I really like what I do

In an attempt to avert the train wreck that is Game 4 in the ALCS and shake my sour mood, I thought I would spend some time writing about what I've been doing at work these past few weeks.

For nearly 5 months, I've been focused on a project designed to get people thinking about healthcare reform. There are so many pressing issues we face individually and as a nation, but providing affordable, quality healthcare for our children and each other has long been a top priority for individuals, families and businesses (at least until the recent financial meltdown).

I am working with a handful of colleagues and a business partner to coordinate a 'national town hall' that will begin with a satellite broadcast in Washington, D.C. to address the president-elect's healthcare reform policies. The broadcast will be viewed in 15 other cities around the country in late November. Immediately following the broadcast, each host city will have their own local town hall with a panel of healthcare experts that include policy wonks and government types, providers (i.e. hospitals, doctors, etc), payers (insurers), local employers and families. These local town halls will address problems and challenges they face and try to identify how the president-elect's reforms can best be implemented.

Despite the long hours and work involved, I have really enjoyed this project and am finding it very gratifying. I would like to think that encouraging this type of dialog serves to raise awareness, educate us all and hopefully work towards developing implementable solutions both on a national and local level. We will see... There remains much work so if my postings become little more than humorous photos you will know why. I've timed my annual trip to Brazil to start two days after this huge event occurs. I hope that the flight down is one filled with feelings of satisfaction from a job well done.