Happy 65th

Today is my parent's 65th wedding anniversary. We will be celebrating it with a beautiful cake in the hospital lunch room. This is not the way we imagined spending it, but we are blessed to be there. We can still sing to them and take pictures of them cutting the cake. We can still kiss their smiling faces. The celebration venue is not important. Just the fact that I have both parents to celebrate with is amazing. We trimmed the cake in purple frosting as their wedding song was "Deep Purple". I am looking forward to the party beginning.

Two Peas

My sister and I are like two peas in a pod. While each pea is a separate individual entity, they live amazingly well together in their pod. The things that I am weak in, she is strong in and visa versa. Our mindset is the same. We do things the same way. Our strong point is that we do not procrastinate. If I ask her to do something, I can rest assured that it will be done. I do not need to ask again. If she requests something, it is top priority on my list. Our actions are immediate and do not get put on a wait list. Last night she asked me to look up a telephone number. The first thing I did this morning was to write the number down so we will have it tomorrow when we need it. She is the only person I know that I never have to back track on.

New Week

It is a new week. Monday morning is the fresh start. You never know what direction you will be going in. Hopefully this week my mother will continue in the direction of recovery. Yesterday she was very improved from the day before. She was able to easily move her arm and leg. Her strength is coming back. The hospital is a pleasant atmosphere so it is not depressing. They like to put the patients into a common room for lunch to make the day seem normal. It is a good change of pace. A simple positive action can last all day.

Rain, Rain, GoAway

It is enough. I cannot stand so much rain. Normally I never notice the weather but since I am driving to Brooklyn every few days, I am now aware of it. This winter has been gray. Dark dingy gray. If the weather is sunny, so is my mood. The thought of another drive in wet weather does not make me happy. The rainbow at the end of the rain is my mother and father, so it makes the dismal weather a bit more bearable. I hope spring arrives quickly.

Happy Birthday Sis

Today is my sister's birthday. She will be spending it with my parents at the rehab facility. Yesterday my mother told me that she felt bad that my sister had to spend her birthday in a hospital setting. I looked at her in surprise. Bad? This was wonderful. How lucky is my sister to be able to spend her birthday with both of her parents who are still totally mentally aware of life. I made three cups of chocolate pudding (My T Fine, of course) and am sending it with my sister. I put in a birthday candle. This was they will have something sweet to eat after they sing Happy Birthday to her.

Connecting

There is nothing more frustrating than trying to connect to the Internet and not being able to.  I am visiting my mother and it just took me 15 minutes to get online.  Once I finally got on, I was so happy until I tried to log in to write this blog.  No matter how many times I touched the password box, it would not allow me to enter the site.  Finally, I shut off my tablet and called my sister so she could be my ghostwriter.  No matter what happens, I never miss a day writing this blog.

Comfort

I am going to visit my mother in the rehab today and have made a running list of things to make her feel normal. I will style her hair and manicure her nails. I will bring her some new clothes that will make exercising easy. I brought her favorite cookies. I made her a beautiful inspirational bracelet that she can wear and read. Now I am working on a picture of the family that I can post on her wall to know that we are always watching over her. A bunch of small things add up to make her day better.

Windows 10

For some reason Windows 10 is terrible. A few months ago I purchased 2 Dell work computers. Within 9 months they both crashed. Dell was always the most trusted brand. Their customer support is saying that the Windows 10 program is the one that is bad. The first computer was repaired within 2 weeks. The next one to break was the crazy doctor's. She called me last night to help her fix it. Since my arms do not stretch 15 miles to my office, I had one of our interns call customer support and try to troubleshoot the problem. After they could not solve it, a repair return authorization was issued.

Considerate

We have all gone to a doctor's office and waited to be seen. Sometimes it is a long wait, but we all do it and return to see the doctor again. The new doctor in my office has no consideration for her patients. Every day she makes her first patient wait for at least a half hour. They sit in the waiting room staring at the receptionist as if that will bring the doctor in quicker. We call the doctor and she says she is on her way and then we still wait. We hate this as much as the patients do. Yesterday she had a new patient scheduled at 10am. He arrived at 9:50 am to fill out the paperwork. At 10am he asked how long he would need to wait. Bear in mind that he had an appointment to diagnose anxiety. We have had Tourette patients come in calm and after waiting an hour, are in a full blown episode. The receptionist told the patient that the doctor was not in yet. He said that he drove 1 hour to get here and if he was on time she could also be on time. At 10:15 he asked again if she was here. We called her and she said she was on her way. That could mean that she would be here in 5 minutes or 25 minutes. At 10:20, the patient came to the window and said that he was leaving. Even though she was highly recommended, he did not care. Her being late cost her the $1200 consultation fee. I bet she did not learn her lesson.

Fortitude

There is a saying, "You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only option you have". That one sentence is a testament to human nature. When you are thrust into a situation that would seem overwhelming, the fight or flight instinct takes over. Early man would never have survived to modern man had he not stepped up to the plate to do what was necessary to continue on. I see this behavior every day and I am now seeing it in my family. Hidden strength rises to the surface when something is important enough to fight for.

