I was originally told that the summer would be slow at the Health System. It was last year; but, it is not this summer and in a couple of weeks we will be at full strength as everyone comes back from vacation and most programs begin again. So what happened this year?? When did it become so busy??
I guess that being busy is a sign of success; OR, at least I want to look at it that way. We currently have several projects going on from some very straight forward, very simple video conferencing installations to a massive boardroom for the Executive offices in Manhattan. It seems that every day we receive a request for a video conferencing system within the Health System – but, there are some challenges.
We are always asked for a quote that has “the works”; unfortunately, when our client sees the cost of what a video system with “the works” costs – they then provide us with what their budget is and that is usually one-third to one-half of what we have quoted. We are a non-profit and we really watch the dollars so it has been a trying week to ensure we can provide the needed system features at the dollar amount that the customer has.
Besides the new systems that we are quoting and installing we are also fixing some rooms which have not worked well for several months; and, in one instance several years. It is a case of fixing one thing and then seeing what else isn’t working. I am fortunate in that I have a very strong team – the last member of my team joined us on Monday and each one of them has very quickly hit the ground running and has made an impact on the Health System and what we offer to our clients.
It is hard to believe but at the Health System we are a collaborative team – we all work to make the organization successful and as my very best friend would always say, “there is no ‘I’ in team” and we exemplify that. Each of us has worked for Fortune 100/500 companies and it was never for the greater good of our client; but, to ensure that we satisfied the stakeholders, the Wall Street Analysts and ensured the CEO received his salary and extremely inflated bonus. At the Health System we are beholden to our ultimate client, the patient. Our jobs are all focused to ensure that the patient’s experience is excellent so we do what we can for the Clinicians, the Hospital and the Administration to ensure that they can provide that excellent experience to our patients.
As we managed the various challenges posted to us this past week, my team and I also enjoyed a wonderful lunch with my boss in Manhattan. We were all in the city on Wednesday and my boss offered to take us out to lunch. We went to Le Train Bleu which is located on the sixth floor of Bloomingdale's. It is decorated like a train car and serves French food – we enjoyed a wonderful meal, lively conversation and were labeled, the “white glove team”.
That was work this past week – a good week that had its highs and then showed us some things we need to work on.
On a personal level it has been a very quiet week – my instructor who teaches the High Intensity workout was on vacation so the classes were not held; instead I took a Zumba class on Friday, did my aqua aerobics class on Saturday and this morning another Zumba class. Tomorrow it will be back to normal and I will be at High Intensity at 7AM. I do have to mention that the knees are beginning to ache – don’t know if it is from the jumping in Zumba or if I should just be lying in the Jacuzzi tub a couple of nights a week allowing my muscles to be stimulated by the jets.
We are getting prepared for my cousin, Gerry to leave us and be the first to go to Delaware. He leaves on Friday, August 31st at 8AM and has found a place to rent until he sells his house here in New York and can have them begin to build a house for him in Delaware. I will miss him – I am hoping to take him, his daughter and son-in-law to dinner next Friday at a Puerto Rican restaurant in White Plains called, Sofrito.
I am now looking at my great nephews' school calendar to see when they have some days off so I can take time off and take them to visit their grandfather in Delaware. Our monthly family dinners will now be focused on the holidays.
Lastly, on Friday it would have been my mother’s 77th birthday. All day I thought of her; and, taking Zumba that day was in honor of her. My mother loved to dance and had no problems (like I do) of moving her hips and sashaying her body to the music. So when I dance I think of my Mom and how she loved a good party.
Do that which you enjoy, makes you happy and lets you smile.
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