Random Musings

-The picture is of the Conewango Creek, which merges with the Allegheny River in the middle of town about four miles downstream from this location. People tell me that this is a good bass stream, although I stopped fishing years ago so cannot verify that claim. There is dirt road following the left shoreline on which I walk the dog sometimes, and she enjoys this place because the woods is full of chipmunks to chase-never catches them of course but it’s in her instincts to run like a little kid. The walk offers a nice, tranquil area for a quick four miles. -I just finished 3 plus hours of filing paperwork into medical charts at the office, and despite claims by industry and government that electronic records will simplify and make more efficient the health care system, so far efficiency has been reduced by 15-20% in the local offices that have implemented it. There is no doubt that patient care has been compromised,through incorrect medication lists and computer glitches etc, so overall the doctors feel frustrated by the encroaching bureaucracy of administrators and politicians. Treating patients like customers and trusting in computers-which regularly crash and get hacked- has fundamentally changed the medical field for the worse. Ironically, paperwork, or rather, busywork, has exploded. The consensus is that the system will collapse through lack of money and sheer complexity, but for the moment people muddle through, which is the word they use. The office I work in is scheduled to begin the electronic transition next week, so I’ll post the “progress” as I experience it. -Meanwhile I have distributed a few drafts of my book for family and friends and friends of friends to read, and a stranger or two as well, and the little feedback I’ve heard has been positive. No doubt it will appeal to a select audience but such is the nature of all books; writers are a dime a dozen. I’m still considering how and where to release it generally. If anyone I met on the walk reads this blog and is interested, let me know. -Over the weekend Kenny and his band were rained out of a show on the 27th, but have another one scheduled this evening, rain or shine, so he's now looking for a more powerful

PA system.