Monday, February 26, 2007

Cell phones in ears

Do people who wear those cell phones in their ears know how utterly stupid they look?. Or do they just feel so important that they can't risk missing a call by having to fumble to get their cell phone off their belt or out of their pocket.

Rate MDs.com

I heard about this new site where patients could rate their docs. I practise chronic pain medicine so I was a little curious about how people saw me.

Not surprisingly somebody had already rated me and she was not happy. There was however only one post and so I am hoping somebody else who is happy with me will actually post although I am not holding my breath and I haven't sunk as low as asking people to please post so my rating will go up (not that it hasn't crossed my mind).

I have pissed off a lot of people in the last few years and I would like to appologize.

1. Sorry I wouldn't prescribe any more narcotics for you after your third positive drug screen. I really didn't care that you were using crystal meth and coke, I was curious how you were paying for them.

2. Sorry I wasn't that interested in hearing how great your insert alternate health provider here is and how stupid every other doctor was. I just knew that you were going to add me to that list within a few months.

3. Sorry I didn't know what drugs you were on when you didn't bring a list and your doctor didn't send one with his referral. I should have known what that green pill was and besides doctors are part of a collective consciousness.

4. Sorry if I wasn't sympathetic on the phone when you called in the middle of a busy clinic after missing your last two appointments.

5. Sorry I didn't spend a lot of time with you after I squeezed you in at the request of your GP in front of a year's worth of patients.

6. Sorry that WCB doesn't jump to my commands. Maybe you should clue into the fact that you really don't need a doctor, you need a lawyer.

7. Sorry your condition was not diagnosed or treated by the seven doctors who saw you before me. Now can you try to get on with you life and let me make some suggestions that might actually help you.

8. Sorry that you quit school to work on the oil rigs and now your days of six figures are over due to your back injury.

I'm sure I will think of some more things to appologize for. After all I AM CANADIAN.

Little things people do that piss me off 1

1. At intermission last Friday we stood in line for drinks for most of the intermission. When they announced 5 minutes to go, we were one person from the front. The person in front of us then pulled out his Interac card to pay for his drink. When people are waiting behind you pay cash!!!!!

2. Many restaurants buy a copy of the newspaper for their patrons to read with their breakfast. Why do some people, instead of just taking one section, insist on taking the whole paper to their table so nobody else in the restaurant can read it.

Coat checks and Valet Parking

I normally try to remember that most people in the service industry make what less than I do, work harder and generally have a worse life, so I try to be nice to them no matter how much they are pissing me off.

When you give your coat or your car to someone to look after and money changes hands there is a contract formed.

Last Friday I went to a musical and checked my wifes and my coats along with a plastic bag containing our winter shoes (we follow the local custom of changing into our indoor shoes at the door). I told them to hang the bag up on the hanger with the coats and they gave us two tags.

At the end of the show, I stood in line and handed in my two tags and they gave me my wife's coat and our bag of shoes. I told them I had another coat coming and they said no you only have 2 tokens. I told them they only gave me two tokens and that I could point out my coat to them. They said I would have to wait until everybody else had picked up their coats which I did and they gave me my coat. Now I was a little irrated as it was late and I still had a half hour walk home and I may have showed it. The coat check person looked at me like I was a total asshole. I'm sorry I gave you my coat and you lost it.

A couple of months ago I parked in valet parking at the airport. This is a little indulgence I give myself. When I come back from somewhere, the last thing I want after waiting an hour for my baggage is to walk thru the parking lot or wait for the shuttle. Besides usually I can write it off or somebody else is paying.

Anyway, I get back and head to the desk and ask for my car which is supposed to be parked outside as I gave them my flight number and time when I dropped it off. The lady stares blankly at me and starts to shuffle paper, and tells me they have no record of my car. More staff gather and I hear ,"I think somebody already picked it up". I think of shit, somebody has stolen my car. After about 10 minutes of watching the staff shuffle paper and whisper, I notice somebody driving my car up to the valet parking. So I say, "Look here is my car".

As I felt that they hadn't really fulfilled the valet part of the contract, I picked up my keys and left without paying. I later phoned the head of parking at the airport who agreed with me and I didn't have to pay for parking.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Bad Karma

I was thinking this morning about some of the people who had done me wrong in the past and all the bad things that happened to them. I like to think it was as the result of the bad karma.

My Grade XI locker partner used to steal my lunch. He didn't steal my sandwiches or fruit, just the cookie. At first I thought my mom had just stopped putting them in because I was too fat. Then one day she asked how I liked the sweet she put in. We figured out it was him. Stapling the bag shut solved the problem. Years later he was swept off a fishing boat and lost at sea.

Dr. A. was an doctor whose clinic I joined. He was very friendly when they were trying to recruit me. After a brief honeymoon period he and his other partner treated me like shit for six months after which we parted company somewhat acrimoniously. He died of a heart attack 6 months later.

Dr. K. interned with me. We did obstetrics at the same hospital for the same two months. At this hospital you were preceptored with two gynies for the two months (one each 4 weeks). She got the two good preceptors, I got the two bad preceptors. I would have thought that this was bad luck but it turned out that she had learned before the rotation who she was getting, who were the two I eventually got and arranged to have the preceptors switched. I never would have known this if she hadn't told me. She was struck down with a pulmonary embolus about 7 years ago.

There are probably some examples I don't know about yet.

Like I say don't mess with me.

Friday, February 16, 2007

I found my blog

Just after I created this blog, I posted it and voila my old blog was there. And I didn't even have to go into politics.

Unfortunately I wasted much of the rest of yesterday trying log back on so I could tell you this and using Googles totally useless help service. I'm not sure what the problem was, whether Blogger is not compatable with IE6 as somebody suggested on-line, whether my lap-top was blocking my log-in or the network I was connected to blocked it. Anyway I was able to log-in on a different computer.

I like the name of this blog better so I will keep posting here. Assuming I ever get to log on again.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

My Blog Disappeared

I started a blog before Xmas.

I had a lot to get off my chest but curiously enough every time I had time to log on, I couldn't think of anything to say.

Today I had time and something to say so I tried to log on and Goggle wouldn't let me. Apparently I had an account, at least at first but none of the help topics were of any use and then it seemed I didn't have an account anymore.

I tried Goggling my blog but couldn't find it.

Anyway I have opend another blog and my previous words of wisdom are presumable lost for all time (although I am sure if I ever run for public office, they will turn up assuming I said anything bad).

Pity but then nobody had probably ever read them as nobody had ever replied. But then again I get that in life too.