Cheap Steel

This morning after the dog woke me up so I could let her go out; I sleepily sat down at the computer and started doing “my thing.” Checking e-mail and scanning the various news websites which is my version of reading the morning paper.

I then started writing for this blog and wrote a bunch of words, which I have since decided was total crap. Sometimes delete is nice, too bad I didn’t use it when I should had this week. I sent a harsh e-mail which some people totally agree and other think I owe an apology. I probably should apologize but I have realized that these people never apologize for their words or actions. I have been out of sorts all week and allowed my emotions to run wild. One reason I fiercely miss Milton Collier, he used to keep me from unloading on people. I think I am burned out and should have dropped out a couple of years ago.

I feel better now; tonight my wife and I went to dinner and a movie. We had good sushi at Kyoto and then saw Julie and Julia. Being a foodie, I was looking forward to seeing it. Meryl and Stanley were great and I even liked Amy Adams. If this movie doesn’t get a nomination or even award for costume design I will be very surprised; because if I noticed the costume design, it had to be impressive. One thing the movie did impress me with was an appreciation for real relationships.

I noticed the movie mentioned the use of carbon steel and stainless steel knives. In the era of Julia Child was in while she was writing her cookbook, she was right about stainless steel for knives wasn’t good. Things have changed since then. There are now steels out there that make very suitable knives which are in the stainless category. The carbon versus stainless argument does still exists in the knife world. I remember a time when you couldn’t get good knives made out of stainless and back in the sixties some of the better models came from England or Germany. Then American knife makers came around and now make some of the finest blades you can find. Even the Japanese make some very fine kitchen cutlery.

I like knives. Knives are ancient tools which also are pieces of art and products of technology. Design, choice of materials, heat treat and construction of each knife all play a part. A good knife will cost you, but is worth the expense. Now the really sad part is that some of the cheapest knives and some of the most used knives are kitchen knives. Do some research; find one or two “good” kitchen knives that feel right to you. Meaning when you hold the knife in your hand and you can imagine yourself using it, and it feels right, then consider it. Learn to use a good kitchen knife properly. Practice with it and learn how to take care of it. A word of caution, if you are used to using dull knives in the kitchen you can easily cut yourself when you start using a sharp one. You do not have to slice and dice at breakneck speed like you see on TV. If you can, fine, but I recommend using your knife which how you enjoy using it. The best part of owning and using a good kitchen knife is enjoying using one.

The most significant change in the knife industry in the last ten years has been the Internet. The Internet is riddled with websites and forums dealing with nothing but knives. You can find any type of production or custom knife imaginable now on-line. The Internet has benefited several knife makers and companies and even hurt others. A maker can’t put out a bad product or provide bad service without it becoming known worldwide in a matter of minutes. Plus you can find good knives for a better price if you are willing to look. It is amazing how much the Internet has altered the life of such a simple ancient tool.

By the way, don’t buy cheap weak knives with inferior steel.

One of the things I wanted to do with this blog is include the articles I write for the Lee County Shrine Club Newsletter. This is the one for the September 2009 issue about the Cincinnati Hospital...I hope you enjoy it...Melvin

Cincinnati Shriners Hospital for Children, Wow!

When you think about Cincinnati, Ohio, baseball or maybe even the famous Skyline chili comes to mind. When Shriners think about Cincinnati, we think of the award winning pediatric burn center that is part of our twenty-two Shriners Hospitals for Children system. This hospital, which is a thirty bed burn center, is nothing less than totally amazing. From the facility, medical staff, and the volunteers you will swell with major pride as a Shriner the minute you walk into the place.

Last week Ruben called me saying he needed someone to make a trip to Cincinnati with a patient. It wasn’t like he was sitting around on his hands; we already had two other trips to Shreveport to make. So I didn’t refuse him, besides I had never made a trip to a burn center and since Galveston was shut down for repairs, I wasn’t going to see one any sooner. I called my little brother, Noble Ross Ford, and told him to load up for two days of Kentucky bluegrass and Tennessee highways. Ross was the perfect choice for a co-driver because he knows the route and can tolerate two days in a car with me.

