Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

After roe, women are no longer free.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

I was confident that someone would point it out and thought why not me.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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82Comments

  3. 3.

    PeakVT

    So, basically, they brought Costco’s approach to its employees to the fast food industry, and made the product not suck?

    Nobody could have predicted that would work.

    ETA: I suppose the enforced happiness is a bit creepy (says the grump).

  4. 4.

    John Cole

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m fine. the 9 am walk yesterday sucked, but I just took the opportunity to stay away from the blog.

    My AC broke for the house, though, so that is sucking hard. At least it is somewhat overcast and cool today. I sweat in a meat locker, and anything above 70 I consider hot, so that needs to be fixed QUICKLY.

  6. 6.

    aimai

    I just read that article and it makes funny reading with the companion piece about Medical doctors, their training (or lack of it) and medical error. Buried in that article is the story of how Doctors get zero training in “handing off” patients to one another–plus there’s no attempt at bringing any kind of “team” approach to the care of the patient. This results in an incredibly high level of errors as the doctor who takes over care has not been fully briefed, or thought through the issues, surrounding each patient.

    Meanwhile, at the Meyers empire, they have formed a company called HQ for “hospitality quotient” that in addition to working with restaurants also works with one hospital on creating a place where patients feel welcomed and are taken care of.

    Having watched just how horrenouds hospital care can be, even with good individual nurses and doctors, I would like to see better more serious thought go into just this issue. Its not that patients are customers who need better superficial treatment: greetings, hand washing, “Hi my name is Bob and I’ll be your doctor.” Its that the medical staff have to work harder to work as a team–to realize that the treatment of each patient is the end product of a long series of decisions and interactions in which the bus boy (the guy who draws your blood) and the nurse (the person who is permitted to communicate with the doctor) and the doctor himself are just parts of a larger system. The whole system has to be devoted to proper care, not just the high impact parts.

    aimai

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I didn’t know that Pret à Manger had opened stores in the U.S. When I spent a month in London a few years ago I used Pret as my default lunch place more days than not. Fast, efficient service (and yes, friendly) and really really good food. I sure hope they come to Atlanta!

  10. 10.

    schrodinger's cat

    Ok now that you are back how about some Tunch? A wood chuck is no substitute.

    Kthx.

  12. 12.

    Emma

    What is it with broken ACs? We just finished getting ours redone after it went to pieces (nearly literally) two days ago. All my vacation money is gone, but it’s South Florida in August…. oh well.

    My sympathies — from experience — John.

  13. 13.

    cathyx

    @John Cole: I’m the same way with the heat. That’s why Portland, Oregon is a good fit for me.

    Concerning customer service, I have lived most of my life in the northeastern US and moved west about 15 years ago. One big shock I had was the complete lack of customer service here in the pacific northwest. I needed to get some bids on a tree removal. I called 4 places, one called me back. Store hours listed on the sign in the window are not to be taken seriously. Same for appointment times.
    Everyone is on laid-back time, and most people would never consider having a second or third job.

  14. 14.

    WereBear

    You mean American business is being told that people like products that work and good customer service that helps them when it doesn’t?

    I thought people wanted crappy products that fell apart right away and long waits for the customer service in India to press a button that will let them intone phonetically.

    This blows my whole business plan!

  16. 16.

    aimai

    Oops, my comment upthread referred to the Danny Meyer article in the NTY Magazine, plus the article there about Interns, sleep and medical error.

    However, I did find the Pret article interesting. I loved Pret when I was in London and Bath. The seats are generally nice, good views, handsome setting. The food is consistent (although bland to American taste), clean, fast, straightforward and the service is nice and sometime even giggly.

    I’m really interested in the attempt at slightly better psychological manipulation that is going on vis a vis the workers. Its not surprising they go for gimmicks almost more than they do pay raises to get and keep motivated workers but I am impressed with their attempts to create real bonhomie and teamwork out of what can be a souless and anomic situation. (Contrast the description of actual teamwork and the sharing of prizes with the Double Meat Palace episode from Buffy the Vampire Slayer!)

    aimai

  17. 17.

    JPL

    Earlier I put on Meet The Press and it’s worth watching just for Austan Goolsbee’s expressions when Greenspan is speaking.
    My favorite Seinfeld show’s was The Soup Nazi. It’s nice to know that particular model does not always work.

  18. 18.

    MattF

    So, we have here a company that actually rewards cooperative, productive, customer-friendly behavior. And, heaven help us, which also provides the resources for employees to do their jobs in the cooperative and customer-friendly way the company advocates. And then… wait for it… this company even promotes people who succeed. I’m stunned. What will they think of next?

