As I look out the window, the weather is much as it has been since the beginning of February; cold, drippy, and gray. I have been counting. There have been exactly five nice days since February 8th.
Yesterday was one of those nice days. It was warm (60s!) clear and sunny. When the weather is nice here, it is SPECTACULAR!! The mountains are beautiful, the residents happy. All is well with the world. But as the sun set last night, the clouds moved in and this morning it was back to the gray steady drizzle.
Because Salzburg is in a sort of basin, the clouds can really linger for a long period of time. It also tends to rain and be drippy rather than snow because it stays artificially warm. It can be snowing in the mountains (you can see it!) and drippy in the city proper.
Aside from the mental havoc that a nonstop streak of bad weather can wreak, German speakers are prone to a condition called "kreislaufkollaps" which translates to "circulatory system collapse." Now of course that seems absurd, because if your circulatory system collapsed you would be deceased. I asked a friend about this and he was kind enough to explain that low blood pressure is a common problem amongst the Germanic natives and if the weather consists of a lingering low pressure system, the folks with low blood pressure feel unusually bad. The doctors are very busy during periods of foul weather with patients suffering from kreislaufkollaps. I've seen two instances of this phenomenon, and interestingly neither person was of Germanic origin. But the effects are not nice. They are rendered unable to stand or move around much, are light headed, and have difficulty understanding what's going on around them. In one case, I was at a store with a friend who had this problem. She was literally lying in the parking lot, unable to get up or walk without assistance.
One of the sales associates noticed that we were having difficulties and offered some "drops" to my ailing friend. Apparently you can buy them at the apotheke without a prescription. They consist of herbs and homeopathic meds that the FDA would never approve! The results were dramatic. First of all, the drops smelled quite toxic and my friend confirmed that the taste was unique to say the least. But within 10 minutes she felt much better and we were able to continue with the plans we had for the day. We managed to get the name of the drops so that she could head off future episodes.
We need some besser wetter and soon not only to stave off depression but kreislaufkollaps too!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Eating Good in the 'Hood
My friend Pam from the States was here a couple of weeks ago. She plays in the Minnesota Orchestra and they were in Europe on tour, so she and had planned last summer to meet in Vienna and spend some time together. We had a wonderful time. We saw the Klimt exhibit, did some shopping (well, not me so much because I'm broke) and then we went to the Musikverein where she had to play and I got to listen. The concert was fabulous and the soloist was Joshua Bell. The seats were uncomfortable and I swear that I was sitting in the ADD section. The woman in front of me spent the entire concert tapping her foot and looking around. She even turned around and looked at the people in the upper balcony. Repeatedly! Others read their programs or texted (it's called simsiming over here, kind of a verb form of SMS). But all leapt to their feet when the concert was over. It was that good. And the Viennese are known for being picky.
Anyway, part of the fun of a new city is exploring the restaurants. I'm not sure the food is always that interesting. It must be very dangerous to be a pig here because most of the offerings on the menu are pork based. The prices are high but the portions are enormous!! As are the calorie counts.
There are some major but surprisingly subtle differences in the dining experience in Austria. Pam found this out in a slightly alarming way. At one restaurant, as soon as the waiter heard our American accents, a full bread bowl appeared on the table. Pam, who was famished, grabbed a roll and had torn into it before I could say "No! Wait! Don't!" You see, it's not like the States where bread baskets are part and parcel of the experience. In Austria you are charged for every piece of bread you eat.... and you are charged an almost outrageous amount. I told Pam this and she was incredulous when the bill arrived with an extra 2,30 Euro charge for two rolls. That's a lot in dollars, but factor in the conversion rate and it becomes unbelievable.
Now to beverages. It is considered RUDE to ask for tap water and of course you are charged for it. It doesn't just arrive unbidden like it does in the States. You have your choice of mineral water with or without gas (fizz). And of course it costs. The best bet I've found is usually the beer. It's local and delicious,
The wait staff generally does not hover over you or take dishes away or really pay any attention to you whatsoever. There is no incentive to do so as they are paid a living wage and not the $2.35 an hour that my daughter makes in the States. When you are finished eating and you are ready to go, you flag down your waiter and settle up right then and there at the table. The nice thing about this is that it's very easy to split the bill if you need to.
So the next time you are eating at Applebees and the funny redheaded waitress brings you a bread basket and free water, remember that she is trying really hard to give you good service and make you happy and for this she is only being paid $2.35. I say this not to promote Applebees. After all, their jingle is ungrammatical. "Eating good in the 'hood?" It should be "Eating well outside of hell" or something. Or maybe even "Consume Mass Quantities in the Surrounding Vicinity." Kind of has a ring to it, doesn't it?
