An (even) older colleague once told me, that the best thing that could happen to you in work was that ‘they’ ignored you, ‘they’ being the bosses in our place of work. Can you believe this? I thought that was incredibly funny. I had always wanted to get their attention because I was doing really important work that would change the course of the world. I wanted them to share my enthusiasm, my energy, my believe in a better future! In my mind, it was easy: I just needed to get their attention, a minute of their time, and they would see the power of my ideas and back me up with the power of their office.

Until I managed to get their attention. And learned my lesson.

So here it goes for those with a low frustration threshold: If you want your job to be more or less uncomplicated, you *are* much better off if your boss doesn’t even know that you exist. Because bosses will rarely encourage your enthusiasm (unless you happen to support the same cause as they do in which case they will give you loads of work and then claim all the glory), but they will always blame you when things go wrong, and they will most certainly not tolerate you ‘waisting’ resources on what they will most likely see as your personal hobby horses. – Or am I too cynical?

Looking back at last week and, in fact, the past months of my experience with the Irish Health System, the senior consultants and the civil servants there must have made the same experience in their jobs as I did in mine. So now, they are so used to situations that are really intolerable to anyone else, that they don’t understand what all the fuss is about when people are outraged. They don’t understand what all the fuss is about and refer to white papers and all sorts of plans. They celebrate a ‘wonderful day’ when long overdue replacement buildings are announced, rather than the expansions that are so desperately needed.

Young people of Ireland: please, take over our country, as quickly as you can. If we old people don’t want to leave voluntarily, send us into exile. There is too much frustration around, and too little enthusiasm, hope, energy and believe that things can change – that it is people, your family and friends, compassion, and happiness that *really* counts, and not ‘looking good’, not having loads of money, not spending more time at work, not being really competitive pushing others out of the way, not the economy.

A high heart rate would usually be a reason for concern. Not today. Pádraig was just trying very hard to move. For the first time (there are a lot of ‘first time’ things happening these days!) we saw him moving his feet when sitting in the viva-la-thekla (remember it?). Not a lot. But he did: lifting up the front of his right foot, and turning his left foot out towards the left. I think he might be getting ready to surprise the Ärztin usually overlooking his care when she comes back in a bit more than a week (she is away on holidays). – We know that it has always been a few steps ahead and a few steps back, so we’ll stay calm this time too and won’t get too excited. But I think it’s all good signs, even though we are still talking about tiny steps…

Today’s German Music Tip
Vicky Leandros – Theo, wir fahr’n nach Lodz (1974). Disco with Ilja Richter. It’s incredible, but I can remember this! The lyrics are almost better than the music (if that is possible).

What’s hot
Exile
What’s cold
Frustration
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Mensch, nu tu ma’n bissken Butter bei die Fische!± (…. and watch what Google Translate has to say to this:)

Twitter: @forPadraig
#caringforPadraig
http://www.caringforPadraig.org