Latest Rant - pulling over for sirens and emergency vehicles

Driving through the center of town today, I heard and then saw a police car behind me so I carefully pulled over to the right to let them pass.  MOST of the other drivers also pulled over.  That was all pleasant and thoughtful.

However, when it came time for us to start driving again, don't you think you would do it in sequential order.  The first car in line pulls out, then the second, then the third?  That is not the case in my home state of Massachusetts.  The most impatient person pulls out first, cutting off the others ahead of her in line.  It causes absolute chaos, and is just plain rude.  

As this happened today I gave the two people the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe they did not think I was ready to drive yet.  My inching forward to try to take my turn getting out since I was in front of her could have been a clue.  Apparently she was in such a hurry, after all we had been stopped for less than 20 seconds.  To me this is just plain courtesy.  I was ahead of you before we pulled over, therefore I get to pull out first.

This behavior really pisses me off.  In my zen state of mind I tried to let it go and let her go in front of me, but I just do not understand it.  I have lived in Massachusetts since 1984 so you would think I would be used to it by now.  

The sirens and lights are a clue folks.  Pay attention, slow down and chillax.  

Restaurant Review - Asmara in Cambridge

Last night we were in Central Square in Cambridge to see "The Golden Door" at the Cambridge YMCA.  Who knew they had a theater at the Y?

We went a bit early to eat, because Central Square has lots of great restaurants.  We tried to get into an organic restaurant but decided not to wait in line and instead went a few doors down to Asmara.  It is Eritrean/ Ethiopian food and we were both really glad we decided to go there instead of the first one we walked into.

The food is all served communally on a large plate or platter.  Some of the tables are actually very low baskets that the platter fits into.  We sat at a regular table with the platter between us.

No utensils were on the table however, the meal was served on top of Injera, a bread made of teff grain, kind of like an Indian dosa.  As an aside, teff is grown in the US in Idaho which must have the same climate.  There was a table tent card describing this on our table.

They also served extra injera bread to eat the meal with.  Ours was an vegetarian variety of cabbage, lentils, sweat pea, and some spicy sauces.  These were all arranged in a circle.  In the middle of the platter was a very nice traditional tomato salad.

It was great to eat as they do in Eritrea and it was great to experience a different kind of food.  The waitress was very helpful explaining how the food would arrive, and explaining the menu.  She also warned us about the green peppers in the tomato salad.

After we left, I read Yelp reviews and I guess there are always bad experiences and some people love to complain.  We loved the meal and plan already to return with Bethany and Bryan, and probably others.

It is so interesting how Rod and I are.  Now that we know about this restaurant, and how great the experience was, when we are near Central Square it will be a regular destination.

I love NOT eating at chains, and I love experiencing a new ethnic food.  I also am a creature of habit and once I love a restaurant I am apt to want to go back there often.

"The Lunchbox" Wow, what a system

We saw the move "The Lunchbox" last night which really got me thinking a lot.  I just now finished reading about this incredible delivery system of lunch to workers in India.

It is amazing in this day and age that such a complex system still exists, and yet a simple system.  It is nice to know that people still appreciate home cooked meals, versus a restaurant meal.

I wonder how long this system will exist, and how long it will continue to be an effective delivery of lunch to office workers.  The movie quite accurately shows Mumbai and the collecting of the lunch boxes by bicycle, sorting to get on the right train, then unloading them and delivering them on the other end, again by bicycle, to the office workers.  And in the afternoon leg, the collecting of the lunch box to return it to the home.

I suppose it gives a job to the deliverers, and provides a home cooked meal to workers with a specific dietary requirement.

On one hand, I really love that this system of delivery has existed for over 100 years, and again I wonder how long it will last.

The story line was wonderful.  It is true, that we express in writing, things we would not otherwise express face to face.  Both main characters are lonely, and share of themselves in notes left in the lunch tins.  They share a lot in these notes in fact.

The only thing that I did not like was the ending.  It left me hanging and caused me to make up the ending, which is OK I guess.

