Good Things About America

Booze.

It's everywhere. The novelty of going grocery shopping and being able to buy milk and hard liquor at the same time has not worn off. Another good thing is the sales. My mom recently went shopping in Arizona and wrote about her experience:

'I went to Fry's grocery store because they had a sale on wine. All wine was discounted 25%. I bought 24 bottles for $125.00!!!! I saved $100.00. Unbelievable. This would never happen in Canada. Can you imagine walking into the LCBO and see a sign saying "all wine 25% off? I don't think so!!!'

God bless America indeed.

As you all know, I want to go into neuropsychology as a profession. Why? Because of crazy shit like cysticercosis.

Today in class we learned about a dude who contracted a parasitic infection from eating improperly cooked pork in Mexico. The parasite LAID EGGS IN HIS BRAIN which later hatched and died, and left holes and scaring in his brain. He was left with significant cognitive impairment [due to other issues as well like a seizure disorder and stroke] and we had to examine his cognitive testing results.

Is that not the grossest thing you've ever heard of? Check out the MRI of a patient who had cysticercosis.

I Was Run Over by a Car Today

Can you guess which foot was run over by a car?




Idiot making a right on red. I have the right of way and start crossing the street. She looks left, I'm coming from the right, she presses the gas pedal before looking right. I try to stop walking, realizing in horror that she's about to hit me, skid forwards with my left foot [I'm on ice]. She runs over my foot and I fall backwards on the road while punching the hood of her car to make her aware that I'm there.

The best part? SHE starts yelling at ME because *I* wasn't looking where I was going.

Amazingly, nothing was broken, just a little tender. She did get my good foot, so now I am balanced with two quasi-gimpy feet.

The sad thing is, if I were actually hurt, I would have had to drag myself home, get my health insurance card, call my HMO and tell them I was hit BEFORE going to a hospital or else nothing would be covered.

I know I'm going to die here, I just don't know when.

*poof*

Maternity Leave

I was out for lunch with some girls from class and we were discussing maternity leave [I don't know why]. I made a comment about my friend who had a baby who is still enjoying her year off and my American friends were shocked - maternity leave?? WITH PAY?! Their jaws dropped. Confused, I asked how much Americans get and the response?

No paid maternity leave, minimal unpaid.

I looked it up on wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave#Americas

Check it out - the US gives 0 weeks paid maternity leave and 6 weeks unpaid. Given that the importance of early mother-baby bonding has been emphasized in research for years now, I am surprised [and sadly not surprised] to find this out. Curiously, the only other countries that appear to offer no paid maternity leave include:

Lesotho
Australia [weird, huh?]
Swaziland
Latvia [apparently offers 10 paternity days but not maternity days??]

I'm not sure if a lack of a number indicates missing data or whether that means maternity leave isn't offered. Regardless, when countries such as Ukraine, Yemen, Iran, El Salvador, and Nigeria are offering more maternity leave than you are, you're in bad shape.

I would also like to highlight Denmark's policy on maternity/paternity leave:

1 year. To be shared between the parents as they see fit.

Man, I love this country. Who's moving there with me?

Maybe Low Voter Turn Outs Aren't So Bad

Should the people really rule in a democracy? What if their opinions are formed based on twisted logic, false facts, and batshit craziness? Maybe if we did that more often, we wouldn't have videos as infuriating as this:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/18/why-we-do-what-we-do/

*poof*

Why I Am Glad to [Usually] Live in Canada

I went to a clinic today in Chicago to get some bloodwork done. My doctor recommends that I get these blood tests every month because I'm usually anemic and am taking a bunch of drugs that can affect my innards. So to make sure things are as they should be, I have a standing order to get regular bloodwork. I must stress that these are pretty routine tests.

After waiting for over an hour my final bill was tallied:

$265!!!

This was for 2 vials of blood to be drawn. They even charged me a $20 random 'clinic fee'.I'm not entirely sure how much of this OHIP will cover but they stressed that it would be very little, and I should get US insurance. I already did though - and my insurance company refuses to cover any expenses associated with a pre-existing health condition. Let's have a reality check:

I recently booked a flight home [April 15- May 3] that lands in Buffalo for $162 round trip. Given that I am supposed to get this bloodwork every month and it is free in Canada, this means it would be cheaper to fly home every month than to get it done 2 blocks away from my apartment in Chicago.

Punching Babies

This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

OMFG

So, remember how I was in that car accident? All the damages [a totaled van] and medical bills are to be covered in full by U-Haul provided I submit all receipts and the police report that detailed the accident.

I have been trying to obtain the police report for about a month now to no avail. A few weeks ago I sent them a written request for the record and a cheque to cover the cost of the report. I've called and left messages asking them where it is, they didn't call me back.

I finally get someone on the phone today and she looked up my name and the accident report.

She said the accident under my name is listed as a hit and run that occurred on January 19, 2008.

When I corrected her with the actual details of my accident there was a pause and then she told me:

It appears that we have misplaced the accident report. I don't know where it is. All the office are now closed. I'll call you tomorrow.

*blood shooting from eyes*

Weird Things I've Learned About America 2

Credit Cards

As you all know, I got a cell phone recently, but not without some drama. When I called T-Mobile to order my phone, I was informed that there was a block on my credit cards. All three of them. Confused, I called my credit card companies [VISA and Mastercard] to find out the deal. They said nothing was wrong. It turns out that T-Mobile wouldn't accept my cards because they were issued in Canada, not the US. Despite the fact that these are major credit cards accepted around the world, they are apparently invalid because US-issued credit cards are somehow special and impervious to fraud.

So it should come to no surprise that I called several stores in my area and raised a little hell. After I asked the manager of one store if they realized that people from other countries with valid major credit cards move to the US and need to talk on phones just like Americans, they processed my card and gave me my damn phone.

Healthcare

Over the weekend, I addressed some interesting issues that were brought up about Canadian versus US healthcare. An American perception of Canadian healthcare was this:

1. If healthcare is 'free' then only the bad doctors will stay in Canada and the good ones will go to the states to make more money.
2. It's unfair to pay taxes that support a universal healthcare system because some people never get sick and therefore don't need the service. What a ripoff.
3. The taxes we pay far exceed the amount we would spent on US healthcare, so US healthcare is cheaper.

Yikes.

Whirlyball Is A Vicious Game

So a bunch of students went to this bar that has Whirlyball. It's this mishmash of bumper cars, basketball, and lacrosse. It started out innocently and was fun but I think once people realized it was really hard and they sucked, they just started viciously bumping into each other [I know I did]. Anyway, I hit my leg when someone hit me especially hard and thus, the hideous bruise. It was worth it though because JB and I discovered that everyone at school lives in Lakeview [our neighbourhood] and we are slowly building our empire.

Just So We're Clear

I'm not endorsing Hillary Clinton. Sorry, my last post was ambiguous. I thought about it a lot and I'm leaning toward Obama. I don't think he's a superstar but out of the available choices, I think he's the least of all evils. I just thought the Clinton car was out of control. That is all.

VOTE for HILLARY

My mom went to a Hillary Clinton rally in Arizona the other day and took a bunch of photos. I thought these were the most interesting:

*poof*