Some Pics

Need Better View of Candidates

My political affiliation on my Facebook page is listed as Moderate. I really consider myself exactly that. I have never voted straight ticket and never will. 

I like to listen to the speeches, decipher the mud, hot air and realistically filter the words into foundational issues. This election has been a hard one to run through the filtering process. Most of the problem has come from the extremely slanted coverage to the assumed favorite of the networks. For BOTH of the parties. 

I know enough about Biden and McCain. They have been in Washington long enough and I am a firm believer that a tiger doesn't change its stripes. McCain doesn't like fat on bills and Biden knows more world leaders than 99.9% of people in Washington. I want to learn more about Sarah Palin but let me clarify: I want to know about her stances on economics (domestic and global), foreign policy (trade, NATO,UN), plan for energies outside of drilling up the Alaskan Frontier, abortion, taxes for the wealthy and many more. I DO NOT CARE about her daughters baby-daddy, husband who races snow mobiles, that she doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is and that she can see Russia from her house. 

On the other side of the coin, I want to know more about Barak Obama. I want to know details of this middle class tax cut, how he plans to leverage economic successes while eliminating tax cuts for those who will make it happen, what the relationship between he and Joe Biden will look like if he is the wall flower at the Pakistan Summit. How does he plan to pass socialized health care through when Republicans are so opposed to it and he will need 2/3rds to pass it? I DO NOT CARE that his father is from Africa and his mother is white yet he chooses to call himself black. I am Irish, German and English but claim the Irish more than anything else because I have red tint to my hair and a red beard. I don't want to hear the rants about him being a super secret Muslim terrorist. I don't care if his wife wears expensive clothes. I really, really don't. 

Here is my issue America. More specifically TV. 

NBC, don't wave your Obama flag in public. It's ok to support one candidate over the other but slash and burn techniques on one candidate while doing fluff pieces on good will and charity work of YOUR candidate are very close to yellow journalism. Balance it out. If you don't want to say anything negative about your guy, say only nice things about both. I realize that's a stretch so try this. Make a list of where the candidates stand on the issues and show it to us. Then we can make informed decisions. And by the way (BTW), McCain is running against Obama, not Palin. 

FOX, just because you hate democrats, you could hide it a little better. I really think Republicans have been trained to listen to you for so long, they'll believe anything you say. The problem is, the anchors and producers of FOX News etc are not like most republicans. Most republicans are NOT millionaires who pee in golden thrones. They drive normal cars with ok jobs and just try to make it. They have been taught that you work hard, avoid handouts and anyone who gives a handout is a Democrat and a system abuser. Is a child who is born homeless and living in a car a system abuser when they go to a free clinic to get a flu shot that the Elephants voted to close down? And so help me if you bring up the What Would Jesus Vote thing, I will smack you with a New Testament! Read your Bible before you stump from it. 

I don't think I am asking for much. If someone says it's a no spin zone, it probably isn't. If someone says it's a fair and honest coverage, it isn't. My dad always told me, if you have to describe yourself with an adjective to get people to listen to you, you probably aren't the adjective. For example Honest Bob's Used Cars. Chances are he isn't honest and in fact, is probably one of millions who draws their political stance from water cooler talk and never looks into anything. 

Lemmings WAKE UP!

NBC Anti-American?

Today is the 7th anniversary of the worst act in American history. I am a bit appalled that one of the major networks, NBC, chose NOT to air the ceremony that all the other major networks aired. They instead carried it on MSNBC, a station only cable subscribers can receive. The piece they were airing was about how to raise boys. Poor choice. I would dare say Anti-American. Maybe the rumors of a buyout of GE Appliances from China is true. Maybe some of that communist blood is seeping its way into the television markets. I know it's a jump but you really have to ask yourself, WHY? 

Anger aside, it is important that regardless of our political views, we need to thank the men and women who serve us, the Americans, in defense of our country. It is important that we realize in servitude, they go where they are told. They are truly servants. The staff sergeant doesn't get to choose whether or not to go to Iraq; he is told to go. These true heroes deserve our thanks and appreciation. The ability to choose not to fight here, is given by those who do fight in protection of that idea. 

