TRAGEDY STRIKES HOME

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One thinks a gun tragedy will not occur where they live. Not us…..who would shoot any one around here.

It happens!

It happened yesterday 15 miles from my hometown, Utica, NY.

Herkimer is a small village 15 miles east of Utica. I have many friends living in the Herkimer area. I tried many lawsuits in Supreme Court there.

Yesterday, four persons were shot and killed. The assailant is hold up in a deserted building in Herkimer.

What will never happen, happened.

Juice is no longer Juice. He is now Jake. The family decided to change his name.

I met Jake for the first time yesterday. A quiet little dog. A terrier mixed breed. He sniffed me. I petted him. Gave him a treat.

Robert and Ally were home. No school in the afternoon. They were all over Jake.

The person who appears most enamoured with Jake was Lisa. She is like a mother with a new baby.

Lisa just telephoned. Jake did bad. He pooped and peed in the house. Her words were very tolerant. Jake has it made!

We have a new Pope. I will discuss Pope Francis in my TV/internet show tomorrow morning.

He appears to be a good man. He also carries a negative from my perspective. He was and is a Jesuit. A tough, adamant, fearless order of priests. They are doctrinaire. I fear things like birth control will not change while Francis is Pope.

The fact the new Pop took the name Francis is significant. St. Francis of Assisi gave his fortune away. He then dedicated his life to helping the poor. Uplifting the poor I suspect will be Pope Francis’ legacy.

I spent the afternoon working on tomorrow’s show. No where near done yet. And I have a busy day before me. Haircut at 10 and babysitting at noon. I question whether I will make bocce tonight.

Tomorrow’s show is at 10 in the morning my time. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Available via television from Key West through Miami-Dade County on Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. Available world wide via the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

Join me.

In addition to further comment re the new Pope, I will be discussing usury from the Catholic Church’s perspective. I had been planning the usury discussion all week. The election of a new Pope is coincidental.

The Chart Rooom first last night. Lovely Emily tending bar. Peter there, as usual. I was supposed to meet Gordon and Charles. No Gordon and Charles. Instead a business card saying they could not make it. Sad. Perhaps next week.

I chatted with two ladies at the bar. Betty and Carolyn. Enjoying Key West for a few days.

Betty is from Fort Myers, Carolyn Taverna. Betty is a retired dental hygenist with a husband back in Fort Myers. Carolyn single. However, she was quick to point out she has a dog.

Two lovely women. Enjoyed my time with them.

I had dinner at Tavern ‘N Town with Dee. I hit 30 pounds lost yesterday. Decided to celebrate. Enjoyed a prime rib. The scale this morning tells me I should not have.

It is Lori and me at 10 for a haircut. Then I am babysitting Robert and All for a couple of hours at noon.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

NEW FAMILY MEMBER

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This is sort of a birth announcement.

The family has a dog. Robert and Ally have adopted a terrier mix from the dog pound. His name is Juice. He is 9-12 months old. He came home with them last night.

Ally is excited. Off the wall excited. Loves animals. Always hugging dogs. Robert enthused, but no where as much as Ally.

Lisa tells me Juice made it OK through his first night. He even walked with the grandkids to school today.

I get to meet Juice later this morning. I am looking forward to it.

Spent my day time yesterday researching and writing.

Last night was my blog talk radio show. Tuesday Talk With Key West Lou.

The big topic was the hatred that exists regarding Obama.

It was followed up with a bank laundering scheme involving $200 trillion. The federal government caught the bank. The bank is HSBC. No formal indictment brought. The bank negotiated a good deal for itself with the government. A $1.9 billion fine and no charges or jail time for any bank official.

Another interesting topic involved a recent federal grant for a study. The grant was $1.5 million. The study is to determine why 75 per cent of lesbians are fat and gay men are not. There is a claimed concern for lesbian obesity.

Interesting topics. The Obama thing speaks for itself. The HSBC money laundering scheme presents more of the old. The banks that were too big to fail are apparently too big to prosecute. The lesbian obesity v. gay male study a waste of taxpayer dollars in a tight economy. In any economy, for that matter.

Such is life!

This week’s radio show behind me, I am now working on friday’s TV/internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Join me friday morning, if you have the time.

The Big East Tournament started yesterday at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Syracuse plays at 2 today against Seton Hall. A non-consequential game from my perspective. I shall not be watching. I do not have the time this afternoon.

