Pestilence…Not the topic…I just like that word

When I drive I tend to observe the world around me…sometimes more than I pay attention to where I am going (another topic). I simply observe. Change, people, places of interest, etc. I find myself travelling more lately than the past several years combined. More new clients (that’s a good thing), more meetings, and maintaining a long distance relationship (also a good thing).

I was coming home from a trip driving on a 2 lane country road and observed a buzzard in the middle of the oncoming lane picking at the bones of…another buzzard. I had questions:

1. Are buzzards cannibals?
2. Are you smart enough to get out of the road when another car comes by? Your dinner wasn’t.

On that same trip…there I was minding my own business when a stone shot up and put a bullet hole in my windshield. I immediately called my insurance agent (don’t look up phone numbers while you are driving!) to ask if I was covered for stone chips. My agent (whom I don’t really care for) replied, “No, your policy doesn’t cover chip repair…BUT, if you get the whole windshield replaced, we will waive the deductible and cover the repair.” WTF…You won’t pay $50 for a stone chip repair, but you will  pay $350 to replace a windshield? I’m looking for a new insurance company.

I had several meetings to attend today and on my way to the first one, I was driving along a busy 8 lane boulevard and saw a woman sitting in the median. By sitting I mean she was in a Hoveround…a personal scooter. Moreover, she was wearing a ¾ length mink coat at 9:30AM. I had more questions:

1.   Would PETA members dare throw blood on an ambulatory person wearing a fur?
2.  Where are you going?
3. Did Medicare pay for your scooter?
4.  If yes, who paid for the fur coat?

On the way back to the office I was on that same 8 lane boulevard and pulled up next to a mini-van that was vibrating with the sounds of hip-hop music playing at the threshold of pain. My first reaction was to think, “OH goodness, I HATE this! Please turn that down.” Then I looked across at the driver. It was a WHITE, thirty-something soccer mom that was bopping to the tunes. I have no questions…I’m still trying to wrap my head around associating what I heard with what I saw. Rock on Mama!

On a final note (and totally unrelated) I had an opportunity to observe something online that gave me pause for thought. I have been following Lisa Brandel’s blog for more than 2 years and have always appreciated the depth and eloquence of her writing. The blog, The Widow Lady is indeed written by a widow, but the content is directed to patients, care-givers and survivors equally. Lisa shares her deeply profound thoughts in a way that invites readers to think and respond whether they agree or not.

The point to this story is that in Lisa’s last post, a gentleman from the UK who himself is in the throes of prostate cancer treatments found her blog and was inspired to feature her on his blog http://chrisluck.net/blog/ extoling the inspiration that Lisa had offered him on his journey. As bloggers, we put our ideas, thoughts and opinions in a global repository hoping to catch the interest of anyone…and we do. What an incredible responsibility! Let us take care to share for the health and entertainment of all who might read what we have to say. Lisa is a pioneer in this quest.

I'm just saying