The Fittest Drive 1900 Miles

I'm sitting on my deck outside, sipping a pomegranate/raspberry beer (they're really good), savoring the heat and humidity of summer. It's finally hot outside and even though it's after 9pm, the humidity still hangs thick in the air. These are good pool nights at SkyBlue and Lou's.

Alas, I'm here in Chicagoland. Again. Since I keep track of mileage for work-related meetings, I know that I have put 1900 miles on my car in THREE WEEKS. That's a freaking lot of driving. But I digress...

What I really wanted to post about was the meeting at corporate today. Today was corporate operations, all the CEO'S, CFO'S, COO's, and VP's. Despite being one of three women in the room (besides the Sisters) surrounded by a bunch of 55+ men with gray hair, I had a grand ol' time. That is, up until about 2pm, when I sensed that my brain was getting full. I needed my external hard drive so I could quickly export the facts.

Unlike last time, I was confident the whole way through (full brain and all). I felt downright cool when I knew what this sentence meant: "STENI demonstrates CMS quality regulations regarding CHF, AMI, and SCIP, especially as reported in HCAHPS, the JCAHO-related agency." Healthcare is full of acronyms. I had another one to add to my list: WAMFE (pronounced "waam-fee"). This stands for "Worried about my facial expression."

Because I'm the newbie, I was placed in the front of the room, not far from the system president. This was okay, but he has a knack for watching expressions enough to know when someone doesn't understand a topic. I didn't want to be a DIHL, so I monitored my expression all day long. I didn't want to appear confused, I didn't want to look bored, and I didn't want to look like a know-it-all. I went for the "interested and deeply thoughtful" look. I kid you not, even expressions matter in this business. No wonder I'm zonked.

A lot matters in this business, but I'm convinced it boils down to survival, survival of the fittest. The fearful or uncertain execs self-select out and the strong ones naturally rise to the top. I'm convinced that my mentors are actually trying to kill me, to test my perseverance and see *just* how dedicated I really am. I've decided that I'm going to succeed in this endeavor, regardless of the stress and challenges. However, if I end up inadvertently hanging myself in my computer cords, will someone please make sure Jack engraves "WAMFE for DIHL" on my tombstone?!