Sick Cat

My cat is probably going to die very soon. She isnt eating and can barely walk. She isnt in any pain though and trust me, she is the sort who would let the world know if she were. So for now, I am not going to take her in to be put to sleep since her least favorite thing in the world is to go anywhere in a car but she especially always hated going to the vet's office. She's 19 years old. It is the end of an era of my life, for sure.

Universal Health Care

There are many reasons why universal health care would be a good idea. I am going to talk about just one of them: The lack of universal health care gives too much power to large corporations when it comes to employee/employer relationships.

Under our current system, people can get health insurance or coverage only in certain ways. They can be a veteran which allows them to access the VA health care system. They can be old enough for medicare or poor enough for medicaid. Or, they can get their health insurance from their employer. Most people get their health insurance from their employer.

Because of the nature of insurance and spreading risk over groups, larger employers can provide better health care benefits than smaller employers who in turn can provide better benefits than what an individual could buy with the same amount of money. In other words, large corporations have a big edge over small businesses and the self employed.

The lack of universal health care can stifle entrepreneurship. People can find themselves chained to employment at Big Company or at the very least they are less likely to try to go it alone since even if they are successful enough at starting a business that they can eventually get some employees, they *still* cant provide health insurance at the same low cost that large employers do. In the labor market, workers look at total compensation packages. They add up wages +benefits and come up with some idea of the total compensation. They dont care that company A can provide health care at half the cost of small business B. So small businesses lose out and fewer people become self employed which over a long period of time can mean that larger segments of the work force end up working for large corporations.

Having an employer provide health care benefits also gives them an incentive to discriminate. A pure profit driven incentive too. Which means, that companies who discriminate and thus are able to lower the rates of illness in their group will be more successful than companies who dont. (And trust me, a result of at least one SCOTUS decision, large companies will probably be able to get away with discriminating even if there are laws prohibiting it). For example, companies might do what they can do in order to reduce the age of their workforce. They might decide not to hire fat people. They might decide not to hire people who smoke even if they dont smoke at work. They might decide that people of certain races are more risky health wise and they might avoid hiring them. They might be wary of hiring the disabled. And so on. I am sure there are many ways that employers can unfairly discriminate against groups of people with a goal of reducing health care costs.

Universal health care does two things that take power away from large corporations in the labor market.

#1 - universal health care is likely to result in an increase in the number of non-corporate jobs out there. It will increase the self employed which in turn is likely to increase small businesses. That would mean a smaller percentage of the jobs would be in large corporations. Would people still work for large corporations? You betcha! It just would mean more options available.

#2 - universal health care would reduce a very real economic incentive for employers to discriminate against groups of people in our society. It will also provide them one less excuse for prying into employee's personal lives.

The Grass is Always Greener

I went back to work today where I found out that I will most likely be disqualified from the short term disability benefit because I went into work last friday which means that the one week waiting period reset. As it happens, I would have only been entitled to 80% of 24 hours of pay. I've missed 64 hours of work and would be required to use personal/vacation days for the first forty hours anyways. Still it is frustrating because I went into work last Friday mostly because I felt guilty about staying home even when I was sick. And maybe I didnt really want to admit that I was as sick as I was. Oh well.

This whole sickness has really brought up a lot of feelings of frustration. This business of missing out on some money reminds me that I have allowed myself to be in a financial situation that I dont like. It also reminds me yet again of how fragile a body can be. One good flu virus and you're out for a couple of weeks! And it can be worse too. Arent we all just one good car accident away from being laid up for weeks and weeks... or worse?

And of course, there is that feeling I get once in a while that it just really sucks being single. And I know that is a complete example of The-Grass-Is-Greener thinking as a good friend reminded me when I was whining about it on the phone earlier this week. She reminded me that spouses can be a lot of work and that when one in a twosome gets some highly contagious illness, it is very likely that the other one will too and then you're not only sick but you have to put up with someone else's hacking cough in the middle of the night. But of course in my mind, I would be married to someone immune to all illnesses ;)

Seriously though. It is one of the weird parts of my personality that I could probably spend a fortune on therapy figuring out. On the one hand, I have a real desire to have someone take care of me and I mean totally. Financially, emotionally, make me chicken soup, etc. And on the other hand, I *hate* letting my friends help me. I turned down a lot of offers of help this past week. So I long for something that I hate getting. How fucked up is that?