Hamasa wasn’t too familiar with the Cincinnati facility mainly because we normally transported patients to the Galveston Burn Center. Details like appointment schedules and hotels weren’t clear. Many of us had already seen the DVD produced by the Imperial Headquarters, so we knew they did quality work in Cincinnati. My first real experience with the Cincinnati facility involved a phone call to ask about which hotel Shrine Drivers use. I spoke to a very helpful and friendly lady named Belinda who not only gave me good information but also set me up with reservations. The experience started out on a high note, so I was excited about making the trip.

Thursday morning Ross and I picked up a 2010 minivan from Enterprise Rental; we loaded up and headed north. The minute we crossed the Tennessee state line we heard a little voice ask, “Are we there yet?” That began a two day trip of laughter and sightseeing green hills and tobacco farms the best we could from the road. Once we spotted that famous Cincinnati skyline we were able to settle in for a decent night’s sleep.

The outpatient clinic doesn’t start seeing patients until 1:00 PM because the doctors perform surgeries in the morning, so we didn’t have to rush Friday morning. We got to the hospital about 11:15 AM to sign in and have lunch. Once we walked into the lobby we were all impressed with how nice the place was and when we walked into the outpatient clinic, wow. We were all speechless on how wonderful this Shriners Hospital is, full of art work, murals and furnishings designed as a village. Here is a place for children who have suffered the most painful and horrific injuries can come to and be treated in an atmosphere of love, caring and happiness. Just the children I saw in the outpatient clinic will tear you up and make you swallow hard.

We were greeted by some extra friendly volunteers and staff, after we signed in we headed to the fifth floor for lunch in the cafeteria. Well, you can call it a cafeteria if you want, I think of it as a very nice restaurant with good food that I want to visit again. The food service people were grilling out on the rooftop patio as a special, so we got a nice lunch for free. I looked over the buffet and considered calling Ruben and telling him we had to stay through the weekend.

Once we finished with lunch, our patient was able to settle into the colorful play area at the clinic while Ross and I had the opportunity to talk to other Shriners and volunteers. I was able to meet with Louise Hoelker, the Director for Volunteers and Public Relations, who in spite of the fact she was extremely busy preparing for an open house the next day took the time to talk to us and e-mail me the information I requested. She set us with Wanda, a Lady Shriner and volunteer associated with Syrian Temple who gave us an informative tour of the facility along with a couple of Nobles from Tennessee. She told us about addressing the children as “sweet-pea” or “honey” because you couldn’t tell from the bandages if the child was a boy or a girl.

We found out that this “village” wasn’t just colorful impressive art work but a fully functional burn hospital. The Dress Shop was really Radiology and the Beauty Shop was administration. The Cobbler Shop was Orthotic Services and Garment Fabrication, where the special masks and custom fitted spandex garments are made to assist with healing and reducing burn scars. This “village” with hand-painted lettering that even impressed Ross, an accomplished artist himself, also houses accounting, human resources, and a school for the children; plus recreational areas divided by age group for the patients. The second and third floors also have patient rooms while fourth floor was research. They have a visual art department that photographs the healing process and produces other vital information. There is a muti-functioning auditorium for movies for the children, medical conferences and even Masonic meetings. We were shown the Shrine representative board room that also serves as the tele-medicine room for the doctors, saving us thousands in transportation costs.

This burn center has 350 employees and over 200 volunteers from students to Shrine Ladies and Nobles with an award winning transportation team. They also have a child-life program and a school re-entry program helping these young burn victims return to their homes and school as well as occupational and physical therapy units. Cincinnati Shriners Hospital provides a summer camp for our children as part of their family centered care allowing parents and family members to deal with every stage of treatment and recovery. As someone involved with various fund raising efforts I was impressed with the efficiently and overall utilization of the facility.

We normally don’t think about what is truly involved with a tragic and painful burn injury. We hear about it on the news, but don’t understand the devastating reality of a child being burned. Many of us are lucky enough not to have the experience, but for the ones that do suffer this painful tragedy, Shriners have a solution. Like all our Shrine Hospitals, Cincinnati is a special place that works miracles for children and families. Nobles I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for you to visit one of “YOUR” Hospitals and see what we really do and understand why so many of us are totally dedicated to being a Shriner.

As we crossed the Ohio River headed home, we heard a little voice say, “Are we in Mississippi yet?” and the laughter started again for a pleasant but long ride home, happy due to the positive experience in Cincinnati.

