' TIS THE SEASON

This morning, we awoke to our first snowfall. Not much...just enough to make the roads slick and be a pain-in-the-butt. Traffic was 'slow goin' on the way to work and school, as everyone had to get used to driving for that first time with the streets a little slick.

The snow made it official...winter is coming...and so is Christmas.

To get us in the Christmas mood, (besides all of Cindy's decorations), we watched some of the old Christmas standards over the weekend.

Friday night, we began the weekend by watching 'White Christmas' with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. Like you, (probably), we've seen it more times than we can count, but it's one of the old movies we 'have' to watch at Christmas time.

We continued our weekend movie fest by watching 'The Christmas Story' on Saturday. You know, the one where the little boy wants the Red Ryder BB gun as a gift, and all he hears from his mother, teacher and even the department store Santa is "you'll shoot your eye out". Again, one of the 'must watch' movies at Christmas time.

Sunday, we watched 'Planes, Trains & Automobiles'. More of a Thanksgiving movie than a Christmas one, it still maintains the theme of cold weather and getting home for the holidays.

I remember when Cindy and I watched P T & A for the first time. We laughed and laughed at the antics of Steve Martin and John Candy as they try to get home for the holiday. We were headed to Vincennes that weekend so we took the movie along and watched it again with her mom and dad. All of us laughed 'til we couldn't laugh anymore. And you know, that's a fun time when you can get your parents to laugh at a movie with you. Later that night, we went to Cindy's brothers' house and all of us watched it again. We laughed, (partly at the movie and partly at watching them laugh as they watched it), until it hurt. We got our money's worth out of that rental!

As crazy as it seems, when we watched P T & A again last night for the 'umpteenth' time, we still laughed at all the funny parts, even though we knew what was going to happen before it happened. And, we still shed a tear at the end, even though we knew it was coming.

I have no doubt, before Christmas is here, we'll watch James Stewart in 'It's a Wonderful Life' for the 1 millionth time.

Sometimes, those good old movies can't be beat. I'll bet you have some too that you've seen over and over, but still enjoy putting in one more time.

With all the negativity in the news this year, we all deserve a little happiness this holiday season.

I hope the Christmas 'spirit' finds you and jumps all over you.


Dan

WE NEED MORE OF THESE

Here's a nice article about a guy with his priorities in the right place.

He's in the medical profession because of the right reason. He has a growing family who he tries faithfully to be a part of their lives. He loves his small community and they obviously love him.

If they can just keep from 'burning him out'. All he does...can be overwhelming.

We need more people like him.


Dan

WAVE THE FLAG FREELY

Shame on a Richmond, Virginia Neighborhood Association, for threatening to take a WWII veteran to court, to prevent him from using his flagpole to wave his American flag. According to their guidelines, using the flagpole apparently makes their ‘neighborhood’ look bad. They instead want him to hang the flag from his front porch.

Well…shame on them.

One of the reasons they have the right to form...‘their little association with all its rules’...is because of men like him. Oh…he’s not just some ‘kook’...he’s one of the oldest Medal of Honor recipients in our country. They don’t give that medal out to just anyone.

Cindy’s dad was a veteran of WWII. I still remember when he got a flag and flagpole for a gift, and how proud he seemed when it was erected. Each morning, he would go out and proudly raise the flag, and at dusk, would lower it and bring the flag inside. He taught my children how you raise and lower the flag so that it doesn’t touch the ground, so not to show disrespect to the colors or country.

Too many times, a flag is seen flying in inclement weather or after dark. I believe proper etiquette and respect of the flag suggests you should not fly it during those times.

Now these idiots think it would be ‘prettier’ for their neighborhood if the retired Colonel would hang it from his porch.

This 90-year-old retired Colonel has earned the right to display the flag anyway he wants.

Shame on the neighborhood association. They just don’t get it.

Maybe they call it an ‘ASS’ociation for a reason.


Dan

D2B LESS THAN 90 MINUTES

A recent article in HealthDay, speaks of the nationwide goal of getting patients with heart attack symptoms in the door of the hospital and to the cath lab for an ‘artery opening procedure’ within 90 minutes.

The hospital where I work is one of the hospitals across the country who has worked hard to perfect their method.

According to statistics from our hospitals’ Cardiovascular Division Director, “we have made great strides and are now working to help nearby, smaller hospitals do the same.”

The director states, “a recent study has shown that patients who suffer a heart attack, have a higher risk of in-hospital death if the ‘door to balloon time’ (D2B) is delayed.” The (D2B) again refers to the amount of time it takes for the patient to arrive at the hospital until their artery is opened in the cath lab.

He goes on to say, “the study showed the mortality rate for patients (D2B) time of 60 minutes was 3.5%, 90 minutes 4.3%, and 270 minutes 10.3%."

Obviously, the faster that artery can be opened, the better the outcome.

Our hospitals' average is 68 minutes.

Even though they continue to try to improve that time, they have now began to assist the smaller hospitals within a 30-40 mile radius to improve theirs as well. The director asks, “what about the hospital that may not have a cath lab? How do those people get cared for?”

Using the expertise of our own physicians, nurses and cardiology staff, they began to evaluate that difficult task. Imagine the challenge of caring for those patients who are 30-60 miles away from a major hospital who report they are suffering chest pain or heart attack symptoms. They must get an EKG to diagnose the cause of the chest pain, get medication, get transportation, find a cardiologist and cath lab staff…as quickly as possible.

The planning and hard work by all involved has paid off. The director reports of the two smaller hospitals they have worked with within a 30 mile radius, one now has the (D2B) down to 90 minutes. The second is just above the 90 minute level.

Great work done by great staff. Similar, I’m sure, to work going on across the country by great medical staff teams working to do their part to make all our lives a little better.


