nobf in the the heartland

saw underworld 2 today. underwhelming. however, kate beckinsdale kicked a lot ass.

so i can now round out my list of future baby names (not that there is a need for these any time soon):

for the dudes:

• neo
• luke
• anakin

for the chicks:

• trinity
• leia
• selene

mrs wintermute says no way. but i figure if just call the kid by my preferred name long enough, he or she will start to answer to it.

how is it that the best western (where we bunked in sedona last night) had free wireless but the four-star golf resort westin kierland (where my sales conference is this week) does not?

big up to nobf. she's enjoying america's heartland (for the first time, i believe?) this week. i got a nice voicemail from her today from wilmington ohio. she shared that she had just heard a skyline chili commercial. it's so good that just hearing about it makes my hands shake.

fringe benefits

being a salesman for fender has nice fringe benefits

photostream from sedona

love free wireless at the best western sedona.

got the whole photo stream from sedona.

some nice pics.

click here.

caption contest

would love to have some suggestions for this pic's caption:

sedona

the methaphysical buddhist healers have not yet over run sedona.

great hike at soldiers pass.

mpg at the trail head

good quote from regi

a prof of mine has a pretty good quote in the nytimes today (article here, requires log in) regarding the hype around health care savings plans:

Regina E. Herzlinger, a professor at Harvard Business School, said: "Insuring the uninsured is a fine objective, but how will this control the health costs that are hobbling our global competitiveness? Health savings accounts will increase coverage, and that's great. But they are being touted as a way to control costs, and I very much doubt that claim."

am headed to sedona today to hang with hippies and b list movie starts...but this topic is worth blogging more about later. bottom line, i think the two sides are talking past each other on the issue. dems focus on coverage and repubs focus on costs/delivery efficiency. both are key, and are not mutually exclusive. a market-based system will indeed help control costs, but it will not change the 45mm folks who lack coverage. the dems fuck themselves by advocating universal coverage as a way to control costs. it's not. it is a way to address the moral issue of people bankrupting themselves or choosing between food and their prescription. universal coverage gets to the emotional argument--it's a great populist argument.

the repubs fuck themselves by ignoring the call for better coverage and addressing how the sysstem supplies product to meet demand. it's a great business solution but comes across as morally bankrupt b/c they never talk about how/when they'll address the coverage issue.

is it really that hard to see that we need both solutions? as long as we keep confusing the issue, we're not going to get very far.

day 2 in phoenix

crashed hard last night. mpg flew in and then we hit cheba hut. tasted good, but i think it would have tasted better with an appetizer of the good stuff.

then hit south mountain. beautiful views.

the phoenix valley

guess what the theme is here?

this passes for a forest out here

my bro + mgp

pretty cool compass of the valley

the importance of the 3/4 time signature

[i'm reposting this b/c i originally wrote late last night and left a bunch of stuff out]

just got home to my bro's phat bachelor pad from the cake show. he shares a house with the guitarist in his band, and it houses their music studio. tons of music equipment, band posters, and maxim calendars. flippin' sweet.

cake rocked the hizouse. the celebrity theater is such an intimate setting--it's built in the round, with the stage in the middle, and seats about 2,500 people. we somehow snagged spots (it was general admission) near the sound board, 30 feet from the stage, almost dead center.

as we walk in, i notice a sign stating 'no cameras.' many arenas post this sign but really mean no videotaping and no professional grade cameras. point and click and cell phones are ok. but the bitch at the turnstile says i can give her my batteries or take it back to the car. fuck (yeah yeah, i know she's just doing her job). she claims that while they were not making people leave their cell phones behind, they would kick anyone out caught using them to take pics.

so no pics from what would have have been a sweet place to get some. some people just don't get it. take pictures and sharing them with friends is a *major* part of the concert going experience for many folks (like me). i was seriously bummed.

tegan and sara opened the show. two sisters from calgary with cool shag haircuts. big lesbian following, even though they are apparantly not. kind of like the indigo girls without the rug licking or the whiny G-C-D-Dsus4 chord progressions. pretty good songs, nice voices, but the songs started to sound the same after four cuts. all 14 canadians who live in the greater phoenix area were there to voice their support. btw, while we're the topic, man oh man, the liberals really must have fucked themselves to allow the people's republic of canadeeya to elect a conservative prime minister. he doesn't actually sound all that bad to me (but then again, i think canada could learn a few things from the states, while we could learn some things from them), but if gets gee-dub's support, that worries me.

