Life

[Merus]

I went to the hospital last year and showed them my healthcare card, and then they cured me of staph infection, which was pretty boss of them. And then I left.

[syntheticgerbil]

Move to Canada? It's pretty sweet up here, guys...

I think I'd love it there, but I can't convince my fiancee because she hates how cold it gets.

 

Then on the other hand I hate the weather in Texas 3/4ths of the year. Except I liked Houston much more because of the amount of rain. Fuck central Texas and it's constant dry heat.

[dibs]

Just quietly turn the ac down a little each day. Eventually you will be able to make the argument that "it's as cold as Canada in here".

[syntheticgerbil]

Haha, why do you want to run up our electricity bill?

[dibs]

Haha, why do you want to run up our electricity bill?

Exactly. Move to Canada where it is that temperature naturally!

This script writes itself.

[Nachimir]

Man, medical care in America sucks. I feel intensely sorry for you all being so stuck in a morass of bureaucracy and mercenary behaviour, especially you Zeus. I hope your kid stays healthy!

 

Incidentally, one of you asked about a doctor maybe getting kickbacks: I think that sort of stuff is less regulated in America. As far as I understand, it has about the same ethical boundaries as game journalism, in that product suppliers can send people on trips, etc. to garner favour. I've also been shocked on several visits to see pharmaceutical companies advertising drugs directly to consumers/hypochondriacs with "Ask you doctor about [drug]". Here, there's a bunch of legislation and somewhat wasteful bureaucracy that either entirely prevents that stuff or keeps it in check.

 

 

Life stuff: I just did almost nothing for a week, and it was really hard at first, but has been intensely good for me. Before that, I worked for four months with not much in the way of weekends, and in that time organised two and a bit expo booths, one festival and one game space. While also moving house and dejunking. It's been intense. My computer broke a day after I left London, which is a bummer, but luckily all of that work paid well enough I could sell it for spares and buy a new one.

 

Cycle commuting in London was the best thing. I got four miles of continuous practice in being assertive each way, every day. There is constant traffic, but if you're fit and on the right bike it's easy to go faster than anything in London that has more than two wheels. I was a little nervous about Elephant and Castle Roundabout, which is apparently a black spot for dead cyclists, but found it ok.

 

Back in Nottingham now. It feels tiny, and I'm going to leave as soon as I can because of that.

[Zeusthecat]

Move to Canada? It's pretty sweet up here, guys...

 

Canada has always sounded like a great place to live. If I were to ever find a job opportunity there I would totally take it.

 

 

Man, medical care in America sucks. I feel intensely sorry for you all being so stuck in a morass of bureaucracy and mercenary behaviour, especially you Zeus. I hope your kid stays healthy!

 

Incidentally, one of you asked about a doctor maybe getting kickbacks: I think that sort of stuff is less regulated in America. As far as I understand, it has about the same ethical boundaries as game journalism, in that product suppliers can send people on trips, etc. to garner favour. I've also been shocked on several visits to see pharmaceutical companies advertising drugs directly to consumers/hypochondriacs with "Ask you doctor about [drug]". Here, there's a bunch of legislation and somewhat wasteful bureaucracy that either entirely prevents that stuff or keeps it in check.

 

Thanks. It was always my understanding that doctors do get kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies especially considering all of the pamphlets and advertisements you see for various drugs when you go to the doctor's office. And that is the only explanation I can think of for why every pediatrician we've seen seems to push formula over breastfeeding.

[Nachimir]

It seems like for-profit medical systems inherently create perverse incentives to push products and perform unnecessary procedures. It makes me very nervous that the current UK government have started selling our state healthcare system to private companies.

[dibs]

My favourite american medical moment was watching a television ad one day while on holidays.

 

A woman had heartburn, so she took some of whatever amazing product was in the ad. Two animated hands flowed down into her body, the blue one soothing her heartburn and the red one neutralising her acid.

 

At the bottom of the screen

 

"Dramatization".

[Hermie]

I also had a hard time comprehending how the medical system is built up like that, until viewed through the lens of capitalism. Replacing "patient" with "customer", and it looks more clear.

 

Supplanting it to the electronics business, no retailer will tell you a 19" CRT has the best image, just like no doctor would tell you to have a diet of only deep fried donuts. But if go to a shadier retailer, they might tell you that the gold plated, "HD" HDMI-cable will give you a better image, because they know they have better margins on that versus another cable. In the same way, a doctor might recommend a certain drug, even if it's not 100% optimal for your situation?

