Month: March 2004

  • Donnybrook

    I had a big crowd-pleasing email brawl with a co-worker yesterday without ever setting eyes on her though we work in the same clinic. How it came about is: A few weeks earlier I had stepped out of my office into the hallway by the clinic entrance and right in front of this co-worker pulling an elderly man in a wheelchair into the clinic. I averted my eyes almost immediately because the man was wearing only a short hospital gown tied loose at the top so that of course most of his shoulders were bare, but also an entire leg was sticking out. His expression was hard to read – it looked kind of desperate or even demented. I felt an instant connection because it won’t be that much longer before I too will be elderly. Shocked that no one had thought to even give him a robe as he was pulled through the hallways and through the clinic lobby, I fired off an email to my immediate office manager expressing my concern. I said that some years before, this sort of thing had been a much more common occurrence in our hallways and I had emailed the University president about it, thinking at the time that no one in my own department would listen. I told the Prez that for this sort of reason I would not recommend this hospital to anyone I knew as a patient. Astonishingly, the Prez replied immediately and the matter was referred to the Ambulatory Care Division and it did seem to me that things changed for the better. So I asked my office manager if we had a policy about this sort of thing in our own clinic today. Well, unfortunately I mentioned the co-worker who happened to be pulling the wheelchair by name, and my manager simply forwarded the email on to them. (Typical of her actually – she’s a master delegator). And of course that co-worker flew into a defensive fury, emailing me that I should have come directly to her and that there were mitigating circumstances, etc. etc.). There followed an exchange of emails in which I explained that I hadn’t intended to make her responsible but rather the point of origination of the patient and the question of whether we had a policy of dealing with patients arriving in this manner. (It turned out he came from a nursing home.) After about 4-5 exchanges of frustration by email, we had both calmed down to the point of “making nice.” I guess the upshot of it all is that nothing will change, but I was kind of surprised at how scrappy I could still be considering the co-worker was quite a bit higher on the employee scale than I. The old man will never know about the big fight over his treatment, but I hope I never reach the point where I’m too jaded to speak up.
    Deep Thought: Ambition is like a frog sitting on a Venus Flytrap. The flytrap can bite and bite, but it won’t bother the frog because it only has little tiny plant teeth. But some other stuff could happen and it could be like ambition.
    Today I am grateful for: The right to protest

  • Friday Five
    What was…

    1. …your first grade teacher’s name?
    Mrs. Torney, I think. I was a mess in first grade and she was pretty nice to me. It was a 2-room country schoolhouse with a pot-bellied stove for heat and an outhouse. I peed my pants in class that year. But I could outread everybody and she skipped me over 2nd grade with my dad’s approval, causing me to feel inferior ever after.
    2. …your favorite Saturday morning cartoon?
    We didn’t have TV when I was really little. I don’t remember ever having a favorite Saturday morning cartoon. I did read Classic Comicbooks in college – does that count?
    3. …the name of your very first best friend?
    Rosalie – another farm girl tall as I.
    4. …your favorite breakfast cereal?
    We didn’t have boxed cereal in my childhood. We ate a big farm breakfast – meat, eggs, potatoes, etc. My mom did make scrapple sometimes – which was a corn meal concoction with bits of pork in it. You let it congeal in the frig overnight and then sliced it, fried it, and put syrup on it – mmmmm cholesterol city.
    5. …your favorite thing to do after school?
    Well, after I walked the 4 miles home I liked to read, wander around the farm – farm stuff.
    Deep Thought: I don’t think I’m alone when I say I’d like to see more and more planets fall under the ruthless domination of our solar system.
    Today I am grateful for: Fridays

  • (just to spice up your day)


    The America I Live In: Notes for the Campaign
    March 3, 2004
    By Bernard Weiner, The Crisis Papers


    This is the America I live in.


    A normal, average citizen, I unlock the front door and enter my home. ……….I don’t know if anyone has entered surreptitiously – perhaps a sneak-and-peek job by Ashcroft’s black-bag boys. ……..I boot up my computer to go online……. I don’t know if my email is being monitored, if my keystrokes are being recorded. …………I call my attorney, about a family matter. ………I don’t know if communication with my lawyer, previously regarded as “confidential,” is being listened to. (This, and the other examples above, and many below, flow from the Bush-Ashcroft “USA Patriot Act.”) ………..I visit my physician, and learn later that my employer found out about a chronic condition I had and laid me off, to keep his insurance costs down. ………..The doctor-patient confidentiality I thought existed is now breachable by government agencies in cahoots with insurance companies.