ok, back to the show.

cake was perfect for the setting. they play really, really slowly and really, really quietly but somehow still rock.

john mccrea IS cake. he fired all of the members of the original band a few years ago and seemingly replaced them with four guys from a georgia perimeter college. but you would never know the difference, b/c 1) they're great musicians 2) mccrea owns the stage. the band is really just an extension of his personality. in fact, his on-stage banter sounds just like the song lyrics, in word choice and intonation. it's weird. mccrea is really detached, at one point telling the audience members who were yelling out song requests (my paraphrasing), "this isn't about you, it's about us. we're going to pick the songs." however, he does an amazing job of engaging the audience. the whole crowd was singing harmonies on three separate songs, and sang along with the words to the hits. the fine folks of phoenix have some nice voices. not many people can lament to the audience about the significance of the disappearance of the 3/4 time signature from pop music and still be likable.

cake is one of those bands, like weezer, that makes no pretense about what its best songs are--i think they appreciate that if their fans like a song, then it's worth playing. although the latest cake album is solid, they played only one song off it; they played a shit ton of songs from fashion nugget (the classic that put them on the map). i think they get away with it easier b/c they just got out of their major label contract with columbia. maccrea commented, "don't expect to hear our songs on the radio, tv or movies anytime soon, or ever" (my paraphrasing).

they played all the hits and then some. only missing song that i would have liked to hear was 'rick james.' opening the show with 'i will survive' and 'frank sinatra' showed where the band's heart is--fashion nugget. 'short skirt/long jacket' and 'the distance' showed up in encore.

cake tonight

got a phat weekend lined up. flying out to phoenix this afternoon to see my bro. mpg happens to be in omaha for a med school interview (at creighton u.) and will join us saturday morning. treking out to sedona for the rest of the weekend and chilling on monday.

then have a work conference (the reason i'm getting to out there) through wed.

my bro hooked up seats to see cake in concert tonight at the celebrity theater. for my $ (and it isn't, b/c he got the tix for free), fashion nugget was by far their best album.

i can't find a recent set list anywhere, so here's one from last may, courtesy bullz-eye:

Sheep Go To Heaven
Frank Sinatra
Ruby Sees All
Wheels
Stickshifts & Safetybelts
No Phone
Satan Is My Motor
Mexico
Rock & Roll Lifestyle
Comfort Eagle
Daria
Guitar
Never There

End Of The Movie
Short Skirt / Long Jacket
The Distance

kate + sawyer = barf

why the fuck does kate like sawyer? esp. when she could have jack...

he's such a redneck dick.

it really bothers me that she likes him.

gotta love ana lucia for asking jack if he and kate were "hitting it."

goodbye masquerade?!?!

ok, last summer i blogged (here) about gentrifuckation driving my favorite car repair shop out of the neighborhood.

now, masquerade has gone the way of unprotected anal penetration with bloodninja's mom the dodo bird.

according to this atlanta bizjournal article, a real estate developer (poncey highlands llc) has purchased one of the coolest clubs and is going to turn it into a place for long island kids to live after graduating from emory loft-style condos.

i'll say it again,

1. i appreciate that the law of supply and demand means that market forces will push up the price of increasingly scarce land--that's how wealth is created and neighborhoods gentrified...
2. ...and that i'm exhibit A, living in my inman park loft

but shit, we are losing a landmark, not an old sausage factory. i saw helmet play in heaven about eight years ago and it blew my ears out. fricking awesome.

this is also the perfect set-up for a movie about how a rag-tag bunch of crazy misfits throw a kick butt fundraiser concert and save the club from being razed.