To my brother Lance, thank you for all you do. Come home safe. We love you.

Lots O' Pics

Contest Photos

Some photos I entered at Academy for a contest.

Sports Editorial

I have another blog for sports only. This one has gone more toward family (as it should). Emily was probably tired of reading sports junk on here anyhow. Here is the link http://sportseditorial.blogspot.com/

Father's Day

This year was my first Father's Day with two kiddos and what a difference! Emily made the day pretty easy on me and I was able to do some relaxing activities I rather enjoy (fishing, tv, hanging out with Zeke). But in doing so, I forgot to call MY dad. It's so bizzare to me that I missed his one day of the year to be remembered as Dad. I could say I am busy at work and gosh, the kids are kind of crazy but I make time other days to call...
I think it's becoming an effort thing. It takes effort and rememberance to realize and truly appreciate where you are at this exact moment. The effort is the remembering to put it in my fancy pants phone that does everything (when you remember to program it for that). The remembrance is much more humbling. Looking back on the last 30 years, I have had one of the greatest dads in the world. I would say the greatest in the world but he might argue his dad was a better man than he. I know I feel that my dad is a greater dad than I am and I hope that that would be true of all dads, constantly admiring the effort put forth in raising us up to hopefully acceptable status in our own eyes some day. I honestly don't know how he made time for all the fishing and hunting trips. He made a great majority of all the 437 sports I played growing up. I remember his comments after games and small little coachings while still allowing the coach to be the coach. I remember practicing flipping jigs at red ice cream buckets in the front yard. I am sure the neighbors felt we were crazy. I remember laying on the floor of a snack or tool truck, listening to the engine and feeling the warmth on a trip back to Sweetwater from some shop somewhere and discussing the difference of a cab-over truck and the standard style. I remember fixing sprinkler heads I mowed over and some how being able to fit in EVERY youth activity from 5th grade until graduation. I remember a lot of things but this year I didn't. At least not on the right day. For that I am truly sorry but Dad, I do remember all the things you have done for me and I hope to love like you do and model your fatherhood someday. Thanks for being my dad.

Summer!

These kids really know what summer is all about: playing in the water and great afternoon naps! The sprinkler ring Zeke is playing in was well worth the $6.87 (thank you Wal-mart) and the cool cover on Anna Kate's carseat has also been a great find (again, Wal-mart special). There is even a flap to pull down to block all those harmful UV rays! I am starting to figure out how to do things that involve both kids and minimal stress for me. This activity was one my proudest moments and I fully intend to repeat it many times this summer!

Picture Perfect

Anna Kate came home in this beautiful dress. Yes, a little big, but that just means I get to dress her in it longer. She also wore this the first Sunday she went to church. It was a special day for our family! This was two Sunday's ago when Anna Kate was three weeks old. This dress is from Judah and Gideon's sweet mom, Jennifer. I resisted buying this dress myself several times, so I was so excited when I opened this gift! I just love it! Plus, it goes with about five different bows!



This past Sunday we went to church with Nana and Gran Gran in Lubbock. We had a great time getting to see the Aunts and Uncle and Cousin Trip. On the way back through Abilene, we introduced Anna Kate to her Carter cousins and got to meet sweet Annie! (Mom, this was also her church outfit!)
Aunt Rachael with Annie (8 weeks), Emily with Anna Kate (4 weeks), Ellianna (4 in August), Caroline (2), and Zeke (3 1/2)
And here she is at one month. What a great month it has been. Love grows each day at our home. It is amazing that with Anna Kate's arrival my love has grown for her, Zeke and Chris. Even more amazing is that this love is so small in comparison to the love my Lord has for us!

30 Days into the Healthcare Field...

After several years in the retail industry and copious amounts of energy drinks and 80 hour weeks, I made a transition I, at the time, felt would be a considerable change. I moved from retail to healthcare. And as I ponder my first 30 days in the medical clinic, I have come to a confounding realization: Clinics are very similar to retail stores.

If you change terminologies here and there, most of the guiding principles are parallel. So here is the 30 day old wisdom nugget: Ultimately, success is dependent upon the quality of your people. Let me say that one more time. Ultimately, success is dependent upon the quality of your people.

