Polls

Polls cannot predict elections.  Yet so-called news outlets report them as if they contain meaningful information.  Polls are no more newsworthy than having live reports from the scene of some past or future event where 'reporters' have to fill air time with empty speculation because there is actually nothing new to report.  For some reason, we get sucked in by this sleight of hand which is devoid of journalistic content.  Even though I immediately switch the feed when a bunch of reporters gather at such an event pretending they are reporting something, polls get me every time.  I know they aren't worth anything, yet I can't look away from the smoke and mirrors.

Photo Credits:
The Candidates: USA Today
Sleight of Hand: brotherpeacemaker blog

A tale of two kidneys

Many of you know that I passed a kidney stone a while back, a painful but nonlife-threatening event.  I was seen in the A&E (ER) the same night and discharged home for an outpatient followup the next day.  Imaging revealed a blockage and I was immediately admitted for surgery.  More detailed imaging in preparation for surgery revealed that a noninvasive treatment would likely solve the problem, and it did: that night.  I was seen about a month later for a follow up appointment, which revealed that the remaining stones in my kidney are too small to treat with the shock wave procedure.  So they want to monitor me with follow up appointments every six months.  There were no attempts to bill me for any services even though I used the A&E (ER) for nonemergency treatment.  There were no copays or premiums and no harassing from private insurers.  I am continuing to receive followup care.  All of the above services are funded by a tax.  For the both of us, that tax currently comes to about £140 per month.

The prequel to this story was that one day while I was at OT school I urinated blood.  I was scared and I went to the ER (A&E).  I was also discharged home for an outpatient followup.  That followup was about a month later.  I was diagnosed with kidney stones but they were too small to treat.  Case closed: no follow up.  There were letters from my private insurer related to the appropriate use of emergency services.  At the time, I was paying a monthly COBRA premium of $1200 per month to cover my wife and I, and there was $30 in copays for the two visits.  There was only the one followup visit.

Admittedly, putting these two events side by side is unfair.  The timing of these two events has my family in decided different financial situations.  We could easily afford that COBRA payment at the time, so it was not the financial strain that it appears.  Also, the recent event included passing a stone, and the prequel did not.  My only experience with kidney stones is personal, but I suspect that many stones are too small to treat. With no history of passing stones, it might be reasonable to just leave it be.  I was certainly happy with the care in both countries.  While I suspect that I would not be getting followup visits every six months in the US even after passing a stone, I am willing to consider the care in these two instances as roughly equivalent.  I do not know which country's healthcare provision costs more.  I suppose I could get all riled up about having to pay an additional tax for healthcare, but my wallet sees no benefit when eliminating that tax requires me to purchase more expensive private insurance, which by the way is available here (complete with premiums and copays that allow access to private hospitals) despite statements by some to the contrary.  I can report that I am relieved to have a baseline of coverage no matter what.  Both my wife and I have gambled with our healthcare coverage in the US before.  It is a scary prospect, and I am not looking forward to having to do it again on our return.

The elephant in the room is that healthcare is a costly and limited resource.  One view is to spread that limited resource along a baseline of minimum coverage that all citizens get.  Another is to restrict that resource to a portion of the nation's citizens so that the minimum  coverage is higher for those who have access.  Of those two lousy options, I prefer the first because I think it is wrong for people like me, who are relatively well off, to get better healthcare by denying it to the less fortunate.  I find it disturbing and perplexing that such a view inspires intense vitriol and hatred.

Photo Credits:

Coconut-sized Kidney Stone
Banksy's Elephant in the Room

Driving License

My new driving license arrived by post last week.  You may notice on the reverse (below) that it expires in 2034.  Americans reading this might be as surprised as I was because in my home state, drivers licenses expire every four years.  I suppose there is some clever reason to having a more frequent renewal beyond getting to charge a fee.  If there is, I have no idea what it is.  In the interest of full disclosure though, I do have to update the photo on the UK license in 2021.  I wonder if there is a charge for that?  Even if there is, between now and then I will have paid two renewal fees and be half way towards paying another on my US license.

