me if I had the gift with me. I said I did not. Then they asked for the receipt again and I said I still did not have it. Then they looked so puzzled. They said they could not do anything without the item. Now it became my responsibility to teach the girls their job. I explained to them in short clear sentences how to look up the item, get the SKU number, slide my credit card and voila, the purchase appeared on their register screen. They were able to credit back the correct amount. As far as I know, I have never been employed at Bed, Bath and Beyond, but I knew how to do a price adjustment. It is not because I am so smart...or bright...but because I used common sense and deductive reasoning. I guess this skill was not taught in their training.

Bump It Up

I was sitting in traffic yesterday and ahead of me was a fairly new car. Attached to its bumper was a sticker. Having a bumper sticker is a personal preference. Some people just have the need to announce their dogs, cats, religions and stupidity. I prefer to keep mine anonymous. If you have to have your life on the back of your car, at least put it on straight. What's up with the crooked bumper stickers. Is the person's head tilted when they slap it on, so it looks straight. Some of them are so off centered that they almost look verticle. When I see a sticker like that I do not focus on what is written on it, I focus on what is not. To me it says, "I am sloppy and do not pay attention to detail".

Repairs

For the past month, the parking garage at my office building has been under repair. The building is about 30 years old and the lot has been needing repairs since I starting working there. It is a two tier concrete lot that obviously was not built properly. An indoor lot should shelter you from the elements. This lot never did. When it is raining outside, it is raining in the lot. Not just drops but buckets. I guess when the lot was erected, no one bothered to close the seals. Everyday, all day, we hear jack hammers, grinding and banging. Some days the noise is unbearable. Hopefully when it is done, it will be what it was intended to be 30 years ago..... an indoor lot.

Under New Management

Under New Management. Three words that can either bring a smile to your face or a pain to your stomach. When new management appears, everyone is shaken up. A new manager needs to prove himself and comes up with many new ideas. Most of the time they are less efficient than the old ones, but employees have no choice. They need to grin and bear it. Unless your old boss was a horror, getting used to a new one is not a walk in the park. The reason why I will never leave my job is because I am the manager and I am too old and too tired to be managed by anyone else.