Anyway, part of the fun of a new city is exploring the restaurants. I'm not sure the food is always that interesting. It must be very dangerous to be a pig here because most of the offerings on the menu are pork based. The prices are high but the portions are enormous!! As are the calorie counts.
There are some major but surprisingly subtle differences in the dining experience in Austria. Pam found this out in a slightly alarming way. At one restaurant, as soon as the waiter heard our American accents, a full bread bowl appeared on the table. Pam, who was famished, grabbed a roll and had torn into it before I could say "No! Wait! Don't!" You see, it's not like the States where bread baskets are part and parcel of the experience. In Austria you are charged for every piece of bread you eat.... and you are charged an almost outrageous amount. I told Pam this and she was incredulous when the bill arrived with an extra 2,30 Euro charge for two rolls. That's a lot in dollars, but factor in the conversion rate and it becomes unbelievable.
Now to beverages. It is considered RUDE to ask for tap water and of course you are charged for it. It doesn't just arrive unbidden like it does in the States. You have your choice of mineral water with or without gas (fizz). And of course it costs. The best bet I've found is usually the beer. It's local and delicious,
The wait staff generally does not hover over you or take dishes away or really pay any attention to you whatsoever. There is no incentive to do so as they are paid a living wage and not the $2.35 an hour that my daughter makes in the States. When you are finished eating and you are ready to go, you flag down your waiter and settle up right then and there at the table. The nice thing about this is that it's very easy to split the bill if you need to.
So the next time you are eating at Applebees and the funny redheaded waitress brings you a bread basket and free water, remember that she is trying really hard to give you good service and make you happy and for this she is only being paid $2.35. I say this not to promote Applebees. After all, their jingle is ungrammatical. "Eating good in the 'hood?" It should be "Eating well outside of hell" or something. Or maybe even "Consume Mass Quantities in the Surrounding Vicinity." Kind of has a ring to it, doesn't it?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
A Return to Sensibility
After a LONG break I am back. It seems I caught the flu back in very early February. I thought I was over it but it blossomed into a nasty sinus infection. From there it went to bronchitis, and last but not least, pneumonia. It is my own fault. I delayed going to the doctor, not because I didn't have time, but because I didn't have money. I expected the cost to ruin me because after all, I am used to the medical system with all its cost in the United States. I also declined the student insurance that was offered here because I was assured that my insurance at home would cover my medical expenses here.
Yeah, right.
It's no secret that the health care INDUSTRY in the US is a disaster. I'm not saying that the doctors are poor or that the health care actually provided is bad - far from it. It's really quite excellent..... if you can afford it. Therein lies the rub.
Austria has a "single payer" system. Read the link to the Huffington Post article in the previous post to know a bit more. Here's what I can tell you about it first hand.
It is different from the start. At home if I call the doctor when I am sick, I am usually told that the first available appointment is about three months hence. When I say that I am sick TODAY, I am told to go to the ER or the ImmediaCare center. Major dollars already. Or maybe they can work you in two days from now if it's really an emergency and you're not dead by then. In Austria, you just show up during the doctor's office hours. You may recall from an earlier post that the office hours here tend to be erratic. I'm sure that if you miss the hours (and it's a small window) you have to go to the ER here too. But I was lucky. I managed to get to the office with time to spare. I figured that I would need it in order to fill out the inevitable piles of requisite paperwork. In the States you check in with the receptionist who asks all kinds of things about insurance and the like and then you fill out a paper that says nothing has changed and HIPA and whatever all else. Here in Austria you stand in line. Mind you, I'd never been to this place. I finally got to the front of the line, explained my situation (no eCard, private payer, I speak English, particularly when sick, etc..) and waited to be handed the pile of papers. The receptionist told me to have a seat in the waiting area. I looked at her and said "That's it?" I was assured that it was.