How one’s world changes! For years, I would spend anywhere from 3 to 5 days in New York City attending the Big East Tournament. Rarely missed a year. The games, the partying, all big time! My new world involves none of that. For almost 10 years. The surprising thing is I do not miss it. Key West is my new life.

Enjoy your day!

 

BLOG TALK RADIO TONIGHT!

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Tuesday again!

My blog talk radio show this evening. Tuesday Talk With Key West Lou. Nine o’clock. Join me. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Opening topic for discussion will be reasons why Obama is hated by so many. Should be interesting! Add jobs and Syracuse basketball and anything else you might like to discuss. A fast moving half hour.

Yesterday, the dentist. Again. Hopefully for the last time. Everything appears to be A-OK. My fingers are crossed.

Visited Lisa for a bit.

Last night the Chart Room. Peter and me. Peter is an intelligent man. I enjoyed our conversation.

A couple was in from Muskegon, Michigan. Ann and Jim. Nice people. I chatted quite a bit with Ann. We are contemporaries age wise. We talked about the Catholic Church, birth control and related issues.

Jim has an interesting business. He makes prescription dirt. You read it correctly. Prescription dirt. He sells it to golf courses and athletic fields. I never knew there was such a thing. There is something new to learn every day.

Ann and Jim have been regular vacationers to Key West for 20 years. They obviously like Key West. In recent years, they have been staying at Papa’s Hideaway on Louisa Street. I never heard of it. Must check it out.

Clayton stopped in. Proprietor with his wife Valerie of Vinos. Vinos is on Duval Street. Right in the middle. A great wine bar. Friendly people. Use the bathroom if you stop in. The best in Key West!

The vote for a new Pope has started. Several hours ago. Italy is ahead of us time wise. Who will it be? I doubt another Italian or European. Could be an American or Canadian. In my opinion, the new Pope should be a man of color. Significant portions of Africa and Central/South America are Catholic. Practicing Catholics. Not Catholics in name only. Perhaps such a man can reignite the Catholic fervor that once existed.

Again, please listen in on your computer tonight to my blog talk radio show. Nine sharp. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

If you opt to call in and talk with me, you can do so either before or during the show itself. You may want to call in 5-10 minutes prior to show time. You will be placed on a list in the order your call is received. I then make you live during the show.

Enjoy your day!

YESTERDAY A BANQUET

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Auntie Mame said…..Live! Life’s a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!

I had a banquet day yesterday. No hell raising and drinking. I spent the day with family. Lisa, Corey and the grandkids.

I joined them at the new Oz movie.

Robert insisted he had to sit next to me. I was pleased.

The movie was not a remake of the old one. No Dorothy and no Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It kept touch with the old but was a new tale all together.

I did not enjoy the first part. Fell asleep. Robert had to wake me. The second half I have to admit was exciting.

The movie is done in 3D. I had only seen one 3D movie prior to yesterday. The House of Wax back in 1953. I was a senior in high school at the time. Today’s 3D is much better and far more advanced than what I saw back then. As it should be.

The movie I saw in 1953 starred Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Phyllis Kirk and Carolyn Jones.

Charles Bronson had a part. He was Igor. Igor was comparable to the guy that ate flies in the Dracula movies. Charles Bronson was not Charles Bronson at the time. He had not yet achieved stardom. He was listed in the credits as Charles Buchinsky.

Carolyn Jones later achieved big time notoriety starring in TV’s The Addams Family which had a long television run.

Frank Lovejoy was a dramatic actor. Primarily a second banana, he did star in several movies.

I met Frank Lovejoy two days before he died. It was 1962. I was a young lawyer. Twenty seven. I was in New York City on business. It started to rain. I ducked into the Hotel Warwick to get out of the rain.

The Warwick was a hotel that theatrical people frequented.

The bar was small. I entered. Seated at the far end of the tinyl bar was Frank Lovejoy. I recognized him immediately. We sat and talked for an hour. A nice guy. Soft spoken.

I read in the newspaper three days later that Frank Lovejoy had died the night before of a heart attack.

It was ice cream time after the movie! Robert and Ally both wanted a Mr. Softee. A new place near the theater. Robert, Ally and I had cones of soft chocolate. Corey and Lisa wanted nothing.

Then it was back to Lisa’s for the day. We had done the one o’clock show. It was now around 3:30.  Read the Sunday newspapers, watched Tiger, and fell asleep while doing so.

