MEDICINAL TOBACCO? :  I had an appointment at the eye doctor’s today; I am having problems reading things nowadays and I don’t know if I should mark this down to advancing age or to being a diabetic.  I almost prefer the latter explanation, as it is always easier to think that a dread disease is making your life miserable than it is to think you are getting old.  In any case, I went to the office this morning and checked in with the front desk and then went to sit and read Sports Illustrated until my turn with the doctor came.  No sooner did settle in the chair than the fire alarm went off, a loud, somewhat futuristic series of blasts that made me think that Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis would be bursting through the walls with guns blazing in the next couple of minutes.  Bruce and Arnold did not show up,  and neither, oddly enough, did the local fire department.  The first fire engine arrived some ten minutes after the alarm sounded, from a fire house that is only three minutes driving time away, which leads me to believe that in future if I am caught in a real fire in this particular office complex then running over old ladies is a viable survival option; it’s fairly obvious that the local Bravest will not be in a position to render immediate assistance and I would just as soon skip finding out what it's like to be the beef in the roast beef.

The fire turned out to be a false alarm; a technical glitch in the system set off the alarm; but what struck me as I waited outside for the all clear signal was the large number of health professionals, doctors and nurses alike, who passed the time smoking cigarettes. Do these people really think that their professional responsibilities actually buy them a pass on that whole smoking causes cancer thing?  Do they think their years of medical education exempt them from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke?  They must think so because these all of these guys smoke like a bad chimney.