Last Day Of January

I was well aware that today was the last day of January. I was also aware that today was a Friday. Be that as it may it didn't feel like a January day. First of all it was nice and warm out. So much so I didn't even wear my jacket. As far as today being Friday, much as I would have loved to tank it today, I couldn't. I had to deal with a financial issue with one of our vendors and right a mistake that one of my guys did. This is the time where i bemoan the fact that I don't have a manager to help me run the department, particularly the budget and operational aspects. But then again it's been more than 15 months hadn't it? I did ok last year so actually I really can't use it as an excuse. In any case, we had the meeting with the vendor, which weighed on my mind yesterday and I think we got on the same page and I think we came away with a win-win solution. And so we're good again. After THAT I could call the TANK DAY. But then again Chad has us doing an EPIC demo for another health center considering OCHIN EPIC this afternoon. And at Hollywood yet. I made up some excuse so I didn't have to go there. After all, I wanted to be home early tonight. And I wanted to finally make my way to LA Live at lunch to check out the Kobe memorial. Which is exactly what I did. We all heard how people were just flocking to LA Live and started to leave stuff. Flowers, candles, memorabilia. All kinds of stuff. I did not expect what I saw. It was far bigger and grander than I had imagined. The entire plaza across the street from Staples was filled with people. A whole bunch of writeboards were erected. I even felt compelled to write on one of them. Tonight, the Lakers are returning to the court to finally play a game. And you KNOW there's going to be a memorial and it is going to be grand and amazing. Heck, this scene was already grand and amazing. I stayed away all week because I knew if I came to check it out, I may not make it back to the office. Today I prodded myself back, making a stop at Subway for lunch. And then I went to my desk and did the meeting from 2-4:30 remotely. I think I contributed some, answered questions that were asked.  We [QueensCare] are just paying it forward, as other health centers helped us out when we were trying to decide. Has it been 5 years since implementation? Seems like eons ago. When Alex was still here and encouraged me to go do my analysis and helped push it forward. I miss Alex. Sad that the people that didn't get along way back in those days, none of them are even here anymore. Anyway I did the meeting and at 4:30 I was on my way home.

Driving home I got a text from Lisa that she was on her way to pick up Johnnie and then they would pick me up at the house for dinner. We did talk about getting together tonight, because I wasn't going to be seeing Johnnie all weekend. I appreciated that Lisa at least gave me some time with him, if just to sit down for dinner. But then again, with Lisa you never really solidify plans until she calls to actually follow through sometimes an hour before. And I was ok with that one way or the other. I was going to be home anyway. I got to the house BEFORE she got to Mar Vista. And I started to walk over there to kind of meet them halfway. I needed to start padding up my steps anyway. I got all the way to the school before I saw Lisa buckling Johnnie in the car. And then we went to Oops. I was so glad we were eating out instead of Lisa making something. I ALWAYS prefer that we eat out. And we hadn't eaten sushi in a while. Wasn't it a couple of years already that we would go eat sushi every Thursday night after Cornerstone violin lessons? As it turned out tonight was the last night for the DineLA Special menu and we were happy to share one portion and ordered some other stuff too. And ordered Johnnie his udon. One thing about eating at Oops was that we were all guaranteed to have a pretty good meal. And tonight was no different. And so we ate, we talked, Johnnie regaled us with what happened at school today and then off we went home. I walked to the apartment from there, knowing full well I'd get to 11,000 right about the time I made it back. And by that time the Laker game would just about be starting. Of course I was right but I also didn't account that the pre-game ceremonies which included the Kobe tributes would start earlier. Fortunately, I had Spectrum SportsNet loaded on my Google Pixel and I got a chance to watch the ceremony even while I was walking. The Lakers too, did not disappoint. The tribute ceremony was amazing and emotional. And of course the Lakers were crying. All of them. LeBron. Quinn Cook. AD. And I got emotional yet again as well. How do you play a game like this? As it was the Lakers put up a valiant effort. But the opponents were inspired by Kobe too. Damian Lillard came out firing and had himself a monster game. The lakers lost, but that result too didn't seem all that important. Not tonight. Tonight, it just seemed ok that we all took one step forward, we played a game, and we got to pay respects. In moments of grief like this, you go one step at a time. And we're glad this one is done.