Dinner was outstanding. As usual.

On the way home, I stopped at Publix. Needed food again. It is not that I eat that much. It is that I do not buy enough.

I pulled into a check out counter and was surprised. An old friend was waiting in front of me. Dottie. We had not seen each other in at least six months. I enjoyed talking with her.

Tomorrow is Tuesday. Tuesday evening is my blog talk radio show. Available only on the internet. At 9 in the evening. One half hour long. Discuss current events. Listeners can call in. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou. Join me. I guarantee you will enjoy.

Topics being discussed will include why I believe Obama is hated by so many. An interesting item.

My big thing for today is the dentist. Will it ever end?

Enjoy your day!

GLORY OF CUBA

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The loss of an hour will bother me for a few days…..such is my nature!

Key West’s daily local newspaper is the Key West Citizen. It regularly prints on page 2 Today in Key West History. Yesterday, it mentioned that in 1896 Juana Borrero Pierra, poetess, Cuban patriot and painter, died in Key West at the age of 18.

My curiosity was aroused. Eighteen? I had never heard of her.

I did some research. Her story is a must to be told.

Juana was Cuban by birth. A writer. A poet. She wrote her first poem at 4. Her first published poem was at 14 in the literary magazine La Habana.

Cubans had desired independence from Spain for years. Minor rebellions would start up and stop. In 1895, Cuban rebels were on the move once again. The fight for independence was reignited.

Juana and her family had to leave Cuba immediately following the failure of the insurgency. They were part of the rebel group.

They fled to Key West.

Juana wrote five volumes of poems. One poem was Los Proscriptos. The poem described her last night in Cuba. Most of her other poems described the pain and loneliness of exile.

Juana’s works became popular with Cuban exiles in the late 1950s and early 1960s who were forced to flee Castro’s Cuba.

Juana died of typhoid fever at the age of 18. She was buried in the Key West Cemetery. Her final resting place became lost, so to speak. It could not be recalled specifically where within the cemetery she was buried. Her place of rest was finally discovered in 1972. Her remains were exhumed and buried in a special vault. The caption on the vault reads Glory of Cuba.

As mentioned yesterday, the reaction to my TV/internet show as to why Obama is so hated were well received. I wrote my thoughts up for publication in next week’s KONK Life. Yesterday people were still talking to me about my Obama dissertation. I decided therefore to publish next week’s KONK Life article immediately on Amazon Kindle. Which I did.

Syracuse lost again! Decimated by Georgetown! By around 20 points.

The second half was especially discouraging. Georgetown made Syracuse look like it had never played the game before yesterday.

I have been saying off and on this season, that Syracuse was not the same quality team as in previous years. I am sorry to say it appears I was correct. I hope I am made to look like an ass and Syracuse wins the Final Four!

Georgetown looked great! Like a #1 seed for March Madness.

There was a touching moment at the end of the game. John Thompson, Jr. sought out and found Jim Boeheim. They embraced. Better said, Big John engulfed little Jim in a bear hug!

Two giants who were there at the beginning of the Big East more than thirty years ago. The end of an era that these two greats helped make successful.

The word has always been that Thompson and Boeheim disliked each other. Vehemently. Not yesterday. If animosity existed, it was wiped away by that embrace and the look on their faces. Two old war horses who had been there and done it.

I watched the game at the Big Ten Sports Pub. I arrived just as the game was to start. Two men were sitting near the door. One asked if I was Key West Lou. They were Gordon from Cape Cod and Charles from Oregon.

Gordon told me he reads my blog every day. He and Charles had come to the Sports Pub to meet me. An honor. I was a bit impolite, however. The game was starting. I said my hellos and thank yous and went to a chair at the bar to watch the game.

I figured I would spend half time with them. It never happened. They left soon after we had our brief conversation.

I would like to sit and chat with Gordon and Charles a bit. Share a drink or two. They are visiting Key West for a month. I am sure Gordon is reading the blog this morning. Gordon, please stop by the Chart Room and visit with me. I am generally there every evening from 5:30 to 7, except thursday when I play bocce. I will not be there tonight, however, I am having sunday dinner with Lisa and the family.

My car was parked in the lot next to the Big Ten Sports Pub. When I left after the game, I noticed five roosters nearby running around and under a pick up truck. Only roosters. No hens. I thought this strange. Roosters are always seen cock a doddling and chasing after hens. The thought occurred…..these roosters must be gay!

