Annual Thank you

Every year I like to thank a patient who I took care of as a student nurse way back in 1982. This patient was on a regular floor and at this time as student nurses we were not as busy as the regular staff and we could spend time with our charges. My patient at the time was bed ridden and had several tubes and intravenous lines and nearing the end of his life. I sat near him and he managed to impart what I believe to be the most important advice I have ever received. "Son don't wait till you are in this shape if you have something you want to do then you better do it while you can cause once you're here it's too late and you will regret it I guarantee it."

Well, that hit me like a ton of bricks and to say it was a huge moment in my life is an understatement. I have set goals for myself and achieved them for the most part. Now, you can probably think of a dozen reasons why you can't do this and I will agree with you that this philosophy of life is not without problems. You will have to have a very understanding spouse to achieve this degree of hedonistic activity and many folks are just as happy doing what they do every day and will go to the grave none the worse. However, if you have dreams at some point you are going to realize you get one shot at this life and it does not last long. So, if you get a chance to see or do something special then you better do it!

Early Ohio

Every year I take a day and wonder through the Lorain county Metro parks and enjoy the unspoiled landscape. Quiet and still in the woods is the best way for me to be able to relax completely, the air is crisp and clean. Finding a place to sit and just think of what it must have been like here 300 years ago before all the urban sprawl. From what I understand in early Ohio they say that a squirrel would jump from tree to tree and never touch the ground from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.

Look out your window and imagine no grass, no road, no power lines, and no sidewalks just endless trees as far as you could see. Shortly after that quiet time in the woods I was traveling east on route two and noticed that in Avon they are timbering the area just north of the highway. Soon, there will be more big box stores or home developments. Guess the wildlife and the quiet will just have to find somewhere else to live.

Misplaced optimism

Today's paper tells the beginning of the end of the premier soccer academy However, the end actually started when the idea was promoted and came to fruition. The academy had as much chance of succeeding here as the proverbial snowball in hell. Maybe, southern California or Florida but not in Lorain, Ohio not now soccer is way down on the sport's popularity list behind football, basketball and baseball. Do you watch it on T.V.? You just cannot beat those odds and survive in America and certainly not in northern Ohio.

Moreover, as I have said in the past starting a business here is a risky and almost surely a losing proposition. I have a friend who says that business has to come to northern Ohio for the water well we have more water than you can shake a stick at and we can't even keep the marinas open. I have said it before and I will state my case here again: when gas goes to eight and ten dollars a gallon this city and many like it will flourish again. Why? Because you and I will have to buy everything locally and small and smaller business will spring up to meet that demand. Wal mart and the big box stores move everything by truck and it will be too expensive to ship across country. So, local produce and manufacturing will have to be done here if it's done at all. One thing for sure we will have plenty of water!

$1000.00 glasses

Most of us have had to purchase glasses at some time in our lives or will have to especially after you turn forty. I have found that the mark up on frames and lenses can be huge and a recent experience really showed me that I was paying way too much. I had purchased a pair of glasses with all the extras and the total was well over five hundred dollars. Unfortunately, I had them less than a year and lost them at Cedar Point so; the search was on for a new pair. Several friends suggested that I try a company called Zenni optical from the web. Understandably I was a little skeptical but, I went ahead and I am thrilled the same glasses cost me a mere eighty dollars. Yes, that's correct and they came in about ten days.

This episode got me to thinking about what else I was getting the shaft on especially from professionals such as doctors, dentist's lawyers and the like. Recently, I saw a specialist who was not on my health plan the office call which lasted less than ten minutes cost 289.00, a Friend had one drop of resin applied to one tooth and the cost was 245.00. Now you know and I know that resin cost the dentist about ten bucks for a bottle, and the frames you get at the eye doctor cost them about eight or ten dollars.

I have a friend who is a photographer and he does mostly weddings and senior portraits and he does not gouge his clients in fact his prices are too low to make any money. After, talking with him about this blog post he is adapting a new policy that anyone who has letters after his name is getting a surcharge for images. He wouldn't say how much but, I am guessing it won't be pretty.

Civility

I believe that over time we have become less civil in our society and it has been this way for a long time. I have noticed that the simple act of holding a door for someone has gone by the wayside. Seeming folks cannot be bothered to perform a simple courtesy. I used to see drivers letting each other through at intersections and entry ways to stores and the like. However, I see less and less of that especially at Christmas time when there should be a lot of that going on.

Will we or can we change? I am not sure we will it seems that it's just we have stopped teaching this courtesy to our children Moreover, I thought for a time that maybe we should demand that of each other. Realistically, civility and courtesy has to come from the heart and that cannot be forced. Time will tell if we will become more civil and more courteous to each other.

Responsibility

    The tragic events of this past Saturday which left 6 dead and many wounded bear the indirect responsibility of the talking heads like Limbaugh, Beck, and Sara Palin. Unfortunately, these people will never take the responsibility for their actions. Always someone else who's to blame always someone else who caused the tragedy never entertaining the idea that their rhetoric may have pushed some psychotic individual to violence.

Now, I expect a ton of folks peppering me with excuses for Palin, Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh, save your breath NO one will convince me that they are not at fault even if it is indirectly.

Ka-sick caves

Tripped me up this time, someone with a few brain cells got to the Governor and he is going to do the whole dog and pony show. Well, we have a few years to go yet and I can't believe he won't screw it up again.

Ka-sick steps in it

You never know when you're going to receive gift from out of the blue and if the news is true then the governor has given me a gift to start the New Year. Mr. Ka-sick snubbed the fourth estate by barring them from his coronation. Talk about dumb that boy aint right and I love it snubbing the press is akin to urinating in Walter Cronkite's cheerios….it's just not done. Now every time that knuckle head even looks like he's done something even a little bit wrong it will be blown up like Hiroshima. I know I said I was not going to get into this political crap….but; you can't pass this stuff up. Thanks governor keep up the good work.

Look at the New Year differently

I wondered at midnight of the New Year if the temperature was any indication of things to come. I for one certainly hope that the New Year will be better for everyone. Alas only time will tell however, I wonder if we might forget the outside influence and concentrate on the things we can control. I think that many folks let what happens in the city, the state and the federal government dictates how they live their lives. Can we ignore what happens in government and just go on with our lives and minimize the impact the government has in our day to day comings and goings. Now I am not saying we don't pay our taxes or ignore traffic tickets however, I think we can let the maddening, frustrating; antics roll off our collective backs and try to be positive in our own little corner of the world. I am sure some of you already do this and I applaud you unfortunately, I let all the government "stuff" make me crazy. I am hoping to ignore things that make me mad and make my year better for my family and my friends.