Wasting Money

At what point do you stop repairing something and buy something else? That is the question I am asking my director. When our office was remodeled in 2008, the "designer" had no idea what she was doing. She ordered filing drawers that were more suited for light sweaters than heavy files. The drawer unit probably cost $2000. So far the repairs on it have cost $1200. Another two drawers broke yesterday so the count will be up to $1400. This problem will go on forever as the drawers cannot handle the weight. Why keep repairing them? At some point you need to wake up and realize that they are beyond repair. I knew that in 2009.

Patience

Over the years I have made some small dolls that I display in my den. I made them to sell but I got attached and decided to keep the collection. I made two Marilyn Monroe dolls and put one up for sale on eBay. Every week that it did not sell, my husband asked me to unlist it. I felt that since the listing is free why couldn't it just stay there. Last night someone bought the doll. If I took down the listing the doll would have sat on my shelf forever. I was patient and now Marilyn is going to California.

The Chemist

For most of my life I never used moisturizer. I did not like to put chemicals onto my skin. Sixty percent of what we put on our body absorbs into our body. Recently I have noticed a few wrinkles brewing. Since I did not want to use products that were in the store, I decided to make my own. I blended a few oils, waters and teas and came up with the best night cream. I scented it with vanilla. This week just to mix things up, I will make more and scent it with chocolate and lemon. I may even do peppermint. I use it at night and in the morning my skin glows. I have now morphed into a chemist.

Civility

This morning as I was logging into this blog an article caught my eye. It was about the GOP leaders saying that Trump has no "civility". They think that is a bad thing. I do not. We are living in a world where the "bad guys" are not civil. We can no longer be politically correct. Just this week an airport in Brussels was bombed killing innocent people, some of them Americans. Trump is speaking about what he will do to annihilate ISIS and Obama is dancing the tango in Argentina. Trump is angry. Obama spins on the dance floor. One, two,three, one, two, three, the dance goes on. This is a great analogy for the past eight years. Dancing around the enemy as the music plays on.

Only Bowling

Today is Easter. When I first moved into my neighborhood there was only one establishment open today. It was the bowling alley. I never knew why they decided to open. Maybe bowlers are not religious. It just seemed odd. In those days not even a movie theater was open. As years passed, more businesses felt that commerce was more important than a holiday. Now, mostly every store in my neighborhood is open for business. Even though I do not celebrate Easter, I feel bad for the workers that do and have to leave their families to go to work.

Murphy's Party

This morning I will be combining my grandson's birthday party with Murphy's law. Since my son is in the midst of a career change he specifically planned his son's birthday party for a day he knew he would be off. He works Monday through Friday until April 4th and then starts a rotating schedule. Although the actual birthday is April 18th, March 26th was a sure thing as far as being off. At the last moment an extra event was scheduled and he is forced to work today from 7am to 5pm. He is not happy but has no choice. The party is for my grandson's little friends and my son was looking forward to seeing them all run around and have fun especially during the Easter egg hunt. Now he will only see it through pictures. There will be other parties and other fun times, but not being with us today will be hard for him. I want to find Murphy and tell him that his law sucks.

The Bunny

Today will be my first meeting with the Easter Bunny. I have never met with Santa Claus. This meeting was a special request from my grandson. He has taken two previous meetings with Mr. Bunny and there are pictures to prove it. This morning I will be there for the photo op. My religion has no characters attached to it. We have no Matzo Man nor do we have Passover Pete. Not even Hanukkah Hank. Our children are not taught that there are "real" characters that eventually become fake characters when the child reaches about ten years old. We add no glitz or glamour to holidays. We are just into the worshiping followed by a heavy meal. Every culture is different and I am learning to embrace a new one as long as it makes my grandson smile.

Fooded Out

Some weeks you just don't want to eat the same thing day after day. That is what is happening at work. For twelve years our take out lunch order consisted of Chinese food and Italian food. While the Italian food is tasty, it gives us heartburn. The Chinese restaurant has changed hands a few times and I stopped eating there when a bit of a wire whisk appeared in my sesame beef dish. Lunch is the best part of the day and now it is becoming a chore. Things have gotten so bad that we are now cooking and bringing in food for each other. We have hit an all time low.

Take Charge

Over the years I have hired many part time receptionists. They are all college students. While all of them are nice, some just stand out. They are the take charge type of person that you know will go far in the world. Yesterday afternoon I received a text message from one of the take charge girls. She said that the toilet flusher broke so she opened the tank and put it together with a string and a paper clip. She asked me if I wanted her to buy the flushometer so she could install a new one tomorrow. I laughed when I saw that message. I will call the building handyman in the morning and he will fix it, but it was nice to know that she felt responsible for helping the office.