  19. 19.

    Paul W.

    So I’ve states on my Facebook many a tine that they have the best personal customer service out there. There food is also great, but I haven’t been as much since the increased the price of their coffee here at NYC.

  21. 21.

    Loneoak

    I don’t think American business would be surprised to hear that people like fast, friendly, and good food. I think what would surprise them is that you need to treat your employees as something other than a pathetic automaton in order to achieve that.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @Emma: I had to replace mine (5k+) about 6 weeks ago when it went out on the first 97 degree day in a series of 97 degree days. It completely sucked. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t eat, the kitties looked like they were melting into the floor. I seriously had to freeze a big pan of water and then wrap it in a towel so the kitties could lie on it.

    How the heck are you supposed to make choices about a new heating and air conditioning system when you’re so hot you can hardly think? I had 3 bids to choose from, and I wanted to go with someone besides the guy I have always used, but I wasn’t sure the new guys weren’t ripping me off (2-3k higher than my old guy).

    When push came to shove, in the heat of the moment, I decided to stick with my old guy. I ran back to the safety of the devil I knew, and I am hoping that’s what anyone who has been disappointed in Obama will do come november 2012.

  25. 25.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @aimai:

    It seems that a substantial minority of medical doctors believe that they hold the power of life and death, somewhat like gods, and therefore don’t need to work as a team with other doctors.

    Well, except when it comes to covering each other’s asses when they fuck up.

  26. 26.

    lol

    @HgMn:

    Read about halfway through and saw yet another pundit who seems to think Obama watered down the stimulus for the heck of it rather than because he was trying to actually pass the bill.

    As for now, Republicans took control of the House in January. Apparently, this escaped the notice of many liberals.

  28. 28.

    aimai

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Well, sure. But I tend to think the problem is really largely systemic. There is no “all staff” transfer of care meeting, morning and evening, in the hospital anymore. There is no focus on continuity of care between branches like nurses and doctors because of the progressive deskilling of nurses and the hiving off of particular acts like taking someone’s temperature or delivering food or care to the bedside. When every task is done by four or more people, with shifts changing on different schedules (they don’t all turn over at the same time) knowledge of the patient and responsibility for the patient is confused, diffused, and ultimately lost.

    Just look at check out procedures. I’ve got a kid with asthma so severe that we we ended up in the emergency room and in the hospital for three days twice when she was a toddler. Every single time when she was discharged there was no protocol for the handoff sending her home. Information was printed out and given to us in a hurried, almost off hand fashion in the hallway or at the bedside. It would cost more in time and energy but be much more successful at limiting re-hospitalization if the nurses or doctors had to go with you into a separate room, answer all your questions, make sure all the meds were in order (ie in your hand) and gave you a follow up phone call a few days later. But it never happens. Everyone is rushing to deal with the next crisis and there is, in fact, no though given to hand offs in either direction (between staff or between family and staff).

    This is an area I’d love to be involved with, qua anthropologist, but can’t figure out how to get into a work group.

    aimai

  30. 30.

    aimai

    @Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal:

    I’ve been wondering whether a better system for handling the information on a patient on a given floor might not be based on facebook’s “updates” and “wall” system. I don’t use facebook at all and I’m not suggesting integrating actual facebook with medical records but it seems like all the medical staff going forward might be very much adept at updating a facebook like site for each patient and reviewing information in such a format. The “handoff” described for patients on a pediatric ward in the NYT essay would make a lot more sense if the interns had access to a blog style minute by minute update with commentary on each patient rather than having to rely on hasty verbal recollections of events/instructions/decisions that may have been made some hours ago for a given patient.

    aimai

  32. 32.

    MikeJ

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Obviously, such a company, which is not run like a fucking pirate ship, must be annihilated.

    Pirate ships usually ran as democracies, with the crew sharing treasure and able to fire the captain at any time.

  33. 33.

    JPL

    Did anyone notice that John was still able to type somewhat coherent statements on Friday night? Heck, if I had that much, I wouldn’t be able to see the keyboard.

  34. 34.

    Brachiator

    The NY Times has a long piece up showing what appears to be surprise that people like good customer service and speedy wholesome food.

    As long as I can get pretzels and hot dogs from street vendors, and pizza and pastrami sandwiches, I am happy that others can get their wholesome food fix however they like it. And it is not that New York has poor customer service, it is that a lot of places typically emphasize speed and efficiency over customer service chit chat.