Angry for 2 days

I have been angry for two days. Experience has taught me not to expound when I am angry. I needed to cool off. I am still mad and still upset; but, at least I don’t have the desire to publicly call people idiots. They still are idiots but at least I didn’t say it in anger. I don’t feel the need to lay out details or lash out something I may regret later.

Some people understand and some do not; there are some that you could puree the truth into a smoothie pour it down their throat and they still wouldn’t get it. I just don’t think decisions should be made based upon “prediction” or “opinion” but actual facts. Bypassing the efforts it will take to gather actual factual data is irresponsible. No, many of you have no idea what I am talking about, but I refuse to discolor something I really believe in because of “internal” disagreements.

Now what to do? At the moment I am convinced I should back off and allow the downward trend to continue and step off the train now. This has worked for me before both with good results and bad results. One time I flatly refused to throw my supervisor under the bus because it was untrue and wrong. I was warned I could lose my job, but I refused to participate in empire building by making a false report. It was wrong and I refused to be wrong even though it hurt me personally.

A second time I set back and allowed my supervisor to destroy himself. His bossed ask me why I didn’t call and report him. My answer was, “It wasn’t my job to supervise him; it was your job.” I also told him that I refused to cut the guy’s throat because I wanted his job. He said I would have gotten his job if I had reported him. My response was that I wanted his job because I was qualified for the job and not because I caused my former supervisor to lose his job.

Now I feel I should step back and let the idiots have it. The only problem I see with this plan is that normally narcissistic people don’t learn from their own mistakes and tend to blame others. Basically I am burnt out and frustrated. I feel I have done too much in the past and people have grown to depend on me for what I will do and don’t realize actually what I do for them. Like today I asked, “Where are we having the district meeting? I have a newsletter to finish.” I was told “I’ll find out.” Then I was told we were having the meeting “At that place on the side of the highway. “ I asked three times, “What is the name of the restaurant?”
“Oh you know that place by the highway in Booneville.”
“BUT, what is the name of the place??”
“I don’t’ remember but the guy is not normally open on Tuesday.”
“I still need the name.”
To his credit he did call me later and tell me the name of the place. I was frustrated by the thought of making an announcement for a meeting with just “That place on the side of the highway, Yawl come.” Plus I am still in a bad mood. So all I was seeing was the negative.

I get a lot of credit and praises for my newsletter, but I don’t think people really know what level of effort it takes. I just want people to realize I need time and have a deadline and just once not to have to chase down the information that needs to be put out. Burnt out is probably the main problem.

On a happier note, I have an article done about my trip to the Cincinnati Shriners Hospital for Children, a pediatric burn center. The work these people for children is amazing. I wish all Shriners could see and realize the real work of these hospitals, and some of them that have seen have obviously forgotten. We don’t realize how lucky we are until you see a child age four or five wearing pressure garments on her head and face from a burn injury.

Now I need to figure out how to be mad and supportive all at the same time.

Newsletter Mode....

Newsletter Mode is code for "I'm Writing, I'm creating, so DO NOT be surprised if I seem insane, rude, frazzled or even crazier than normal.

Taking something from a blank page to a finished product is a labor of love. I can get snappy if I am disturbed during this process....Christy fully understands now and doesn't get offended when my answer to her "What ya doing?" query is, "I'm Writing." This newsletter has several elements that require balance and tweaking into the size and format I need. Yesterday, I took an article about my Cincinnati trip out of my head and wrote it down. One of the challenges was to get the entire article on one legal size page. The font size matters and getting the photograph(s) to fit in just so can take a lot of patience....

I send out several copies of this newsletter all over and sometimes as I am sticking the mailing labels on and bundling it for bulk mail I wonder if certain people actually read the thing. I have had several people tell me they enjoy it, but it isn't a pat on the back I am looking for. I want to know if they are impacted by my words. Are they getting the message? Many times I am tempted to include something totally off the wall just to get a reaction, but when I got distracted several years ago while laying out the calendar and placed Christmas on the wrong day, only one called me about it. Some said they never noticed. I guess it is like any publication, some read all of it, some part and some never find the time. People do what they want to do and their interest belongs to what ever truly interests them.