I am going to the movies this afternoon. Playing grandfather. There is a remake of the Wizard of Oz. I am going with Robert and Ally and Lisa and Corey.

Enjoy your sunday!

SPRING BREAKERS

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It is that time of the year. Spring break time.

They are here from all over the country. Appear to be good young people. Respectful. In Key West to enjoy the freedom of being at a place distant from home and school.

Two observations.

If the young ladies wore shorts any shorter, they would be wearing nothing! Absolutely amazing! So short! Skin tight besides. I do not know how they get into them.

The other observation is I am not sure where they sleep. As I drove through Key West yesterday, most guest houses had Vacancy signs posted. Even the cheap ones. The recession must be affecting the young. I suspect they are sleeping on the beach and in cars.

I ran into a group from Georgetown again last night. I was enjoying some fish at the Southernmost Beach Cafe. A group from Georgetown were in. We chatted. I told them I was a Syracuse grad. An instantaneous dislike for me arose. Only joking!

Today is the big game! Syracuse v. Georgetown. At Georgetown. At high noon. I shall be watching the game at the Big Ten Sports Pub. I am confident a group from Georgetown will be there. A fun time for sure!

Georgetown is favored by 2-4 points. I see the game as a toss up. Syracuse could win. If so, Syracuse will have a double bye in next week’s Big East tournament and a better seeding in March Madness which is just around the corner.

The Key West Lou Legal Hour went well yesterday morning. One of the topics involved an analysis as to why Obama is so hated. I blamed the situation on his color and corporate America wanting  him replaced with a Republican.

The post show comments were overwhelming. The topic hit a sore sport in everyone’s psyche. I was moved by the interest. I had to write next week’s column for KONK Life in the afternoon. I decided to go with the Obama issue in the column. Read it if you have the opportunity. I spell out my position in detail.

You tubing has been a problem for the TV/internet show. I have not been You tubed for several weeks. Krystal and I discussed the situation. Hopefully, I will be back on starting next friday.

My evening began with the Chart Room. Surprisingly quiet. Sheila, David and Emily present.

Emily makes the best popcorn. One of the responsibilities of the bartender. I sometimes wonder whether it is the popcorn or company that draws me to the Chart Room.

There was supposed to be a comet flying across the sky 15 minutes after sunset. Supposedly in the western sky. I walked to the back of the Pier House. I looked. I waited. Stayed 20 minutes. Saw no comet. Gave up.

My next stop was Don’s Place. The early friday night group included Don, Stephanie, and David. Stayed a while and chatted.

I already stated I ate at the Southernnmost Beachside Cafe and argued Syracuse/Georgetown basketball with my new found Georgetown friends.

Three hours from now, the dramatic moment. The start of one of the biggest basketball games of the year!

Enjoy your day!

 

 

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

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Friday again! Time for my TV/internet show. The Key West Lou Legal Hour. Ten this morning my time.

I was going to open with my thoughts on why many hate Obama. I have moved that topic to #2. The opening topic will involve International Women’s Day. Which is today.

Key West has a very limited need at best for such a holiday. Everyone is equal in Key West. A recent study named the four places in America where women earned more than men. Key West was one of them.

The celebration of the holiday in Europe and Asia is interesting. The history of the day likewise.

You can enjoy Louis’ comments regarding International Women’s Day and many other topics by viewing Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19. Television viewing available from Key West northward through Miami-Dade County. The show is also available worldwide via the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

It was Hogfish for lunch yesterday. I was playing bocce in the evening. When I play, there is no time for dinner. I try to have a larger lunch than normal to compensate.

Debra was hosting. We have become friends. She has worked in television and radio. A very knowledgable person.

It was cool even at lunch time. Hogfish had their overhead heaters on.

Bocce!

First time I played this season. I did good and bad.

We lost the first game decisively. We were behind in the second 14-6. Ended up losing 16-14. We had a run! I believe I blew the opportunity to win with my first shot at the end. I threw an Alice. I was way short.

I left early. I do not know the result of the last game.

Frankie played. First time since his big time heart surgery. He was my partner in the second game.

Frankie is a bit thin. He could use another 20 pounds. He appeared energetic. I worried about him. He was chasing the balls, bending over to pick them up, blasting, and so forth. I told him I would do it. He did it for me back when I was having heart problems. Frankie said no. There was nothing I could do.