Coming Back

Today my director is supposed to return to work. She has been out for seven weeks. She was at home by her husband's bedside until he died two weeks ago. She was a devoted wife who stood by her husband of 38 years. She is finding it very hard to go on without him. It just goes to show that even though she is a world renown psychologist who can guide others through their problems, when it comes to her personal life, she is at a loss. She is scared to return to work. She is scared to walk through the door. I told her to come in for one hour only on her first day. Tomorrow I booked only two patients for her. She needs to be eased back into her life. No matter who we are, no matter what we do for a living, at the core, we are all the same.

A Nation Changing

Eight years ago the now president ran on a platform of "change". He never really said what he would change but the nation believed it would be for the better. It wasn't. We went from strong to weak. From secure to insecure. From good healthcare to terrible healthcare. From a patriotic president to an anti America president. What president does not visit Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day? What president does not join with other country's leaders in Paris to show unity? What president misses a Supreme Court Judge's funeral? What president misses a former first lady's funeral? The list goes on and on. The answer to all of the above questions is .....our president. Finally we have a loose cannon running for office. He speaks the mind of the citizens. He is arousing feelings that Americans have locked away for eight long years. We are feeling empowered again. We are feeling hope again. That feeling is upsetting the men and women on Capital Hill because they know their days of dishonesty are almost over. The riots at rallies show us that we now are fighting for something. We are fighting for our country to be great again.

Social Guy

We go out to dinner with my grandson once a week. He is very social and knows the routine. When the waiter asks for our drink order, my grandson orders his own kiddie cup of water. He browses through the menu as if he can read. Last night when the soup arrived, he took the first spoonful and announced, "This is good!" He ate his meal and if he is behaved, he is allowed to sit on my lap for dessert. Since we ate Japanese food yesterday, dessert was a sliced orange. My grandson did not think that this was a good enough dessert so he asked if we could go for ices. Luckily the ices store opened last week after a winter break. He wanted to eat the ices at my house but my husband just wanted to go home and watch television. At almost three years old, my grandson is gaining social skills.

Spring Minded

My mind is firmly planted in Spring. They say that we are going to have a snowstorm tomorrow and I don't even care. If this was January I would already be worrying. Since it is March, I am ignoring it. How can it snow when I have a package of sunflower seeds sitting on my countertop ready to be planted. If it does snow, I will take it in stride as the warm weather is just around the corner.

Balanced Out

I like things orderly. I like them neat but they do not have to be perfect. My husband likes things perfect and balanced. For the past five years we have had two pictures on a shelf. One was in the middle and one was on the right. The left hand side was where we keep the dog's leash. When I came home from Florida, the picture on the right was gone. It was one of my younger son's wedding pictures. I looked all over for it but could not find it. I woke my husband up and demanded to know where it was. He said that he hid it in a closet because the shelf did not look balanced and it bothered him. I got it out of the closet and put it back. It stayed for a day and then went missing again. It is now hiding on a window sill. I will move it back to its original spot and see what the next move will be. It has now become a game of chess and each move must be calculated.

Up In Smoke

I do not understand why people smoke. Years ago you did not know that it caused cancer. In fact one cigarette brand's slogan was, "Just what the doctor ordered". Nowadays, we know the health risks but people still smoke. One of my doctors is a heavy smoker. She is in her late twenties so when she started to smoke she knew the risks. She comes in smelling of smoke and between every patient she has a cigarette. She got a cold last week and it turned into pneumonia. She says that she has a lot of chest pain. While we are all upset that she is sick, the first statement out of everyone's mouth is that she should stop smoking. The office is even taking bets on whether or not she is smoking even though she has pneumonia. As soon as she feels better, we all plan on yelling at her.

The Liar

People think they can lie and get away with it. A few weeks ago I booked a new patient appointment for a young man. His mother called and gave me his information. I went through my usual statements that Medicare is the only insurance we take. I asked what her son's insurance was and she said Medicare. Even though he was young he had Medicare disability insurance. When she came to the office she filled out his forms. On the line that asks for primary insurance she wrote "Medicare". On the line for secondary insurance she wrote "none". On the next page she listed Medicare again as his primary insurance. She handed in a valid Medicare insurance card. I filed Medicare and they denied the claim. They said the Medicare was his third insurance. I called the mother and told her what happened. She started to yell at me that GHI was his primary, Medicaid his secondary and Medicare his third. I told her that was not the information she gave me. She kept yelling that I should have known even though she never said it. Am I a mind reader? Am I to assume everyone is a liar? After being yelled at for about one minute, I informed the woman that I would not be continuing the conversation if she did not speak in a low respectful tone. She continued to yell so I hung up the phone. Good thing I had her prepay the full Medicare amount.

