The Vent and Rant Thread

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

hmmm maybe I should start flossing....

he,he,he.... no, I brushed and flossed like a good girl, but I smoked two packets a day (yes, way back ). And then I stopped smoking and I got parodontosis.

Originally Posted by phenomshel

*shudders at all the teeth talk*.

I need another job. Badly. SOON.

Yes, I shudder too at all this teeth talk. My one black day per year is when I go to my dentist for a check-up and all. yuck, yuck

Good luck on finding a job. That must be difficult as your economy is as stressed as is ours.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I just did an Image search for 'cantilever tooth bridge' (I did 'cantilever bridge' first, but I don't think we need to span a river...) but didn't see what I was talking about. Lemme do some Photoshopping....

OK... I cut this down from a double-sided partial. Imagine this but with only the last two molars. I don't know why, but it's very secure. In two years it's never felt as if it were loose.

Stitchawl

Thanks! I'll bring this up with my dentist - assuming I survive Friday's extraction procedure!

[ProfCrash]

I thank god we had good medical coverage when I was pregnant. Talk about expensive. Then the pneumonias led to the Doctors office and many medicines. Two scripts for the first bout, one for the second, two allergy meds, three asthma meds.

(Shudders at the cost without health care)

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Thanks! I'll bring this up with my dentist - assuming I survive Friday's extraction procedure!

My wife tells me that these are very new. Available only for the past three years here. She doesn't know where they were invented, and there is only a select handful of dentists making them here. Fortunately for us, one is local.

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I thank god we had good medical coverage when I was pregnant. Talk about expensive. Then the pneumonias led to the Doctors office and many medicines. Two scripts for the first bout, one for the second, two allergy meds, three asthma meds.
(Shudders at the cost without health care)

One of the reasons we are moving back to Thailand is the cost of health care. You can get a complete physical, including all x-rays, EEG, EKG, full blood and fluids lab work, etc., etc., in hospitals that look more like luxury hotels, being escorted from department to department by special hostesses with wait times of just a few minutes (not even long enough to finish the tea they serve you in the waiting rooms) and pay about $50 USD. A full course of Antibiotics can be bought for $4... And you don't need a doctor's prescription for most drugs other than narcotics or psychotropics. Buy them over the counter at any pharmacy. If you prefer Chinese herbal medicines, there are plenty of clinics that specialize in them, also just as inexpensive.


Stitchawl

[samhy]

Hi everyone,

I am so cross with those who think they know so much better than the writers and the show-runners of a show (obviously)
Because it doesn't go the way one expected it would, doesn't mean that those spending months working on it, trying to create something (hopefully) consistent and delivering an idea/a message, are lazy/incompetent/overpaid people.

You think you're more qualified, please by all means, go and try (and let me know when I can watch your fabulous show on tv, but I won't hold me breathe).

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

My wife tells me that these are very new. Available only for the past three years here. She doesn't know where they were invented, and there is only a select handful of dentists making them here. Fortunately for us, one is local.



One of the reasons we are moving back to Thailand is the cost of health care. You can get a complete physical, including all x-rays, EEG, EKG, full blood and fluids lab work, etc., etc., in hospitals that look more like luxury hotels, being escorted from department to department by special hostesses with wait times of just a few minutes (not even long enough to finish the tea they serve you in the waiting rooms) and pay about $50 USD. A full course of Antibiotics can be bought for $4... And you don't need a doctor's prescription for most drugs other than narcotics or psychotropics. Buy them over the counter at any pharmacy. If you prefer Chinese herbal medicines, there are plenty of clinics that specialize in them, also just as inexpensive.


Stitchawl

Hmmmm, wonder what lessons the U.S.A. health care system could learn from them?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by samhy

Hi everyone,

I am so cross with those who think they know so much better than the writers and the show-runners of a show (obviously)
Because it doesn't go the way one expected it would, doesn't mean that those spending months working on it, trying to create something (hopefully) consistent and delivering an idea/a message, are lazy/incompetent/overpaid people.

You think you're more qualified, please by all means, go and try (and let me know when I can watch your fabulous show on tv, but I won't hold me breathe).

and what show would that be you are talking about?

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by samhy

Hi everyone,

I am so cross with those who think they know so much better than the writers and the show-runners of a show (obviously)
Because it doesn't go the way one expected it would, doesn't mean that those spending months working on it, trying to create something (hopefully) consistent and delivering an idea/a message, are lazy/incompetent/overpaid people.

You think you're more qualified, please by all means, go and try (and let me know when I can watch your fabulous show on tv, but I won't hold me breathe).

That same comment can apply to so many other areas.; software development for instance.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by kennyc

and what show would that be you are talking about?

Yes, I was wondering the same thing. What do you do, samhy?