Over the past weeks I have been showered with articles, periodicals and other reading to peruse through and familiarize myself with the industry. Many articles concentrate on margins and rising costs with fewer margin dollars to be gleaned from the communities in which the clinics call home. Many articles suggest that breaking even is a victory. I find it quite puzzling actually. And yet, the situation is eerily familiar.

How can one clinic of same size and panels with similar access and equal number of physician FTEs succeed while another fails? Is it location? Is it price? What is it?

Location doesn’t come into play as much as you might think. Easy locations to get to help but is rarely shown on surveys as a reason someone is leaving your clinic or doesn’t want to join. Price has a low register on the surveys as well. It is almost to the point to where most medical satisfaction surveys I have run across, in our system at least, don’t even ask about price fairness and competitive shopping. So what is it?

People. The people in your clinic determine your successes. From the business office clerks to the patient service representatives to the physicians and nurses actually healing the hurting, these people determine the clinic’s success. Never underestimate the power of one person no matter their yearly take-home pay.

My family’s Primary Care Physician was located about 15 miles from our home in Central Texas when we moved in 2005. We enjoyed our interactions with her and felt she was more than just a physician but also a friend. We didn’t mind the drive or the hard to get to location. She had been our doctor through many tough bouts of illness with my son and wife over about a three year period when we left her. She did nothing wrong but someone in her clinic did. I still feel ill about it.

Since we began going to that clinic, there was a woman at the front desk of the clinic that did check-ins and scheduled appointments who seemed annoyed with me. Not only me but my family. She never smiled. She never said hello. She was rude in person and on the phone. Despite being in the clinic at least monthly if not bi-weekly, she acted like she didn’t know us and didn’t care to. Finally my curiosity got the better of me and I started watching her interactions with all the customers. Horrid!

If I had run my retail store with that level of customer interaction we would have been closed down in a week! Yet it seemed she and the management were obliged to do nothing more than they had to. The experience of a visit or phone call was too awful to endure any longer and we switched. We didn’t leave because of the doctor. In fact we loved the doctor. We left because the overall experience was bad. Just one bad apple…

You can guess where this is going by now. It is now, more than ever, an experience based society. Every interaction is looked at with discerning eyes. An expectation has been set for good and bad service in our patient’s lives based on their experiences either with your clinic, one in your system or a competitor. Even more frightening, they create new measuring factors every day at restaurants, malls and repair shops.

How do we create an environment of good employees? The process starts with hiring. Multiple interviews and peer group interviews will often quell emotional hiring. Some people are great performers in interviews and then become the bad apple just weeks later. Multiple facings with varied groups can weed most of these people out. The people you do hire, train them with specific employees. Put them with your best employees to learn their habits, not just who is available that day.

Know your employees. Talk to them often and not just about the workplace. Learn their names and interests. Don’t be the leader who rules from a golden tower on high. Come down to the fields and meet the workers. Maybe even help them pull weeds now and again.

Ask your employees the “How would you…” questions. Asking for ways to improve their day to day work improves morale. Maybe it’s as easy as a new soda machine or a different keyboard at their workstation. And now that you have that feedback, whenever possible, show them you value their feedback by following through on feasible requests. Nothing goes further to better an employee than a grasped sense of value.
Teach them why we are here through your words and your actions. We tell them to be courteous at all times, to be friendly and help out our patients and guests. If we as leaders don’t emulate those behaviors, why should they?

Employees, who feel valued, respected, listened to and who have a good environment are happier at work. Happier employees smile more, are more eager to help and create a better experience for our patients and guests as well as their coworkers.

Better experiences create loyalty, word of mouth advertising and continued success. It becomes a question of “How can we fit in more patients?” rather than “How can we get more patients?” When we reach that point, profitability is an end result.

