Conflict of Interest

Hello World, And so we find ourselves at long last, finally embarking upon the very final month of the entire year, as hard as that might seem to believe, and it won't be long before 2012 is nothing but a distant memory - and not all of it a good one, I don't mind saying. Of course, things can always be worse, heaven knows, and we can't rule out the possibility that the year may still have some tricks up its sleeve yet, with an eye toward redeeming itself in the hearts and minds of the general populace, not to mention, its place in the history books. But time is running short, and personally, I think recent catastrophic events might be too much to overcome in an attempt to mend the tattered reputation of the year at this point, which may have irrevocably worn out its welcome long before its time was up. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that 2012 will strike a new low in the annals of history (the "Black Death" of 1348 springs immediately to mind) but I'm guessing there won't be much of a line to sign up for its fan club either, by golly. Of course, last week was Thanksgiving, better known as a picture-perfect time to gather around the hearth with friends and family, and celebrate the occasion with all the pomp and circumstance that could be hoped for. It's true that people everywhere observe the holiday in many and varied ways, from the storied traditions of yesteryear, to the radical novelties of tomorrow, in spite of the Holiday Police, and don't spare the creamed onions. Now, we also want to be mindful of any orphan pilgrims in our midst, and sometimes those pilgrims are we, so I'm not just whistling Dixie, believe me. Rather than shifting for ourselves on the big day, we were invited to enjoy Thanksgiving at the log cabin with my sister, and we jumped at the opportunity, one might say, at a trot. (Turkey trot, that is.) We left home bright and early on Thursday, and fortunately, the way we go avoids all of the prominent shopping meccas along the way, so there was no traffic to speak of, and we arrived with hooves flying and our appetites on overdrive. After a hearty meal, we took advantage of the glorious weather to hike around the scenic Ashokan Reservoir, which never fails to delight at any time of year, presenting vistas at every turn like a beautiful painting. We noticed that the foraging deer were so abundant that they easily outnumbered the pedestrians on the walkway above them, although I did feel that them pointing at us and laughing was entirely uncalled for. Meanwhile, the majestic bald eagles that we always look forward to seeing in the trees must have been otherwise occupied, and we were all disappointed that we never caught sight of them the whole time we were there. Getting an early jump on their Black Friday shopping, perhaps. This time around, we decided to stay overnight at the Quality Inn, which turned out to be handily located just about across the street from where we stayed last year, so we lost nothing in terms of convenience, and the price was about the same. The Quality Inn had more amenities, and the staff was as friendly as could be, so we were pretty much as happy as a turkey in the straw, although I really can't independently verify just exactly how happy that might actually be, from a turkey's standpoint. In the morning, we did not avail ourselves of the breakfast buffet, which was provided in their on-site restaurant, and I'm sure it would have been very nice - but we had a date with pancakes and cinnamon buns back at the cabin, and we lost no time in hurrying over there, I can assure you. We also played an interesting board game called Sequence while we had some time on our hands, proving that our brains hadn't all turned to maple syrup and sugar frosting after all, or at least, that's what we kept telling ourselves. We followed up this exercise of brain power with Thanksgiving left-overs and dessert, and just as welcome the day after as originally, I can tell you that. Finally it was starting to get dark, so we bid our fond farewells, and headed east, young man. Our eventual destination was going to be Denny's for dinner, but as it was still much too early to eat again (even for us, and even more so for Denny's) we made a pit stop at a shopping center in Kingston, to wander around and kill some time before our appetites revived. Considering that it was still Black Friday at the time, we found the stores remarkably unpopulated, and the shelves had not been completely denuded by hordes of crazed bargain hunters before us. We picked up a few things here and there, being glad to add our pittance to the Black Friday coffers, and then went our merry way. Denny's heard no complaints from us, that's for sure, and the trip home was blissfully uneventful, with no traffic or weather problems along the way. Back at the house, the cats had all died of starvation in our absence, or so they tried to convince us, and insisted that only the most extravagant and succulent morsels could be relied upon to resurrect them back to life. They drive a hard bargain, but after all, I guess it's Thanksgiving for the cats too. Speaking of extravagance, a person couldn't help but notice last week, splashed all over the Welcome screen were very large and intrusive animated ads from our friends at Nieman Marcus for their select assortment of what they were touting as "Gifts Under $300." Stocking stuffers, perhaps? Around here, this is what we would describe as a textbook example of a tidbit from the category of "This Is Why The Terrorists Hate Us," and that's not just the $295 Ralph Lauren Horseshoe Trinket Tray talking, believe me. Running a week worth of giant ads hawking $300 gifts, especially in this economy, makes you wonder if the whole world hasn't just gone completely to the dogs. And by "dogs," I mean The Kardashians, of course. (Oh, hit that easy target!) In other local news, alert readers may recall a couple of months ago in October when I mentioned the crew from the hit CBS TV show, "Person of Interest" was filming scenes at the hospital where I work. I'm thinking they must do some pretty quick turn-around in the post-production process on that series, because the finished product, an episode called "Critical," aired on television in the middle of November, a scant 6 weeks later. It may not be interesting to the population at large (we don't watch the show, so I don't know if this would be considered representative of the series as a whole or not) but to anyone who works there, the show holds a fascination beyond words. I found myself riveted to the screen in rapt attention, scene by scene, watching the backdrop of familiar hallways, offices, rooms and stairways, as the story unfolded before them - although Bill would be eager to tell anyone how the narrative was in no way improved by my running commentary of: "Look, it's the 7th floor!" or "Hey, that's the doctors dining room!" or "Those are the doors to the new Diabetes Education Center!" Of course, anybody can mock up an Operating Room, and I wouldn't know it from a hole in the wall, because I've never been in the O.R. at the hospital. But you can't help but recognize the common areas where you work, with their familiar floor tiles, wall lights, windows, artwork and signs - and seeing them parade before you on television is a sort of giddy experience that is oddly exhilarating. My favorite part (and my coworkers agree) would be the scenes filmed in the Fesjian Ambulatory Care Pavilion, with its distinctive wall of decorative windows, through which (in the show) you can see a large and imposing office building across the street. Don't you believe it! What's actually across the street in real life is the venerable old St. Gabriel's Catholic Church, which has probably been standing there at least as long as the hospital, and you can bet that it certainly looks nothing like a modern office building, by all the saints. So that was a little bit of "poetic license" that only the insiders would spot, and added a touch of inadvertent humor where it may not have been intended. Anyway, I can't say that I have any idea what the episode was all about, because I spent the whole time watching the background, and not the actors trying to tell what was probably a taut and spine-tingling story. I may have to watch it again when it comes around in reruns, although I can't promise that the results will be any different on my part. "Wait, it's the new Bariatric-Orthopedic Unit on 3 North!" Elle