No Show

Months ago, my office scheduled a guest speaker for our Tuesday meeting. She was to present a program yesterday. The speaker was one of our interns in 2008 and her sister is one of our doctors. Monday afternoon I called in a catering order for a luncheon after her presentation. Yesterday morning another of my doctors was opening his email, which he usually never does before work and saw an email from the guest speaker. She said that her son was coming down with something and she would not be able to come. Normally no one on my staff opens email in the morning. They do it midday. I called my boss and related the message about the "no show" and informed her that the catering order was probably started and it would be wrong to cancel it an hour before. The restaurant opens at 11am and the order was to be delivered at noon. We decided to have the luncheon anyway. I told my boss that when the speaker does reschedule, there will be no food served. The speaker never followed up her email with a phone call. Has social etiquette disappeared?

My Name

Throughout our lives there are many accomplishments. Some are big and some are small. My granddaughter reached a big one this week. She knows her name. She can now identify herself. She has become an individual who is different from the rest. She says it in baby words and it may not be clear to others, but to her family it is as clear as a bell. Before long she will say it clearly to other people. She seemed so proud to answer the question, "What is your name?". My son sent me the video and I have played it dozens of times. She crossed the line from a baby to a toddler with three words.

Back to Work

This morning I am returning to work after being away for 12 days. I know that nothing earth shattering happened when I was away because I spoke to my office a few times. The mail has not been opened since I have been away and no patient calls have been made. Nobody filed Medicare claims. These are responsibilities that only I have. My lead receptionist is out today so I will have quiet time for a few hours until someone else shows up. By the end of the day, I will have things cleared up.

Back Home

I arrived home early yesterday after a smooth flight. As soon as the plane touched down, I was back into the cold reality of life. Gone were the shorts and sneakers and on was the jacket and boots. Working New York and retired Florida are on such opposite ends of the spectrum. I woke up every day in a setting that looked like paradise. Palm trees and tropical plants lined the streets. Pelicans joined me on my morning walk. Houses line the canals or golf courses. No one knows what day it is, and I am beginning to believe that it is a good thing. The clubhouses are like camps with so many activities that it is hard to choose. The way the world is now, makes me want to run away and join this paradise.

Too Many Pillows

Years ago when I went to a motel there were two pillows on the bed. Then the management put three and everyone was excited. Then they upped the ante and gave eight, four per bed. At my last motel visit, there were ten pillows. Five per bed. I still couldn't find one that felt right. One was too flat. Two made me sink in. Three made my neck bend. Four and five made me feel like I was sitting up. Slowly but surely, one by one, each one was tossed off the bed. Next time, there might be all pillows and no bed.

Missing Stewardess

One of my patients missed an appointment the other day. We called her cell and her home and there was no answer. When she finally called us back a few days later, she explained that her flight from Europe was delayed a day. We asked why. She said that the stewardess never showed up and there was no one to replace her, so Air France cancelled the flight. I have never heard of something like that. No one was able to run into work and help out?

Remote

Years ago we all watched television live. Now most of us DVR the shows to view later on. The only problem is that I forgot I DVR'd it and still sit through the commercials. Instead of seeing 20 minutes of show, I am watching 40 more minutes of advertising. I guess that is how we are programmed. No pun intended.