Tower of London

I was not at all surprised to learn that many Londoners have never visited the Tower of London, a restored medieval / early-modern castle and top tourist destination.  Having grown up in New Bedford, I can attest that the Whaling Museum shares a similar fate.

However, I was surprised by a small but significant portion of London denizens who regularly celebrate their birthdays at the Tower.  Last weekend, two friends of mine celebrated their coincidental birthdays there.  An early string of conversation amongst the attendees included accounts of recent birthdays celebrated at this historical landmark.  

Having visited as a tourist, I can report a decidedly different attitude taken by Londoners.  Most memorable was the homemade raspberry and lemon cake, which was happily presented to and easily passed through security, that we consumed picnic style in the moat.  And then there was the jovial attitude toward their own history.  It was lots of fun.  I wonder what would happen if a similar group tried to consume a homemade cake just beside the half-scale vessel at the whaling museum.

Photo Credits

Tower of London: All About London

Whaling Museum: VisitingNewEngland.com

So, things are a bit busy...

...because my life is a deluge of good fortune.  My beloved's PhD is due on Friday.  But it has to be submitted as a leather-bound book, making it effectively due on Monday.  Yes, that's right, it is a requirement that it be leather bound.   So September has been awash with proofreading…  lots of proofreading.  Even I have joined the ranks.  

I am attending / presenting at a conference in Leicester on Monday and Tuesday.  My driving test is on Thursday, and I missed my last lesson because my instructor was unwell.  We also are in the midst of renewing our lease.  Yikes!

Photo credits

   Cup runneth over: aravis121 on flickr

   Full plate: Henry VIII on fanpop

Lolo

Lolo is a work colleague.  He was a torchbearer for the Paralympic games.  As you can see from the picture, he treated us with the opportunity to get a picture with him in his torchbearing gear. He was given the honour of  carrying a torch because of all the fundraising he has done for our employer, Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, which is a national medical charity.  He raises money for the hospital by running the London Marathon.  My US followers might be unaware that the London Marathon is actually the world's largest fundraising event (£450 since 1891).  If you happened to see Run Fatboy Run with Simon Pegg and Hank Azaria, the marathon depicted in the film gives you a bit of an idea of the atmosphere of the London Marathon.  Anyway, Lolo has run many many marathons and raised much much money doing so, all for RHN.  It is an honour to work with him, and it was an honour to get my picture taken with him.  He even let me touch his torch.

Paralympics

Earlier in the week, my beloved and I went to the Paralympics.  The athletics (track and field) appeared sold out: not an empty seat in sight.  One of the coolest things was the noise from the crowd doing laps around the stadium along with Dean Miller from Team GB as he ran the 1500m - T37.  Earlier, Mickey Bushell won gold for Team GB in the 100m - T53, which was great because the stadium erupted.  Later in the evening, we were also treated to Raymond Martin's US gold in the 400m - T52.  The only wish unfulfilled was a Portugal gold as well.  

In fact, no Portuguese athletes competed in the stadium that evening, which would have been a huge disappointment had I not accidentally happened upon a group of them whilst wondering through Olympic Park.  The meeting was remarkably similar to the time I met Dave Sharp in a music festival crowd in the 80s.  The Alarm had finish their set an hour earlier. I was enjoying another, I looked up and there was Dave Sharp.  My hand immediately darted into the air and shouted, 'Dave!'  As he looked to me, his expression changed from 'Oh, who's that?' to 'Oh my god, how do I make an inconspicuous exit'.  He gave a quick wave and continued his journey.  The only differences were: the darting hand became a pumped fist, 'Dave!' became 'Portugal!', and one person giving me that look became six.  

Apparently, when meeting heroes for the first time, I am cursed with an involuntary upward thrusting of my right arm that limits any utterance to a single word.  The only consolation is that 30 years later, I actually managed to meet Dave Sharp again.  Thankfully, I managed to keep my right arm pointed earthward whilst stringing together a few sentences.  Judging by the look on his face, the sentences might have actually been coherent.  Apparently, the classic single-utterance right-arm thrust is not the best conversation starter.  But I am holding onto the hope of running into one of the athletes 30 years from now so that I can redeem myself.