As you know, the hospital in which I work is undergoing construction.  I thought you'd like to see what progress has been made so far.  The first two pictures are of our current, cramped working space. 

Now onto the new part!  This is the waiting room.

Registration

This is the room in which we collect blood samples.  If you don't cry we'll give you a lollipop.

This is the blood bank.

Looking into the main laboratory with the hallway in the background.

 Chemistry

 Hematology

 

I’ve always had a problem with my weight. No, really. It’s just the reverse of what most consider a problem. I have a difficult time keeping weight on. All through my teens, twenties, and thirties, my metabolism has been faster than a cheerleader on prom night. In fact, I barely tipped the scales at 100 pounds when I was a freshman in high school. Couple that with the fact that I’m six foot tall, and, well you can form the mental picture of the gangly, goofy kid that stood pigeon toed against the gymnasium wall.

Now, I can already hear the groans and see the eyes rolling as some readers put forth their criticism and state, “Oh, I only wish I had that problem.” But I daresay that if you think about it, you wouldn’t wish for that problem at all. See, the thing about body size that I’ve come to understand is that it seems perfectly fine in our society to insult a skinny person by remarking about their weight whilst it’s completely unkind and unacceptable to make a remark about someone who is over weight. It’s a double standard and it’s not fair.

Case in point: A few days ago, I posted a picture of my belly. See, now that I’m in my forties, I am gaining some weight, but it’s all going to my gut and puts my body out of proportion. I got fat and was still skinny. It’s a paradox. So, like I said, I did something about it and got rid of the unnecessary muffin top.

During most of the year, I wear long sleeves and a laboratory coat to work. Wonderful things, lab coats, they can hide a multitude of sins. Lately, however, it’s been so blasted hot that I’ve taken to wearing a polo shirt to work and only wear the lab coat when I’m working on the bench or in the public areas of the hospital.

The other day, I went into the medical records department to request some charts that I needed to review. One of the staff members (who is overweight by the way) commented in a rather loud and rude tone in front of the entire department, “God, Curtis, just look at you! You are WAY too skinny! You look terrible!”

I was mortified. I mean really. It was just like being back in high school and being teased by the other boys in the showers after gym class. Shocked by the insensitivity of such rudeness, my manners got the better of my and I just sort of stammered and walked away with my charts.

Just because the majority of Americans are overweight, doesn’t make it right to make those kinds of comments.

I guess, because now-a-days, there is such a contrast between people it’s more noticeable? I don’t know. I read where something like 63% of Americans are overweight and 31% are clinically obese and that this epidemic leads to 300,000 deaths per year. Is it any wonder we are the fattest Nation on the planet when we consume the most? We consume the most oil, the most energy, the most resources, the most goods, and apparently the most food as well. I find it ironic that we then have major advertisers show us pictures of skinny women with big boobs and athletic men with ripped abs and this is the definition of beauty. Maybe that’s what makes us so rude.  We aren't living up to the standard we put out there as to what is beautiful, but we just keep eating.  I don’t know.

It’s just crazy.

Mark found this little gem on the series of tubes we call "the internets". Let's hope these guys know more about fixing the economy than they do about geography!

1. I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman ask for an aisle seat so that her hair wouldn't get messed up by being near the window. (On an airplane!)

2. I got a call from a candidate's staffer, who wanted to go to Cape Town. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information. Then she interrupted me with, 'I'm not trying to make you look stupid, but Cape Town is in Massachusetts.' Without trying to make her look stupid, I calmly explained, 'Cape Cod is in Massachusetts! CapeTown is in Africa.' Her response - click.

3. A senior Vermont Congressman called, furious about a Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando . He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that's not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state. He replied, 'Don't lie to me. I looked on the map and Florida is a very thin state!'(OMG)

4. I got a call from a lawmaker's wife who asked, 'Is it possible to see England from Canada ' I said, 'No.' She said, 'But they look so close on the map.' (OMG, again!)

5. An aide for a cabinet member once called and asked if he could rent a car in Dallas. When I pulled up the reservation, I noticed he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas. When I asked him why he wanted to rent a car he said, 'I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will need a car to drive between gates to save time.' (Aghhhh)

6. An Illinois Congresswoman called last week. She needed to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 am and got to Chicago at 8:33 am. I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois, but she couldn't understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went fast, and she bought that.

