“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
— Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81)
British Prime Minister
Having based the last decade of my life on the first and the second, I have officially become one of the third. I learned today that the divorce decree was finalized by the court on Tuesday, September 30.
“This Official Walt Disney World Good Neighbor hotel provides the best value in the Downtown Disney Resort Area. Located at the entrance to the Downtown Disney Resort Area and central to all of Orlando’s great attractions. This first-class hotel features a colorful tropical-magic theme and is ideal for the vacationing family or the business traveler.”
Source: Doubletree Club Hotel Web Site
My brother’s in-laws had the opportunity to stay at this hotel when they were visiting Florida a while back. This large pineapple sits atop the entrance of the hotel, contributing, I suppose, to both the “colorful” and “tropical-magic” aspects of the “colorful tropical-magic theme.”
My place of employment cancelled my corporate cell phone a few months ago and I called AT&T Wireless today to see about getting a $22.18 refund I have coming to me.
“I’m sorry,” said the gentleman on the other end of the phone. “I don’t show that you have a credit on your account. In fact, you owe us <insert five-figure dollar amount here>.”
“What?”
“It shows that you have a balance due of <insert five-figure dollar amount here again>”.
“You’ve got to be kidding me?”
“No, sir…but this isn’t just for one phone. It looks like there are 861 cell phones on this account.”
“On my account?”
“Yes, sir.”
“In my name?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I think there’s been some mistake. I think all of the Novell corporate cell phones have somehow gotten assigned to my individual account.”
“That could be, sir.”
“So, how can I correct this? I need to have all of those cell phones reassigned to the Novell corporate account.”
“Sorry, sir, you can’t do that. Someone from Novell will have to call and have those phones transferred back to them.”
“But they weren’t supposed to be assigned to me in the first place…”
“That doesn’t matter, sir. You don’t have authorization to reassign them to the Novell corporate account. Someone from Novell would have to do that.”
“Ummm…just out of curiosity, could I cancel them all, if I wanted to?”
“Well…uh…yes, sir, you could.”
“So, let me get this straight. The fate of every cell phone within a Fortune 500 company now lies in the hands of an employee who is being laid off in four days’ time. And the only option said employee has to resolve this problem himself is to cancel all of those cell phone accounts.”
“[silence]”
“I’ll call you back.”
Until the patient’s death, Agnes Leahy had been a special nurse for Mrs. Marvin Mason; afterwards, Agnes took on the assignment of caring for the widower, who was ill of a serious but operable heart condition and who needed to overcome his depression and sense of loss before he would be ready for surgery.
Fortunately, his hospital room gave him a view of Polka Dot Island in the Bay, where he had a home and where he had spent many happy years; and this, plus Agnes’ soothing ministrations, promised to build up his strength. The nurse, however, had worries unknown to the old man: concern lest his son, the apple of his eye, who had been mysteriously burned and come to Agnes for treatment, be the arsonist responsible for an epidemic of local fires.
Agnes felt her duty to the patient lay in concealing her suspicions. On the other hand, she was in love with the deputy sheriff, who had a right to know.
She had to choose between a dashing playboy surgeon and a rugged country doctor.
A career in a big-city hospital…marriage to a brilliant, popular surgeon — or a life of service to the Indians and lumbermen of the rugged timber country…and the thrill of working beside a virile, dedicated young doctor?
As Nurse Rheva Rayburn hesitates between two ways of life, drama and mystery explode — and in a night of crisis and terror, she makes her fateful choice.