La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
The top photo is a close-up of a postcard from San Geraldo’s undergraduate alumni association. Is that supposed to be a joke or do you think the card went from St. Peter, Minnesota, to Ho Chi Minh City before finally landing in Fuengirola?
Isabel was here this morning. The house smells clean (and it is). We went to Mesón Salvador for coffee and had a relaxing morning. I made appointments for our 2nd Covid boosters. Those are coming up 11 November. The public health centre has been a pleasure to work with.
Our upscale, international medical centre where we go with our private insurance has been exasperating. I’ve been trying to get an appointment with my ophthalmologist for two months. I was told yesterday to phone every day in case there’s a cancellation. Ditto my primary care for follow-up on the results of my colonoscopy. Absurd. I was able to get an appointment with that specialist, even though she told me to follow up with my primary care. I’m sure she’ll understand. I’m going to check out another health service today that also accepts our insurance. We’ve been very happy with the level of care we receive… when we can get it. But getting in to see a doctor without going to urgent care has become impossible — and that doesn’t get us to the doctor of our choosing.
Things are going well and even more smoothly with my file transfers to my new computer, but it’s become an obsession. I never took a break from it yesterday. I did go out for an hour, but I set things up to run while I was gone. San Geraldo is having a siesta and I’m about to get out of the house for a bit. The computers will wait.
While on a 2-hour exercise and mental health walk Tuesday that took me all the way to the castle, I came to a children’s park where I noticed a statue of a mouse holding a euro and standing atop some cheese. So, instead of passing by as I usually do, I entered the park. I’m so glad I did. I even learned something new, which you can see in the last photo below.
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La foto superior es un primer plano de una postal de la asociación de ex alumnos de pregrado de San Geraldo. ¿Se supone que es una broma o crees que la tarjeta fue de St. Peter, Minnesota, a la ciudad de Ho Chi Minh antes de aterrizar finalmente en Fuengirola?
Isabel estuvo aquí esta mañana. La casa huele a limpio (y lo es). Fuimos a Mesón Salvador a tomar un café y pasamos una mañana relajante. Hice citas para nuestros 2dos impulsores de Covid. Esos están llegando el 11 de noviembre. Ha sido un placer trabajar con el centro de salud pública.
Nuestro exclusivo centro médico internacional al que acudimos con nuestro seguro privado ha sido exasperante. He estado tratando de conseguir una cita con mi oftalmólogo durante dos meses. Me dijeron ayer que llame todos los días en caso de que haya una cancelación. Lo mismo ocurre con mi atención primaria para el seguimiento de los resultados de mi colonoscopia. Absurdo. Pude obtener una cita con ese especialista, a pesar de que me dijo que hiciera un seguimiento con mi atención primaria. Estoy seguro de que ella lo entenderá. Hoy voy a ver otro servicio de salud que también acepta nuestro seguro. Estamos muy contentos con el nivel de atención que recibimos… cuando podemos obtenerlo. Pero entrar a ver a un médico sin acudir a la atención de urgencia se ha vuelto imposible, y eso no nos llevaría al médico de nuestra elección.
Las cosas van bien e incluso mejor con mis transferencias de archivos a mi nueva computadora, pero se ha convertido en una obsesión. Ayer nunca me tomé un descanso. Salí durante una hora, pero preparé las cosas para que funcionaran mientras no estaba. San Geraldo está durmiendo la siesta y yo estoy a punto de salir un rato de la casa. Las computadoras esperarán.
Durante una caminata de ejercicio y salud mental de 2 horas el martes que me llevó hasta el castillo, llegué a un parque infantil donde noté una estatua de un ratón sosteniendo un euro y de pie sobre un poco de queso. Entonces, en vez de pasar como suelo hacer, entré al parque. Estoy tan contento de haberlo hecho. Incluso aprendí algo nuevo, que puedes ver en la última foto a continuación.
• El Gato con Botas.
• Oye, Caperucita roja. Seguro que te ves bien.
• El Ratón Pérez. En Los Estados teníamos La Hada de Los Dientes.
I think I’ll stick with the Tooth Fairy. Don’t think I want to explain to my grandchildren that if they put their tooth under their pillow, a tooth rat will come. 🙂
Mary:
He’s really a mouse. For the title, rat was more onomatopoeic.
I love all the statuary especially the Puss in Boots. And medical and health insurance. What a racket. We pay a fortune for it yet can’t see a doctor for months, and then it only covers so many things or only certain percentage of it. Thank goodness I come from good stock and haven’t been sick in years.