[samhy]

Originally Posted by kennyc

and what show would that be you are talking about?

Originally Posted by orlok

Yes, I was wondering the same thing.

I didn't put names because it can apply to many shows. Right now, I have Fringe in mind. This show will end tomorrow and already some people are criticizing. Other examples, Lost and Battlestar Galactica have controversial endings. Well, it's just not one size fits all.
Things like "I had some theories regarding the resolution of the series finale and apparently I gave it much more thought than the writers" really made me mad.
I know that some persons like to use criticism a little too much And I also know that the anonymity provided by the Internet makes it way much easier It's just that I can't stand useless patronizing criticism and even more when it occurs in a way that the targeted person can't reply
I guess I should focus on something else.

Originally Posted by PeterT

That same comment can apply to so many other areas.; software development for instance.

Books too, software running some reading devices too You're right.

At least, having said that I feel better

[ProfCrash]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Hmmmm, wonder what lessons the U.S.A. health care system could learn from them?

That if you live in a country that is developing you can afford to pay people a much lower salary then the folks who live in a developed country and hence develop niche health care markets that are insanely inexpensive. And that the malpractice liability is probably non-exisistant or really, really low. And that the land is probably less expensive to buy or rent. Probably the equipment is sold at a cheaper price then in the US because the area cannot pay as much.

Seriously, it is no different then asking what a Hilton hotel in the US could learn from a Hilton hotel in Thailand when the one in Thailand can afford to charge a good deal less for a hotel room then the one in New York City or Washington DC. Or what factories can learn from much cheaper manufacturing costs in a developing country from the US. The labor is less expensive, the land is less expensive, so you can charge a good deal less.

Basically, it is less expensive for the same reason that it is less expensive to build an iPad in China then the US.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by samhy

I didn't put names because it can apply to many shows. Right now, I have Fringe in mind. This show will end tomorrow and already some people are criticizing. Other examples, Lost and Battlestar Galactica have controversial endings. Well, it's just not one size fits all.
.....

At least, having said that I feel better

Thanks. Yeah, I know what you mean. I was a bit disappointed in the Battlestar finale, but hey....I enjoyed All Along the Watchtower. and I certainly wouldn't claim to be able to do better.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

That if you live in a country that is developing you can afford to pay people a much lower salary then the folks who live in a developed country and hence develop niche health care markets that are insanely inexpensive. And that the malpractice liability is probably non-exisistant or really, really low. And that the land is probably less expensive to buy or rent. Probably the equipment is sold at a cheaper price then in the US because the area cannot pay as much.

Seriously, it is no different then asking what a Hilton hotel in the US could learn from a Hilton hotel in Thailand when the one in Thailand can afford to charge a good deal less for a hotel room then the one in New York City or Washington DC. Or what factories can learn from much cheaper manufacturing costs in a developing country from the US. The labor is less expensive, the land is less expensive, so you can charge a good deal less.

Basically, it is less expensive for the same reason that it is less expensive to build an iPad in China then the US.

so yes and no, they lesson is to simplify from what you are saying. The lesson is to stop the run-away economy and inflation...the lesson is to open the immigration doors....the lesson is to fix the trade imbalance...

[samhy]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I enjoyed All Along the Watchtower.

Such a vivid memory.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

That if you live in a country that is developing you can afford to pay people a much lower salary then the folks who live in a developed country and hence develop niche health care markets that are insanely inexpensive. And that the malpractice liability is probably non-exisistant or really, really low. And that the land is probably less expensive to buy or rent. Probably the equipment is sold at a cheaper price then in the US because the area cannot pay as much.

All of the above, with perhaps the issue of malpractice insurance being the single biggest factor. The costs for that in the west are enormous! But there is also a very big issue of 'hospitality.' Waiting for 3-4 hours to be seen by a doctor even when you've made an appointment is unheard of. Five to ten minutes is the norm. To be sent off by yourself to flounder around a hospital trying to find the correct department is unheard of. You are always escorted by a hostess directly to the proper place, served a beverage, and often the hostess will wait with you until you are called.

Because there isn't such a need to see as many patients as possible per hour, the care seems to be more old-fashioned country doctor type. Thailand was the first place I ever experienced painless dentistry. And that was for root canal work! Absolutely painless as the dentist didn't need to hurry.

Then the issue of prescription medicines... The west believes it is 'protecting' its people by requiring prescriptions for so many drugs. Most Asian countries (except Japan) don't feel that need, except for narcotics and psychotropics. And oddly enough, people don't seem to get sick from over medicating. The pharmacies are usually staffed by people who have just about the same medical training as an American P.A. who is licensed to prescribe, as well as pharmaceutical training to dispense. People will often go to the drug store and ask the pharmacist to suggest a medicine, saving perhaps half the cost of treatment.

Stitchawl