    This is the America I live in.

    I learn about U.S. citizens who have been thrown into military custody, with no access to the judicial system, kept uncharged for however long Ashcroft and Bush decide to hold them as somehow connected to “terrorists.” ………..I know of American citizens, active in opposition to the war in Iraq, who have been kept off commercial airlines. …………Hundreds of citizens of other countries are rounded up as suspected terrorists and sent to a prison camp run by our government; they can rot there for years with no charges and with no regularized access to the judicial process……To avoid having to conform to international codes of conduct, the detainees are not designated by the Administration as prisoners-of-war. ………..I hear Ashcroft telling Congress that those who raise questions about the government’s harsh police tactics are giving “aid and comfort” to terrorists.

    This is the America I live in. ……………….


    The whole of this article is available at the Blue Link above.

  • Super Tuesday

    Well, it looks like Kerry is pretty well in the bag. It will be interesting to see what kind of claws will now come out on the Republican side to cut him down to size. I hope Vermont’s votes made Dean feel a bit better about the drubbing he took.
    Deep Thought: If you’re in a boxing match, try not to let the other guy’s glove touch your lips, because you don’t know where that glove has been.
    Today I am grateful for: Imodium – I think

  • You’re Egypt!

    Curator of ancient mystical secrets, your life on the surface is fairly
    typical these days.  Though you are in denial about more things than most people.
     Nevertheless, you’re trying to convince people that you’re safe despite your more
    volatile and unstable times that seem to be behind you.  You like cats a whole lot.
     You’d probably really appreciate The Blue
    Pyramid.

    Deep Thought: It’s not good to let any kid near a container that has a skull and crossbones on it, because there might be a skeleton costume inside and the kid could put it on and really scare you.
    Today I am grateful for: Having a washer and dryer in my house

  • The First Day of the Rest of My Life

    Today is the first day of my (semi)retirement and instead of going to work I have this day off. I’ll be working 4 days a week for the next few months, then going to half-time. So today besides some errands, I’m going to meet a friend for lunch and a movie. This is a new friend from the women’s group I’ve been attending over a year now at the local community center. She’s just a year older than I and she too is working on making friends. I’ve been thinking about friendship and how difficult it is to really sustain and nurture. Sometimes it seems to me like other people might be able to do it just like rolling off a log, but not me – and I think probably not them either. I looked up a wonderful description from a children’s book called Rosie and Michael by Judith Viorst. Here it is:
    Rosie is my friend.
    She likes me when I’m dopey and not just when I’m smart.
    I worry a lot about pythons, and she understands.
    My toes point in, and my shoulders droop, and there’s hair
    growing out of my ears.
    But Rosie says I look good.
    She is my friend.

    Michael is my friend.
    He likes me when I’m grouchy and not just when I’m nice.
    I worry a lot about werewolves, and he understands.
    There’s freckles growing all over me, except on my eyeballs
    and teeth.
    But Michael says I look good.
    He is my friend.

    When my parakeet died, I called Rosie.
    When my bike got swiped, I called Rosie.
    When I cut my head and the blood came gushing out, as
    soon as the blood stopped gushing, I called Rosie.
    She is my friend.

    When my dog ran away, I called Michael.
    When my bike got swiped, I called Michael.
    When I broke my wrist and the bone was sticking out, as
    soon as they stuck it back in, I called Michael.
    He is my friend.

    Rosie would try to save me if there was a tidal wave.
    She’d hunt for me if kidnappers stole me away.
    And if I never was found again, she could have my
    Instamatic.
    She is my friend.

    Michael would try to save me if a lion attacked.
    He’d catch me if I jumped from a burning house.
    But if by mistake he missed the catch, he could have my
    stamp collection.
    He is my friend.

    Deep Thought: A lot of times when you first start out on a project you think, This is never going to be finished. But then it is, and you think, Wow, it wasn’t even worth it.
    Today I am grateful for: Sunshine