Mistress Borghese:
Our private health insurance is excellent and much cheaper than in the USA (a fraction of the cost). If only our private medical centre could give us appointments to use it. Certain specialties and internal medicine are impossible. Plus, they don’t have a waiting list. They actually think it’s reasonable to tell me to phone every day to see if there’s been a cancellation.
At this point I’m certain the USA has the worst health system in the world. When you go to the hospital and they give you a breakdown and charge $20 for a Q-tip that’s insane. Europe is looking better and better.
Mistress Borghese:
Except for this appointment problem we’ve had since Covid, we have had exceptional experiences. Public Health is not at all deluxe, but the care and attentiveness is astounding. And free!
For all it’s faults, thank gawd for the NHS! Jx
PS I’m with Mary on the idea of a “Tooth Rat” under your pillow.
Jon:
Same with public health here. It’s Vithas International that’s the problem. Yeah, Tooth Rat is not a nice thought. But I only did that because it was more poetic in the title. It’s really a tooth mouse.
I wrote the most brilliant comment ever and it disappeared. Reminds me of a poem by a guy that said he wrote a great poem on his sheets in a hotel room and later saw the sheets being washed.
Love,
Janie
janiejunebug:
Don’t you hate that. I always write brilliant comments that disappear. That’s why my comments are so uninspired.
LOVE those bronze sculptures.
Seems our ‘health-care’ systems all over the world are having their difficulties.
People must demand better from them and our elected officials.
Jim:
This is not a problem of public health, where it’s easier to get responsive care. This is our high-end international health centre. When we can, we use it simply because the facilities are so much more pleasant. They can’t seem to staff the place.
Same problem here with health care…hubby has to wait 4 months to have a procedure done. Primary care people come and go so quickly. I think they come here on “working vacations”.
Frank:
My public health primary care doctor is wonderful, available, and attentive. I just like having one at the private medical centre because the facilities are so much nicer for referrals. Can’t have it all, I guess.
Those bronzes are so much better than the statues of the kids playing in the sand. It seems to me that it would be time effective for the doctor’s office staff to make a waiting list instead of having to field daily calls from everyone looking for a cancelation. Definitely time to look for a more responsive healthcare facility.
Wilma:
I wonder who was responsible for these bronzes. They should take over all public art in the city; it’s awful. The medical centre used to have waiting lists and they’d called when there was an opening. This process is absurd. “Call every day in case there’s a cancellation.” ???
Keep calling in case there’s a cancellation?
Bitch, please. YOU can me when there’s an opening.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Bob:
Exactly, I didn’t say that but I was tempted. They used to call when there was an opening. I don’t know who thought this was a better way to do it.
Yay for the boosters.
Boo for the (lack of) medical care.
Yay for the walk and statues.
Sassybear:
Checking out another private medical centre now.
A piece of cheese and a Euro — that’s what a tooth is worth in your part of the world, eh? I wonder what a tooth goes for in Ho Chi Minh City.
Debra:
How much did you get? I got 10 cents and thought my parents were cheapskates even back then.
I seem to recall getting 25 cents. I agree that your parents were lowballing you at 10 cents.
Debra:
I had a friend at the time who got 25 cents. I told my mother and she said, “Well, they have a rich tooth fairy!”
The statues are beautiful, and a little bit scary. I wouldn’t want to wander into that park at night.
Walt the Fourth:
I agree with you about the park at night.
When San Geraldo was an undergraduate, was he also of draft age during the Vietnam War? The Ho Chi Mihn joke may be alluding to that.
Back when I was unemployed, I enrolled in the county-owned medical system, and just stayed with them even after I got a job. It’s a very good system with a good LGBTQ clinic. Though I’m not active enough of late to really warrant one, I just got a monkeypox vax there. But that’s the free stuff guaranteed by Obamacare. If I want to get any kind of elective surgery done, I’m sure my current private insurance would make me jump through all sorts of expensive hoops.
Kirk:
It seems like such an odd (inappropriate) thing for the college to have done. Can’t figure it out. And, yes, SG did fight the draft. Public health is good here but the facilities aren’t as nice nor as modern. Our private insurance is cheap and has never ever questioned a procedure or expense. It’s the modern and stunning private medical centre that’s the problem. Argh.
My mother had a response to a mouse, that can best be described as brutal. In so many businesses customer service is dead. I need to write a long memo on that topic.
David:
When you’re done with that memo, please send it to Vithas International Medical Center in Benalmádena.
The tooth mouse! Hey I learned something.
Urspo:
So did I!