#72

before b-school, i used to work as a snake oil salesman. so it was actually a bit of a surprise that the company i worked for was named #73 in fortune magazine's top 100 companies to work for.

well, they gotta be itching that bcg walloped them, coming in at # 15.

pass the chronic

mrs. wintermute and i saw chronicles of narnia this weekend.

in honor of andy samburg and chris parnels, here's a reposting of 'lazy sunday' (aka 'the chronic of narnia'), one of the top 10 funniest saturday night clips of all time.

click here

[safe for work]


mr pibb + red vines = crazy delicious

sweet weekend for Kirkwood FC

moe built the wooden chalice. we all drank from this fine trophy. i think we've established a new good luck ritual

Kirkwood Futbol Club, that lovable rag-tag bunch of crazy misfits, had quite a weekend.

friday night our goalkeeper hosted a phat party at his place. as we pull up, mrs. wintermute asks me, "is this going to be watching a bunch of your soccer team mates playing beer pong?"

err, hopefully not.

actually, the party was hopping and attracted three separate visits from atlanta's finest. thankfully, they left each time after we turned down the music. we did some serious throwing down at this party--the keg was kicked at eleven. thankfully, a few heroes stepped to the plate did a beer run. by far, the funniest quote of the night came from mrs. wintermute:

"man, your team mate Paul? he was really drunk. he was slurring his speech so much that at first i thought he was hard of hearing."

click here for all the pics.

we then followed up with a great win today, beating a team with a much better record. having our newest addition, brent, at centerhalf made a world of difference. we dominated the vast majority of the game, winning 3-1. the only taint came on a questionable penalty quick the ref awarded to the other team.

some highlights from the party:

as i entered the party, there was mr maquarium, working it with two fine chickies. no beer pong, indeed

note bama boy's deft in refilling the trophy as he drinks from it

...rob mixed tropy beer and yager...pretty sure he paid the piper on saturday morning

where i spent most of the party. man, chocolate fountains are flipping sweet. i kept trying to convince mrs. wintermute for us to smear it on each other and make out while she screamed, "ditto! ditto!" unfortunately she was far too sober to be my accomplice on what would have been a hilarious party prank.

by the end of the night mr macquarium was working the karaoke

this...is the voice of darth vadar

one more cool thing about tonights' show at jake's: cnn is going to be there.

they're doing a bit on myspace.com and profiling how helios (one of tonight's headlining acts) is using it.

not sure if we'll get any coverage (along with us, last winter also uses myspace), but it's still pretty cool.

does james earl jones still do the "this...is cnn" voiceover?

if yall haven't checked out myspace, it's a pretty amazing site. 40MM users and the 15th most site hits in the entire US internet (as of october 2005) according to this businessweek article. it's a mishmash of stuff (blogs, friendster-like bios, etc), but the coolest thing about it is how musicians can create a profile and post up to four songs to stream from their myspace page. talk about instantaneous distribution and promotion. just last year, with my old band king friday we schlepped around cambridge and allston handing out cd's to bars. having a press kit is key, but being able to hand out stickers and flyers with your myspace url on it, and have someone hear your songs is so much more effective.

so if you're sitting on the fence, here a preview of the music:

• helios on myspace
• last winter on myspace
• nick edelstein band on myspace
  

anyway, hope to see some folks out tonight. 8:30 show time.

gig at jake's this saturday

hard to focus on a show, coming off a 6:15 AM to 3:30 AM work day...and i've missed rehearsal all week, being in st. louis.

that being said, this saturday's show should be great.

doors open at 8:00 at jake's in decatur.

we're playing for a solid 45-60 minutes. and debuting a new rhythm guitarist.

and of course, helios and last winter will be playing. they're sweet. check out their songs on myspace here and here.

project yukon

i hate project yukon

good food outweighs the cold

man oh man, st louis is ass-puckeringly cold.

but it has the best sandwiches on the earth. i ate at this one today on the way from the airport.

and a pretty decent indian restauarant at the top of a beat up howard johnsons (didn't know hojo's was even still in business) that's decorated in some kind of cross-cultural polynesian theme. weird. but the chicken tikka was good.

am here till this thursday.

looks like i'll could be working the integration of this acquisition for much of the next six months.

which means a lot of time in st. louis and knoxville. sweet.

early retirement?!?

the beav has announced the retirement of her blog!!!

this would be a loss of momentous scale. like losing carson palmer on the first drive of a play off game.

so go to her blog and post a comment of support. some things that might reasonate with her:

• i love your blog
• your blog could not possibly get any more kick butt
• i would love to wrap your blog in a corn tortilla smothered with guacamolito sauce, then covered in a blueberry pancake, dipped in batter and deep fried to a golden brown
• WWTD (what would tucker do)
  

monster ballads

just saw the commercial for monster ballads.

when i first saw the commercial, i thought, 'man this looks like it sucks.'

then i heard the first song, and i said, 'man, i kind of like that song.'

then i said that 14 more times (that mr. big song has always sucked).

fiftteen of the flipping sweetest songs from the 80s.

