Entertainment

This afternoon my sister will be returning from her cruise vacation. I checked her into her airline flight to make sure she would not lose the reservation. She had points for Spirit Air and this was her first flight with them. I am used to flying Jet Blue. I like the televisions because they make the flight go faster. Last time I flew Delta. They played a movie, but their screens were overhead every few seats. It was not as good as Jet Blue but it passed the time. When I saw the boarding pass for Spirit Air I laughed. Under the pass bar code was a disclaimer that in order to keep the prices low they did not have in flight entertainment so instead they printed a maze and a Suduko puzzle to keep you busy. I think this was meant to be light hearted. It still seemed odd.

No Trucks

My husband volunteers at a children's hospital two days a week. One of the days he is in the library. Part of the job is taking a book cart up to the patient floors and offering the children books. The book they choose goes home with them. They can choose as many as they like. For the past few weeks there is a young boy that keeps asking for a book on trucks. There never is one. The child is now in the bone marrow unit and does not look well. My husband's mission was to find him a book with trucks. We cannot seem to locate one that is good for a ten year old boy. Last night we went to the toy store and bought the little boy a motorized monster truck with flashing lights and sounds. My husband will give it to him today. Hopefully he will like it. We do not even know his name. Maybe today my husband will ask him.

Secretary's Day

Yesterday was National Secretary's and Administrator's Day. Today is Guilt Day. Every year only one doctor remembers Secretary's Day and brings the front staff flowers, candies and a lovely card. Every other doctor walks in, looks embarrassed and apologizes. To be honest with you, I never know what day it falls out on so why should they. The next day each doctor tells us to buy lunch, their treat. We get about four lunches out of it. People should treat their staff with respect every day so a holiday should not really be necessary.

Deja Vu

A few weeks ago the file cabinets in work broke again. After pleading with my director to get new ones instead of investing more money in the old ones, she took my advice. Sort of. She called in a cabinet maker and showed him the problem. He agreed that the weight of the drawers was too much for the tracks. He showed us how he would use the framing of the unit and build new drawers that would never break. We waited two weeks and two days ago he sent his workers in to install them. When I came into work yesterday I was shocked. He built the drawers exactly the same as they were. They had the same tracks and were just as wobbly. We started to put the files in them and they sagged. I called my director and informed her that she just paid a man to rebuild the drawers like she originally had them. I called the cabinet maker and told him to come down and discuss the problem. He came to the office with his tools and wood. He reinforced the insides, but he said that the tracks he used were stronger than the other ones. I disagreed. In the end, we will just have to wait and see if they break. All I wanted was a standard metal file cabinet for $500. So far we have spent over $5000 on mistakes. As they say, "It is deja vu all over again".

Sechel

One of my most read blogs is the one on "Smart vs Bright". If we dig deeper into that thought we realize that there is also the concept of "Smart vs Wise". In a way, I think that this is an even more important one. In my family we always joke around that we have "sechel" which is a Yiddish word for "smarts". Yesterday my sister in law sent me a cartoon with the saying, "A Smart Person Knows What To Say. A Wise Person Know Whether Or Not To Say It". That defines the word sechel to a tee. How many times have we been in a situation where something is obvious but still needs to go unnoticed? That is where the wise person comes in. We know but we do not say. Some people might say that we are then lying. I disagree. I side with the wise owl. He keeps his eyes open, is aware of his surroundings in 360 degrees but rarely says "who".

Matzo 20 Ways

This week I have to be creative. I need to find about 16 ways to eat matzo without getting tired of it. I usually have breakfast and lunch at work and bread is involved in most of the meals. I have to plan the week so I will not be hungry. This morning I made a large fruit salad that will last for a few days. That will be breakfast. Lunch this week will consist of matzo with egg salad, tuna and gefilte fish. On Thursday, I will end the work week with a bang. I will bring a matzo brie. I made a deal with my receptionist. She supplies the matzo, butter and jelly for the extra snacking and I will bring the rest. We will get through this as a team. 

