Dr. Riedy's Random Thoughts

  What’s the Hurry? Note to readers: I was unsure whether or not to publish this essay because it focused so heavily upon automobiles and speed, when the topic of hurrying is so much broader than streets and highways. Then, about two weeks ago, a 70 year old man was killed by a hit and run driver on Del Mar Heights Road, about two blocks from our home. Del Mar Heights Road is a four-lane city street with a posted speed limit of 40 mph.  Drivers think nothing of 50-60 mph on the stretch from I-5 toward the ocean, which is where the hit and run occurred. I recognize being "in a hurry" and being a "hit and run" driver are like oil and water as topics, but the crime still bothers me so I decided to post these thoughts after all.   Despite our reputations for being “laid back”, most everyone in California seems to be in a great hurry scurrying to and fro, emphasizing quantity over quality and quickness over thoroughness.   We want to move quickly to finish whatever w

  Maybe I've just got too much pandemic-induced free time on my hands.  Seemingly out of nowhere, at dinner last evening I asked my wife if she listened better by hearing something or reading it.  After taking my temperature, pulse and blood pressure readings and asking if I was having a mini-stroke, which I was not, she asked what was going on in my mind.  To which I responded, actually sometimes I think I listen best with my eyes. At the most basic human level, of course, we all listen/learn/understand/ comprehend the world about us through our five senses: sight, taste, touch, smell and hearing.  I am not talking about tasting, smelling or touching, which while important are of much more limited scope than sight and hearing in terms of interpersonal communication and relationships or understanding the meaning of information being conveyed among and between human beings. Who cares? I care, not because I can write about it but rather because it is important to me to understand how

  How Can I Be a Better Boss…Husband…Wife…Listener…Friend? (Living Up to One’s Full Potential) One of my favorite memories of a dear friend who died last year was the story he told about an experience he had in high school.   It was a Catholic school, Jesuit-run, as I recall. While my friend was sitting quietly at his desk waiting for class to begin, the priest came up behind him, a big book in hand.   Without warning the priest sent my friend sprawling onto the floor with a mighty, unprovoked blow to the side of his head. Whump!   After a short blackout he woke to find the priest standing over him, saying “When you pull yourself together come see me in my office after class.” And so he did. Asking why the priest had hit him, the direct answer was “I was trying to knock some sense into your head. You are not living up to your potential. ” I asked if the priest had been right. “Yes, he was, and it worked. He changed my life.” In 2021 the priest’s approach would cost him his job