Roast Beef

In 1938 a roast beef restaurant named Brennan and Carr opened up in Sheepshead Bay. It was located in a real log cabin. There was no menu. It was written on a chalk board on the wall. You could order your food from an outside window while waiting for a bus as the bus stop was right there. It was cash only. Drinks were served in paper cups. The roast beef sandwiches came "double dipped", if requested. If you said double dip, it meant you had been there before. Last night after dropping off my father, we ate there. Nothing had changed since 1938. It was like walking into a time warp. The sandwiches tasted exactly was we remembered them and the corn fritters were heavenly. It is nice to know that sometimes things stay the same and it is possible to relive happy times.

Birdie Egg Face

Years ago I bought a small egg pan that was the size to make one egg. On the handle was a bird face. It was a smiling face and I named it "Birdie Egg Face". I used Birdie Egg Face for years and then the Teflon wore out so I had to throw it away. This morning my sister said that she needed a small fry pan and was going to order a Birdie Egg Face. She saw it on Amazon. It was funny to hear her use the pan's name as it was a long time ago when I had it. I guess for us, a small egg pan will always have that name.

Think Less, Know More

I see a change in behavior since I got an Iphone. I am trying hard not to become the person who always has a phone in their hand. I put it on my desk in work and leave it there. I put it in my den and walk away. I know where it is, but do not need to rely on it. Sometimes I am not successful. When I have a question, I get it. I realized that it is easy to keyword a problem and get an  immediate answer. I do not have to think or try to problem solve. It is immediate gratification. This morning I had a mathematical question. Instead of getting a pad and pen to figure it out, I got my phone. I put in the equation and voila, I had the answer. I knew it would be correct. I knew more but I thought less. It made me sad to think everyone is doing this. When a real problem arises, will we have the skill set to solve it?

Proof Read

I am not the best proofreader. That is where my sister comes in. She proofs my blog, usually on a daily basis, because I can never see my own  errors. I read them as if they were correct. My worst offenders are commas and apostrophes. Since I am looking for a new receptionist, I am receiving resumes in my email. I not only read their qualifications, I also see how they write. One woman put her last name in lower case letters. One said she pays "attenshin" to detail. Another said she graduated from "some college" in New York. I am not making this up. These are the actual resumes I received. I will allow for one typo error. We all do that. When it becomes a pattern in the resume, I discard it.

Recycled Names

Everything old is new again. That saying has been around for ages. It can be used for clothes, decor and names. There was a saying that if you pile your clothes up on a chair and flip the pile 20 years later, you are in fashion again. Children's names are being resurrected. The names of our grandparents and great grandparents are now the names of our grandchildren. There are no more babies being named Susan, Karen, Ellen, Diane or Barbara. They are now being named Sophie, Bella, Celia, Max, Leo and Eli. The old "new" names like Madison and Tyler have phased out. When my children were young there were about five names that everyone used and each class had children with those names. Like Shakespeare said, "A rose by any other name...".

Just Ask

One of my receptionist has applied for a PhD program. She is a brilliant girl and we are happy that she finally did what she should have done years ago. She realized that there is no real room for growth in my office and since she worked hard for her Master's Degree, she needs to put it to good use. She is now the coordinator of a new drug study that my boss has signed on for. For years we have done the clinical trials for FDA approval. Being coordinator has a lot of responsibility. On February 22, my receptionist has to go to Boston for three days to have an orientation. Yesterda, she received a phone call and when she hung up, I saw her face in her hands and she was crying. It seems that Hofstra had called to say that her interview for the PhD program was February 22. It is a group orientation followed by individual interviews. She had to be at 2 very important meetings at the same time three hundred miles away. I told her to send an email to the chairman of the psychology department stating the problem and asking what she should do. At first she was hesitant, thinking that she did not want to ask for a favor. She took my advice and wrote the email. Within 15 minutes, the chairman answered her. He gave her a choice of three other dates and said that she could miss the group orientation and not to worry. She is very relieved. All she had to do was ask.

Liberal vs Radical

The political tone of America is shifting to an uncomfortable atmosphere. One party is moving from liberal to radical.  Liberals are those who favor both equality and change and are about improving the existing system, environment and situation. Radicals are those who favor extreme disruptive change. This week I have seen examples of radicalism that are very disturbing. One political spokesperson said no to a compromise that would open the government even before she heard it. She was the same person who years ago instructed Congress to sign a bill first then read it later. I call her a controlling narcissistic personality. She was a liberal who shifted to radicalism. This morning I read an article where a former vice president is accusing America of racism. He is trying to stir up negativity in order to push his party's viewpoints into the spotlight. This was a divisive speech where he pretended, as he was speaking,  to just realize what is going on in our country. He basically called America racist. The people who are afraid of our President's tone and temperament need to take a long hard look at his adversaries. They are like lions in the coliseum waiting to rip people apart so they can win the bounty for themselves.