Explanation--Explication (Fr.)--Erklärung (Ger.)--Spiegazione (It.)

“Do you suspect, Curmudge, that our readers might wonder why our postings have been erratic and less frequent for the past several months?”

“Jaded Julie, let’s speculate on what might have happened to the Old Guy who puts words in our mouths. He just got lazy, his fingers became less nimble, he ran out of things to write, dementia finally caught up with him, he lost his creative spirit…”

“Perhaps a little bit of each of those. Back on October 29, 2009 we agreed that there’s a wealth of ideas out there to write about, but we also concluded that the creative spirit of most people—if they have one—tends to be fragile.”

“Maybe it’s like the spirit of an athlete or a virtuoso musician; they perform better with competition or in front of an audience. It’s difficult to do your best when you are the only one who gives a hoot.”

“So back to the Old Guy. What’s been going on?”

“Toward the end of last year, he and his colleagues began to consider ways by which they could derive more value from the blog. Remember? We speculated on this in our Curmudgeon’s Wastebasket posting on November 19, 2011, but we were wrong. The path forward was more draconian than anticipated. The bottom line is that we no longer have our former sponsors.”

“I’m dead? But I’m too young to die! I’m only five years old. Some fictional characters, like Blondie and Dagwood, live for generations.”

“No, Julie, I am not saying that you and Curmudgeon are dead. You will live on in full feistiness in Curmudgeon’s Wastebasket. The Old Guy will have other stuff to write, and he can write Kaizen Curmudgeon in his spare time. You’re not dead; you’re just irregular. Health care is dynamic, and there is a lot for us to share with our readers. Of course, we’ll continue to discuss Lean in health care.”

“But what about reviewing the Old Guy’s drafts?”

“He will write carefully, as he did in the past, and the topics won’t be controversial. Although you weren’t aware of it, several postings in years past were reviewed by a neighbor. He’ll ask Doc Mack to review medical drafts.”

“And what about that fragile creative spirit?”

“It has taken a pretty bad hit, Julie, but let’s hope it’s not terminal.”

“Keep hanging in there, Curmudge.”

Kaizen Curmudgeon