Oh well. I am better now. My health has returned. My tax refund will spare me any serious financial issues. My good humor will be back before too long and things will seem rosy again. I mean it is almost summer time and even if I cant afford to go on some special vacation, I can spend a lot of days swimming under blue skies and that is something.

Still Sick!!

So, I have now been sick for nine straight days. NINE DAYS! And it is making me crazy. In fact, I think one of the worst things about this is the death of a favorite lotto fantasy of mine where I win the lotto and then hole up in my house for months. Yeah, not going to happen. It is just like how my fantasy of being a long distance truck driver was ruined by one single solo road trip to California.

I will say this though. I have been clued in to one of the great inventions of the modern world. As previously reported, I lost my voice over the weekend. It started to come back on Monday but at a cost: extreme pain whenever I tried to talk. So, I actually went to see the doctor which anyone who knows me knows is not something I ever do lightly.

I had to see a new doctor because the one I liked has finished her residency and moved on. But the new one made up for it with one simple thing: a potion she calls "magic mouthwash" It is something mixed up at the pharmacy and it contains Viscous Lidocaine (1 part) Maalox (1 part) Benadryl (1 part). It totally and completely numbs the whole mouth for at least an hour with another hour of partial numbness. So that means that half the time, I have no throat pain since I get to use this stuff every four hours.

On a more serious note, my lungs are in bad shape. Apparently, I have symptoms of asthma. I dont have asthma and these symptoms are totally related to this sickness I have but the doctor seems to feel that I might need to have some kind of steroid treatment if the rattling and wheezing in my lungs doesnt go away by friday. I hope I dont need steroids though because she started listing the negative side effects of that particular treatment and it didnt sound too good. There is nothing like hearing that you might have to be put on a medication that can cause psychosis, irritability, some kind of hip disorder that leaves one immobile and WEIGHT GAIN. Ok, I'll admit it . I got a little annoyed when the doctor seemed to have an attitude that the weight gain might be the worst outcome of taking steroids. Cos I guess it is ok to become a raving psychotic bitch with bad hips as long as one doesnt GAIN WEIGHT!! Oh well, I mean it isnt like I want to gain weight or anything but on the list of side effects, that one was really the least scary for me.

Oh well, what can I say. This "magic mouthwash" of hers can make me forgive her anything.

I am Dumb

I cannot speak. Whatever this sickness is that I have, I have completely lost my voice. What is funny is that I dont usually realize how often I talk to the animals who live in my house with me. Cos, you know, *that* is what crazy people do. Well, color me crazy. I keep going to talk to the little furry beasts but all that comes out is a throaty whisper

It is funny because I received an invitation to my cousin's graduation party next Saturday. I was supposed to have RSVP'd by yesterday but, since I couldnt talk, I couldnt call my aunt to tell her I would be there. I really spent most of yesterday in a thought process that went something like: If only there were some way I could communicate with my aunt that doesnt require using one's voice. If only there was a way... It really took me until this morning before I remembered that DUH! I could send an email. *slaps forehead*.

sick

I have some kind of sickness. The timing is awful as I have a couple of big tests on Thursday. I am not sure I will be well by then. There are no makeups. So sick or not, I have to go. I always hate policies like that because I generally dont think people should be encouraged to go out in public when they sick. Anyways, I have had a severe cough and a fever that ranges between 100-102.

But I gotta admit that when I heard about all that business at Virginia Tech yesterday, it helped me put my misery into perspective. I am uncomfortable and will have to use some of my precious vacation time to pay for not going to work. But I am safe and all of my loved ones are safe too.