My dear friend Pati came over to say hello and chastise me. She is more my liberal than I. Way to the left. She disagreed with recent environmental comments I have made. She will be on me for the next month!

I am going to have a be good to Louis day. After the show, a manicure and pedicure with Tammy! I sometimes think I should have been a woman. Women’s bodies get better attention than a man’s.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

BABE RUTH, JOE DI MAGGIO AND PAUL MC CARTNEY

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An interesting and lively TV/internet show tomorrow morning. How can in not be if the topics include the likes of Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Paul McCartney!

The Key West Lou Legal Hour will start with my thoughts as to why many Americans dislike/hate President Obama. In addition to other topics previously mentioned this week, I will touch on Maryland being in the process of abolishing the death penalty, how a 1/4 ounce bat has stopped a major highway construction project, the IRS, first US Marine troops in Vietnam, and Italy’s Berlusconi being convicted yesterday of illegal publication of a wiretap.

Join me for a fast moving and informative hour.

The show is available via television on Comcast Channel 87 and U-Verse Channel 19 from Key West through all of Miami-Dade County. It is available worldwide via the internet. www.tvchannel19.com.

Ten in the morning my time.

I spent the first part of my yesterday working on tomorrow’s show. I was tired afterwards. I lay down on the bed for a few minutes. Woke three hours later. Guess I was tired!

The Chart Room early last night. Around 5. Me, Peter, and Emily. I had time for one drink only. Syracuse basketball awaited.

I mentioned to Peter I saw a gigantic black helicopter with all kinds of guns set down at the Key West Airport the day before. Peter said he had seen several from his perch at Fort Zachery Taylor beach where he spends his days.

While the conversation was going on, I was leafing through the Key West Citizen. Low and behold, there was a picture of one of the helicopters and an accompanying short story. Marine helicopters. Six of them. In Key West for training exercises.

Peter mentioned that at the same time he saw the helicopters, there were what he thought were Navy Seals at the Fort Zach beach. Running up and down the beach doing early morning exercises. He also viewed many rubber rafts just off shore occupied by what he thought were Navy Seals.

I hurried over to the Big Ten Sports Pub. Syracuse and De Paul playing. The game was at 6. I have never watched a Syracuse game at that time. When the mighty fall, all sorts of embarassments are heaped upon them!

Syracuse easily won. About time. Three straight losses leading up to last night’s game. There is only one game left in the regular Big East season for Syracuse. Georgetown on saturday. A must win for Syracuse. To avenge the drubbing two weeks ago and place Syracuse in position for a better seeding in the big tournament to come. March Madness in two weeks!

It is spring break time. About a dozen Georgetown students came in to watch Georgetown play. Georgetown was playing at 7. Most were young ladies. They must have arrived yesterday. All were pale.

They were anxious for Syracuse to lose to De Paul and then to Georgetown again on saturday. They consider Syracuse Georgetown’s #1 rival. Correct they were. Syracuse considers Georgetown in a similar vein.

I stopped at Don’s Place on the way home.

For those of you who are Larry Smith fans, his Dad died yesterday. Larry and Christine are off to Pennsylvania this morning to be with family.

I am beginning to get tired of the cold weather. Another cold front came in around 2 in the afternoon. The temperature dropped in minutes from 75 to 65 degrees. Got down to 61 during the evening. I turned on the heat. Today will be in the mid 60s.

This type cold weather should have been experienced by Key West in December and January. It did not. March is supposed to be sunshine all the time.

Bocce tonight. The Weather Channel says it will be 60 degrees while we are playing. The bocce courts are situated 300 feet off the Atlantic. The cold ocean breeze will add a chill factor.

I know. I should not complain. No one is playing bocce up north.

Enjoy your day!

TUESDAY TALK WITH KEY WEST LOU

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Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou is my blog talk radio show. Tuesday at 9 on the internet.

I did the blog talk radio show last night. That is not what I wish to share.

Statistics are maintained by some one out in the internet world or by the site itself. I receive weekly stats regarding my tuesday night talk show.

The numbers received yesterday blew my mind! Just under 1,800 people listened to the show last week! A WOW!

I have been doing the show 6-7 weeks. The first week I had an audience of 8. In less than two months, that audience has increased to almost 1,800. Dramatic!