When I get in "Newsletter Mode" all I think about is the newsletter with the various elements and layout. I have a deadline for mailing it which means I have to have it written, proofread, printed, folded, labeled and bundled for bulk mail. Now bulk mail has to be folded a particular way with the proper labeling components. Many times I face writer's block and procrastinate getting it done until it will flow on the pages. Driving away from the post office the afternoon it is mailed includes a sigh of relief and a realization I now have to start thinking about the next month's issue....Putting together a monthly newsletter includes lots of pacing, loss of sleep, small self-rewards for items completed and proof-reading, re-reading, reading out-loud to myself, and zoning out.....

Being it is a Shrine Club newsletter the focus is limited somewhat, even though after I include the meeting notice and calendar, I basically have free reign. Normally I have steadfastly refused to allow anyone to pre-approve my work. This year I have allowed that more than ever. I allowed the PR lady see my article about the Cincinnati Hospital for fact checking, she did and corrected the number of volunteers I had listed and said she liked the article. I have allowed this year's Shrine Club President see articles before publication more than any before, basically because he can check the accuracy of the item and doesn't tell me how to write. (I must be slipping, letting people approve of my work.)

Sometimes I feel like I am just being a "Rah-Rah" cheerleader for the Shrine. I want people to get involved, but on their terms and really want to participate. I can't transform them into that wheelchair, walker, braces or even burn garment. Getting people to fully understand why we do what we really do is hard and confusing. Shriners are one organization divided into two sections, the fraternal and the philanthropy. Getting our own members to understand that is a chore all in itself. We don't live close to a Shriners Hospital, so many of our members don't get to see our true cause. Like any organization, club or group there are internal politics and dynamics which further complicates matters and the chief cause of our loss of membership. Humans are human, but that is another blog post.

Now to get back to creating another newsletter, I still need program, meal and transportation information...I'll wrangle it out of them...Plus I have to travel to Meridian today for a Hamasa meeting. As previously stated, or at least thought, I plan on posting my feature articles I write for my newsletter into the blog, you never know.

Until then, stay well and be kind...

Still Sleepy after all these hours....

Naturally I am not used to blogging, most of my thoughts remain in my head. I haven't even informed many people that I have a blog yet.

I walked through the door at 2:00 AM....I was still hyper and it was 4:00 AM until I could go to bed...I slept until 11:00 AM, Christy was already up...She was asleep when I got in...Immediately I was "required by wife" to provide lunch..I guess it's that Hunter/Gatherer aspect type of thing..I was refusing to leave the house...luckily I married to a wonderful woman and part of that "required by wife" thing is a desire to please her...So it was call the Chinese place and order delivery...then it was back to bed..... Tonight I was told I needed to go get a Ice Cream Cake after that stupid commercial finally got the best of Christy...The American Diabetes people need to lobby for warning labels on food commercials...subliminal messages included. I did make her do the "Ice Cream and Cake" song before I let her have any....

The trip to Cincinnati was long but nice. The Shriners Hospital there is a 30 bed burn center and just the children I saw in the outpatient clinic would break your heart. The facility is very nice and the people are great. I am writing an article about the trip and the hospital for the newsletter. One of the things I plan on doing with this blog is publish my articles here as well as the newsletter. My younger brother Ross went with me as my co-driver and I was very thankful for his help. We stopped on the way home at the orchard that used to belong to our great-grandfather, it really wasn't out of the way and we avoided construction traffic by not going back through Louisville, KY. We brought back a few white peaches for our Mother and I got a quart of some really good honey. The label stated it had won a state fair award for eight years and after tasting it I know why. Christy said it reminded her of her Grandfather's honey.

Tomorrow Christy and I make another trip then I have to get busy on the newsletter. I haven't even downloaded the photographs yet...

Until then......

Good Morning Cyberspace!!
I now have a blog, thanks to my wonderful daughter and supporter of all my cyber-life activities.

Now I am leaving in an hour to drive to the Cincinnati Shriner's Hospital for Children to take a local patient for an appointment. I'll be back late tomorrow night. I will be writing an article about my trip for the Shrine Club newsletter I write.

Have a great day and stay well.

Welcome To the Muse

This is the blog of Melvin, Melvin the Muse. Here he will share his thoughts, articles he's writtens and anything else he feels like. Any other questions, just ask.