1. Heaven - Warrant

2. Something To Believe In - Poison

3. High Enough - Damn Yankees

4. Almost Paradise - Mike Reno/Anne Wilson

5. Is This Love - Whitesnake

6. To Be With You - Mr. Big

7. Carrie - Europe

8. Don't Know What You Got Til It's Gone - Cinderella

9. More Than Words - Extreme

10. Headed For A Heartbreak - Winger

11. When I Look Into Your Eyes - Firehouse

12. Wind Of Change - Scorpions

13. I'll Never Let You Go (Angel Eyes) - Steelheart

14. When I See You Smile - Bad English

15. Don't Close Your Eyes - Kix

16. When I'm With You - Sheriff

wait, you said macquarium?

sweet hair cut, playa

so, last month i blogged a mildly entertaining post about joe's (harmless and innocent) antics at a party while conversing with a certain employee of macquarium.

in a great example of the random connectedness of the internet, a macquarium employee came across my blog while doing an internet search. he then forwarded it to a co-worker, who commented on this blog. back and forth commentary ensues.

last weekend moe ran into this dude at a bar. lord knows how they made this connection.

just to clear the air, yes, joe has a membership to macquarium. honestly, i didn't even know they were giving our season passes there. joe said that chicks greatly prefer going to the acquarium.

shameless self promotion

our wedding video is up on our videographer's web site.

it's a ~ 4 minute highlight reel.

click here, then go to 'screening room' (from the menu list on the left sidebar). choose 'wedding movie trailer' (the top row, all the way to the left).

if you're in the market for a wedding videographer, i highly recommend ours. evolution video did a kick ass job.

double true

google map is the best: double true

mi barrio is among the best tex-mex in atl: double true

moe is a little bitch for canceling waffle house after a night of heavy drinking: double true

this michalena's microwave macaroni is going to taste great: double true

spelling currently requires all of my concentration: double true

meat market

rainy crappy day outside. so much for running. headed to the doc's in an hour to get the stitches taken out. my hand still hurts--weird.

hanging with moe, joe, and bama boy tonight. delectable tex-mex at mi barrio, my new hole-in-the-wall find here.

not much in the way of live music tonight. i want to head to the earl in east atl, but the boys are suggesting the worst meat market in town. that being said, these dudes find chicks like crackwhores find crack. that is, they just seem to fall into their hands. bama boy is dipping in the company ink again. he previously dated his boss and managed to keep it on the down low. pretty flipping sweet.

moe is on like a 4 month tear. latest notch is a resident at emory who sounds pretty cool. thankfully the archaelogist from a few weeks ago is history. a few weeks ago joe and i met moe at this this chick's holiday party. as i introduced myself to her, i was thinking, "from where do i know her?" just as i remembered, "man, she reminds me of that totally weird chick that used to hang around the House and follow pasley around" she says, "i know you from emory--i used to hang out with pasley." she then proceeded to live up to my memory of her personality.

gotta admire joe's spirit. he brings his A game pretty much everywhere he goes. for example, at a soccer team party a few weeks ago, everyone arrives and is milling about. when the karoke machine is turned on, everyone nervously looks at the floor.

not joe.

he grabs the mic and starts belting it out.

big up, joe.

joe starts to warm up the crowd...

...he brings a cute chickie out to join him, as moe watches safely from the sideline (someone should tell moe that jj from good times wants his shirt back)...

...and reaches for the high C #

some press on nick

nick is getting some good media coverage as his new album wraps up. should help us get some gigs.

click here for the article from a neighborhood press

are they all virgins?

watching 'beauty and the geek' while finishing this model.

the show hits a little too close to home.

could these dudes all be virgins? here are the candidates:

• i have three degress from mit. (gotta have the desi factor.)
  
• i can solve a rubik's cube behind my back
• wearing a t shirt that says "i put the stud in study"
• in describing meeting the beauties: "it was like facing a sexual firing squard." (acts like woody allen.)
  
• the dude in the red shirt is a "dungeon master" who plays d&d on a 'typical friday night.' he acts a lot like napoleon.
  
