Embarrassing things happen all the time in everyday life. I’m trying to play more tennis, and right now my skills are mediocre at best. Recently I chipped a shot beautifully into the backhand corner against my tennis buddy.
“Wow,” I thought to myself, “that was a great shot!” My brief moment of glory ended [...]
AARP Magazine named Charlottesville to be one of the top ten healthiest cities to live. I believe it because there are 10 billion healthcare providers here! C’ville ranks 4th among US metropolitan areas in the number of doctors per capita. So if you are a shopper, C’ville is like northern Virginia’s Tysons Galleria [...]
Critics are artists who never succeeded or have no talent.
Ever hear that notion before? I can’t believe I’m defending Paula Abdul, but she knows more than Simon Cowell on American Idol. She performed for years and knows what it takes to be a performer. Simon– well, he just criticizes. But in his defense, [...]
“Why haven’t you called me back?”
That’s probably the mantra for most single women and gay men. Macy Gray sang about having had such a good time, but wonders why you haven’t called her back. Sex and the City finally explained why: “He just isn’t into you.” And let’s face it. Most guys avoid [...]
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on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 10:20 am and is filed under Office Visits.
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Valentine cards, birthday cards, pen-pal letters– few of these come in the mail anymore. I feel like Charlie Brown going to an empty mailbox. Sigh. Actually, that isn’t totally true. I do get bills. And I don’t mean “I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill, and I’m sitting here on Capitol [...]
“We Are Family, I got all my sisters with me. Get up everybody and sing!” Go, Sister Sledge!! (Where are they now?)
Family is something so powerful, so encompassing, so-ah, complicated. The Partridge Family never had major conflict even though the show started on the premise of the death of Mr. Partridge. Wait a [...]
Invisible patients are like bloggers who think they know everything and get to hide behind an anonymous computer screen to spew out anything. An invisible patient is like someone who wants a free refill on their drink but has already left the restaurant, someone who wants their annual state inspection sticker without bringing [...]
Close your eyes. If you’re still reading this, your eyes aren’t closed. Okay, now really close your eyes and imagine a world that has insurance for absolutely everything. You name it, it’s paid through insurance: toilet paper to cable TV. You cannot purchase anything, sell anything, or do business transactions without using insurance. (This [...]
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on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 6:45 pm and is filed under Insurance, Office Visits.
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George Washington never told a lie.
“Father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut down the cherry tree.”
When Abraham Lincoln was our president, he was called honest Abe. Wow! And this was before TV shows like Leave It to Beaver and The Donna Reed Show where everyone was so ethical. I’m so glad all [...]
Gilligan’s Island was on for only three seasons, but with all the re-runs it seems like it was on for at least 10 years. Even as a kid, I wanted to “vote off” Gilligan as if it were Survivor. They could have been rescued a million times-unlike the folks trapped on Lost-but nooooooooo, Gilligan [...]
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on Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 at 7:50 pm and is filed under Office Visits, Patient Behavior.
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Tae Kwon Do is a Korean martial art that involves a lot of kicking, concentration, and kimchi. Let me tell you, it takes a lot of kimchi to be able to break a cinderblock with your bare hand. I went to Philadelphia (the City of Motherly Love, according to Homer Simpson) to see my [...]
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on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 5:43 am and is filed under Insurance, Office Visits.
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Dying is so dreaded by most people that I wonder why we have so many expressions for it, like “I’m dying for a cold drink,” or “I’d rather die than wear black shoes with a white belt!”
With all the talk about dying, you might think it would be easy to discuss it with [...]
This entry was posted
on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 4:31 pm and is filed under Office Visits, Senior Citizens.
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Norma Rae is one of the greatest movies of all time. Sally Field deservingly won her first Oscar (pre-”You-like-me-you-really-like-me”). The Californian nailed the Southern accent by adding an extra syllable to each word, “Iiii’m Mrs. Weeeeebsteeh.” When she got mad at her husband, she scurried around the kitchen like a lunatic to make her point. [...]