  36. 36.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    @aimai:

    if i get what you mean, something temporary, that doesn’t carry the weight or responsibility of patient records. it would help, of course, but i am not sure you could ever guarantee that it only ever stays amongst care givers.

    another option, taken from personal experience.

    a close relation had a medical mystery, none of the docs, et al knew why the person was so weak, and not getting better, lots of meds and tests, reducing the meds, retests, the whole shebang…

    what got the whole thing tied together, and ultimately solved was the efforts of a nursing student who was using the patient as a case study. they were taking the notes, and talking to all the various moving parts. he basically got a range of diagnoses together, and a plan, when all the paid professionals were stumped.

    i think some sort of personal patient advocate, or social worker, or someone, a human, with some knowledge of the institution would be the best way to improve care.

  37. 37.

    Suffern ace

    @fucen – sitting in the hospital at the moment. Where are those doctors who see 15 patients an hour?

  38. 38.

    Martin

    10 years after Apple succeeded in retail where Gateway, etc. couldn’t, people finally start to figure out the lesson. Focus everything on customer experience.

    I guess MBAs are still fucking useless.

  40. 40.

    Martin

    @Brachiator:

    it is that a lot of places typically emphasize speed and efficiency over customer service chit chat.

    And that’s fine, but some customers really want the better experience. In a place like NY, they offer that, provided you’re willing to pay 3 digits for the meal. It’s really gotten lost everywhere else in that market, though considering rents, it’s not surprising. When you’re paying Manhattan rent, you can’t survive on low volume/low cost.

  41. 41.

    bkny

    there’s a pret a block from my office; nice clean place, friendly staff, good strong coffee. but i’d still rather stay with the street carts — the vietnamese couple who serve up excellent fruit smoothies; and the egyptian couple that serves up whatever tasty middle eastern combo you could think of. that’s one of the great pleasures of working downtown — there’s a zillion choices.

  44. 44.

    chopper

    i’ve stopped in at the store in nyc they mention. the manager did indeed come by and ask if we needed anything. it felt odd. i was like ‘you do know this is new york, right?’

  45. 45.

    Suffern ace

    Yeah. Its ok. The problem is mainly that it is Sunday and I can’t buy a home ultrasound. PSA – you know how they tell you to get up and move once an hour on a plane? Well I guess stuff can actually happen if you don’t.

  46. 46.

    jnfr

    We have a swamp cooler, which is cheaper than AC and works very well most of the time here (in Colorado). But I’ve had a bitch of a time finding decent yearly service for the thing. I think I’ve tried every service in the area, and they all have someone knowledgeable one year and then the next year some idiot who doesn’t even clean the pipes properly or whatever. This year’s kid managed to burn the cable and phone lines while patching the copper tube for the water.

    Anyway, Mr. J has turned himself into a decent plumber (and for a computer programmer he’s a damn good plumber), so he hauled himself up on the roof (not a favorite task around here), cleaned the pump lines and the water tray (which the kid hadn’t bothered to do), and replaced the pads. And it’s made a 10-degree difference in upstairs coolth. Very nice.

  47. 47.

    Jennifer

    People want good food? WTF, are the elitists wanting a gold star for eating non-crap? Their desire for not-crappy food is just a marker for their privilege.

    Sorry, just channelling Dollarme from the food discussion here a few days ago.

  48. 48.

    Lolis

    @HgMn:

    I dunno. Drew Westen’s example of What Obama Should Have Said is not a story by any real definition. That was a stump speech. Obama has said similar things in speeches as what Drew wrote. They have not caught on because they are not a story.

    I agree the Inaugural speech was not great and Obama has not spun a consistent narrative. Everybody has the problem identified but that is just Part I, I don’t think anyone has figured out Part II. Especially Drew Westen.

  50. 50.

    Jennifer

    BTW, John, on the a/c – in need of repair or in need of replacement? (What, if anything, does it do when you try to turn it on?)

    I had to get a repair done on mine week before last. The unit for the back part of the house just stopped working – the inside fan would run, but the outside unit just made a loud hum when you turned on the system. Needed a new capacitor. In any case, I was planning on it costing up to $200, but when the guy came out he insisted on checking out both units, doing a thorough cleaning/maintenance, adding some freon to the older unit that serves the front part of the house…total bill ended up over $350. At first I was really upset about that, but when the temps reached 114 last Thursday, I decided in retrospect that it was money well spent. After all, neither unit had been serviced in 7 years and if I had been doing it annually as recommended, I would have spent around $500 for that over the years, excluding the repair.