Dan

MINI COOPER

While looking at headlines last weekend, the words ‘Mini Cooper’ caught my eye. I continued to read the few brief sentences written below the headline. Basically, it said:

In California, a family of four, (parents and their 2 children), were killed when their car was broadsided at an intersection by a driver of a Mini Cooper who ran a red light.

(A Mini Cooper is one of those little ‘box’ type cars that looks like a very small station wagon.) Maybe you saw that headline or heard the sad story as well.

Today, I saw a headline in the San Francisco Chronicle that also got my attention. It said two persons were arrested after they were caught having burglarized the home of a dead family.

There are lots of sad things that people do in this world, but that would have to rank right up there as pretty heartless…stealing belongings from the home of a family that has died.

Well, I had to read the rest of the story to see if, hopefully, the thieves had been flogged in public, or left hanging upside down by their toenails in the town square. As I continued reading, I was saddened to find out they hadn’t even been dragged from their home and beaten senseless.

Basically, the woman was pulled over for a traffic stop and found to have a credit card belonging to someone who wasn’t her. After further police investigation, her boyfriend was also later arrested, driving the stolen vehicle from the deceased family.

Only after reading further, and seeing the words ‘Mini Cooper’ did I make the connection. The deceased family the thieves stole from…was the same family who had been killed three days earlier in the accident involving the Mini Cooper.

The article revealed some more facts from the initial accident. The parents killed were in their 40’s and their two children were ages 8 and 5. The family had, earlier in the day, returned from a family vacation in Hawaii. They were all killed instantly.

The driver of the Mini Cooper was 19 years old. It was reported that he had been seen drinking at a local bar earlier in the evening. At age 17, he was arrested for drunken driving and had his license suspended for 1 year. It was estimated that he was driving the Mini Cooper 70-90mph when it entered the intersection. He survived the initial accident, but died the following day.

There are not enough tears to shed for the parents, grandparents, and other family…who lost their four loved ones in a senseless accident.

There are not enough words to express to ease the pain of the parents of the young man causing the accident. Parents who will wonder if they’d done something different years ago…how many lives would have been changed…including their sons'.

There are not enough ‘I forgive you’s’ that can be given to the two thieves…who would sink so low, that they would read about the death of an entire family in the newspaper, and have the gall to locate their address and steal their personal belongings because the owners weren’t home to protect them.

God be with all of them. He’ll cry with them…He’ll say the words they need to hear…He’ll forgive.

He can. I can’t


Dan

CLOSE FRIENDS

Last week, I caught a little of the Paul McCartney concert in New York. No, I wasn’t there…they replayed part of it on TV. Being a long-time Beatles fan, I can never hear too much of most of their music.

One segment of Paul’s show caught my attention. He dedicated a song to John Lennon, one he wrote after Johns’ death in 1980. Paul sang of an imaginary conversation with John, telling him how much ‘he loved him’. Paul admits in the song, that John would probably laugh at hearing the words, but it was no less true.

Between 1958 and 1969, John and Paul wrote and published nearly 200 jointly credited songs. Sometimes a song was written entirely by one, but credit was given to the other out of their respect and friendship. Most times, songs were started by one but would be completed with input from the other. They developed a friendship and working relationship that was inseparable.

We can only imagine what times they, (with George and Ringo), shared in those 5 years of unbelievable fame from 1964 to 1969. They were…after all…The Beatles. Anytime they were in public, they couldn’t safely do something as simple as walk the streets, or have a meal, without being noticed and mobbed. The pressure they were under every day for all those years, took its toll. They had only one another to share their time with. Only ‘they’ could understand what each one was going through. When the Beatles were no more…Paul and John, (particularly),…were no more. It was a ‘marriage’ that had just gone sour.

Pauls’ song made me think back to my high school years. My friend Scott and I became very close, so much so that you would rarely see one without the other. We had other friends in our circle…Mark…Barry…Tree…among others…but Scott and I had a special bond…or so I felt. If I wasn’t home sleeping, I was at Scott’s house. I became another son to his parents. Scott and I did everything…together. Games at his house, pinball at Teresa's Greasy Spoon, basketball in the garage, discovery of beer, lusting after pretty girls, trick or treating…together. We grew through those teen years…together.

Our relationship began to dissolve by the end of high school. After 4 years of a great friendship…it was gone. We had different ideas…different goals, and we drifted apart. I have spoken to Scott, ‘maybe’, 5 times in the last 35 years. We’ve never found that common ground to get back together…and there is some sense of sadness for me.

Close friendships. Where do they go?

Like Paul and Johns’, sometimes friendships just serve their purpose and then they’re gone. Maybe that’s for the better. Each person can then go on to find their own ‘separate’ purpose in life.

I hope Scott has found his. I believe I have found mine.


Dan

SNEAKERS

No…not the shoes. How about the Virginia couple who snuck into President Obama’s White House state dinner? Those 'sneakers'!

As if Obama wasn’t looking bad enough on the issues that are piling up, he gets showed up by a couple of idiots searching for their 15 minutes of fame. Unfortunately for all of us, they found it at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Like the parents who tried to convince the authorities their son had been swooped up in a helium filled, UFO-type balloon…only later did we find it was just a ploy to advertise themselves for a reality show. (A few years behind bars would be a ‘real reality’ that I’d suggest they receive). Now we have an equally, self-absorbed, all-important couple of nin-com-poops who want a TV show, or millions for their book rights or, preferably, both.

Those who want to bash the President, now have more fodder to battle with. I suppose some heads will roll within the security and secret service ranks over this latest escapade, but it’ll be Obama as the real loser of the ordeal.

His credibility is already under attack, and now Mutt and Jeff bring their cartoon show…right to the White House.

The sooner I forget their names…the better.

Dan