One Day at the Loop

There is a business in our little town called "The Loop".  It is a convenience store with drive through windows, quite handy and very popular.  Cars may line up 6-8 deep at busy times and the wait may be several minutes to get to the window.
Late one day, my husband and I drove up and took our place in the line.  There was a farm pickup in front of us and between us was a black dog, a Lab from the look of him.  He stayed behind the pickup, occasionally looking around the side at the line in front. 
As we watched, we speculated to each other about this dog.  Dogs in the back of trucks are very common, and we wondered if he had jumped out of the truck ahead.  He made no effort to go anywhere, and showed no inclination to get into the truck.  He just kept peeking around the side. 
The line moved forward, the dog followed it, still keeping his place, until the truck in front drove away.  Oh my, did he get left behind?  No, it was just his turn at the window.  We watched in amazement as the patient pooch jumped up and put his front feet on the window ledge.  A hand came out, patted his big black head and handed him a beef stick!  With his "purchase" in his mouth and his tail wagging, he got down from the window and trotted on through the driveway and headed down the alley behind the store.
Slack-jawed and nearly speechless at what we had seen, we took our turn at the window.  It seemed this was a dog from somewhere close to the store.  The clerk told us the dog just showed up one day and was given a treat through the window.  After that, he came around every once in a while.  What we had seen was typical of his behavior.  He was always patient, waiting his turn with more grace than many people exhibit when waiting in a line.
That was several years ago and it has to be one of the most astonishing things I have ever seen.  I have often thought about that dog and wondered if his people appreciated the gift with which they had been blessed.

Yippee!

It took me forever, but I managed to post a new photo album.  I look around and see so many great looking pages here on Multiply and wonder if I will ever figure this out enough to have more than just a stock background.  Time will tell, I suppose.  Still looking for others I knew from yahoo. 

Making an Effort...

I still have a lot to do to my page.  No time like the present to start, I guess.  Maybe I can make this work....I am spending the weekend with my hubby at work. 

We are on a location in the Texas panhandle, busy drilling for natural gas.  Most of the wells drilled here are gas wells.  The production zones in this area are about 2-2.5 miles deep. 

So, You Think We Need Socialized Medicine?

If you really think we need to copy Great Brittain's health care system, you should read this....

Number of elderly patients starving in NHS wards doubles to 30,000 in two years

By Daniel Martin
Last updated at 12:53 AM on 30th July 2008

At least 30,000 patients were left starving on NHS wards last year, despite ministers’ pledges to make proper nutrition in hospitals a priority.

Last year, Health Minister Ivan Lewis admitted that some patients were given a single scoop of mash as a meal.

Others were ‘tortured’ with trays of food placed just beyond their reach while nurses said they were too busy to help them eat.

Suffering: Cases of poor nutrition jumped 88% between 2005 and 2007

And now, official figures show that between 2005 and 2007, there was an 88 per cent rise in reported cases of poor nutrition leading to a serious deterioration in a patient’s health.

Last year, NHS whistleblowers reported 29,138 such errors to the National Patient Safety Agency – up from 15,473 in 2005.

They refer to elderly patients who are not properly fed and those given the wrong types of food, causing their health to worsen.

As the figures only represent reported cases, actual numbers are likely to be even greater.

The statistics, released in a parliamentary answer to the Tories, exposed huge regional variations.

There was a 248 per cent rise in the North East and a 178 per cent rise in the West Midlands.

Conservative health spokesman Stephen O’Brien said: ‘People go to hospital expecting to get better, yet in 2007, 29,000 people suffered unnecessarily and completely avoidable harm from poor nutritional care.

‘Ministers have presided over this growing scandal, which I have been highlighting for over two years, and yet this Labour Government have failed to use this 60th anniversary of the NHS to address it.

‘Nutrition is central to health and dignity – how many more patients must suffer at the hands

of this inept Government?’ The Mail has highlighted the lack of help given to frail patients to eat hospital food as part of its Dignity For The Elderly campaign.

And last year, a survey by the Healthcare Commission found that one in five frail and elderly patients complained they did not have enough help when eating.

Half of nurses said there were not enough staff to help those who needed it to eat and drink.

Age Concern says 60 per cent of older patients, who occupy two-thirds of general hospital beds, are at risk of worsening health or becoming malnourished. The over-80s are particularly at risk.

Patrick Smith, from the charity, said: ‘A missed meal in hospital is just as much of a risk to patient safety as missing medication for a patient’s recovery.

These figures show NHS staff are concerned that people are not receiving good nutritional care in hospital.

‘Not only do a significant number of older people arrive in hospital already malnourished, but six out of ten are at risk of becoming malnourished, or their situation getting worse, while they are there.

‘If we are to tackle the scourge of malnutrition among older people, all NHS trusts must commit to making nutrition a top priority.’

The Government last year launched a bid to improve hospital food, after Mr Lewis admitted many elderly patients were effectively being starved in hospitals.

Dr Kevin Cleary, medical director of the NPSA, an NHS agency, said a ‘growth in incident reporting’ helps prevent similar occurrences.

‘We recognise that good nutrition and hydration is essential for the recovery of patients. And we support clinicians with guidance to ensure that learning from reported incidents is provided.’