A Sure Thing

There are few sure things in life. One of them is having a great time with my family. Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to say that. Last night was no exception. The food was wonderful and the company was as pleasant as always. As the "kids" grow up, it is even better, as they are even more fun as adults. There was a new person at the Seder table which made things special. My grandson ran around like a whirling dervish. He got to take home a special gift that his Uncle Larry made for him. On the car ride home, he asked where it was, making sure that it was in our possession. His new personalized desk and chair is sitting in his playroom and I can guarantee that it will be well used over the years. By the next holiday there will be one more new edition. I can't wait!

Too Good

Last week one of my Mah Jongg friends brought over a bag of "Matzo Crack" for us to taste. It is homemade from brown sugar and butter, which melts into a toffee, matzo and melted chocolate chips. The moment I put the first bite into my mouth, the flavors exploded. I wanted more. I had another piece. I still wanted more but then self control set in. If I was not such a strong person I would have tackled the other two players and made a run for the front porch, grabbing the matzo filled baggy as I ran. I acted like a lady and instead asked for the recipe which was promptly emailed. I made the "crack" this morning and I will bring it to Seder dinner tonight. I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I do.

Sticky Situation

Last night I was printing out some stickers when I heard the sound of doom. The printer jammed. The grinding noise would not stop until I shut off the power button. Then the work began. I opened the front of the machine, but the paper was not there. I opened the back and saw a bit of white paper. I gently pulled the paper out trying my hardest not to rip it, but my hardest was not good enough. A tiny corner remained. I could not see where the corner was hiding. I called for my husband as I was getting too frustrated. He came with the high beam laser flashlight and started poking around. After a few minutes, he located the paper lodged in a corner. I slid my hand into the machine hoping that I could remove the paper and my hand. It worked. The printer is now working again. Crisis averted.

The Defense

This week both of our intern doctors defended their thesis. They are now full fledged doctors. We are very proud of them. It took many years and a lot of hard work. It is nice to see their faces stress free. We all knew that they would pass the "Defense", but just the formality of it was nerve wracking. Besides speaking about their topics, they had to cater food. I never knew that when a doctor defends a thesis, the protocol is to make sure the committee is well fed. We suggested to serve gassy food so they would want to get done quickly and go to the bathroom.

"Case" Matters

yesterday I spent a good part of my work day hearing a co worker irrationally rant. She was trying to do something nice but it did not turn out that way. She ordered a memorial plaque for a few people's family members and when it arrived it did not look like she thought it would. The personalized names were illegible. She called the company to demand a refund. They would not give it. The argument got very nasty so I had to intervene. The root of the problem was that when she typed in the names to be personalized, she used all upper case letters. I have told her for years not to type names in all caps. She does this on my database and I have to re do it every day. It is not the proper way but she does not listen. By using all caps the names came out illegible. The upper case letters all had a flowery look as the design was intended to only have a flowery first letter and then a simpler font for the rest of the lower case letters. The company said that she approved the design so they were not responsible. She said they were liars and she never said it was okay. After she hung up on them, I told her that she had to have approved the design as it would not let her purchase the plaques until she checked the approval box. She said she never did that. I walked her through a "mock" sale until we got to the screen that had the approval disclaimer. She then saw that she had checked the box. She also saw that the names looked terrible. We then retyped them properly and they looked great but it was too late for that as the items were delivered. She called the credit card company and stopped the charge. I explained to her that it was only a temporary stop until they researched the complaint. She disagreed. By that time I had a migraine so I walked away. When the charge goes back on her card after the company proves she approved it, she will know I am right.

Primary

I am up early and will soon go to cast my vote in today's presidential primary. It is a good feeling to know that I can hopefully be one of the people to change the direction of this country. I will be voting for a man that many people say has hate in his heart. Hate comes in all forms. Sometimes you need to hate in order to protect. Currently we have a president that hates. Unfortunately he hates his own country. He has shown us time and time again that we do not count. He rallies against us in bold ways. He dances the tango and plays golf as we mourn the dead. We need a leader to stop this madness. A leader that says that we count. A man who will protect us. Last week our Navy vessels were circled by our enemies in an aggressive way. Our president said nothing, which spoke volumes. Our presidential hopeful would have gone on the attack to protect us and make it clear to never do that again, or else. That is what I want. I want to feel safe again. I want to feel cared about. Today, my one vote will show that. 