So I went and sat. Here's a thing that's very different about the waiting room. It's true of elevators too! When you enter the waiting room (or elevator) it is customary to greet everyone there like it's the deck of a cruise ship or something. It is also customary to bid farewell upon your departure. So here are all these sick people greeting each other. Some things weren't different, like the television and the outdated magazines, but as time went on and people were being called to the examining room, I realized that it was the DOCTOR himself who came out to the waiting room to fetch people! Unheard of!!! Isn't the nurse supposed to come get you while clutching a giant paper stack of medical records, then take you to yet another room and the doctor comes in the back door so he doesn't actually have to associate with the unwashed masses? This was all so new and amazing! Finally a fine young intern called my name and I was whisked off to a lab/examining room. I quickly explained my medical history, he entered the information into a COMPUTER and told me that I would need a CBC (complete blood count). I am VERY familiar with CBCs as I have to have LOTS of them (long story) so I rolled up my right sleeve explaining that this was the better vein. He looked incredulous and said no, they would just take a few drops from my finger and run it through a spectrometer and I would have a reading in 5 minutes. I asked him if he was sure that he didn't need 4 tubes of blood and a half an hour. Nope. Just a few drops. (Sorry to those of you who don't like to think about blood. Blood is my life!!) After quickly coming to the conclusion that I had sinusitis and bronchitis AND a middle ear infection, I was told to go home to bed and was handed a prescription for an antibiotic and two herbal medications. The prescription was a very neat, clean and orderly computer printout, not a slip of paper with barely decipherable chicken scratch. I looked at him in amazement. I said "First of all, I'm American. This is how it works. You are supposed to give me a prescription for the biggest, nastiest, most expensive antibiotic known to man and then I continue about my business. I DON'T do bed rest. And no doctor in the States would EVER give you a prescription for herbs. I don't think the drug companies would stand for it." He laughed and said "Go home and go to bed. Come back Friday."
I went and filled my prescriptions. The nasty antibiotic costs a fortune in the States and so I was cringing in anticipation of the bill. The last time I had it, it cost $85. Imagine my consternation when the pharmacist told me it was 12,70 Euro. I looked at her and said "That can't be right." She assured me that the total was indeed correct. Astounded, I went home with my antibiotic and my two herbal medicines. The one herbal, a cough suppressant, was made of primarily thyme and codeine. It had a rather complex taste, not unlike pond slime combined with liquid pencil shavings and turkey dressing. In spite of its modest herbal origins, it did the trick very nicely. Must have been the codeine!
After another visit to the doctor and a chest x-ray, it was determined that I had walking pneumonia and I was sent home for another week in bed. BORE!!! It was a good call. I am feeling much better and I didn't have to go to the hospital. Yay! And I've lost a lot of weight. Bonus!
Overall, I found the medical system here to be infinitely practical and efficient. The medical establishment is free to go about its mission of health care without the insurance and pharmaceutical industries hanging over them. And everything is computerized. All my medical information is available at the click of a mouse, the prescriptions are clear, the medical personnel are available, it's relatively inexpensive and available to everyone. Why can't we do this in the States????
Some of my Austrian friends complain about the medical system and the cost, but it's SO easy to recount stories of out of control costs in the States that they quickly cease their lamentations.
I have met a new friend here who is currently living with her mother-in-law in England. The extended family lives in the States, but they can't bring the 93 year old mother in law over from England because they can't get health care for her!! Instead they take turns staying with her in England. What's wrong with this picture?? I heard a piece on public radio not too long ago where they were interviewing mixed nationality couples (US and European) who in all cases had decided to reside in Europe because they could not face the hassle of health care in the States.
Fortunately, I have relatively good health care coverage. This is in comparison to self-employed friends of mine who pay $3600 a month for health insurance. I have a daughter who developed some health issues and had to drop out of college to deal with them. She could neither work nor go to school, but the insurance company dropped her because she wasn't in school. To continue her policy was $850 a month. Where, pray tell, was THAT supposed to come from? In Austria, it wouldn't have been a problem.
In spite of the fact that I have reasonably good coverage and in spite of the fact that I am supposedly covered here in Europe, the bottom line is that the doctor here is an "out of network" provider and I have to pay the bill out of my own pocket. The entire cost is less than my "out of network" deductible.
Something has GOT to change with health care in the US. There IS a better way.
Yeah, right.
It's no secret that the health care INDUSTRY in the US is a disaster. I'm not saying that the doctors are poor or that the health care actually provided is bad - far from it. It's really quite excellent..... if you can afford it. Therein lies the rub.
Austria has a "single payer" system. Read the link to the Huffington Post article in the previous post to know a bit more. Here's what I can tell you about it first hand.
It is different from the start. At home if I call the doctor when I am sick, I am usually told that the first available appointment is about three months hence. When I say that I am sick TODAY, I am told to go to the ER or the ImmediaCare center. Major dollars already. Or maybe they can work you in two days from now if it's really an emergency and you're not dead by then. In Austria, you just show up during the doctor's office hours. You may recall from an earlier post that the office hours here tend to be erratic. I'm sure that if you miss the hours (and it's a small window) you have to go to the ER here too. But I was lucky. I managed to get to the office with time to spare. I figured that I would need it in order to fill out the inevitable piles of requisite paperwork. In the States you check in with the receptionist who asks all kinds of things about insurance and the like and then you fill out a paper that says nothing has changed and HIPA and whatever all else. Here in Austria you stand in line. Mind you, I'd never been to this place. I finally got to the front of the line, explained my situation (no eCard, private payer, I speak English, particularly when sick, etc..) and waited to be handed the pile of papers. The receptionist told me to have a seat in the waiting area. I looked at her and said "That's it?" I was assured that it was.
