Perspective

As you know, I like golf. Ok, I admit it, I can't get enough of golf. No, I can't play golf, but I follow it through the year. And, yes, I watched Tiger Woods win his sixth tournament in the last three months yesterday - even though it was on tape delay from England, and even though I already knew the result hours before I watched it on television.

For those of you who don't follow professional golf that much, some would call winning six professional tournaments a decent career. Tiger won six tourament in the last three months and eight tournaments in all for 2006.

The sports press is using words like "domination" and phrases like "Tiger's best year as a professional golfer." But, during the winner's press conference yesterday, he called 2006 a "loss." These are not the words of a professional golfer always striving for perfection in his sport. These are words of a son mourning the loss of his father earlier this year.

"I mean, people asked me that there on the 18th [hole] here, how do you consider this year," [Tiger] said. "I consider it as a loss. In the grand scheme of things, golf, it doesn't even compare to losing a parent."

I admit that sometimes I put the sports superstars that I admire on a pedestal. So much so that I forget that they're people, too. Even though Tiger Woods is the best golfer of my generation, and arguably the best golfer ever, his statement yesterday made me admire him even more. After all the accolades, adulation, and admiration, thanks for reminding me about what's really important in life.

Blog hot or not

A little something different today for you. Someone sent me this link to bloghotornot. I thought it was kind of cute. I don't know what it is, but I feel this need to be liked by others - maybe a character flaw. Anyway, as you can see by my sidebar, I have this thing for numbers and rankings.

I'd appreciate it if you click on that little graphic in my sidebar and let me know what you think of my blog. And, of course, also feel free to leave a comment as well.

Numbers update: I'd like to thank everybody again for visiting my blog, I really appreciate it. My average daily visits have increased by 95.4% to about 380 visits a day, according to site meter and the truth laid bear. So, thanks again! I'm starting my 15th week of blogging. And, I'll work as hard as I can to maintain the quality of my blog, so you'll return again and again.

BA in space

No, this is not an actual blogaholics anonymous meeting. It's just me being jealous. How cool would it be to blog from space? The topics would be endless. Well, this actually happened to Anousheh Ansari who is an American business woman.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, she paid a cool $20 million to be a space tourist on a Soyuz vehicle. She touched down yesterday in Kazakhstan with her Russian cosmonaut counterpart.

[And] she wrote about the smell of space - at least the space inside the orbiting lab: "It was strange … kind of like burned almond cookie."

I read some of her blog, and it's interesting stuff. How soon will you and me get to check out space like that? Maybe sooner that you think, if Richard Branson has anything to say about it (according to this article from space.com). At the slightly cheaper price of $200,000, you too can spend time in space - about 2.5 hours which would include a more than a few minutes of weightlessness.

“If it was ready next week, I’d be there,” Alan Watts, who has traded in two million Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer miles for a ride on SpaceShipTwo, told SPACE.com. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

Trading two million frequent flyer miles for a chance to travel in space? Hmmm. Is this guy nuts? Does he know how many useless magazine subscriptions he could get for two million miles? Some people just don't think sometimes -- HA!

Germ zone

I finally figured out where I got this cold I've been dealing with for the past week. It started last weekend when I was in DC. According to this article from this morning's Boston Globe, my hotel room could have made me sick.

When sick hotel guests leave their rooms, they frequently leave something important behind: the virus that gave them their colds.

During an overnight hotel stay, people with colds left viruses on telephones, light switches, and television remotes, researchers said yesterday at an infectious disease conference in San Francisco.

We've all heard about not coughing on people and not sharing cups with people who have colds. Now, apparently, you're going to have to ask if the people who had the hotel room before was sick. Wouldn't that be interesting? When it comes down to it, I agree with Dr. Owen Hendley, University of Virginia Health System, who led the research.

"It's an interesting study," he said. "But they haven't shown infectivity. I'm not going to go around opening doors with my elbows."

Big apple fat

Usually when you mention the word "trans" in New York City, you mean something completely different. But, right now, NYC's hottest "trans" is trans fat. Why? Because earlier this week, the New York City Health Department proposed a near ban on trans fat in NYC restaurants. As you already know, trans fat is found in fast food, cookies, cakes, and basically anything I think is good to eat.

"Trans fat causes heart disease. Like lead in paint, artificial trans fat in food is invisible and dangerous, and it can be replaced," New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said in a statement. (quote from Scientific American)

In the following quote from SFGate.com, by proceeding with a ban of one substance seen to have health concerns, this sets the precedent and opens the door to a laundry list of possibilites of future food bans.

There's also the issue of what should be banned. What about high fructose corn syrup? Sodium? Cases have been made that they're just as harmful as trans fats. Should we put a cap on the number of calories that people are allowed to order in a restaurant?

I always love when the government tries to legislate behavior. By making trans fat, in a sense, illegal, doesn't it then make it more attractive? This may seem silly, but I see drug dealers turning into trans fat dealers. They would hang out outside of NYC's swankiest (is that a word?) restaurants with one side of the raincoat with cheap Rolexes and the other side with illegal donuts to bring into restaurants. Sales of crack, heroin, and meth will fall off dramatically in favor of french fries.

The other thing I can't wait to see is "New York's Finest" food police. Can't you see the TV show right now? "Tonight at 8pm - Dr. A stars as Detective Emeril (BAM!) - In Cold Food Files." Bon Appetit, NYC. Pass the donuts!

Resources

This story from the Hamilton Spectator kind of hits home for me. It talks about a small hospital and what hospital administration does to try to improve the hospital and the community.

Why wouldn't Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) put more money into emergency rooms to attract and keep doctors? Why wouldn't HHS top up emergency physicians' salaries to ensure stability and appropriate levels of service? It makes good sense.

Especially for small hospitals and small communities like this one and like mine, there are limited resources and priorities have to be made on where and how resources are managed. I'm all for getting the best docs and building the best facilities, but there are consequences to that.

The problem with emergency staffing seems to be double-edged -- crummy working conditions and pay that's not great. HHS has chosen to address those issues to ensure adequate emergency services.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to lead you down a path here - especially with my posting yesterday of paying docs more. Like I said above, my small community and my small hospital are going through this right now.

On the one hand, having the best and most modern facilities can attract docs and other medical professionals to our small town and hospital. Who doesn't want to work with the latest and most technological toys?

On the other hand, something has to give. Sometimes that means pay freezes and/or pay cuts to the rest of the staff whether it be nursing, respiratory, secretaries, custodians, etc. Or, short staff situations. This can have effects on patient care and hospital morale, and other areas. I don't have the perfect solution. I'm curious what you think.

Question: If you were CEO of a small hospital with very limited resources, how would you help insure the best medical care for your community?