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on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 6:29 pm and is filed under Insurance, Office Visits.
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Finding a new primary care physician (PCP) can be quite an undertaking. For example, pretend you’re the beautiful Brooke Shields. You just had a baby and you’re not feeling so hot, so you Google to find a new PCP. There are a ton of doctors’ names, and you click on a few hoping to find [...]
The Color Purple is one of my favorite books and movies of all time. In the movie, I was introduced to Whoopi Goldberg and someone you probably have heard of: Oprah Winfrey. Whew! She was a tornado of strength and emotions.
During the announcement of “Best Female Actress in a Supporting Role” at the Oscars, I [...]
Don’t you love dogs? If dogs had a thumb, I wonder if they would create a peaceful society. Lassie was a loving Collie. Rin Tin Tin was a beautiful German Shepard (not a killer like Cujo, the rabid St. Bernard). Benji was an amazing mixed breed. Snoopy was an imaginative beagle, but never really looked [...]
Nirvana had a hit song, “Rape Me.” Do you know you can actually download that song so your cell phone rings to that? Hmmm. “Rape me…Hate me…Waste me…” Ooo, he was one angry child!
I first heard of Nirvana when I was skiing in Vermont on a rainy day. I was soaked, cold, and had just [...]
I just went to a wedding, and the maid-of-honor gave some good advice to the new groom. “Henry,” she said, “all of you have to do to remember your anniversary date is forget it once.
“When a man and woman get married,” she continued, “he thinks, ‘I hope she never changes.’ She thinks, ‘I [...]
Even though customer service is such a difficult job, every business seems to be raising the bar to keep their customers happy and allow their business to thrive.
“This is Amy, your personal banking specialist who cares about you and will fight for every ATM transaction you do, even when your funds are as depleted [...]
I remember in elementary school, kids would touch each other to spread cooties. However, if you crossed your fingers, you were immune. Once I was tapped with cooties, and I immediately touched a girl and said, “You’ve got cooties!” She smiled confidently, marked herself with an imaginary “X,” and said, “I’m cootie-proof.” Hmm… Do cooties [...]
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 10th, 2005 at 4:59 pm and is filed under Infections, Office Visits.
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This is a true story, and I’m not exaggerating. A long time ago, I was at McDonald’s and the customer in front of me said, “I would like a Whopper.” The McDonald’s worker said they didn’t have a Whopper. The customer then said, “Well, how about a Whopper Jr.?” This customer got very angry [...]
When I was an internal medicine resident at Cedars-Sinai/UCLA– the “Hospital of the Stars”– I never met celebrities like Mikhail Gorbachev or Mikhail Baryshnikov, but I sure met a lot of other Russians. Cedars-Sinai had a large Russian population in the clinic system, and most of us had to rely on Russian interpreters to communicate [...]
John Lennon’s song, “Imagine,” is one of the best songs ever, and I’m willing to arm-wrestle over that one– wait, Lennon wouldn’t want that– I’ll out-sing anyone instead. The song is about peace and love: utopia. Imagine a world in which you could buy fresh produce, taste different cheeses from around the world, get sashimi-grade [...]
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on Thursday, May 5th, 2005 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Insurance, Office Visits.
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Mary Poppins said the longest word in English is supercalifragilisticespialidocious. I think the longest-named medicine is Hydrochlorothiazide. (And if you say it loud enough, you’ll always sound precocious.)
Really, hydrochlorothiazide, aka HCTZ, is really not that hard to say. However, for most patients, pronouncing this medicine can be very intimidating. Most patients hate to [...]
This entry was posted
on Thursday, April 14th, 2005 at 11:51 am and is filed under Medicines, Office Visits.
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Blondie sang the great song, “Call Me. ” Even Richard Gere in American Gigolo played that song long before Pretty Woman. Today, with cell phones, *69, and caller-ID, it’s so easy to call your friends, family, mother-in-law, and– your doctor. In fact, it’s too easy.
The phone rings off the hook in most doctors’ offices. [...]
