Living life – Page 34 – Physician In Numbers

Beware the Anahafta

I recently had the pleasure of a “day off.” I use the quotation marks, because I was still covering issues at the office by phone.

After a relaxing breakfast, I was attacked by the dangerous, slithering Anahafta, which tried to choke some of the happiness out of my day.

I suspect that you, too, have had to deal with this untamable beast, though perhaps you know it by a different name.

Stepping onto the hedonic treadmill

My husband and I have been traveling to visit family recently, and with one thing and another, have had the opportunity to go through the TSA Precheck line, and also to use Priority Pass membership (free with our credit card) to get into airport lounges. Benefiting from these programs was very pleasant, but also thought-provoking.

Happy 2019!

If all goes well, I will out partying it up. Or, at least I will be away from my personal computer. I hope you have a wonderful celebration and a happy and healthy New Year.

2018 in Review

This is the time of year when people make resolutions for the next year. Usually there is talk of losing weight, saving more, getting ahead.

Before I think about resolutions for 2019, I would like to look back at 2018, and think about accomplishments I can point to with pride. I tip my hat again to Maggie at Northern Expenditure, who wrote about The-Fill-the-Bucket-List. It really did make me think about goals and achievements in a very different way.

In Search of the Two-Fer

In medicine, I love to sell my patients on the “two-fer,” those lovely medications that have more than one benefit: this medication will help your migraines and help with weight loss! This one will lower your sugar and help regulate your periods! This pill can protect you from a heart attack and lower your risk of colon cancer! I can’t always get them to take their meds, but this always feels like I am getting them a deal.

[As a reminder, please do not construe the above as medical advice. Medication choice is something you should discuss with your own physician, who knows you; not something you do based on what a stranger types on the Internet.]

In life, there are other two-fers.

The YOLO Chair

In the corner of my parents’ living room sits a large armchair, Louis XV style. It’s my father’s chair, generally speaking no one else sits in it, unless one of the cats sneaks in. It’s quite handsome, and guests frequently remark on it.

My mother tells the story of how they acquired the chair:

One Doctor’s Retirement, 20 years later

In my prior post, I wrote about my father’s career and retirement preparations. He retired just over 20 years ago, and from what I can see, had a pretty good time.

Over the years we have talked about finances, and though I haven’t announced firm plans to retire early, I think he can tell I am thinking about it. He has been giving more advice recently, mostly to keep working.

I thought I would share some of his recent advice, and some of my observations of his two-decades-long retirement, which I hope will go another decade more.

When Are You Rich?

As Thanksgiving approaches, it seems time to pay special attention to the blessings and riches we enjoy.

Not Quite What I Was Hoping For

I may have mentioned that I am taking a pay cut to reduce my hours. The plan is that with a slightly shorter day, I can finish earlier, and spend some time on my life outside the office, maybe working on future me.

Today was my first day with the shorter schedule. I had lots of patients who need extra time, but were scheduled for 15 minute visits. The electronic medical record wasn’t cooperating. Despite the supposedly shorter schedule, I finished at same time I used to finish, and went home just as late (actually, later) as I did before the change.

I can tell myself thank goodness my schedule was truncated, otherwise I’d have been in the office even later; but right now, I’m just not feeling the love. We’ll see how things turn out going forward.

Thoughts on “The Italian Job”

In our house, we seldom watch network TV, at least not live. We watch a lot of movies–usually old ones, that we can watch for free, or get from Netflix. We enjoy discussing them later, and I may post some of our thoughts from time to time.