HIGHS & lows of Life

I has been an interesting couple of weeks.

Had my normal 4 month visit with my Nephrologist… everything is great with my kidney, blood levels wonderful, off all blood pressure meds, in other words GREAT! I have a great Doctor who has a fantastic bedside manor and keeps the patient as his focus, that is why we also had one of those discussions that can bring you spiraling from the clouds, about the things we need to start watching for since I’ll soon be seven years transplanted… not exactly a happy list. Since my transplant, the first daily task that I carry forward each day, is Everyday Is A Gift, so I pause at least once a day to remember the gift I received and to remember how fortunate I am, in so many ways.

Received an invitation to participate as a panelist at a Bluegrass Net Impact Chapter meeting to share ideas with their members about my work in environmental sustainability. A great time. Always honored and surprised to be asked to help with these kind of events. One of my panelist counter parts is working hard to drive environmental sustainability into hospital operations… now I’ve been asked to speak at a hospital seminar on the triple bottom line of environmental sustainability… if you’d have told me that I’d be doing things like this ten years ago, I would have offered directions to the nearest asylum.

We’ve been in a state of change at work for… what seems like forever. My peer team and our dynamics have changed a couple of times along with new responsibilities over the last five years or so. Some job’s were recently eliminated in our area… very hard to see close friends who’ve been with the company for many years, too young to retire, looking for employment in a tight market, with an abundance of new, young, highly degreed twenty something’s, already in line. All departments in the company are under scrutiny through a “non-core” microscope. Outsourcing is alive and well, much like a pendulum, the concept comes and goes.

I have a very good friend that I originally hired in 1990, who accepted the Chief Engineers positions when I moved on, he’s about my age. A hard worker, a story teller who can always find a tale to tell that will have you laughing, making your day lighter, dedicated to a fault… you get the picture, and if you’re fortunate you have one in your life. My good friend was diagnosed with cancer. He has been fighting hard… he has been positive… the cancer has spread. I found a quiet place by a lake the other day and found myself silently wishing my friend courage and peace.