7. A New York lawmaker called and asked, 'Do airlines put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage belongs to whom?' I said, 'No, why do you ask.' She replied, 'Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on my luggage that said 'FAT', and I'm overweight. I think that's very rude!' After putting her on hold for a minute while I looked into it (I was laughing) I came back and explained the city code for Fresno, CA is 'FAT' (Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a destination tag on her luggage.

8. A Senator's aide called to inquire about a trip package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, 'Would it be cheaper to fly to California, and then take the train to Hawaii?'

9. I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman who asked, 'How do I know which plane to get on?' I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, 'I was told my flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.'

10. A lady Senator called and said, 'I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola ,Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?' I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola , Fl. on a commuter plane. She said,'Yeah, whatever, smarty!'

11. A senior Senator called and had a question about the documents he needed in order to fly to China. After a lengthy discussion about passports, I reminded him that he needed a visa. 'Oh, no I don't. I've been to China many times and never had to have one of those.' I double checked and sure enough, his stay required a visa. When I told him this he said,'Look, I've been to China four times and every time they have accepted my American Express!'

12. A New Mexico Congresswoman called to make reservations, 'I want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .' I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, 'Are you sure that's the name of the town?' 'Yes, what flights do you have?' replied the lady. After some searching, I came back with, 'I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Rhino anywhere.' The lady retorted, 'Oh, don't be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!' So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, 'You don't mean Buffalo, do you?' The reply 'Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.'

Enough of the flat tummy - now for something really nice:

Go on and traips through to "She Loves You" .  It's well worth it. 

but here is a shot of me after I took some responsibility for all those in between snacks and lack of exercise.  Woot!  I'm back down to a 32" waist line again!!! I may not have ripped abs, but at least the trousers aren't huge anymore.  Next in line — build up the biceps again!  (and I probably should work on that tan again).

I stumbled across this over at Jimbo's.  Very clever!

"You have two minutes."

"For every minute after that, Courier and Curlz MT will lose one of their serifs!"

Evening shadows stretch long across the tall grass as the sun tucks in for the night.  A cool breeze lightly dances with trees clothed in jade green.  Soon, they will change into richly colored frocks of orange, red, gold, and purple brown. 

The brassy symphony of cicadas is replaced with the delicate aria of crickets.  From my vantage point, I spy five kittens.  Romping little black tuft balls with kitten blue eyes in the spent flower bed.  Mama cat keeps a watchful eye from the edge of the woods.

An indigo bunting sneaks a bedtime snack from the feeder before settling in and my mind immediately thinks about you as it always does when I see one.  I wonder how you are doing.  The wine is good.  A very nice shiraz.  It compliments this perfect evening. 

Soon, I’ll be off to bed.  No need for the rustling hum of the air conditioner tonight, but rather, stock scented air will cool my naked skin and crisp cotton sheets will be all I need for warmth. 

Sometimes, being preoccupied with work to be done, tasks to be completed, and chores to be finished; I forget how truly fortunate I am.  But not this evening.  This evening I am very grateful.        

A dear friend remarked that once I was over this silly midlife crisis, that things would get better.  He stated that my "Buddha gene" would kick in and  things would get better.  I believe he is correct. 

Midlife.  

I'm 43 years of age.  I plan to live to at least 97 like my great granddad John.  This means I'm not even halfway there yet.  Not even halfway there.

Jesus!  I'm not even halfway there yet!  It really does make me wonder what my priorities are and what I am doing with my life.  What my goals are and what I want.  I want to make a difference, if even in a small way.  I want to help make our world a better place.     

Thank you, Joe, for reminding me.  You are a friend indeed.   

I discovered a truth today.  The truth is this:

Lost love is still love.  It just changes form.  We can't hold hands anymore, but the love continues.  Life ends, but love doesn't.  

I look in the mirror and I see an old man with grey thinning hair and lots of wrinkles with so many questions.  I ask myself if I'm growing wiser or just growing older.  I don't mind growing older if I just can learn a thing or two.  To just be let in on a secret or two.  I don't expect you all to understand it.  It's part of my private and painful personal journey.  Still, I wish I could find a mentor.  I think he would make it much easier.  Where is the man with all the answers?  He's certainly not the man I see in the mirror.  That man has more questions than answers.