Land Of The Lost

I arrived home yesterday afternoon. When I went to Florida I traveled with Delta Airlines. In JFK airport, Delta domestic flights is terminal two. You would think that when I landed back home in JFK that Delta domestic would also land in terminal two. Wrong. Terminal two is a small terminal with about 10 gates and one coffee shop. When my sister and I got off the plane we saw 92 gates. We were literally in a mini mall with moving walkways. There were stores, bars and restaurants. After walking for about a half a mile, we asked a stewardess which terminal we were in and she said terminal four. Why would Delta take off in one terminal and land in another? It was a good thing that our ride home had not yet arrived at the airport. We had time to change the pick up point.

Straightening Out

I am returning home this afternoon. I cannot wait to return to the "straight" world. I am not talking about gender identification. I am speaking about parking spaces. This morning I took a walk around my parent's development. There is a parking space for every car. The lines are straight. The cars are diagonally parked. One car leans to the right. The other car leans to the left. A third car just gave up and parked half way into the spot. I need things to be orderly. I need to live in a straight world. I need to be home.

Guessing Game

Older people in Florida like you to guess their age. When she was asked how old she was, my husband's grandmother use to answer that question with, "Younger than springtime". At least three times this week, senior citizens asked me to guess their age. My sister answered them by saying, "Sweet sixteen". I use my own method. I look at them at figure out how old I think they are, then I minus 12 years. It is a win-win situation. If they are older than that age, they giggle. If they are close to my "adjusted age" but looked older, they are okay with that too. Asking someone to guess your age is a loaded question. It could backfire on you.

One of Them

I am in another land. The land of Senior Condo Living. It is an alternative universe where things are not like they used to be. After two days, I am slowly being infiltrated by the condo mindset. Yesterday I went to eat breakfast in a local diner. The price online was listed as $3.99 for a full breakfast that included coffee, eggs, oatmeal and a bagel. I sat down and saw that the menu said $5.99. If I was in New York, I would have said, "Oh, well. Let me just stay here and eat. It is only $2 and not the end of the world". I am in Florida, so instead I said, "What!! Two dollars more? Who do they think they are, trying to change the price on a senior citizen! I'm leaving!". My sister and I promptly got up and walked out. We drove a block away to another diner where the same breakfast was $3.49. We were so proud of ourselves. We officially became part of the condo insiders.

Fill "Er Up

I arrived in Florida yesterday and have done nothing but eat. I had breakfast at the airport and a tongue sandwich on the plane. I love tongue but it is a cultural dish. I arrived at my parent's house with a full stomach only to see a big luncheon spread. There was chopped liver, egg salad, rolls and more. The mother kept saying, "Eat something", so I did to make her happy. I was stuffed. We went shopping and then went to dinner. Since we had a coupon, we had to eat the full dollar amount that we were entitled to. I had a burger with everything on it and sweet potato fries and onion rings. Now I was overstuffed. When we got home, my mother had fruit. I politely declined. Then she wanted a black and white cookie. She was "dying for one". She said she only wanted a half so she needed someone else to eat the other half. I saw in her eyes that she meant me. I ate it and now I was up to the point of being nauseous.  I went to bed so full that I could actually feel the blood flowing through my heart. I laid there for about 5 hours until the food cleared my digestive system. I finally fell asleep. Now I am up going out to eat breakfast. I will try to be a bit more sensible today.

Up and Away

It is early and I am up. Ready to go to Florida. This is the one time of the year that I can relax. Usually when I travel with my husband I am the "ring leader". I do the planning. I do the talking. I do the thinking. It is never restful. When I go away with my sister, she takes over the reigns. She allows me to go with the flow and put my mind at ease. What a gift.

Coupons

Since my husband has been setting up his "shop", we have spent a lot of time at the craft store. As any good crafter knows, you never walk into a craft store without a coupon. The 40% off coupon is great but if you get a 20% off entire purchase excluding sale items, you double up on your items. Of course you must always do the math first to make sure you save the most. I am going away this weekend and my husband needs one more piece of felt. I had no newspaper coupons. I was going to explain to him that since the felt is only 39 cents, it would be okay to go without the coupon. Then I realized that if he went once without a coupon, he might think it would be fine to go again if he was in the neighborhood and needed something. I just printed out a coupon from my computer to give to him as I do not want to get him into a bad habit.