• speed chess champion didn't have anything to say
• wes: tracks monkeys with lasers. went to ga tech. nice to have some ga representation.

yup, they all gotta be holding their vcard.

my vote to win is with the napoleon-dude or ga tech dude.

acquistions suck, redux

still hate acquistions, or anything that keeps me working until 2:38 AM

jumping up and down didn't help much

thrilling game tonight. went into the half up 4-2.

with three minutes left, we were down 7-5.

from amazing luck and tenacity, we scored three goals in the last three minutes to win 8-7.

at the end of the first half, i experienced every male athlete's worst experience: took a shot right in the babymaker. was closing in on a defender. he cleared the ball. i took a direct hit from about five feet away.

someone told me that jumping up and down helps ease the pain. well, i guess it helps promote blood flow. but jumping up and down didn't help much. i managed to crawl off the field. i knelt behind a lamp post and started to dry heave. thankfully, that was the worst of it.

actually managed to play in the second half, about fifteen minutes later.

i rate this the second worst hit ever. i took a similar shot junior year from greg gies. that one left me on ground for ten minutes.

naming contest

three problems with our loft:

• it's fricking impossible to tell people how to find it
• it somehow manages to evade google's satellites and does not show up on google maps
• it has the lamest name: alta inman park

well, at least something is being done about the last one. our management company announced a naming contest.

submissions due by jan 15.

the only requirement is that 'inman park' is somehow worked into the name.

i rarely beg for comments, but i would like to hear some. yeah, bloodninja, chief and moe, naming it 'your mom @ inman park' would be hilarious. so there, i took your first suggestion

shoobie, surely you have some creative juices left.

email me at wintemute.lives@gmail.com or click on 'comments' below to post a comment.

early entries:

• (everything is now a) loft in inman park
• inman park neighborhood latino construction project
  
• bandwagon lofts of inman park
  
• the death star at inman park
• tatooine lofts of inman park
• overpriced inman park lofts
• inman park phony urbanism
• forcing poor black people out of inman park
  
• inman park lofts: the first step in making boulevard ave safe for white folks
  

christmas light

i (asked for) and received a red knit long sleeve shirt for christmas.

i decided to pair it with black slacks today.

i look like a fricking christmas light. absolutely ridiculous.

9 great lies

venture capitalist guy kawasaki posts 9 lies that vc's tell entrepreneurs. for the business geeks.

click here.

thanks to dane carlson.

no more music midtown!?!?!?

music midtown has been put on hiatus. this is by far the music festival highlight in atlanta each year (well, if you like rock and roll; doesn't do much for hip hop).

turns out the show has lost $ the last three years.

i've been five or six times, including working the festival as a beer vendor two years during college. definitely one of the coolest jobs of my life.

seen some great acts there, including the allman brothers, the indigo girls, sevendust, oar, sean costello, our lady peace, stone temple pilots, oasis, counting crowes, and collective soul.

missed arguably the best lineup ever last year due to big h commencement weekend.

one highlight included smuggling in un-named product via a prosthetic limb (who remains a loyal reader and friend... don't worry, i won't tell your son!).

atlanta, do what it takes to bring music midtown back!

cancellation

tonight's gig was canceled, err, postponed. too bad, i was pumped to start off 2006 at a cool venue.

well, next show in 2 weeks.

tonight's show is moved to 2/25, when i'll be in austin for a soccer tourney with big h alumni team. sucks to miss what should be a good gig.

rumor has it...

...that dick clark didn't actually have a stroke. he just showed up drunk.

courtesy 99x

a serrated knife...

...can do a decent amount of damage very quickly. i slipped while cleaning one last night and sliced my finger. figured it was just a bad cut until i looked down and saw something white. while it turned out to be some kind of ligature and not bone, it hurt like hell and wouldn't stop bleeding.

so mrs. wintermute and i head over to the emory ER. i sign in at exactly 10:30.

almost six hours later we get home. all for a measly 3 stitches.

i didn't mind waiting. we brought books and i appreciate that a small laceration is a very, very low priority in the ER (a very agitated woman that took six cops to subdue was taking much of the staff's attention for the night). i received excellent clinical care from the RN who triaged me, the PA who irrigated the wound, and the MD who anesthesized and stitched up the wound. however, the sheer waste and redundancy in their administrative processes kills me:

• asked for my insurance card twice
• asked to fill out slightly different background forms twice
• asked verbally for my background info three times, including after being given a bracelet
• was "lost" to the nurse after being moved from a hallway bed to a room bed. for almost two hours after my procedure was finished, i waited for my discharge papers b/c they did not know where i was, despite the fact that i twice walked to the nurses station to tell them i was ready to leave. when she finally showed up, she said according to the paperwork i was still in bed # 5. so someone had forgotten to update the clipboard she was waving in her hand.
  