December 2013

Happy holidays everyone,

This turned out to be a banner year for Sally and Rodney although neither of us can take much credit for the timing of the two major events that shaped our lives at the end of 2013 and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. As we reported would happen in last year's letter Rodney was 'severed' from Fidelity as his job moved to North Carolina in September. He is still getting used to the idea that this may really be an early retirement. The coincidental arrival of Sarah Hazel Swartzbaugh (aka Zuzu) on the same day Rodney retired was something we did not know about as we were writing last year. She is a 9th generation Sarah.  Our photo collage has a picture of 4 Sarahs, one on a screen from California.  Needless to say we are very very happy here at 22 Hayes Lane.

We spent a good part of the year looking forward to the arrival of grandchild #1 and it has proven every bit as wonderful and exciting as we expected. When the time came she took her own sweet time in coming but even her poor Mom, Meg, would agree that she was worth the wait. If her two grandmothers have anything to do with it she is going to the world's most photographed baby. Although she the most precious thing in the world and well worth photographing.  BTW, Sally is borrowing her grandmother name from my French Canadian friend Kris, which is Mémère pronounced (mem-meh). Rodney is Granda, which follows his Blair/Lowe traditions.

Spending time at 'Coniston', our Vermont home, has allowed us to see lots of her even if it is still never enough.  Her mom and dad coordinated a switch in their jobs as they planned for her arrival, with Chris getting a promotion to Operations manager with Citizens bank which means that although he is the road a lot visiting bank all over Vermont and New Hampshire he does get to work from home some of the time. Meg is taking a nice three month long break (nice for the US I mean, it not quite as civilized as Europe) and will be moving to a more predictable 9-5 job in the new year. I understand both Grandmothers will be getting 'permission slips' in their Christmas Stockings which will allow them to take ZuZu out of daycare.  

ZuZu's arrival was the prefect way to take Rodney's mind of what retirement means as did a couple of weeks suffering through his 4th Kidney stone. As we write, the stone has been blasted with lasers and he will be returning to hospital on the Dec 24 for the final step in the process of that troublesome little event.

We just got back from a week in southern Florida visiting Sally's sister Dau and family in Cape Coral as well as her Mom and Charlie in Vero Beach.   This was Sally’s third trip to visit family and friends in Florida this year.  Since September 30th, we have also taken two road trips in New England.  It does feel strange to not have to arrange traveling around a 5 day work schedule.  I think we will get used to it.  And we are preparing to leave on Christmas day for a UK trip, spending a few days in London catching up with friends Andy, Miriam and Jake, who moved there a few years ago, and then north to visit Rod’s family.

Retirement plans for Rodney involve much more art and travel wrapped around a good amount of grand parenting.  We both remain involved with the First Parish choir and Sally also sings in a group that serves hospice patients which complements her other volunteer role as a hospice volunteer. Rodney remains involved with Communities Without Borders supporting Zambian Aids orphans (see cuddle dolls in collage) and has began working with a local group doing 'barn raisings' to help insulate houses of poor neighbors. Sally entered her 5th year on the board of the Star Island Corporation which means we had an extra couple of trips out to Star Island this year for official meetings (as a 'hanger on' Rodney just got to relax and read for a few days).

Bethany and her boyfriend Bryan moved from Watertown to Somerville and both moved into new jobs. She is still Director of Social Action at First Parish in Concord but also now runs their youth programs. So between her now full time job at Concord and classes at Divinity school Bethany is a busy lady. Bryan is now playing in two bands and Sally and Rodney bring the average age up when we go hear him play.  Recently we went to Johnny D's in Somerville to an all Monkees show.  9 bands playing 2-3 songs each.  Sally and Bryan's mother Linda, sang along with a lot of the songs.

It would be remiss to end without mentioning the sad events of the Boston Marathon this year. None of us were directly impacted but as was everyone else in the Boston area we were all impacted by the subsequent (and some of us would say over reaching) police action in the area. Living in Watertown, Bethany was the closest to many of the events of the final day's wild end. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who were injured by the two blasts near the finish line. We remain Boston Strong.

Last weekend we celebrated an early Christmas in VT with Swartzbaughs, Lowes and Russells.  This is our second annual early celebration complete with stockings, eggs benedict and staying in our PJs all day.  It was great to watch to snow come down and have no where to go.  Zuzu played with her favorite present, which was some wrapping paper (see picture in collage).