Three weeks

We've been loving these first three weeks with Anna Kate (these pictures are of her at 2 weeks). The weeks seem to be going by so fast. I really wish I could freeze time! She makes this face all the time. It is one of my many favorites!
Zeke is adjusting well. He tells me, "I love my baby!" about a hundred times a day. It is wonderful to see him being so sweet to her. He can hardly keep his hands off of her and wants to kiss her all the time. We are even having to tone it down some because the poor girl can't get any rest! One of the sweetest ways Zeke shows his love to "Rocco" is by singing to her when she is fussy. It makes me smile every time. And yes, he still calls her Rocco about 99% on the time- as do all his friends! I think it's pretty cute actually.
I love Sundays! Besides getting to worship my Lord, I get to dress Anna Kate in sweet dresses and bows! She loves it too! Just look how content she is!

She reminds me so much of Zeke, especially in this picture. I'll have to look through Zeke's newborn photos to post a comparison.
Zeke is showing us the gun show. He is so full of character! This turned in to a full photo session for him. This is just one of the great poses!

Boys Day Out

Zeke and I needed a little time away from the crying and pink pacifiers and diapers today. We
loaded up the car and went out to Frank's Marina on Lake Belton. I've been catching a lot of fish out there for the last couple of months so why not one more try? Zeke started catching fish almost immediately. And when I say catching I mean he was setting the hook and reeling them in and then slinging them over the rail. I have a few pictures for proof. He caught 12 crappie in the hour we were there and caught the only keeper. People there were asking how old he was and then gawked in amazement after I said he was three. Could he be the next Hank Parker or Bill Dance? Maybe. I'll let you decide.

Anna Kate's Journey

The Birthing Experience…. Part 1.

Contractions started this morning and were about 5-7 minutes apart with varying degrees of severity. To wait it out, I went to work and Emily went to school. I got a call about 8:30AM and drove pretty quick from Killeen to Belton to meet her at school. We finished packing and loaded the car and then called the hospital. The nurse in L&D told us to come on in. When they were checking Emily for Anna Kate’s heart rate, her heart rate dropped because of an extended contraction. The nurses and doctors came rushing to the rescue and gave her some turbutylene (sp?). After things normalized, we were admitted and went to the room. After a few checks and a couple of hours we decided to called for the anesthesiologist to come do the epidural. Dr. Bailey, an OB/Gyn resident came in and said she had done 40 or so and should be ok to do the epidural. After examining and prepping, she was having a bit of difficulty so she called Dr. Hoffer, the anesthesiologist on call. He was able to give a couple of pointers and Dr. Bailey got the epidural in without any issues. Shortly thereafter, Emily got really hot and started feeling nauseous. Her blood pressure dropped pretty low (80/40) and five or six nurses and doctors rushed in . They issued 20(?) of ephedrine to get her BP (and the baby’s) back up. Two minutes later everything was back to normal (as normal as it can be in a hospital). She is progressing nicely as of 3:40PM on May 2, 2008. I’m a nervous wreck but Debra is here and helping and Emily is drugged up so we are playing the waiting game.

Part 2……

Epidural was wearing off so we called for help. Resident Dr. Kyle McMorey(?) and Connie (a nurse, most likely an RN) came in. “Currently progressed to a -1 station from a -2 and between a 6 and a 7.” These docs and nurses are so nice. Eliana and Danya (our regular nurses since we have been here) have been great, coaching me along and trying to get me to relax. This will have to be my last child. It’s not that I don’t love kids. I just feel like my heart might explode if I had to go through this all again. I have been not so much a basket case but very much the watchful eye on baby monitors, heart rate monitors and the like. Emily’s TOCO readings are jumping in the 90s now so we could be nearing the pushing stage in the near hours, maybe hour. Kevin (Kevin Huddleston MD OB/GYN) our doc has had no sleep over the past few days and was on his way home when he got our call we were at the hospital. His wife is at home with some back trouble so he went to get nourishment for her (hopefully him) and maybe even a nap. We’ll see him soon enough. He’s delivered at least four babies in the past couple of days so I’m sure he is on top of his game with or without a nap. He always seems so darn cheery. If I had been on call all night and got called back, I can’t say I could even force a smile. He’s good.

