I'm Back

Due to huge demand from my regular readers (both of them), I've decided to finally end my blogging vacation. It wasn't just a blogging vacation. As I said in the last post, I figuratively and literally unplugged from the macro world. I read very little news, listened to music instead of talk radio and concentrated on getting my micro-world in better shape. At first it was for a few days. It was an extremely refreshing break. So refreshing that those days turned into 3 weeks. It's amazing how much better the world is when you aren't hearing the constant beat of the media (MSM and new) funeral drum.

However, we can't escape forever. I feel recharged and refocused. My life is a little more orderly. I still don't expect to post every day. I realize that I have other priorities that have to push blogging to the back burner, but I am comitted to putting in a more consistent effort.

I'm glad to be back. My goal is an ambitious one. In the next 30 days I hope to increase my regular readership 25% beyond what it was at its peak (to 4 regular readers).

Huge thanks for the nice messages from Hammerswing75 and Surfergrrl while I was "away".

Now That I've Escaped, How Do I Get Back In?

I'm a news junkie. Maybe not by blogger standards, but still I consume quite a bit. While at work, I primarily listen to talk radio on the headphones while pounding away at the keyboard. I typically read about 8 news/opinion sites and a dozen blogs daily and another dozen at least once a week. On average, I watch about 1/2 hour of TV news a day. Usually I feel really out of touch, odd and even anxious if I don't get my daily fix.

I have noticed that my addiction does not travel well. Whether it's vacation or a business trip such as the one I took last week, I completely unplug from the world. Sure, I had my laptop with to do some work, but not once did I connect to the internet, not even to check my personal or work email. I watched TV in my hotel room, but only a couple of comedy shows and a documentary -- no news. Other than a glance at the headlines and sports scores, I never cracked open a newspaper. It was extremely refreshing -- no political partisan sniping, no Middle East conflict, no child abductions, no death. Without a concious decision to do so, I found that I climbed over the walls and escaped from the world and into a peaceful ignorance.

After my trip, I had three days with Young Master Nordeaster. My focus was on him and we stuck to enjoying comedy and sporting events as well as general conversation. I am now five days on the outside -- and getting very used to it. Maybe it's burn-out, maybe it's fatalism creeping in vis a vis the lack of ability to really influence events. Whatever the reason, I'm finding hard to get back into the game. I don't care about blogging, reading blogs or even reading the headlines on cnn.com. I really don't care how many cars Muslims burn in France or if they ever find Natalie Holloway's killer(s) or how the Senate voted on Iraq resolution whatever they talked about yesterday that didn't sound good.

My focus has turned more to the micro issues. I do care that my roof makes it through the winter without severe ice damming and that my ginger-cranberry glazed pork loin turned out extremely tasty. I care that my kid had very positive school conferences and that he drives safely. I care that my latest work project goes well. It's not a funk. I'm quite happy. It's just a simple escape. Sometimes the best vacations involve no travel at all. I know that eventually the macro issues will capture my interest, that I'll feel hollow without them, but for now I'm enjoying living on the lamb from the larger world.

Congrats To Surfergrrl!

It's been a busy couple of weeks, so the congratulations are a little belated. Surfergrrl is one of the three regular readers and commenters here at Water Cooler Wisdom. She just earned a promotion to a very interesting and important position as a Lean Production Specialist in Primary Care Leadership (good luck fitting that on your business card) at Park Nicollet. What is that? Well, basically, Surfergrrl has been tasked with identifying and eliminating the waste and inefficiencies in their healthcare system. To do so, she will be studying Toyota's Lean Model and integrating the Lean Model into the health care world -- a pioneering endeavor.

According to Surfergrrl, she is the youngest person to be selected for this role. She is deservedly both proud and appreciative. Below is an excerpt from and a link to a story run on WCCO a couple of weeks back discussing the Lean Model project.

Armed with stopwatches, step counting, clipboard and lists, the staff at Methodist Hospital is finding ways to be more efficient healthcare providers. They are looking for waste, which could be red tape, travel, talent or time.

"You have everyone from housekeeping to physicians to the vice president of the facility all working on the same team," explained Dr. Mike Seim, with the Emergency Center at Methodist Hospital.

The model is called lean production. By Day Four, a battle plan is being drawn. There are pie charts, diagrams, flow charts and reams of data. The group is also authorized to take action.
...

"Typically, right now, we average three hours for any patient that comes through," said one team member. The goal is to cut that time in half and increase patient safety.
...

Methodist has already started passing the savings along. For example, fees for uninsured patients were just cut 10 percent.

Surfergrrl -- I don't envy your task. Being charged with cutting waste out of the healthcare process is a little like being charged to solve world hunger. You can always make improvements, but you'll never quite get there. Good luck and congrats! I expect updates.

Polish Army 68% Responsible for Deaths at Treblinka

Ridiculous headline, absolutely! Moronic, you bet! Yet, if you follow the logic of a New York jury deciding who was responsible for the '93 World Trade Center bombing, that's probably the ruling they would give. The jury determined it was not Ramsey Yousef and Al Qaida who were responsible for the bombing, but the NYC Port Authority. They ruled that because they didn't impliment more measures and safegards against attack the Port Authority holds more responsibility than those who planned and executed the attack.

Evidently, we should let Yousef go and start locking up Port Authority managers and employees.

In what some legal experts characterized as a startling footnote to history, the jury found that the Port Authority was 68 percent at fault for allowing the bombing to occur, while the terrorists who carried out the bombing were 32 percent responsible.

"It's really hard to get your mind around," said Mark Geistfeld, a law professor at New York University. "It's more of a sociological question than it is a legal question. It's their way of expressing their outrage about the way in which the Port Authority conducted itself.

Who was responsible for Treblinka -- the Nazis, period, end of story. Who was responsible for the '93 WTC bombing -- terrorists. Who was responsible for 9/11 -- terrorists. Who's responsible for a murder -- the murderer (not the police, the gun companies or Rob Zombie). C'mon people, it's not that difficult.

This ruling is yet another example of why we need constructionalist, not activist judges sitting on the bench. This ruling is a symptom of a growing philosophy in America and particularly on the left -- that we should have a consequence free life. A feeling that if something goes wrong for me, for whatever reason, I deserve recompense. Johnny can't read -- sue the school, Billy gets crushed by a soda machine while shaking it down for cash -- sue the vending machine company.

Let's be honest here. This is all about the cash. We can't get money out of Yousef and his accomplices, so we need to find someone else to foot the bill. And, as usual it is the citizen taxpayer that gets stuck with the bill.