MY MORNING

Next Monday will be the Council Agenda day and undoubtedly there will be something of local interest for comment. Until then the subjects that I find most interesting do not seem to stimulate responses from readers. It is your comments that gives this blogger a sense of satisfaction of having done some kind of public service.

As I wrote Monday morning was interrupted by an appointment for PT. These sessions which are almost reaching the Medicare allowed limit which is not based on need or results but on the dollars expended; i.e. another example of health care rationing.

My mornings seem to be a bit hectic; I usually awake between 7 and 7:30 am. Often I check my email before breakfast which I start as a rule no later than 8:30-obviously I am in no hurry to go to work nor have I been since retiring’

When I was in practice I often made hospital rounds before starting office hours at 9am. Thus for the last 16 years I have taken full advantage of the luxury of not running late.

I will not describe my breakfast except to note that it always includes a glass of orange or tomato juice at which time I take my morning drug store.

I may have one of the network news on the TV but that is usually background noise since I find these to be nothing but shills for the parent companies interests and just sensationalism full of shootings and local accidents accompanied by episodes of false laughter as if someone has been witty. Oh for the days of the breakfast Radio News broadcasters.

Of course I have one of my three papers to read while I eat. From

The 1940s until several months ago it was the Courier which is no longer a newspaper; today it is the Ledger which is only a shell of what it used to be. The Times and the WSJ are reserved for lunchtime unless a headline suggest something important. I do find inside the first sections of the latter two papers items of extreme interest relating to national and world affairs.

However the Ledger is good for skimming. I start with the first section and the so called state and local news sections including the editorials and of coursed the obituaries although there are very few old acquaintances (or patients) still here for me to recognize any of the names.

I then go over the daily bridge column although it has been almost 40 years since I last played serious if any bridge. Helen and I were once well known on the national bridge circuit; once our exploits at a New York Regional tournament was published in the Times. However, I had to stop that level of play due to a need to run a solo practice and also maintain my professional and community obligations. When I quit, Helen who needed only 5 master points to be a Life Master also stopped the duplicate commitment, although she played in several weekly games until her Alzheimer’s interfered.

After the Bridge comes the comics. Yes I still read several (about 5) that I find have good story lines although the Ledger in its downsizing has dropped Doonesbury and” For Better or Worse”.

And finally the Sports section. What was once the best Sports section in the Country has now become little more than an edited reprint of AP reports with little statistical stuff. The great columnists have retired but there is still a little local news of interest. As an old Brooklyn Dodger fan and one who saw the Mets play at the Polo Grounds in their first year I still find interest in the local teams. I am still forever "waiting to next year".

By now half the morning has gone down the tubes and if I have an appointment, or errant to run after reading my emails and the various news sites on the internet there is no time to write a blog.