So I went and sat. Here's a thing that's very different about the waiting room. It's true of elevators too! When you enter the waiting room (or elevator) it is customary to greet everyone there like it's the deck of a cruise ship or something. It is also customary to bid farewell upon your departure. So here are all these sick people greeting each other. Some things weren't different, like the television and the outdated magazines, but as time went on and people were being called to the examining room, I realized that it was the DOCTOR himself who came out to the waiting room to fetch people! Unheard of!!! Isn't the nurse supposed to come get you while clutching a giant paper stack of medical records, then take you to yet another room and the doctor comes in the back door so he doesn't actually have to associate with the unwashed masses? This was all so new and amazing! Finally a fine young intern called my name and I was whisked off to a lab/examining room. I quickly explained my medical history, he entered the information into a COMPUTER and told me that I would need a CBC (complete blood count). I am VERY familiar with CBCs as I have to have LOTS of them (long story) so I rolled up my right sleeve explaining that this was the better vein. He looked incredulous and said no, they would just take a few drops from my finger and run it through a spectrometer and I would have a reading in 5 minutes. I asked him if he was sure that he didn't need 4 tubes of blood and a half an hour. Nope. Just a few drops. (Sorry to those of you who don't like to think about blood. Blood is my life!!) After quickly coming to the conclusion that I had sinusitis and bronchitis AND a middle ear infection, I was told to go home to bed and was handed a prescription for an antibiotic and two herbal medications. The prescription was a very neat, clean and orderly computer printout, not a slip of paper with barely decipherable chicken scratch. I looked at him in amazement. I said "First of all, I'm American. This is how it works. You are supposed to give me a prescription for the biggest, nastiest, most expensive antibiotic known to man and then I continue about my business. I DON'T do bed rest. And no doctor in the States would EVER give you a prescription for herbs. I don't think the drug companies would stand for it." He laughed and said "Go home and go to bed. Come back Friday."
I went and filled my prescriptions. The nasty antibiotic costs a fortune in the States and so I was cringing in anticipation of the bill. The last time I had it, it cost $85. Imagine my consternation when the pharmacist told me it was 12,70 Euro. I looked at her and said "That can't be right." She assured me that the total was indeed correct. Astounded, I went home with my antibiotic and my two herbal medicines. The one herbal, a cough suppressant, was made of primarily thyme and codeine. It had a rather complex taste, not unlike pond slime combined with liquid pencil shavings and turkey dressing. In spite of its modest herbal origins, it did the trick very nicely. Must have been the codeine!
After another visit to the doctor and a chest x-ray, it was determined that I had walking pneumonia and I was sent home for another week in bed. BORE!!! It was a good call. I am feeling much better and I didn't have to go to the hospital. Yay! And I've lost a lot of weight. Bonus!
Overall, I found the medical system here to be infinitely practical and efficient. The medical establishment is free to go about its mission of health care without the insurance and pharmaceutical industries hanging over them. And everything is computerized. All my medical information is available at the click of a mouse, the prescriptions are clear, the medical personnel are available, it's relatively inexpensive and available to everyone. Why can't we do this in the States????
Some of my Austrian friends complain about the medical system and the cost, but it's SO easy to recount stories of out of control costs in the States that they quickly cease their lamentations.
I have met a new friend here who is currently living with her mother-in-law in England. The extended family lives in the States, but they can't bring the 93 year old mother in law over from England because they can't get health care for her!! Instead they take turns staying with her in England. What's wrong with this picture?? I heard a piece on public radio not too long ago where they were interviewing mixed nationality couples (US and European) who in all cases had decided to reside in Europe because they could not face the hassle of health care in the States.
Fortunately, I have relatively good health care coverage. This is in comparison to self-employed friends of mine who pay $3600 a month for health insurance. I have a daughter who developed some health issues and had to drop out of college to deal with them. She could neither work nor go to school, but the insurance company dropped her because she wasn't in school. To continue her policy was $850 a month. Where, pray tell, was THAT supposed to come from? In Austria, it wouldn't have been a problem.
In spite of the fact that I have reasonably good coverage and in spite of the fact that I am supposedly covered here in Europe, the bottom line is that the doctor here is an "out of network" provider and I have to pay the bill out of my own pocket. The entire cost is less than my "out of network" deductible.
Something has GOT to change with health care in the US. There IS a better way.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Read this.... more to come....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rose-ann-demoro/arnold-should-be-truly-in_b_38919.html
Monday, March 16, 2009
Holy lungs, Batman!
Whoa guys! Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I seem to have acquired pneumonia. I shall return in the next few days with some longer posts. I promise!
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