Part 3……

Shift change @ 7PM. Still here. Baby’s not. Danya and Eliana are headed home and Linda Teague is here. She is taking over for the Darling Duo. We are in cruise control so she tells us.. Kevin is back and we are swapping honeymoon disaster stories. Cruise control indeed. Kevin killed a deer and put it in the back of a Plymouth Horizon. That beats my tow and slide story. Matt and Tina just got here. Still cruising. A quick check and we are prepping to push. It’s only a matter of time now. 7:20PM May 2, 2008

Part 4….

The pushing has started and Linda and Kevin are playing motivational football coaches. Push, you can do it! C’mon almost there! She’s sunny side up so we are prepping for a long term push. Zeke was the same (sunny side up). 9 pushes. About 10 minutes total. That’s all it took. We have a baby girl!!! Anna Kate joined us at 7:44PM on May 2, 2008. She weighed 6lbs 9oz and was 19 ¼ inches long. She appears healthy in all the tests they’ve checked and she’s doing great, as is Mommy at the time of this entry. She has just had her first bath and a video and photo session too! Kevin did a blessing just after she was born and we are truly blessed. Zeke is excited. He kept saying, “She popped out!” We will move rooms soon and I hope to get some sleep soon. I am the least tired here but that’s not saying much. I hope our clan and our docs and nurses all get that sweet sweet sleep after a long day.

Postscript: Additional people from Scott and White we would like to thank are Becky, Bobbi, Dr. Jeremy Gibson and many others we didn't get their names in some of the chaos. You have made a truly wonderful experience from many difficulties along the way. Thank you so much.

Changing Jobs and Obama or Not?

First off, I am officially done with retail on April 27th, 2008. My friend Greg told me 3 years ago I was making a mistake. While I don't view it as a mistake, there are few things I'll miss. I won't miss working 18 hours the day after Thanksgiving. I won't miss another birthday, anniversary or special occasion because I "have to". Going from a place where you are always worried about losing your job to one where you feel secure in building a career and feel the bosses are there for support and development is a great feeling. I've had more phone calls offering support and help since I took the job with Scott and White than I did in three years with Best Buy. My most recent GM was by far the best and I think he would share in my assessment of the job environment. As most people say, it's just retail. It's like that everywhere. And to that point, it could have been much worse. To those who haven't heard, I will be starting a manager training program at Scott and White on April 28th. After my training is complete, I will become a medical clinic director. Daunting, yeah a tad bit, but 10X more exciting than daunting. What it means is good benefits and greater benefits. Good as in medical, salary etc. Great as in I can reclaim title of daddy to my son and my soon arriving daughter. Dinner, yard work and weekends are terms I will become shortly reacquainted with. And the cherry on top of the sundae is being able to sing at church on Sundays. There is a huge buzz of excitement around here.

Obama. I can't figure this guy out. I want to like him. He has great ideas around education, social programs and others but a few of his bedfellows make me weary. He has ties to terrorists and anti-christians alike. In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district’s influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local[Hyde Park] left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
William Ayres from WIKI:

According to his memoir, Ayers became radicalized at the University of Michigan where he became involved in the New Left and the Students for a Democratic Society. Ayers joined the Weatherman group in 1969, but went underground with several associates after the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion in 1970, in which three members (Ted Gold, Terry Robbins, and Diana Oughton, who was Ayers's girlfriend at the time) were killed while constructing a nail bomb. While underground, he and fellow member Bernardine Dohrn married and had two children. They were purged from the group in the mid-1970s, and turned themselves in to the authorities in 1981. All charges against him were dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct during the long search for the fugitives. They later became legal guardians to the son of former Weathermen David Gilbert and Kathy Boudin, after his parents were arrested for their part in the Brinks Robbery of 1981.^[4]

In 2001, Ayers published Fugitive Days: A Memoir. Much of the controversy about him is connected with his interview with the New York Times about his book was published, by historical coincidence, on September 11, 2001,^[5] and opens with his statements, "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough." When asked he would "do it all again," Ayers replied, "I don't want to discount the possibility."^[4] Ayers wrote a Letter to the Editor of the New York Times on September 15, describing the interview as: "This is not a question of being misunderstood or 'taken out of context', but of deliberate distortion."^[6] He has explained multiple times that by "no regrets" he meant that he didn't regret his efforts to oppose the Vietnam War, and that "we didn't do enough" meant that efforts to stop the war were obviously inadequate as it dragged on for a decade; the two statements were not intended to elide into a wish they had set more bombs.^[7][8] The interview also mentions what he wrote in his book regarding Emile de Antonio's 1976 documentary film Underground, about the Weathermen: "[Ayres] was 'embarrassed by the arrogance, the solipsism, the absolute certainty that we and we alone knew the way. The rigidity and the narcissism."