Dual Purpose

As my husband is filling up his display cabinet, I am seeing things that I never noticed before. This morning I awoke to a framed picture. In the frame was a map made from a silk scarf. My son got this for my husband a few years ago and it had remained folded up in a drawer since then. It seems that in war time, soldiers were given a map to hold onto in case their plane was shot down or they were lost in a foreign land. It was printed on silk so it would not disintegrate if they hit water. It is a wonderful piece of history that will be displayed proudly. 

The Reveal

My husband has been collecting eclectic items for years. He has magazines, foreign money, lunch boxes, toys....and list goes on and on. He buys them and hides them away in a closet. After years of talking about displaying them, he finally bought a display cabinet. We put it together yesterday. It is a massive cabinet, the kind you see in a jewelry store. After we put it together, the collection came out of the closet. There were things that he had not seen in years. There were things that he did not remember buying. He is slowly arranging them in the case and it will take time to do it right as each mini collection needs to be together to tell its "story". When I woke up this morning and went into my den, I felt as if I walked into a store.

At Rest

One of the directors of the medical practice I work for passed away last night. Dr. Y had been sick for years, but it is still sad to know that he is gone. When I started to work there twelve years ago, he had the first of many strokes. He had a very colorful life. When he married his wife, Dr. N, she was 23 and he was 42. He was divorced with five children. They never had children together. Their medical practice was their child. Because of them, drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox and many others are on the market. They did the drug trials because they so strongly believed that people with mental illness needed better medications. At first they treated with combinations of vitamins and amino acids until the drug companies agreed to test these now popular medications. They brought the concept of intensive mental healthcare treatment to the forefront. They fought to make people realize that some mental healthcare issues were biologically based and need to be treated in parity with other medical conditions. They wrote more books than I can list. Some of these books are translated into many languages. They were on many television shows and helped to bring awareness to OCD. He was a brilliant man who made people laugh. After a few strokes, he reverted back to speaking only Spanish. Later on, he did not even recognize his wife. She cared for him in the most loving way even though he no longer knew who she was. Her devotion was heartwarming. She will be lost without him.

Loose Ends

I love it when all of my loose ends are tied up. I got up this morning and had nothing to do. My bills are all paid. My laundry is done. My house is clean. My holiday greeting cards are signed and stamped. I am even packed for next week's trip to Florida. I hate doing things at the last second and it pays off. No loose ends equal a clear mind.

The Gate Keeper

When things need to get done, you need to see the gate keeper. Every office, business or school has one. It is the person that has the ear of the owner or director. They have the most power. They have the most knowledge. If something is not getting done for you and the gate keeper says to move things along, they fly. If the gate keeper dislikes you, run for the hills. In a doctor's office the receptionist is the gate keeper. In a school it is the school secretary. In a family business, it is the wife. Know who the gate keeper is and treat them well. They are the ones that open the gate.

Hats

About ten years ago my son bought a bunch of hats on a closeout. They were brand name hats and usually sold for $20 each. The store was selling them for $1.20. He bought them all out. He then tried to sell them on eBay for the retail price. They sold as fast as he listed them. One was sold to someone in Hawaii. He must have forgotten about five of them and a few days ago I found them hidden away in a closet. I decided to list them on eBay for the same $20 as he did. They still have the tags on them. I listed them and within one day, two have sold. I guess that these hats are still in demand, ten years later.

Function and Dysfunction

Do we live in a normally functioning world or has dysfunction become the new norm? When dysfunction takes over normalcy, normalcy seems strange.  Wrong is right. Right is lost. Bad ideas seem great and solid ideas are pushed to the side. I see this more and more lately. Some people live in dysfunction for so long that to change it feels odd. It is like Stockholm syndrome, where you affiliate yourself with your captor. In this case dysfunction is your captor.

God's Schedule

Today my boss will be returning to work after being off for a month. She was not on vacation. She was on a vigil. She has spent the last month at her husband's bedside waiting for him to die. She is 18 years younger than him and has been caring for him for the past ten years, since he had the first of many strokes. He was holding his own until a new home healthcare aid made a mistake with his feeding tube. After that, my boss decided to never leave his side. The doctors said he would die within a few hours or few days. That was in January. She called in his children from out of state. She set up a memorial and had people write eulogies. As each day passed, he remained the same. The doctors said to shut off his pacemaker. He is still living. They took away his intravenous line. He still lived. At this point, no one knows when he will pass. It is up to God.