Sixty years ago, I enjoyed the popular ABC black-and-white television game show Beat the Clock. "America's number one clock watcher" and host, Bud Collyer, gave contestants simple, fun assignments. On one episode, a lady had to balance a dinner plate on a...

On August 23, 2017, I received word that hospital-pharmacy icon and dear friend, Kenneth N. Barker, passed away earlier that morning. Below is a blog I wrote upon his retirement in 2009. I have made a few edits to bring it up to date. I’ve been...

This morning I reread a helpful blog from Well Said’s CEO, Darlene Price. Her subject line, “STAND OUT IN THE INBOX: Writing Emails That Get Results,” delivered on its promise, which is nothing new for Darlene. The first of five best practices...

2030. A robot, a dog, and a pharmacist walk into a bar. A chatty bar tender learns that his three customers comprise the entire pharmacy department of the large hospital in town. When asked what each does, the robot starts, “I prepare medications.”...

Tucked in Monday’s e-mail, I found an oxymoronic invitation: “Dear Mark, Tuesday morning, November 3, at 9:30, Amazon Books will open its doors. These aren’t metaphorical doors; these real, wooden doors are the entrance to our new store.” Struck...

Whoever concluded we are direct descendants of apes must have missed Solomon’s advice about considering ants. Seriously, nonhuman primates travel light. More like ants, we humans spend our days schlepping stuff around. We pack suitcases and...

There is little pedestrian about being a pedestrian in the UK. It pays to heed the painted warnings underfoot between the platforms and trains throughout the color-coded labyrinth of the famed Underground—“MIND THE GAP.” It is paramount,...

This afternoon, I received an e-mail from my friend George Laurer (to my right), the inventor of the UPC bar code—the very same code scanned on the items I purchased this morning at Costco and Trader Joe’s. It arrived on the anniversary (June...

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a frequent flier—United 1K. Last week, I was chatting with a fellow passenger who holds the airline’s highest status—Global Services. You can guess what two road warriors who’ve endured a hundred...

SOS is the worldwide signal for distress. When originally used in 1908, the letters did not represent words. Rather, the characters were chosen for the ease with which they could be telegraphed and deciphered via Morse Code. The signal employs perhaps the...