We have been blessed this year in so many ways, for which we are grateful. Our blessings go out to all of our friends and relatives for 2014 and hope the new year brings you happiness, love and satisfaction in abundance.

Love Sally and Rodney

Lahey Burlington customer service - for the most part an A-

Many of my blogs have been about customer service because I like to tell the good, bad and ugly stories I have had.

Last week, my husband had day surgery at Lahey Clinic in Burlington to remove his ornery kidney stone.  The overall experience was fantastic.  I find that Lahey is very well laid out and organized.  Parking is a pain, but I am not sure how they could improve that except to lower the age by a decade of their visitors and patients, since the 2 mile an hour speed in the parking garage makes for long lines of traffic trying to find a spot.

The check-in for surgery was easy and I left my beloved there to go finish grocery shopping for our impending Christmas celebration in VT.  At check-in I said I would be out and about and would like it if they would call my cell phone.  The doctor would call my cell when the surgery was over and the recovery room would call when I could come visit him.

I finished my shopping and decided I would rather wait at the hospital and given the timing they had told me, I would be waiting about an hour there.  The family waiting room is in the basement of the hospital right near the operating and recovery rooms.  That makes a lot of sense.  What does not make sense is that there is no cell phone coverage there.

I told every hospital employee that I encountered that I was not at home but was waiting in the family waiting room, and that means I told about 10 people in my 2.5 hour wait.

Every 5-10 minutes a doctor would walk into the family waiting room and announce a patient name and then leave with that family and discuss the surgery privately in the hall.  Also every 45 minutes a recovery nurse would come into the waiting room and go around the room asking if you had any questions.  All three times I said yes, I wanted to make sure the doctor knew I was here not at home.  The last time she said, "Yes he is out of surgery but usually it was 45 minutes before family could visit."  I knew he had been out for longer than 45 minutes, because the really nice monitor of all the patients first names and last initials, indicates what stage the patient is in and that had been 75 minutes not 45 minutes.  I did not argue with her, and I knew it would be another 45 minutes before anyone came back in.

My grip about the family waiting room is that the person is not sincere who kept coming in.  She was going through the motions, and got defensive when I said the second time, that I was in the family waiting room not at home.  The doctor NEVER got the message that I was in this room.  She left a voice mail right after the surgery BUT you don't get cell coverage in the family waiting room, and you cannot leave there in case that is the 2 minutes when YOUR doctor comes in looking for you.  I did leave 3 times to use the ladies room right down the hall, but did not risk going up stairs in case I missed someone looking for me.  I knew he was in recovery, but I did not know the surgery started 50 minutes late.  People are anxious waiting for family post surgery so please over-communicate not under-communicate.  They are doing their best to try to communicate to families but there are a few improvements.

One funny aside, as one family member stepped outside the waiting room there was a robot moving down the hall and she kind of freaked out.  As she said "We are anxious enough, but to step in the hall and see the robot moving in front of you is kind of freaky."  I am not sure what kind of machine it was, maybe paperwork, maybe a cleaning machine but it was pretty funny to see.

Improvements for the family waiting room 1) get cell coverage, in this day and age you have to be able to use a phone there.  If this is not technologically something we can do then I am very disappointed.  As an aside, there are parts of Lexington where I don't get coverage so maybe I am just being an eternal optimist on this one.  2) Be sincere when you come into a room of family waiting for their loved ones who have just gone under the knife 3) Have one log where you can update the status of waiting family and communicate this in the patients record rather than on a piece of paper you fill out when you initially register, which apparently you can never update again.

Now for my biggest grip.  The recovery nurse was wonderful.  When she was telling me about the drugs Rod would be on post surgery she made sure to tell me everything she told him, because he was dozing and woozy and would not remember what he had been told.  She said, "The pharmacy up stairs is very slow!  Let me call in your prescriptions!"  Which she left immediately to do.  I went up 20 minutes later, and they said 15 more minutes.  I was trying to make it so that we did not have to wait up there with Rod dozing in the wheel chair in the middle of the pharmacy department.  We went up 45 minutes later to pick them up quickly from the pharmacy and head to the car and then home.  THEY STILL WERE NOT READY!  I asks how long.  5 minutes.  Apparently we were on pharmacy time and 15 minutes later they were still not ready.  I went up to window and asked for them back saying "I am going to fill them at Walgreens".  Suddenly they were ready.  I was pretty snarky (really snarky is not a word when I did a spell check?)  at this time and said "If I were you, my main objective would be to get them filled quickly so patients who had been operated on 4 hours earlier could get home to bed and not wait in a wheel chair in the middle of the pharmacy area."  "That is my goal too"  she said.  "Really?"  I said, gesturing to Rod dozing in the chair.