• heard my doctor paged three times. if UPS can tell me where my package is anywhere in the world and wal mart knows exactly where its inventory is, how can an ER not know where its doctors, the most precious asset they have, are located?
• on the way out, they commited the (financial) cardinal sin of not getting at least a co-payment from me. now i am in receivables hell (for them. i could care less). it will take 30 days to get to a bill to me. i can ignore it for 6 months before it goes to a collection agency. this is why ERs have an average uncollectable rate of 60%. in other words, for every $1.00 that they bill, they typically receive 40 cents.
  
• finally, to top it off, no one stamped my parking ticket. so i had to pay for parking, b/c the attendent didn't take my bandaged hand as proof that i had been in the ER (honestly, i'm sure he was just doing his job).
  

an ED (the proper term) sees 80K patients a year (a low figure, but the first # that came up on google). that's 220 per day. just repeating some of those redundant information requests to each patient could take up some time. let's say it adds five minutes (a conservative estimate) to each patient. that translates into 1,095 minutes of extra work, or about 18 hours. that's two full time employees!

here's how i would design an ED. btw, i worked for a company that manages EDs, so i know a little bit about this.

1. first, when a guest (that's right, they're a guest and should be treated as one) enters, he/she is greeted by a human. this person is trained or has experience in the hospitality industry. The greeter says hello, asks if they want to be in the ER. If so, she uses a handheld device (like what the rental car companies use when you check out) to get some quick info--name, ailment, allergies, etc. it's instantly entered into the system. the system assigns the case a priority, based on the current workload and staffing available.
2. the handheld prints out info on an adhesive sticker. the greeter sticks it to a bracelet, puts it on the patient, and explains what us happening, and that it may be awhile. the bracelet has a bar code on it, as well.
   
3. the greeter than hands the patient a pager. it will go off when the they are ready to call the patient.
4. the patient has a seat. it's very busy, so it takes 2 hours to be called. at any time, if the patient's condition changes or he feels short of breath or chest pains, he can press a help button. every thirty minutes, the pager asks him to put his palms on sensors. these sensors take and record vital signs. it also asks him to rate his pain level.
5. the RN is ready to triage the patient. as his pager buzzes, the RN comes out to get him. all of the patient's info is already captured, plus the RN can read how the patient's vital signs and pain have progressed since he got to the ER. the RN triages him and resets his pager to be called for further clinical attention. After explaining what is happening, the RN returns him to the waiting room. she enters what she did into the same system.
   
6. the patient returns to the waiting room. the greeter's system tells her that she needs payment info (this is not supposed to be asked until after triage). she uses the handheld to scan his card if he has one. if not, she assures him he will receive the same treatment.
7. some more time passes. the pager buzzes, and a RN or PA calls the patient back for treatment.
   
8. the clinicians use handhelds to scan the bracelet each time they move the patient, so he is never "lost" to them. the ask him to hold on to the pager, as he may have to wait in the room as well. they explain what is happening and what steps he can expect. the system may provide some guidance on how long he will have to wait until an MD can see him.
9. the MD arrives. her handheld is constantly in sync with the system, so she knows his ailments and how they have progressed. still, the MD asks how the guest is doing, as she is evaluated on her bedside manner, with a direct link to her compensation.
10. while treating the patient, the MD prescribes medicine. her system has his medical history and looks for any contra-indications.
    
11. as soon as the MD is done, she presses a setting on the patient's pager. her handheld is linked wirelessly to a printer in the room. she chooses from a drop-down menu of discharge instructions, wishes the patient well, and leaves. the pager alerts the charge nurse to begin the discharge process.
    
