Category Archives: Big Stone Gap

Doctor. Doctor – – –

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I had an appointment yesterday with an ENT doctor to have impacted wax removed from both my ears. He was a very nice young guy and after the procedure he checked my throat and my nose – I guess wax removal is boring and he maybe hoped for something more interesting (or maybe lucrative). It reminded me of another ENT visit many years ago in Scotland.

I was touring Brittany in France with my band in the 1970s and towards the end had a couple of days of dizziness and nausea which I put down to something I’d eaten. But then gradually over the next few years I began to have hearing problems in my right ear. About ten years later I spoke to my family doctor about polyps in my nose and he sent me to the ENT doctor in my local hospital. He quickly gave me an appointment to have them removed, but as I was leaving he asked if there was anything else and I told him about my hearing issue. He immediately brightened up!

So I had numerous tests including a full brain scan and it was concluded that back in Brittany I’d contracted a viral infection of the inner ear that would have been treatable then but had done permanent damage.

It must be very boring most of the time for these doctors – dealing with ear wax and nasal polyps.

But the best medical story I have is about that same family doctor in Scotland. About thirty years ago I had suffered dreadful pain in my stomach for a few days one summer. When he came to the house he sounded my stomach and said “that’s strange – I don’t hear anything’ (his ears were fine). Continuing he said “The last time I had this experience was with someone who’d just been run over by a bus”. It turned out that my small intestine had double knotted and was gangrenous and causing sepsis. I very nearly died!

That surgery and follow up treatment was, of course completely free on the Scottish NHS, whereas I’m not sure if my ear wax removal is covered by my Medicare – I may receive an invoice in a few weeks. The last time I had ear wax removed by a doctor I was booked at a festival while touring in the US and went to the ER. I eventually got a bill back home in Scotland for $600.

What did you say? What?

Time is of the Essence – –

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Jack uses a time management tool to get his post up on time –

When I was first promoted (to everyone’s surprise, including my own) to head of the construction department at Lauder College in Scotland, I was immediately overwhelmed by the tasks I was faced with. But eventually two things saved me.

The first was learning how to delegate, which more or less happened by accident. What I learned was that, given half a chance, people will take on tasks if it’s something they enjoy and if they feel competent to do them well. As long as I remembered I was still responsible it worked.

The second is really what this post is about –

A member of the senior management introduced me to a time management tool that has stuck with me ever since. I later discovered it’s called ‘The Eisenhower Matrix’ and many variations have evolved over the years. The closest to the one I used is pictured above.

I used this tool so much that eventually I didn’t have to put it on a white board on my office wall – it just sat in my head.

After I retired I continued to work as a self-employed training consultant, so the matrix continued to be my fundamental template for organizing my work. Even when we moved to Big Stone Gap I was running a bookstore, organizing a Celtic festival, an annual group tour of Scotland and still gigging – so time management was still important.

You might think that after closing the bookstore, the Celtic festival and moving to Wytheville that I wouldn’t need a time management aid, but I still find it hovering – even with everyday domestic tasks.

The only thing is that I’ve no one to delegate to anymore, although when it comes to looking after our vegetable gardens Wendy tells me I’m management and she’s labor.

Finally – I am and always have been a serial procrastinator. So given the choice between vacuuming the floors or checking FaceBook  – – –