    In any case, hopefully you just need a repair, but if you need a replacement, don’t move on that until you check out some of the new high-efficiency systems available now. Some of the split systems are really great & not all of them require the “window a/c” looking unit that goes through the wall. There’s one I have my eye on for when the older unit dies; it will serve up to 3 rooms and can be zoned for each of them.

    For folks with only one central unit, it’s probably not a bad idea to have one of those portable a/c units for situations like this. I’ve been considering one for dealing with the hot flashes that seem to have started visiting themselves upon me from time to time. But…if your main unit went out during a weekend heat wave, they would be a godsend. Not to mention their utility in keeping the room you use most cooler and cutting back the cost for cooling the rest of the house.

  52. 52.

    burnspbesq

    @Occasional Reader:

    Anyone who doesn’t consider mayo a vitamin needs to spend time (at least ten years, I’d say) in a re-education camp of strict regime.

    We don’ need no humorless health scolds roun’ here.

  53. 53.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @burnspbesq: Mayo is, in my opinion, vile. So is Miracle Whip. I am not concerned about the health effects of either. They simply trigger a gag reflex in me.

  54. 54.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    And that’s fine, but some customers really want the better experience. In a place like NY, they offer that, provided you’re willing to pay 3 digits for the meal. It’s really gotten lost everywhere else in that market, though considering rents, it’s not surprising. When you’re paying Manhattan rent, you can’t survive on low volume/low cost.

    This is part of it, but when I mentioned speed and efficiency, it is also because New Yorkers are often in a rush to get somewhere.

    Somewhat related, the Subway sandwich shop in Union Station in downtown Los Angeles sometimes struggles. The food is good, but I have seen people walk away because they had to catch a bus or train, and could not wait to have their sandwich custom made. I walked away once when the person in front of me needed to have combinations and choices explained to him. This guy may have been getting good customer service, but I did not have time to wait.

    After a long period of neglect, Union Station is finally getting more food shops, but some are a bad fit when time is often a premium. And in New York, time is often a super premium.

  55. 55.

    LosGatosCA

    Sorry but English food with a French name served with a smile is still English food.

    I’ll take a surly French or Italian serving real food every time.

    And isn’t getting a NY attitude at a hot dog cart part of the ambience?

  56. 56.

    Yevgraf

    To be clear, mayo is one of the 4 essential food groups, the others being pork products, good cuts of beef and distilled spirits.

  58. 58.

    MattF

    @Brachiator:

    Time spent waiting on line can be eliminated if the restaurant managers decide that it is worth spending the money to do it– and one of the points of the NYT article is that the Prete a Manger management is willing to spend that money. The thing to bear in mind is that time spent on line is a cost– either the customer bears it or the restaurant bears it– that’s the choice and it’s made by the restaurant’s management. It has nothing to do with the workers or the customers.

  59. 59.

    LosGatosCA

    While I’m awaiting moderation:

    ••• Your comment is awaiting moderation •••
    Sorry but English food with a French name served with a smile is still English food.

    I’ll take a surly French or Italian serving real food every time.

    And isn’t getting a NY attitude at a hot dog cart part of the ambience?

  60. 60.

    scav

    Homemade mayo, when made as a sauce instead of a flat-pack replica of the thing that comes in jars, is a freaking revelation.

    ETA So apparently I’m Yevgraf’s second: blades of asparagus at dawn.

    ETA.2 Ok OK, spears, I’m lousy at sharp pointy objects.

  63. 63.

    scav

    @Omnes Omnibus: Random melees are rather the thing here at the moment. So if you want to roll out of bed, why not?. But we’ll be battling on the same side vis-á-vis the stuff from jars — should make the skirmish far more interesting if we keep switching sides.

    @Yutsano: Agreed, although I should warn you my ultimate devotion is to aioli.

  65. 65.

    RSA

    @aimai:

    This is an area I’d love to be involved with, qua anthropologist, but can’t figure out how to get into a work group.

    I’d be happy to be working in this area as well, as a computer scientist. A year ago or so I was involved in a long conference call with a company that develops software for hospitals and doctors’ offices; we were brainstorming about next-generation systems. I described a hypothetical system that would help doctors give better explanations to patients about their cases, but I was politely cut off–the goal was to minimize the time that a doctor spends with a single patient, because each extra minute is lost money for that doctor. (That’s a close paraphrase.) Not all doctors have that perspective, but from what I’ve seen it is a systemic problem.

  66. 66.