Happy Third

Today is my grandson's third birthday. Three wonderful smiling years have flown by. I remember vividly sitting in the hospital waiting room as he arrived nine weeks early. Since that day, he has brought so much joy to our lives. He is now doing everything a three year old does. He is always smiling and laughing. His mother calls him the class clown. He knows what makes someone happy. When I am with him, he makes me feel like the world revolves around me. I do not remember my children being three. I guess I was too busy parenting them. I do not parent my grandson. I just enjoy him.

Ride 'Em Cowgirl

Whoever invented Skype deserves a big hug. It brings families closer. Years ago the best you could do was a phone call. Now, with Skype, it is a real life visit. Last night my son called to see if we were home because my granddaughter wanted to see us. I ran to the computer and started a Skype session. She showed us her new camera and her Doc McStuffins medical case. She then decided that she wanted us to see her ride her rocking horse. My son carried the laptop through the house and we arrived in her room. She jumped on the pink horse that Aunt "Baba" made for her and started to rock back and forth. She told us the safety instructions that her parents told her. Don't go to fast. Don't lean all the way back. She was on the horse for a good five minutes and only stopped riding when her father told her it was bedtime. She was having so much fun, but I was having even more fun watching her.

A 360

The other day I received a phone call from a doctor that used to work at my office. She ordered something online and the ship to address defaulted to my office. She needed us to refuse delivery. I had not spoken to her in a while. Her story is an interesting one. She was from a small town upstate and when she received her PhD she decided to move to the city. She was not married and thought that there would be more opportunity to meet a man here. She was a beautiful, nice girl but she was over six feet tall and she said it was not easy finding a date. After three years of living here, with no dates, she decided to relocate to Virginia where her family was now living. She gave up her apartment, found a new job and a place to live. She was all packed and ready to go. On her last weekend here she went out with her friends to a pub and started talking to a nice guy. He was six foot six inches. They exchanged telephone numbers. They talked every day and then it was time for her to move away. After she moved, they continued speaking and then they began to alternate weekends traveling back and forth from New York to Virginia. After a while, she packed up and moved back here. She got married, bought a house and now has an eight month old baby. Life takes you where you need to be, even if it sends you in a circle.

His Vote

For the past few weeks I have been talking to my grandson on the phone on the days that I do not see him. I have been talking to my granddaughter also, if we cannot Skype. They are four months apart but she seems so much older. She has nice social skills and is such a sweet girl. Yesterday I decided to ask my grandson his opinion on where to go for dinner on Saturday night. I gave him 2 choices. He thought for a minute and then told me the one he wanted. He is at the age where he actually has an opinion and knows what he wants. I think that is so cute.

In The Cloud

My office is thinking of entering the 21st century. We are getting information about backing up our data to "The Cloud". The word seems so mysterious. It eludes to a white ethereal being that floats around the sky protecting our data. It is actually a building that stores data on servers. One of our doctor's husbands specializes in data recovery and he says that in case of a disaster, we would lose our database forever. Our backups are done on premise, so if the building goes on fire our data will also go up in flames. I have begun research on the security of data being stored in the Cloud. Basically, the Amazon Cloud is safe. It is end to end encrypted and HIPAA compliant. That is all I need to know. I cannot read, nor do I wish to, the 10 pages of 5 font lettering that most cloud web server companies have on their site. Keep it simple. Just say, "We are safe. Don't worry."