12. within minutes, a discharger arrives. b/c the patient is constantly scanned in via the bracelet, she knows where to find him. she explains the instructions and provides any materials (gauze, etc). she knows that whether the patient has medicare, insurance, or no coverage. trained in handling financial matters, she asks the patient if he can pay a little bit now. he offers his credit card. she swipes it on her handheld, hands him a receipt, takes his pager, and walks him to the door.
13. she then puts the pager in a docking station. it uploads all of the statistics and compiles them into a database that is name-blind. clinicians use it analyze outcomes. adminstrators use it to track turnaround time and procedures. the ER manager and her staff are evaluated and paid based on performance on key measures.
    

clearly, this an idealized version. but the technology is there. let clinicians practice medicine and adminstrators manage the process. identify and resolve bottlenecks. measure everything.

green briar getaway

how i spent most of the weekend

2006 is here. finished up 2005 nicely with a getaway to black mountain, nc near asheville with some good friends. four days of relaxing, cooking (well, mostly i did the eating) good food, playing some football, strumming the six string, and lots of trivia. i think sometimes mrs. wintermute and I (ok, mostly me) start to annoy our friends with our win-at-all-costs approach to games, so we tried to lay back a bit this weekend. anyway, an awesome weekend. having the beav's dog, tucker, added to the excitment.

totally lucked out with a sweet 3 bedroom, 3 fireplace log cabin. was considerably less rural than i imagined, but still felt like we were getting away.

a huge factor was that the six of us travel well together. i've done a bunch of these weekend trips. they are almost always a blast, and i can't really compare one group of friends with another (i.e., traveling with my best friends from freshman year of college is different from traveling with my cousins is different from traveling with post-college friends) . however, this weekend was definitely the smoothest trip i've ever taken, it terms of planning. usually, weekend plans usually go something like this:

• 3 months prior: i send out a couple of emails seeing if anyone is interested in a trip.
  
• 2 months prior: people finally get back to me. mostly, they say they might be interested and will get back to me later.
• 1 month prior: i berate my friends for not getting back to me. at this point, many of the good deals are gone. a handful get back to me saying they are in. i reserve the place and tell folks to pay up the deposit.
• 3 weeks prior: at least one friend bails when it comes time to pay up.
• 2 weeks prior: i email the group to solicit ideas for stuff to do. i also remind them that their $ is overdue.
  
• 10 days prior: getting no response, I send a list of things to do. I also include a to-bring list where people can sign up for what they want to bring (e.g., beer, dvds, burgers).
• 5 days prior: getting no response, I send a list of what i've decided people should bring, trying to balance everyone's burden.
• 3 days prior: someone else asks if it's too late to bail out, saying he put off making travel arrangements and now it's really expensive to get there.
• 2 days prior: i email the group with directions, payment info, and caravan plans, and remind them to make sure they know what they're bringing. it's well organized into PDFs or spreadsheets and sent as attached files.
  
• 1 day prior: everyone emails me asking for directions and if i've thought of what we can do or what they bring. i send a hateful, jaded email asking everyone if they ignore attachments on purpose or haven't figured out how to download them yet.
• 3 weeks after the trip: i email the group pleading with them to pay me for everything that i put on my credit card to reserve the weekend.
  

in contrast, this trip was awesome. everyone got back to me right away. everyone paid AHEAD OF TIME. everyone read my email attachments and replied to them. most importantly, everyone brought what they were supposed to bring. it was such a relaxing weekend. we actually did what we wanted to do. i wish all my trips were like it.

we also visited the biltmore estate. i knew it was a big house, but it still really blew me away. it was george (grandson on cornelius) vanderbilt's bachelor pad. he was a 27-year old swinger when he commissioned it. i'm guessing a 110,00 acre castle with 43 bathrooms and indoor pool complete with underwater lights (at a time when most americans had neither indoor bathrooms nor electricity) helped him chase wool.

click here for biltmore pics.

click here for other weekend pics.

click here for tucker's perspective.

some highlights:

david the pyro man. good with the grill and the fireplace.


i would call this jim on vacation, except it looks pretty much the same as jim at work.



as mentioned, the biltmore is large and in charge.

mrs. wintermute tried packing tucker in the car and leaving me behind. it didn't work when she found out that he can't drive a stick shift.

the david+wintermute hurry-up offense was much better than the bengals' sorry showing on new year's day


k-how+k-fow+the beav before heading out for new year's eve in asheville