    Arclite

    My wife and I went to an organic vegan restaurant for lunch a couple of days ago. The food was great (I had a teriyaki tempeh sandwich and she had vegan bi bim bap), but here’s her best comment: “When I eat food like this, I can trust that there won’t be any hormones or other strange chemicals in it.” Granted this probably isn’t 100% accurate, but much, much better than say McDonald’s or Applebee’s.

  68. 68.

    Brachiator

    @MattF:

    Time spent waiting on line can be eliminated if the restaurant managers decide that it is worth spending the money to do it—and one of the points of the NYT article is that the Prete a Manger management is willing to spend that money. The thing to bear in mind is that time spent on line is a cost—either the customer bears it or the restaurant bears it—that’s the choice and it’s made by the restaurant’s management. It has nothing to do with the workers or the customers.

    It’s more complicated than that. Food that is more time intensive to prepare won’t sell if you set up in a spot that has lots of customers who are in transit. Customers simply will not bear the cost; they can’t afford it, especially when it means a missed transfer or other transit connection. What works for Prete a Manger may not work as easily for other eateries.

  69. 69.

    scav

    @Arclite: Well, the reply button was off-line for a good long inexplicable while. Maybe it was temporarily recoded for a rather more interesting fuctionality . . .

  70. 70.

    Brachiator

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @Mayo is, in my opinion, vile. So is Miracle Whip. I am not concerned about the health effects of either. They simply trigger a gag reflex in me.

    We ordered a bunch of sandwiches and my pastrami sandwich came with Mayo on it. I took it back and asked the guy to please put mustard on it and don’t use a knife that had even been slightly dipped in Mayo.

  71. 71.

    Lurker

    @RSA:

    I’d be happy to be working in this area as well, as a computer scientist. A year ago or so I was involved in a long conference call with a company that develops software for hospitals and doctors’ offices; we were brainstorming about next-generation systems. I described a hypothetical system that would help doctors give better explanations to patients about their cases, but I was politely cut off—the goal was to minimize the time that a doctor spends with a single patient, because each extra minute is lost money for that doctor. (That’s a close paraphrase.) Not all doctors have that perspective, but from what I’ve seen it is a systemic problem.

    I wonder if Kaiser Permanente would be interested in such a system. As I understand it, KP’s doctors receive a weekly salary instead of a fee-for-service arrangement.

  73. 73.

    scav

    @RSA:

    I described a hypothetical system that would help doctors give better explanations to patients about their cases, but I was politely cut off—the goal was to minimize the time that a doctor spends with a single patient, because each extra minute is lost money for that doctor.

    Slight change of specific market, but what about developing such a system for Hospice and Home care groups where there’s a clear desire and need to communicate with the patient and their family/household. Provide patient-specific information along with the generic home-care information that my mom was given in a packet. Personalized FYI with up-to-date information on what’s going on and meds? I can see that being attractive.

  74. 74.

    opie_jeanne

    @cathyx: The contractors not returning calls wasn’t a surprise to us when we moved up from Southern California because it seems to be a problem up and down the West Coast, but the flexible business hours were a bit of a shock. You rarely see that in SoCal despite our laid-back reputation.

  75. 75.

    opie_jeanne

    @aimai: Kaiser Permanente uses a system where the patient’s chart follows them throughout the hospital no matter what department they are in, and these days it’s a computerized chart.

    It works pretty well, and the doc can see that you’ve recently had a baby, that you have a tumor on your thyroid, and that you are overdue for a mammogram.

  78. 78.

    opie_jeanne

    @Lurker: They’ve got one. Every exam room has a computer in it, and they pull up everything about you in a flash, test results, health history, everything. It works pretty well, and having just left Kaiser I have to tell you that we miss it terribly now that we’re dealing with Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

  79. 79.

    Yutsano

    @opie_jeanne: Do you use one of the big Seattle hospital systems? They share a lot of patient information. In fact half the time I don’t even need to mention something because my primary doc will bring it up right away.

  81. 81.

    electricgrendel

    I think this world would be a lot better off if people didn’t expect to get an ass kissing because they deigned to pass my boss’s bonus over to me in five to seven dollar increments. It’s fast food. Shut up and eat it, and don’t get your fee-fees hurt because the wage slave serving you didn’t act like your presence in his or her life at all makes up for the fact that life has left them slinging burgers and fries.

  82. 82.

    patrick

    if the media elites would pay attention to places other than coastal cities, they would have realized this when they saw Culver’s taking over the upper midwest….

    it’s my 4 year old’s favorite restaruant, because the atmosphere and food is good, and she doesn’t have to wait for it….

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