Disconnected Chain

We are still in Massachusetts enjoying our time with our children. Yesterday we purchased baby furniture and it only took 3 stores to complete the deal. All three stores were from the same chain. Each one did not know what the other one had in stock or the other store's guidelines. The store that was furthest away sent us to the store that was closer to my son's house so we could save on the delivery fees since they charge by the mile. When we got to the closer store, they informed us that they do  not deliver and we needed to go back to the first store.We compromised and ordered the items there but had them shipped to the other store for delivery. Next, we had to drive to the third store to pick up the last item. In the end we got everything we needed and had such a good time together, but could have done it more efficiently.

Seeing My Baby

In a few minutes we will be driving on the interstate parkway to see my son and daughter-in-law. When we visit them, we have to coordinate the days as he works a rotating schedule. This is a weekend that is a good one, so off we go. This will be a different type of visit because it involves a new family member, the soon to be born baby. It is a weekend all about him/her. We will purchase furniture and bedding and lots of other goodies. I want to know that each night when he/she gets tucked into bed, his/her grandparents are there with him/her. My children are conservative and it will be hard for them to allow the shopping spree, but they are very appreciative. I cannot believe how much I already love someone I have never met.

Four of A Kind

This morning my sister and I will drive to my parent's house to spend the day with them. We will do errands and take a walk and shop. We planned this day a few weeks ago and when I got up this morning the sunshine started the day off right. I do not even care if there is traffic on the way there. We will still have the best day. The four of us are like a deck of cards. Four of a kind. We are all on the same wave length and being together is just easy.

800 Envelopes

Since my office is having a few workshops, we decided to send out flyers to announce the dates. We have 2 separate organizations, one non-profit and the other one is the regular office. We printed labels from the non-profit database and everyone pitched in to stuff the envelopes. Two flyers were for the non-profit organization and two flyers were for our regular practice. Every staff member sat in the conference room to stuff and seal the envelopes. When I came in the next day, I saw all of the envelopes sitting on my desk. I guess no one wanted to make the long walk outside to put them in the mailbox. For once their laziness paid off. At 7:30am that day, my administrator called frantically. She was sound asleep and abruptly woke up with the thought that we could not use the non-profit mailing list to mail flyers from our regular practice. HIPAA Law says the two needed to be independent of each other. Now we had a real problem. The envelopes were already stamped and over $350 was at stake. My bookkeeper and I had the daunting task of prying open 800 envelopes, taking out the two flyers and resealing each one. It took four hours but we did it. We decided not to tell our director as she was leaving for vacation the next day and it would have upset her. We took one for the team.

Caught in the Middle

I hate bureaucracy. Unfortunately  for the past three months I have been involved in it with my cable and cell phone company. The company has a billing system called "one bill". They should rename it "one big mistake". In July the bill arrived and it was about $100 more than it should be. I called the cell phone division and they said that maybe the cable company didn't credit the cell portion yet and by next month things would be right. The next month the bill was still over by $100. I called again. Each call took about 1 hour. They said they would straighten it out and next month it would be fine. The other day I got the bill and again it was $100 over. I called and spent over two hours on the phone because no one knew how to do a credit. The cable division said the cell division needed to issue a credit. The cell division said that they had a zero balance on the account so there was nothing to credit, that's why the cable one bill people needed to do it. Back and forth on a three way call with me, the cell lady, the cable lady and their supervisors. When the conversation finally ended, everyone agreed that I do not owe the money and the two divisions will need to file a claim on the balance and fight it out between themselves as to how a credit will appear. I am confident that my next bill will be $100 over.

Where Were You?

There are some days that I cannot remember what I ate for breakfast even though it was 3 hours before. There is one day I will never forget. September 11, 2001. I remember vividly where I was and what people said at the moment we all knew that life had changed forever. I was sitting at my desk, at a previous job, when a patient said that there had been a plane crash. We were all upset and did not know at the time that in a few minutes there would be another impact. Even after finding out that two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, we couldn't comprehend how or why. It was surreal. One of the office girls had a nephew who was in one of the towers and she began to frantically cry. My boss, "Dr B", walked into the front office and said, "Oh blah dee, oh blah da, life goes on". That is a lyric from an old Beatle's song. At that moment I lost respect for such a shallow human being. Life may have gone on for him but it stalled for many years for others. My deepest sympathies go out  to every person who lost a loved one that day.

If The Shoe Fits

I love beautiful shoes but as I got older I realized that some shoes were only for looking at, not wearing. When I was 18, I could wear 4" heels. Usually by the end of the day my feet were burning as if I just walked over hot coals. In the past few years I have noticed that the trend on television is for the women to wear high heels that are over the top. Straps, buckles webbing. I could not even imagine who designs these monstrosities. The last time I went shoe shopping, I decided to have some fun and try on a pair of 6" heels, the ones the movie stars wear. I could barely balance myself as I stood up, and walking was not an option. I quickly returned them to the box. Last night as I was watching one of my mindless reality shows, I saw the camera pan to one of the stars feet as she walked in a parking lot in 6" stilettos. Plop. Down she went and sprained her ankle. For some reason I felt validated that even she could not walk in those ridiculous shoes.