Speaking of Etiquette...

..I know, it was a few weeks ago, but hey - Anyway, one of the other little things that people do these days tends to point directly to this growing epidemic of selfishness that is covering the culture these days. And one of the things that really bothers me about this cultural change is that I'm not immune to it either; I am becoming just as guilty as the people about whom I lament. The thing that I find irksome also ties into a post that my partner put in here about the way that people say things without thinking about them. Have you noticed lately that when someone is putting you off for some reason, they tend to say something like, "can't do it right now, but I'll get back to you at my earliest convenience." Huh?! Your earliest convenience? If I'm asking you to do something, then something tells me that this may never become convenient to you! I really think that this is more of a case of ignorance than bad manners, but still, people need to think about what they say. If I was trying to be polite, then I think that I would be the one to ask someone else to do something when it is convenient for them, ya know? I just strikes me as impolite when someone tells me that they will do something as part of a business dialogue or just plain polite discussion, only when it becomes convenient for them to get around to it.

Okay, now that I've vented, it does seem like a small complaint, but it still adds to that epidemic of the deterioration our cultural behaviors along with everything thing else. And it does seem like this epidemic is snowballing beyond repair at this point, unfortunately.

Still Craving the Outdoors

Several posts ago, I wrote about really wanting to get outside and going so far as to actually describe a hiking trip that is in the works for some time in the near future. In the meantime, the internet is a great tool for vicarious outdoor adventures and finding all kinds of information out there, not only for making plans for actual trips, but also for getting new ideas, reading what other people may be doing for their own outdoor recreation, and maybe joining in some discussions with people online. This is such a great way to share information and I just hope that people take advantage of it as much as possible.

Just browsing the web has brought me a wealth of information about some things - even certain things just about hiking in general - that I probably wouldn't have known about before I ever explored stuff online. There is this really neat technique for hiking and walking that I found out about called Nordic Walking that is really cool when you read a lot of the stuff about it. It combines maximizing exercising with fun in one's hikes and has a lot of interesting history and background information for this thing that seems to have been around for quite some time now. If you think you want to check into it and find out more about it, just Click Here. You will go to another website that will tell you all about it. Let me know what you think!

The Miracles of Modern Medicine

Being a frequent patient at several of the areas doctor's offices and medical centers, and a walking medical time-bomb, I usually attempt to have a great deal of sympathy, not only for the people that find themselves in the unfortunate position of being a patron to one of these offices, but also to the people whose thankless jobs it is to handle those patients and procedures. But recently I was once again visiting one of these doctor's offices at an area hospital and I was just absolutely astounded at the surrealistic experience it turned out to be.

The first sight I saw was as I was walking into the Outpatient Center, and I noticed that the ground seemed to be rumbling, as if a small tremor had hit our little geographical area. No we didn't have any quakes that day, but I'd be surprised if this didn't register on the Richter Scale. And, let me just say right now that this woman should have been brought in by ambulance and not by the two poor children pushing her wheelchair. Yes, I said wheelchair. And yes, I said that two kids were pushing this thing, but they were not little kids. they were probably in their early to mid teens. This chair looked like it had been manufactured by Caterpillar - you know, the big bulldozer and road building machinery company? I mean, it could have been powered by an 8-cylinder diesel engine with a 5-speed transmission. Needless to say, it was like, triple-wide, with dual wheels on each side of the chair. It looked like one of those Dualy farm trucks that pull horse trailers. I swear, this woman weighed at least 800 pounds, and I am not exaggerating! And those poor kids were huffing and puffing for all they were worth just to get her along the sidewalk. I just hope that she was coming in the hospital for gastric bypass surgery, because those kids were miserable!

But then, as karma would have it, while I was still just marveling at the sight I had just witnessed, I was being checked in to have my own procedure done, and since it was an ultrasound on the vascular structure of my legs, I had to go all the way down to radiology. Well, I know where radiology is, I've been there a hundred times, so, just give me my paperwork and I'll be on my way. But nooooo --- Regulations and all that. So, I had to wait for a volunteer to get to me with guess what? A wheelchair! to push me down to have an ultrasound. Well, I guess I could have enjoyed the ride, but oh the guilt and shame I felt! Not so much because I was on the verge of ridiculing the sight I had just seen, but the volunteer that had to push me was an extremely elderly, very delicate looking old gentleman who just had no business pushing a young(er), (relatively) healthy man down the hall of a hospital.

And I just have a feeling that things are going to be getting a whole lot worse in the medical field before they start to, if ever, get better. And that can be pretty spooky.