 

 

 

...That's a really scary thought. 

[Dewar]

So how much of this is healthcare.gov going to fix?

 

None, the plan is meant to help folks who don't have insurance. It doesn't benefit those of us who already have it very much.

[syntheticgerbil]

Guys stop bumming me out!

[elmuerte]

Guys stop bumming me out!

Tell that to your government

[Twig]

Your first mistake is assuming we have a say in what our government does.

[tegan]

Tomorrow is my birthday. I'm a little nervous and I feel old.

 

I have a gift coming in the mail tomorrow from a Secret Santa thing I'm doing on another forum. That means waiting out in the cold for the mail again, but it also means that I will have a real actual surprise birthday gift on my birthday for the first time in years. Should I buy myself something? Pokémon cards? Should I get cake?

[Ucantalas]

Happy (almost) Birthday!

[miffy495]

As I understand it, the "talk to your doctor" thing in ads isn't because the doctors are on the take but so that the ad doesn't have to say what the pill actually does. If they say "This is a pill to fix x" they are then legally required to list all of the side effects. If they say "If you feel shitty, you should ask your doctor if our pill is right for you" but tactfully avoid saying what kind of shitty it's involved with fixing, they don't have to say that you may also vomit out of your corneas if you take it.

 

ALSO: Happy birthday, Tegan! I hope your secret santa thing is rad!

[Gormongous]

Car won't start. Well, more like the engine cranks and sometimes catches but won't stay caught. The tow truck will be here in a little over an hour. I have to be up to teach in six hours. This has not turned out to be a good day.

 

 

EDIT: The tow truck guy got it to start right away, of course. It runs fine, except for the "Check Engine" light. I guess I know what I'm doing Monday after classes.

[Apelsin]

Happy Birthday Tegan!

Hope the gift is something awesome

[Nachimir]

As I understand it, the "talk to your doctor" thing in ads isn't because the doctors are on the take but so that the ad doesn't have to say what the pill actually does. If they say "This is a pill to fix x" they are then legally required to list all of the side effects. If they say "If you feel shitty, you should ask your doctor if our pill is right for you" but tactfully avoid saying what kind of shitty it's involved with fixing, they don't have to say that you may also vomit out of your corneas if you take it.

 

That makes sense, but also, so does it being completely illegal for pharmaceutical companies to advertise prescription drugs like consumer products

[clyde]

Is the check engine light blinking Gormongous? I've been told not to drive it at all if it blinks.

[clyde]

Here's a pharma-story that I found interesting. I know a psychologist (not a psychiatrist) who was being offered free tickets to conferences in exotic places. It was of course an expensive ad for specific drugs. What he (and I) take offense about was that he doesn't prescribe pharmaceuticals. This promotion was to encourage psychologists to refer patients to psychiatrists so that patients could deal with their problems through medication.

I understand that medication is the best solution for some problems, but I suspect that it's abused.

On the bright side, once they unify all this data from the de facto psycho-active experiments that are being performed on modern society, we might find out some interesting stuff about brain-chemistry.

[stewmull]

Happy Birthday tegan! surprise presents from friends are always the best.

 

All this medical talk got me thinking about the time where a snapped my collar bone In half. Got driven to A&E and had to hold my shoulder up while they gave me pain killers in the waiting room to stop me blacking out. Had to wait for an hour because people with stubbed toes feel the need to go to A&E, they had their laptops and Ipads out laughing with their families and eating junk food! Wha?! anyway, I get taken to a room for another hour and get told 'yep its broken alright'. I get sent for X rays (I will edit them in later) and then told they will contact me if they will operate (I needed to operated on badly).

Sooooo, The next day I go to a private hospital and it was fan fucking tastic. As I have medical insurance with the company I work for it was great! I got my own surgeon who operated on me within two weeks (on a Saturday!), stayed over one night while I was pumped with morphine and then went home the next day. Amazing.

I ended up getting a plate and 8 pins, one shoulder is a tiny bit shorter now and I have a sweet scar.

So national health care is great for prescriptions and consultation, but anything more I always try to go private.

[brkl]

Seriously, reading that medical stuff makes me scared to even visit the US. What the fucking what.

[SecretAsianMan]

Happy Birthday Teg!  Pretend Sewaddle arrived today like I originally meant it to.