DEL.ICIO.USCEO: ‘I’m a closet rock n’ roll fan’
Sunday, June 21, 2009
I am concerned that as Americans, we have lost our gratitude. The gratitude of how good we have it every day. Everybody’s so negative much of the time. We’re so busy chasing something else that we forget to appreciate just how good we have it.
I didn’t have a granite kitchen until I moved here. I’ve been married 27 years. I’ve been a CEO for 25 years. I never had a granite countertop in my kitchen. Who cares? My car is going to go over 100,000 miles tomorrow. It’s a 2005 Nissan Murano.
If his first year as CEO of Grady Memorial Hospital hasn’t been a breeze, Michael Young is coping just fine. As he recently told the AJC, his record player is finally fixed and there’s always that little Italian place for dinner on Saturday.
• Traffic, "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys"
• Grateful Dead, "Skeletons in the Closet"
• Outlaws, "Outlaws"
• Fleetwood Mac, "Rumors"
• Genesis, "Trick of the Tail"
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I pray about three times a day. I usually wake up at four and I lay in my bed until five. I pray about half the time, and I prioritize what I’m going to do during the day. I pray at lunch so I can stay focused and happy in the afternoon. And then I do it again before I go to bed.
We all really have a lot to be grateful for. My kids are through college. My parents are in their 80s and they’re healthy. And that’s why I came to Grady, because I’m trying to make sure that Grady is here for everybody. Atlanta is going to be a lot worse off – everybody – if Grady isn’t successful.
I’m kind of disappointed in the traffic here. Seriously, when I heard about it, I was scared to death. I thought I’d have to sell my cars and ride my bike to work. But the traffic really isn’t that bad here contrasted to Philly, Baltimore, Pittsburgh. I live just off Bankhead Road in Vinings Estates, so I can come in either 20 or 75.
I’m happy here. The adjustment has been wonderful. People are so friendly and helpful. I’ve played golf just about everywhere. We’ve been to see the Chinese statues at the High. I’ve been to the Braves. Our kids are gone, so we eat out a lot. There’s an Italian place, Pasta Vino, in Buckhead we go to on Saturday after church [at Christ the King].
We have a pass to Chastain amphitheatre, which is pretty impressive. We’ve seen Loggins & Messina. We’re seeing Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago.
I’m a closet rock n’ roll fan. But my stereo was broke and I never had time to fix it. We have 400 record albums. My wife had to pack the house, including them, to save the hospital $3,000. Imagine, my wife did the packing. And she said, ‘Dude, I packed those boxes so we’re going to make this record player work.’
My stereo’s 30 years old. The turntable and the cartridge was broken so we went to this great place in Marietta that does stereo repairs, and we got it fixed. Ever since, we’ve been listening to these old records. I think they sound better than CDs; I think CDs sound a little flat.
I have a lot of old Stones, Grateful Dead, Bad Company. My wife loves Steely Dan. Fleetwood Mac. The Band. Eric Clapton. The nice thing is, on Saturday you can do church from 5:30 to 6:30 and then Sunday morning, you have a reprieve. So you read the Sunday paper and listen to records. I listen to the James Taylor album [with] “Fire and Rain” a lot.
It’s funny, my wife has a lot of girlie stuff and I have a lot of hard rock. Over the years we’ve kind of come to the middle of the road. I was an audiophile in college. I had a ten-inch reel-to-reel. I have Dahlquist speakers now, about four and a half feet tall, maybe two feet wide. We have a big family room.
My kids are the iPod generation and they think I should get an iPod. But I wouldn’t know how to download the music.
As told to external content editor Tom Sabulis, tsabulis@ajc.com
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