Yogi Berra was 100% correct: "You can observe a lot by just watching."

Yep. It's me again. It's Thursday, January 15, 2015, and they tell us that we might just get a glimpse of that big bright yellow ball that you find up in the sky and it is supposed to make its appearance sometime this afternoon. It's been missing from our neighborhood for several days now and that fact along with the cold, drizzle, and just gloomy dampness, well, it's got some folks a little bit down in the dumps. But, had they seen the weather report yesterday, they could have been singing that song from Annie: 'The sun'll come out tomorrow Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun Just thinkin' about tomorrow Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow 'til there's none'. I could take some of that clearing away of the cobwebs myself. What say you? It is interesting how the weather seems to impact our attitude and our altitude. Or at least that's what we all have heard and typically when we embrace something it does tend to become our reality. However, scientific studies suggest that the gloomy weather does not actually cause us to be depressed and also the sunny weather doesn't define a positive day for us. An article in the online version of Prevention Magazine had these findings along with a recommendation of how we all should approach each day. "Optimism is a cultivated outlook and with practice we all can develop a more optimistic outlook." I hate it when they take away a really good excuse. Don't you?

Yesterday I took the wife down into the heart of one of our nation's largest and most prestigious medical centers. The center is populated by over one hundred thousand employees not counting the patients and visitors that come and go each day. Getting to where you want to go is like finding your way through a maze. She was there to have a esophageal motility study done. She did have it done. I won't go into the details but the test was very tough on her. She was pretty much worn out afterwards. This test is not supposed to be that difficult but she has some recognized problems that complicated things. What a busy place. The waiting room was full. The staff are nice but the paperwork had not really changed that much since I was a paper pusher at the VA Hospital back in the mid 1960's. Oh they do have computers and that helps them to get the paper out faster, by the stacks, and everyone has their own laser printer so that also helps. Talk about diversity. Just about every nationality imaginable was represented in that waiting room. When we finally got to the testing area, (It had been a 1.5 hour commute and 2 hours of waiting to have the test, total equals: 3.5 hours.), they were rolling beds here, there, and everywhere. These were occupied by folks who were wired up and mostly knocked out. It was like a traffic operation. When they completed one procedure someone would call out over the intercom that bed number so it could be prepared for the next patient. Lots of traffic and lots of medical staff hurrying somewhere. It reminded me a little of that tire changing place. I was put in a little waiting area. The TV had a movie playing about Secretariat, the famous horse that won the triple crown. After it finished the movie Thor came on. I watched about 30 minutes of it. I couldn't hear the dialogue that clearly but the movie itself sure looked farfetched to me. Just an observation in passing.

Speaking of observations, medical waiting rooms are great places for finding new material. Not so much for avoiding sick folks, if you get my meaning. We heard this one lady getting her tickets lined up for the rodeo. She was not too young and she had a whole bunch of diamond rings stacked on top of each other and she talked pretty loud so everyone got to hear about her particular needs. Her husband is a rodeo director and it sounded like she expected them to provide some special considerations because of that. He wasn't there. He was in one of those rooms in the back having both a colonoscopy and an upper GI. At any rate, they have season rodeo tickets but she wanted some additional added. She also was inquiring about the price and availability for a suite. Did you know that for $4500 you can entertain 26 people including dinner and drinks? Another lady nearby was on her cell phone for the more than two hours we were waiting. Whoever she was talking to made her laugh. Out loud. You know, laugh out loud, LOL? When she was overcome with a laughing spasm she would pull her hoodie over her head and lay down on the chair and convulse forth and back. The wife, who was not observing as much as I, would typically ask if I thought she was sobbing. I was glad to report that I was almost 100% certain it was the opposite. Oh well, there was a room full of people so I will let you know later about some of the rest of them. I didn't go there to spy on them. They were putting it out there for everyone to see. Please say a prayer for the wife as she continues to deal with these gastrointestinal issues. I thank you for that and say may God bless us all. Amen. ....More later.