Authoritative

Yesterday I was at the deli counter of my local Stop and Shop. There were 6 people on line and two counter people slicing the cold cuts. Two other people were attending to the chickens and salads. One woman on line looked like she might have been a school teacher. She had a stern but kind face and demeanor. After a few minutes, she called over the man working on the salads. In a soft but firm voice she said that there were six people on line and that filling the orders was more important than adding salads to an already full dish. He looked at her and said , "Yes Ma'am". He got on a pair of gloves and began to take the orders. Within a few minutes there was no longer a line and he went back to his salads. I gave her credit for seeing a problem and finding a solution instead of complaining to the other people on line.

Schedules

I am the type of person who works best with structure. If there is a change in routine I need to sit down and figure out the best plan. I need to visualize it on paper and then adjust from there. Some people can go day by day and it works well for them. I need to know where I stand to be in my comfort zone.

Confrontation

I always feel that it is the best to confront someone when you think they have said something bad about you. The thought may have been twisted by the middle person involved. I hate to hold ontoanimosity, so I face the person head on that is in question.This happened the other day at work. When all was said and don, the wrong imformation had been given to me. Now it is clear and things are back to normal.

Evolution

Man has evolved over billions of years. We started off as animals and unfortunately we are evolving back to animals. The caveman's behavior was aimed at survival. No social skills were needed. He did what was necessary to live. If he had to kill, he did. Over the centuries man became civilized. He went from a gladiator being mauled by lions to the prim and proper people of the eighteen hundreds. He became very moral and sophisticated. Men wore suits and hats. Women wore long dresses. People spoke to each other respectfully. Just look at the reruns of shows like "Father Knows Best", and we can see a glimpse of life in the 1950's. I remember growing up in the days when my mother wore a dress every day and my father wore a suit to work. When he got home, he removed the suit jacket but stayed in his shirt and tie. You respected your elders. Every day when I read the news, I see that we are reverting back to cavemen. There are mass shootings on a weekly basis. No one cares about the other person. There is no respect and our moral codes are diminishing. Is this progress?

Bad Day

Today will be a bad day at work. Luckily I am the one who will make it bad for others and not the other way around. I run a relaxed office and it seems that certain people take that relaxed atmosphere and go too far. They think that the have more power than they really do. This morning they will learn that I am the boss and if they do not like what I tell them to do, walk out. I will be walking down the line from one spectrum to the other. Shape up, shut your mouth or ship out. One person will be stripped of their higher level computer rights. Doing that in itself will make my day.

Freedom Of Speech

Is there still freedom of speech? Every day I read an article of someone being reprimanded for speaking their mind. As long as they are speaking the truth, aren't they entitled to free speech? Facebook and Twitter have added a new variable into the idea that we are free ( or not free) to speak our mind. I am not talking about slander, I am talking about facts and feelings. Just today, I read an article about a waitress being fired for posting on Facebook about not being tipped on a large bill. It was a fact and it was her feelings. Did the restaurant have a right to terminate her? Why are some people allowed to show their dismay by protests and riots, but other hard working individuals expected to just suck it up?

Washed Out

Yesterday, with the best of intentions, we got on the road to Brooklyn. After one minute, I knew it was a mistake. The rain was coming down in torrents and the roads were slippery. The backsplash of water from other cars was blinding. After a few minutes of driving, I made the decision to get off the parkway and take the streets home. It was disappointing but sensible. I put safety first and made the right decision. There is always next week.

Brunch

My sister and I have begun a new routine. It is Sunday brunch with our parents. We prepare a nice variety of food and bring it to them. Soon I will be going to the store to get fresh bagels. We eat, talk and relax for a few hours and then we take a nice drive home. Today I got ambitious and added new food items on to our menu. I made homemade cole slaw, potato salad and shrimp salad. I think they taste great but I will see if everyone else agrees. It is raining now so I hope it clear by later this morning so the parkways will be a bit drier.

Spring Clean Up

This morning I cleaned my arts and crafts room. I got up early and decided that the room needed an overhaul. There was no reason for it but I just felt the need. I reboxed, rearranged and revamped. I wanted to have a sleeker look to the work area. It only took a few minutes because I am an orderly person, but it felt good when it was done. It is now 8:30am and I am good to go . 