Service Industry

Every business has its purpose. If you serve food, you want it to taste good. If you sell clothes, you want them to look stylish. If you are in the medical field, you want to heal or help. Your staff needs to be the people to get you to that goal. After 12 years I still have to make my staff aware that it is their responsibility to do that. A patient came in yesterday and was the most agitated woman I ever met. Since I booked her appointment I knew why she was acting like that. I told my staff to be extra kind to her, no matter how annoying she was. They started off being nice and then she pushed them to the point of being not so nice. That is when I had to step in. The woman began to fill out the forms and then got up to say she couldn't read everything so she wouldn't sign the paperwork. They were arguing that she had to sign before she was seen. The waiting room was full and I could see that things were about to get ugly. I stepped in to ask what the problem was. It seems she was so nervous about seeing the doctor, that she could not read the office policies that were 2 pages long. I walked out to the waiting room and sat next to her. I told her to relax and that I would read it to her so she could then sign it. I read the two pages to her in a calm voice as if I was reading a bedtime story to a child. When I was done, she signed the paperwork. Sometimes you have to know how to pacify people to move the day along.

Little Soldiers

I wanted to make sausage and pepper rolls for dinner last night. I did not think that I would have enough time to cook the sausages and peppers and let them cool before I wrapped the dough around them. I called my husband and asked if he could start to prepare the dinner. After his initial shock, he said we should order food in instead. I told him that since he had nothing else to do that day, putting food in the oven would not be too taxing. I then gave him the instructions. Put aluminum  foil on a baking dish and place the sausages on it. Next, slice the peppers (What? Slice them? Why do they need to be sliced?), slice the onions (More slicing? Now I will cry! Can't we eat out?) and put them in the pan next to the sausages. At 3pm put oven on 350 degrees and turn it on. After a bit of a fuss, he said he would do it. When I got home the oven was on. I looked in to see what he did. The sausages were lined up to perfection. Each pepper was precisely sliced and lined up next to the sausages. The onion was sliced as well and lined up on the other side of the sausages. I have never seen such a neat dish. They were all in line like little soldiers. I complimented him on a good job. He said never ask an OCD person to slice food again.

The Hatter

Yesterday we went to Brooklyn to check on our parent's house. We decided to take a walk on the "Avenue" a few miles away. A few miles away was really a world away. The neighborhood was orthodox. Every man was dressed in a suit. Every woman had on a dress, a stylish wig and make up. The children looked like they were dressed for a party. This is their regular attire. As we walked, we passed a store that looked very crowded. We stopped to peak into the window. It was the local "hatter". When was the last time you saw a hat shop? Through the window we could see the counter that was lined with various cloths, ribbons, felts and a hat form. These hats are handmade and sized. I could only imagine what they cost. In this neighborhood a hatter is necessary. I remember when I was very young, going with my father to the hat shop. He would pick out the material, color and ribbon. He would be sized. The hat would be ordered and in a week we would return to pick it up. I do not remember that name of the shop but I bet my father does. I will ask him this morning.

Strong Genes

I was at a party yesterday and saw ten people with one face. I have never seen a family with such strong genes. It was a surprise party and each time a cousin showed up we thought it was the future bride. The "face" was on all ages from 15 years old to 80 years old. It was like a progression picture of what you will look like as you age. Luckily it was a beautiful face that aged well.

Shades of Purple

A few months ago when I was in the airport, I sat next to a woman who was wearing a very pretty color purple nail polish. It was a light purple periwinkle blue mix. I kept staring at the color so I could remember it exactly when I got home and could buy it. I went from store to store and brand to brand until I found it. I started to wear it and everywhere I go women compliment it. I guess certain colors are just eye appealing. The color is Revlon 211. It is named Charming and the name fits the product. 

Dollars Vs Experience

Yesterday I was told that my receptionist that usually works on Saturday was going to help one of the doctors at a patient's house that day instead. She replaced herself with another receptionist. That was fine with me. When I spoke to the doctor about this, she mentioned that the receptionist was not being paid for giving her help. She was getting "experience" instead. Really? Does experience pay the bills? I called the receptionist and asked her if she was aware that she was working for experience and not money. She was totally unaware. I then called the director. She also assumed that experience was more valuable than money. I told her that if she did not pay the girl, she was not going to give up a day of work and lose money. As of now, the doctor is going alone.