So now the question is posed: Does an association and almost friendliness in some views trump all the good ideas for change?

Fishing, Papa Jim and More Pictures

We went to Sweetwater this passed weekend to see Papa Jim as well as all the other kinfolk but mainly Papa Jim. He hasn't been doing well lately and has been in the hospital quite a bit. I hadn't seen him in a while and needed to go so we went. It was funny to me how you could see through all the pain he's in and that quick witted sense of humor was still ready to pounce. He looked tired and I am sure with all the company was having to muster a lot of strength just to see us all. It was good to see him. It brought back a lot of memories for me growing up. At the Welding Shop growing up in Sweetwater I would have to work for him sweeping and then in the afternoon would get to go with him for a coffee break. I was probably 10 or 12 at the time so I would try to earn a Dr. Pepper or Hot Chocolate if I wanted it to be more like coffee. I remember one day I didn't want to sweep. I just wanted the reward. He explained to me that if you don't work you don't get the rewards. It seems a simple lesson and it didn't necessarily hit home immediately but it's a lesson that I try to live by now and have for some time. All of us have our lazy moments but if you're gonna be lazy, don't expect to be rewarded for it. I have a few 20 somethings that could use a lesson in sweeping.

Papa Jim asked how I was and I told him I was doing good. Told him about my work towards opening a deli and he responded with a comment only one of my granddads could have said. He said, " You need some sun. You should go fishing." My legacy preceded me. Its like he could stare right through me a tell me what I needed. I had plans to go on Monday but Emily and I talked about it and when we got home Sunday afternoon, we took a family trip to the lake. We caught several bass. It was getting close to time to go a Zeke said, " Dad try this one (handing me a minnow). Catch a big one." About two minutes later we caught the largest small mouth I have ever caught. Below are a few of those pictures from Sunday and a few more from Monday and coming soon a short video of Zeke trying to cast my surf rod.

trying to blog

I don't know why I can so easily get sucked in to reading other people's blogs. It is sad really. I read about the lives of strangers or people I just barely knew in college. It is sad, I tell you. Even more sad than that is that I so seldom write about my own life. Probably because I am afraid that someone might actually read it and my lack of written expression will be known. So, I am going to start to write more and think of it as keeping a journal of what the Payne's are up to- more for me than the five folks that read this bolg.
Zeke told me the other day not to call him baby anymore. What? He obviously doesn't get it. He told me he wasn't a baby and that I could call him babe (like Dadd), but not baby. I think that merits a good cry. He is growing up way too fast. He is so protective of Anna Kate (aka Rocco) already. He tells me that he will keep her from being scared if there is something he thinks is scary in a movie. He'll come over to my tummy and say, "it's okay, Rocco. It's just pretend." SO sweet. One of my favorite things right now is his singing. He loves to sing and make up songs. What is really funny is that he always thinks I know the song he is making up. He'll ask me if I remmeber the song about the tree, monkey, sun, whatever! I'll say that I don't, but he'll inform me that I do know the song and insist that we sing together. It is truly wonderful.

Staying Busy

Life continues to be hectic around here. Between doctor's appointments, work for both of us and keeping Zeke going, not a whole lot of time for other things. Our little girl will be here on May 3rd. We've decided to call her Anna Kate. And we'll use both names. I'm still a little nervous but just like with Zeke, as I get closer I get a little less nervous and a little more excited. If you have a chance, I've been doing a few cover songs ( mostly country) on YouTube which are shown on the side of the page. Just click on one of the videos to here them or to go to the YouTube page. I do apologize in advance for the guitar playing , it's not quite Grand Ole Opry ready but it's not like I'm getting paid. If you have any requests just comment here or there and I'll try to get them up pretty quick. Hope to see you all soon!