The show is received two ways. The show can be listened to live on tuesday evening. It is also archived, if that is the correct word. It is thereafter run for seven consecutive days 2-4 times a day on several different sites. With a click of the button, a person can hear the show whenever they want.

Most of my listeners are from the archived repeat show.

I thank each one of you. Whether on tuesday at 9 or during the week. I was becoming disillusioned with the early numbers. I am reenergized.

My yesterday began with the dentist. Again. I think we have it, however. One more visit should do it. I know, I keep saying it. It has been roughly two years since I started the process. I cannot wait for it to end.

Then another father/daughter sit down with Lisa.

The weather turned yesterday. Warm. Back to shorts and a tee shirt. I walked a bit. The hot sun felt good. I sat by the pool in the sun for an hour reading. I am still trying to get through the Ulysses Grant book. Lengthwise, it reminds me of War and Peace.

I was wide awake after the blog talk radio show last night. I stayed up till midnight working on my friday TV/internet show, the Key West Lou Legal Hour. Came up with goodies like Tehran and its rat problem (comparable to South Florida’s python problem), UN members  drunk at budget meetings, certain toilet paper religiously offensive, and Budweiser’s answer to the claim it has been watering its beer.

Syracuse basketball tonight. De Paul. At 6. I anticipate Syracuse will win. I hope. I do not know any more. I will be at the Big Ten Sports Pub watching.

Some things happen fortuitously. Some coincidentally. Yesterday, I wrote regarding Medicare and hospital cleanliness. Too many nasty bugs in hospitals attacking patients.

This morning, one of the major news items involves hospital cleanliness.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced/warned of a new superbug. An untreatable bacteria. A nightmare bacteria. Resilient to most antibiotics. The bacteria has a high mortality rate.

The short name for the bacteria is CRE.

CRE is an infection which occurs post admission.

So far CRE has only been detected in hospitals and nursing homes. Nowhere outside these two facilities.

Terri White! My Terri White! Reborn in Key West. Terri is doing a performance at San Francisco’s premier night club, Live at the Razz. The show is March 13. Readers and friends in the San Francisco/Bay area, catch her show. She is the best!

Enjoy your day!

 

NOSOCOMIAL

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It’s a word! For real! Refers to an infection acquired in a hospital setting. A post admission complication or problem. The hospital is regarded as at fault.

Permit me to share how I learned about  nosocomial.

Charles Kurault was a famous television commentator and writer. He is now dead. Kurault visited Key West frequently. He was especially fond of Schooner Wharf. He claimed it was the center of the universe.

I do not wish to beconsidered a copy cat. However, that is how I feel about the Chart Room. It is the center of universe. I meet everyone from everywhere. In the process, I learn much from them.

Last night, I met Bill and Kati from Skaneateles. A small upstate New York community sitting on one of the Finger Lakes. Bill is involved in business in some fashion. Kati a nurse.

Kati is a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Syracuse. My son was born there in 1959.

Kati does not work as a nurse per se. Her responsibility has to do with hospital acquired infections and their prevention. Along the way, she mentioned Medicare a couple of times. My curiosity was piqued.

The internet is my world. This morning I looked up hospital acquired infections. That is where I first became aware of the term nosocomial. Sounds like it might have come out of the Chart Room after several drinks. It did not.

My Kati inspired research indicated the following.

Everything is about money.

Several years ago Medicare said it would no longer pay for infections acquired in a hospital setting after admission. Things like a staph infection. Medicare’s position was that the problem was hospital caused and the hospital should bear responsibility. Not quite true, but that is how Medicare viewed the situation.

Nor could the hospital charge the patient. The hospital was and is required to eat the charges. What Medicare was actually saying was that the hospitals should keep themselves clean.

Most insurance companies have adopted Medicare’s position.

After doing the digging reflected, I was better able to understand Kati’s job and the necessity for such a position.

The type of infections not payable include urinary tract infections, surgical site infections, bloodstream problems and pneumonia.

Is the Medicare inspired program working? Are hospitals overcoming the problem? It was thought by affecting the hospitals’ pocket books, they would clean up their act.

Hospitals are putting out the effort. The results are not there, however.

A recent New England Journal of Medicine article indicated that non payment had no measurable effect on infection rates in hospitals.

So much for nosocomial.

See what came out of my meeting with Kati at the Chart Room last night!

Enjoy your day! I am not certain of mine. I start with the dentist.