Showdown

I am getting ready for a showdown at work. Sometimes people do not use their common sense and it comes back to kick them in the behind. We have a woman who is in graduate school and doing her dissertation with data that we have gathered through our patients. She got angry at one of the other doctors and decided that she did not want "her" data left in the office. She was clearly told that she cannot under any circumstances remove it. On Tuesday, someone noticed that it was missing. She was given one day to return it and now according to our lawyer she has to sign a paper saying she unlawfully removed paperwork from the office. I am the one that has to give her the paper and have her sign it. This will not be pleasant. I hope she does not become belligerent as I have no patience for that. She had better come in, drop off the papers, sign and leave. That is all that I am in the mood for today.

Free Is Better

Yesterday my office voicemail system broke. It is part of an expensive system that has been there longer than I have. I called the person that installed it only to find out he sold the business four years ago. The new owner of his business said he could come over and look at the problem for a charge of $225. I had no choice but to say yes as our patients leave us messages after hours. The man came by and said that a new system would cost $6500 since the old one was antiquated. A repair with a few new parts would cost $2500. I did not like either option. I then asked if he could just detach our phones from the system and then I could call Verizon to set up Verizon Messaging. He said I could do that. He disconnected the system from the phones and I called Verizon to order their voicemail. This morning I will do the set up on it. Free is so much better than $6500.

All Caps

I hate when people write in all CAPS. To me it is like shouting. My husband does this and so does my receptionist. No matter how many times I ask them to write correctly, they do not. When I use their computers and start to write a sentence it begins lIKE tHIS, because I naturally start of with a capital letter but the computer is in cap lock. I have sometimes written a few lines before I reread it only to find tHAT iT lOOKS lIKE tHIS. Then I have to go back and rewrite. My receptionist enters data in all caps and then we have to redo it so it fits the report format. Why can't people listen to instructions?

A Visual

Saturday night we went to a restaurant with my family. I asked for a table for four plus a highchair. We were seated but the hostess forgot the highchair. She seated us in a booth for four and usually the highchair is put at the end. When a few minutes passed and there was no highchair, my husband went to get her. She returned with a booster seat chair that sits in the booth. I said it would not be good as there was no where to put it. She looked baffled. My husband was standing next to her at this point. I said there are four adults and one child at a four seat booth. Where will the booster seat go? She pointed to the empty seat, as my husband was standing next to her. I then said there are four adults, me, him (my son) her (my daughter in law) and him (my husband). I pointed to each of us. I then asked where the seat would go and she again said, There",  pointing to the empty seat that my husband would be sitting in. Seeing as I was getting nowhere, I told my husband to sit down in his seat. Then I asked for the third time, "Where does the seat go now"? This time she said, "There is no room for it". Finally she got the point, but did not understand it unless she had the visual. She then brought us the right type of chair.

Blown Away

This morning I felt like I was in Oz. The wind was blowing like a tornado. This wasn't Kansas anymore. Lately we are having windstorms which is not usual for New York. My lights went out twice. My son's lights are still out. He bought a generator after Hurricane Sandy. My garbage is strewn all over and Shelby almost flew to the moon when I walked him. Mother Nature is playng with the East coast.

Stop Calling

This morning at 7:30am my house phone rang. My heart started pounding. No one calls my house that early. If it was my cell phone I would not have been scared. You can call my cell at any time of the day or night. I ran to the phone and the person on the other end of line was from the "Windows Operating Center". As we all know, that is a scam call from India trying to get us to give them money for fake repairs. I usually joke around with them and say that my windows are new and have no air coming through them, but this morning I was annoyed. Don't make me run to the phone for this nonsense. When I heard the it was "Jane, from Windows" I told her to f*ck off and stop calling me.

First Birthday

Happy first birthday to my eyeball. It is one year since I had cataract surgery on my right eye. One year since I had to wear my heavy glasses. It has been a good year except for the floaters, but I would rather have them than go back to glasses. I can't believe how the year flew.