This is as much a rant as anything else. Doctors – ya can’t live with and ya can’t live without em!! Doctors are the most arrogant people in the USA, what other profession insists on having a title and being called by their title.

Next time you see you doctor call them by their given first name and see what the reaction. I do this all the time and I have actually had two doctors ask me why I don’t call them doctor, my reply to this unmitigated gall is “do you call me CPA Sinderholm or your kids teachers, Instructor Smith or your legal adviser, Attorney Jones. Of course you don’t, so why is it important that you be addressed with a title?”

There, my rant is over, but it does lead into my subject of today’s blog. Where do you find the worst Customer Service in the world? It is my supposition that it is doctor’s offices, well maybe airline are worse.

Where else do you have to be there 15 minutes early for an appointment only to be left in the waiting room, cooling your heals. Invariably you are brought back to the exam room 15-60 minutes after your appointed time, with no explanation. If you dare ask, you’re told that the doctor is a busy man or woman – what I’m not. If I showed up 15 to 60 minutes late most times I wouldn’t be seen.

Where else you would put up with the number cancellations, improper billing, bad attitudes from the staff and late running appointments?
Why is their Customer Service so bad, it’s because you’re now viewed as a valued client, with large lifetime value of revenue, but as an inconvenient source of irritation.

How do we get doctors and their staff’s to act like the rest of the Business World? It is such a pain to change doctors (and they know it) that we seldom vote with our feet and leave their practice!

I don’t have the answer, but I feel much better now (until the next time I go to the doctor).
 

The birds have flown, both of the boys are gone now – sniff, sniff, I’m getting misty…

Nah – this is great! I can finally walk around the house in my underwear and so can mom!!

OOPS… guess not, number one son’s new wife is living with us until he gets out of Boot Camp and his ‘A’ School, looks like July sometime… RATS…

Oh well, but expenses are dropping like a rock – Cell phone bills, phone bills, water, electricity, car insurance, FOOD! I swear those two eat 10,000 calories a day each. We used to go to Cost Co twice a month ($400 each time). Plus the local market. They paid room and board, but trust me they weren’t even close to covering.

We eagerly await their VISITs.
 

Both of our sons will be leaving in the next 6 weeks. Number one son is leaving to join the service in February and number two son – who is deaf – is leaving to join a gaggle of deaf friends in an apartment in Los Angeles.

We (my wife and I) both have mixed emotions about this – we are definitely ready for them to go off on their own and they are also ready, willing and able to go. We will be glad to be out of “drama central”.

On the other hand, we worry on a number of levels. As mature as they both are, in many respects they are very naive (not very street smart) and trusting of others, which has its upsides and downsides. So will they be taken advantage of, will they be hurt, will they flourish, will they prosper? Will we cringe at every late night ring of the phone – I think we will do that forever.

Will number one son go to Iraq!!! While I applaud his patriotism and desire to serve his country, I don’t want him in Iraq – does any parent. But that is something he has thought about and come to terms with. He is an emancipated adult and therefore able to make his own decisions.

Will number two son keep his ultra trusting nature in check and not let people take advantage of him. He will be living with a good bunch of young men, so I think he’ll be alright and they’ll teach to be street smart.

Good luck and God speed to them both.
 

I’m back (pardon the pun) from my back surgery, I would have written earlier but the massive amounts of drugs prevented coherent thought, much less being able to write.

I’m three weeks out from the surgery, my back is killing me. I had my two week check up last week and the ride down and back nearly did me in. The doctor says everything looks great.

Something interesting happened during the check up – the doctor told me to take more drugs than I was – in fact to double the amount, I’ve never had that happen before, usually they tell you to take different drugs or fewer drugs, not more.

I don’t like drugs or rather I don’t like how I enjoy them so much that I avoid them as much as I can, plus I have a high tolerance of pain. So I wasn’t taking as much as he wanted, he told me I would recover faster by letting the drugs calm my back down and keep me more or less more sedated – oh boy!
 

Well tomorrow I have my spine fused; obviously there are upsides and downsides to this.

The upside is maybe I’ll get my left leg back, reduce my pain level to something more tolerable and get off the copious amounts of mind altering drugs I’ve been on for the last four moths.

The downside is – its surgery, stupid and major surgery at that, I’ll have to stay at least three days in the hospital, who stays in the hospital these days, hospitals are a veritable cornucopia of infections waiting to happen.

There is risk in all surgery and neurosurgery is a crap shoot at best. So we’ll hope for the best and see what happens. I am entering this with more than a little trepidation. See ya on the flip side…
 

Why did I get way too personal here? I violated one of my own cardinal rules, never let emotions and pessimism take completely over. I did and lost two weeks. Emotions (and logic) and pessimism (and optimism) all have their places in life but when you let any of them take over, your life and outlook will be out of balance.  Mistakes will be made (I made them). Keep an even balance and things will be much better – take it from someone who knows.

Recently on my way to a business conference one of the ground staff at the airport told us we could now get on the plane - I told her I would rather get in the plane.  The English language is a funny thing. Why do we get in the car, but get on the bus, train or plane, wouldn’t you rather be inside the bus, train or plane?