IT

Since we are now living in a cyber world, my boss has decided to take out a cyber security insurance policy. She had the application sent to me and I printed it out to begin to fill out the form. I filled out the company name, address and telephone number. I moved on to the number of employees and the annual sales numbers. Then I got to section three. There were thirty eight specific questions regarding computer technology. Do we have an SIC? Are we encrypted in transit or in real time? Are our metatags monitored by proper protocol? Do we have GSPP or AMFR? The questions went on and on and I had no idea what they were asking. I called over one of the doctors who is in charge of web things. She looked at it and suggested that we have an IT person come to the office to see exactly where we stand. I agreed and called my boss. As soon as I mentioned an IT person, she flew into a rage. She thinks that I should get the answers. I said that I have no computer technology background and feel that I cannot get her correct answers. She said that I needed to research the specifics. I said no, but I would call the insurance company to ask their opinion. I called them and explained that I did not know how to answer the questions and they asked my why I was even trying. These are questions for the IT department. I explained that we do not have an IT department and they suggested that we contact an IT person. I requested that they call my boss and tell her that she needed a professional to give her the correct information. I will never fill out an insurance form with "educated guesses". If my boss does not like it, tough luck.

Old Friends

Simon and Garfunkel sing a song titled "Old Friends". It is a sweet song about old friends sitting in the park reminiscing about their lives. I sometimes listen to it on my way to work and it has a calming effect. Last night I played Mah Jongg with my sister and 2 friends. We had taken a few months off due to certain circumstances and have finally resumed the game. We have been playing since we were in our thirties and now we are all in our sixties. Instead of talking about our children we talk about our grandchildren.
To us we are the same girls but to the world we are older ladies. That's not the way we feel. How did we go from thirty to sixty so fast? One of the verses from the song is:

Can you imagine us
Years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange
To be seventy

Where did the time go? My mother always says that she looks in the mirror and wants to know who that old lady is. I never understood how she felt. Now I do.

Flu Season

Every day I hear about more cases of the flu. People that have been vaccinated are even coming down with it. I feel like we are all a walking time bomb until end April. We have to use the rules of common sense. If you feel sick, stay home. Wash your hands. Sneeze into a tissue or your elbow. As weird as it looks, it does prevent germs spreading. If you have a school child, remove their clothes as soon as they enter the house. Clothes do carry germs. Try not to be in public places if not necessary. If you have a newborn, do not take them out until end April, except for doctor visits. This seems a bit like paranoia, but it is what the CDC is recommending so it must be valid.

Lazy Day

I wish I was Shelby. This morning he is a lazy dog. He did not want to get out of bed and start his day. I literally had to shake him to wake him up. When I walked him, he decided to stroll around the yard, backtracking about five times to see every inch of the backyard. I put out his breakfast and he decided to go lay on the couch and "chill". Once I leave for work, I know he will take a nap. Is he a dog or is he a college student?

Sportsmanship

Last night the New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl. I felt bad. I know nothing about the team and none of the player's names. It is "my team" because my granddaughters wear their jerseys to watch the games. How could I not align myself with a team that two little girls root for? Just seeing them wearing the team logo makes me smile.

Random Person

Sometimes you meet a random person and then see them again very soon after. Last night I went to the 7-11 to pick up a rental cd. As I was getting back into my car, the woman in the car next to me started to talk to me. She asked what that red box was and I explained that it had movies in it. She said she was from upstate NY and never saw anything like that. I told her how it worked and we parted ways with her wishing me a wonderful weekend. She was an older lady wearing a black hat with sequins on it. I continued on to a local Japanese restaurant. Midway through the meal,  a woman came in to pick up her take out order. It was the same woman. How random.

Searching The Web

If you can't find it on the web, you do not need it. Anything you want is there if you search long enough. It may be 5,000 miles away but it does exist. If you can think it, they make it. What did we do years ago when we were limited to our own neighborhoods? I guess we had to make do or forget about our ideas.

The Story Of An Hour

My sister told me about a short story that she read years ago. It is titled "The Story Of An Hour". It is about a woman that is told that her husband has died in a train wreck. Everyone is afraid of what her reaction will be and hover around her. She retreats to her room, as the others wait downstairs for her, worrying that she will fall apart. While she is in her room, she looks out of her window and sees trees and birds and flowers and sunshine. She gets a wonderful feeling in her heart and realizes that she is finally free. No one to oppress her. She dances around the room pondering all of the wonderful things she can now do, without anyone holding her down. Her family comes up to check on her but she sends them away. She is not done dreaming of her bright future. After an hour, they beg her to come down. She leaves her room and sees that her husband is standing there. He had not been killed in the train wreck. He missed the usual train home. He was alive. She has a heart attack and falls to the floor. She has died of a broken heart.

Copier

Last night one of the interns from my office called me. She wanted to know where a certain insurance policy was kept. This is the third time this month that my boss has had the office call me for this information. It would be easier if my boss just knew where her things were kept, but that is another story. I told the intern that the papers were in the drawer under the Xerox machine in a folder labeled "Insurance". She did not respond, so again I repeated that the papers were in a drawer under the Xerox machine. After a moment she asked, "What is a Xerox machine?". I thought she was joking. I said, "The Xerox machine by the window". Again, silence. Then I acted like a grandma and used an alternative word so a child could understand. I said "the copy machine". She then understood what I was talking about. How could a student with her Master's Degree, not know the word Xerox?