Guymon, Oklahoma

Just found out that other people are actually reading this blog! These are people who know the quality of life we are at present enjoying here in the Oklahoma panhandle. I rise at 6:30 in the morning, drive 3 minutes to my clinic and perform the morning endoscopies with my trusted and reliable and talented nurse. In between, I see my inpatients and then at 9 am sharp, fortified by Starbucks Yukon Blend and Evian, I start seeing patients, about 30 in all. My wife and I work like Swiss timepieces, methodical and efficient, we have been doing this almost non-stop for the last eight years. We take our customary lunch break from 12 noon through 1:30 pm. This has been an inviolate tradition as well, and we either eat out in one of the many eateries here (Mexican, Chinese, Lebanese, traditional American, pizza, Sonic, Kentucky, and so on) or partake of a simple home-cooked meal and then be back at the clinic for the 3 and a half hour afternoon detail.

We rarely get called back in at night. I have performed two emergency endoscopies in my ten years here. While a Fellow in Brooklyn, I would get called an average of three times per evening call.

I am able to attend all the basketball, soccer and recitals that I need to attend. There has been time for community activities and lately, I have been able to exercise on a regular basis.

Evenings are spent eating a light supper and then the serious reading commences. In between CSPAN and XM radio.

The living is comfortable and the nights are peaceful. Plenty of time to horse around with my two younger daughters. There is an abundance of reliable friends.

Guymon is the greatest place on earth. Shangri-la. I would want my heart to be buried in the local Elmhurst cemetery here.