Their own peers know they are slow and I might add, not customer focused and they are defensive.  The original person I talked to insisted on the paper copies of the prescriptions before she would even start, which I agree with, BUT recovery had called them in (their process) and when they call them in you only need the paper copy to pick them up.

OK, rant over.

Rod is 4 days post surgery, nearly back to normal and this whole kidney stone episode is almost behind us.  Lahey is general gets an A- from me.  Almost everyone we met was friendly, polite, concerned, and efficient.  I think their organization and processes are very good EXCEPT for the family waiting room process and ALL of the pharmacy employees.  I repeat, even their peers know they are slow and not efficient.

Have we gone too Digital? Just wonderin'

Don't get me wrong, I am all for being green and not cutting down trees.  I support storing documents and photos on my computer or in the cloud.

However, in the past week, two organizations to which I belong have experienced the loss of organizational knowledge because a binder with paper documents was lost, misplaced, or thrown away. 

We have a church administrator who is very organized and she keeps everything you need in a binder and most of those binders are at her finger tips.  I asked her a question yesterday and within 2 minutes she found the information for me from five years of history in our church newsletter.  She pulled out five binders, flipped to the correct month and found the information for me.  I wonder if we could have done this search as quickly digitally.  Probably with a good search function we could have.  Yes, and there is something about seeing the hardcopy which is a different experience.

I think about this as well, as I sort my pictures and try to put them into some kind of order.  My digital ones are all by year and month, but hard to search, BECAUSE there are so many of them.  Some of my non-digital photos are in photo albums, and the experience of searching through for a specific one is just a different experience.  Touching those old photos brings me back in a way that viewing on a screen does not.

So I really sound like an old fogey but I miss hardcopy sometimes and I hope to find some of those lost binders, because I know there will be valuable information, we might need for a future task.

Yoga studio versus YMCA

I have just finished a month of a special at Black Crow Yoga in Arlington.  $30 for 30 days of unlimited yoga.  I probably attended 12 classes and they were all terrific.  They have excellent instructors there, and I felt challenged every day that I went.  It is a small, aesthetic studio in Arlington Center, and with no traffic I can get there in 12 minutes.  As well, a friend joined at the same time an we have a coffee date at Barismo in Arlington Center after our yoga.  Go there if you are in the area.  It is a real treat.

I started looking for a studio when my favorite teacher was not rehired at the Woburn YMCA, because she visit her home country and family every summer and they did not rehire her the last two summers she has gone.  I understand that they cannot keep the slot open for 6 weeks, while she is away.  However, she is technically the best instructor.  I tried the other classes and they were not up to the quality of Ruth's classes.  They were too gentle, too short and not personal enough.  Some of them were just not good yoga teachers.

SO now I have a decision.  Join Black Crow for $89/month for unlimited yoga or try to piece a yoga practice attending the ones at the Y that challenge me, and finding Ruth, or Ruth like instructors in other venues.  My considerations are 1) flexibility, 2) timing, 4) my travel calendar and 4) quality of yoga.

Black Crow wins on the 4th one, and the Y wins on the other 3.

I met with the new operations person at the Y on Thursday, and shared with him my concerns and the history of yoga and yoga instructors.  I don't think he knew what hit him when he scheduled this meeting.  He is only a month on his job and promised to get back to me after doing his research into this.

In my 5 years there the yoga/wellness programs have deteriorated.  I attend primarily for the yoga however, I do other things as well.  When I had injuries last year, I used the recumbent bike and elliptical, and I did some water aerobics.  For flexibility the Y wins.

My decision is made and staying at the Y makes the most sense.  I will then take one class a week at Black Crow when they have their $10 community drop in.  It is not perfect but the best for me right now.  I will miss my coffee dates at Barisimo after yoga though.