I went to the chemist to get my medicines today. I found out a new medicine I've been put on costs £60 a pill. I take four a day.
The NHS pays for my medicines. I help to pay for the NHS in taxes - and, unusually, I also pay a prescription charge of £90 a year or so - but none of that covers £60 a pill.
It was humbling and frightening to be reminded that one is only alive because of the goodwill of others.
IDgaf on 02.25.04 @ 08:33 PM GMT [link]
I was in a lift at work when a man carrying a small ball got in. He bounced it against the back of the lift and, instead of catching it, fumbled, dropped it and watched in dignity-sapping horror as it rolled out of the lift as the doors began closing.
Being polite, I held the doors open for him. Retrieving his ball he laughed self-consciously and said something like: “That’s what you get for trying to look cool.” I agreed and suggested he practice more. Or got a yo-yo.
IDgaf on 02.18.04 @ 04:46 PM GMT [link]
I was making two bowls of instant noodles the other day. One was for my father, the other for me. They were of different brands and flavours, but my father didn't care about either.
Emptying the packets, I saw one contained a big block of thick noodles; the other was smaller wth thin ones. I wasn't sure who should get the bigger serving. A 29p packet of noodles had forced me into a quandary - a North London morality play writ small.
I knew what I should do. I also knew what I wanted. Choosing between them took an uncomfortably long time.
IDgaf on 02.16.04 @ 05:42 PM GMT [link]
I was at business meeting yesterday. Two women in it were talking about dating.
"I wouldn't go out with a man who only had a pay as you go phone."
"I agree."
I told the first I was glad she had her priorities right.
IDgaf on 02.14.04 @ 01:09 PM GMT [link]
There was a Jewish chap in my office's canteen today. He was balding, but managed to affix a skullcap to his head with metal clips. I wondered what totally bald Jews used. Did they wear special yarmulkes with suction cups in?
http://www.chadiscrafts.com/Kt7large.html
What all the cool kids wear. (If they want to look like cancer patients in tea coseys.)
http://www.miriamjudaica.com/Product.asp?Product=INDV-d&Dept=94
An unholy marriage of Judaism and biscuits.
IDgaf on 02.12.04 @ 02:02 PM GMT [link]
An 18-year-old university student has supposedly accepted a £8,400 offer for her virginity. She says she wants the money so she can graduate with fewer debts. The buyer has yet to pay and yet to collect.
Police are investigating whether the sale is legal. Her parents have said they'd rather she doesn't go through with it; the student's so plain looking, I'm surprised anyone would. Imagine a Christian librarian without the associated vim and you'll understand what I mean.
It's like the buyer would rather have a non-descript Yugo that's rare, small and handles clumsily, instead of a used Lotus that has fantastic bodywork and handles like a jet fighter. Eight grand would buy a hell of a flight.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/3475611.stm
IDgaf on 02.10.04 @ 03:28 PM GMT [link]
When I was a child in the early 90s, a newsagent asked me if I wanted a paper round. I turned it down because I was afraid. Afraid of heavy papers, the cold, walking, cycling, waking up early and Bigger Kids.
The world has moved on since then; this morning's papers were delivered by a papergirl driven around in a Mercedes.
IDgaf on 02.09.04 @ 10:30 PM GMT [link]
The BBC has run a story about a 14-year-old boy who developed deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after a prolonged gaming session on his Xbox.
DVT, also known as ‘economy class syndrome’, is normally associated with poor people that can’t afford decent seats on aeroplanes and who have to sit in a cramped cargo-holds alongside chickens and even poorer people with swarthy complexions and big hats.
After his gaming session the 14-year-old, called Dominic, got up and noticed that one of his calves had swelled up and he that had pins-and-needles in his legs. When these symptoms failed (failed) to subside, the boy’s father put them down to ‘growing pains’ but eventually (eventually!) took him to a doctor who diagnosed DVT.
A paediatric haematologist at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Liverpool said it was unusual to see FVT in healthy children and that: “The only risk factor we could find in this case was the fact that Dominic had sat on his legs for 10 hours playing computer games without moving.”
Two things:
1. Why the hell did he sit on his legs? Were his family so poor they could afford a Xbox or a chair, but not both? Didn’t he take a break during the 10 hours? I’ve played for longer that than, but even I, a most stoic gamer, needed an occasional crap.
2. Isn’t ‘growing pains’ generally used figuratively? Even if it isn’t, how the hell did the father confuse supposed growth-spurt pain with a suddenly swollen calf and numb legs? Could the family afford a child or commonsense, but not both?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3441237.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1144774.stm
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/aches/growing_pains.html
IDgaf on 02.03.04 @ 03:32 PM GMT [link]
