OhCripes.com

So, I have been living in the wonderful home world of Linux exclusively for some time now. One month to the day to be exact. A brief summary of my experience. Wireless takes a little toy time to make it happy. There are still plenty of updates however I find them to be much less obtrusive then those of “the other OS”. When I update various said packages my OS still works happily after they are installed. Speed. Not the drug. Though I may be getting addicted to the swiftness of Ubuntu *nix. Fast, smooth and just plain works. Soft. All of the wares of the soft variety that I have a use for. Search, select, install, use. I am mildly irritated having to use the MS OS on my work laptop. I’ll deal with it though since I don’t drive 1,000+ miles a week to work anymore. Good with the bad you know.

I have had type 1 diabetes for over 18 years. For those of you unfamiliar with this; that means diet and exercise won’t make it go away. I decided to post about this because I read in my local paper recently about a woman who is also diabetic and self employed doing something she enjoys but can do nothing but work due to the cost of simply staying alive. This got me thinking about a lot of arguments I have heard over the last couple of years about the cost of healthcare. It is easy for people who have it or who have no need to use it; tend to take it for granted. I had really good insurance which I paid very little for over the last 7 years due to being part of a union where my benefits were bargained for. A few months back I was promoted into a non-union management position which allowed me to work closer to home. This is great because it is a job I enjoy doing and I can spend more time with my beautiful wife. The only downside is that I now have to shell out $400 a month to exist. This does not factor in visits to the doctor for myself or my wife. The doctors visits are not a huge deal. Hell, I would only go once every 2 or 3 years if I could. But that’s not the case. You see, Insulin requires a prescription to purchase. The only way to get a prescription is to see a doctor. Once I have paid to see the doctor to get the prescription I then have the privledge of paying to have it filled. 1 vial which lasts less than a month costs $98. Then comes in the glucose test strips which I use to determine how much of this Palladium valued syrum to inject into my body. Those strips are the bank account killer. Since being diagnosed I have been told or read: “A cure for diabetes is only 2-3 years a way.” Really? Out of all of the billions of dollars that have been donated to the various research organizations and studies I have heard: “testing blood sugar frequently helps control diabetes” along with other such groundbreaking results. No shit! You mean if I test my glucose levels more often I will know how much more or less insulin I need to take? Really? That’s amazing. My point in posting this rant is this: Universal healthcare may not be the answer. However, since the government is already involved in this up to their eyeballs, it could certainly use some reform. I think of people with serious disabilities. Who picks up the tab for that? Now if a “chronic condition” was covered or supplemented in a similar manner which allowed individuals with those conditions to function much the same as everyone else. Would that be a terrible thing?

Lions, a Crocodile and Water Buffalo Oh My!

This rules, watch until the end. Take that you overgrown cats!