Avoiding Life One Post at a Time

I thought I'd seen it all...

I thought I'd seen it all when I first went to America and saw that there were Christmas lights on a funeral home, on several funeral homes, in fact.

I thought I'd seen it all when I found my parents Joy of Sex book and accompanying video. I shudder just thinking about it. 

This was surpassed when I saw a sex show in Amsterdam and learned that babies are not the biggest things that can come out of a woman. 

But this... this is something I just can't comprehend.  Uranium... in a can... available from Amazon. 

This would have been very useful to me in high school.  For less than US$30 you too can have your own uranium sample. 

Supposedly it is to be used for testing geiger counters.  I wonder how many people who own geiger counters shop for test samples on Amazon.

Amazon says: Radioactive sample of uranium ore. Useful for testing Geiger Counters. License exempt. Uranium ore sample sizes vary. Shipped in labeled metal container as shown. Shipping Information: We are always in compliance with Section 13 from part 40 of the NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules and regulations and Postal Service regulations specified in 49 CFR 173.421 for activity limits of low level radioactive materials. Item will be shipped in accordance with Postal Service activity limits specified in Publication 52. Radioactive minerals are for educational and scientific use only.

I can't help but wonder how many of these low radioactive samples one would need to purchase in order to have something seriously dangerous.  Should we be concerned that customers who viewed this product also viewed this or this or is the Tom Cruise biography the really scary one?

What a world we live in!

 

Two Tits and a Vote

The lovely and talented Sabrina Dent has launched a campaign for better breast care in Ireland.  The aptly titled Two Tits and a Vote is a website dedicated to giving women access to the issues and access to their politicians.  It only takes a minute to sign the petition that will be presented to Mary Harney in March.  There are pre-written templates for letters to your TDs and the HSEor TTAAV will send a postcard on your behalf for a small donation. 

Please head over there, read the press release and see what's on offer.  Male or female, sign the petition, please - this has gone on too long.  Please tell your family, friends, enemies, neighbours to do the same, after all with breast cancer affecting just over one in four women in Ireland, we are all bound to face it one way or another, whether it be ourselves, a friend or a family member.  Something has to be done and this campaign is an excellent start. 

 

If you do nothing else worthwhile this week, if you couldn't be arsed to check out the site, for God's sake, just take a minute out of your day sign the petition.

My heartfelt thanks to Sabrina for highlighting my issue.  It is my sincere hope that more women will come out of the woodwork and people will know what is really going on and how ridiculous it really is.

That is all.

The Saga Continues...

I am quite reluctant to post here lately as it seems I am obliged to talk about the boob issue, at least until it's resolved! So here is an update.

The week after Christmas I received a letter in the post scheduling an ultrasound on my right breast for February 27th.  That is 6 months and a week from the original referral date.

Today I received a letter telling me I had an appointment with a "consultant surgeon" in Port Laoise on Monday.  This letter was a photocopy of the type that used to be done on ditto machines.  The name and date were filled in by hand.  It had been photocopied so many times, there was no margin and marks all over it.  I suppose he saves the stationary for private patients.  It has been photocopied for at least three years, as it has the old phone code, that was changed in 2005.  Would you put your health in the hands of such professionalism? 

The question is however if this is a duplicate appointment.  Do they not know that they already sent me to Dublin and I have an ultrasound scheduled?  Furthermore wasn't I supposed to be sent to Port Laoise for an ultrasound, not a surgery consultation?  The ineptitude of the HSE just continues to astound me.  I tried to ring and see what the hell was going on and thanks to ComReg's handy number converter I was able to get the proper number.  I got an unprofessional bumbling answering machine saying they were available Mondays or Thursdays for a period of two hours and to ring back then. Fuck me.

Why do I pay for health insurance when I can't even use it unless I want to fork out hundreds of euro upfront, only to have some of it reimbursed later?  I do want to fork out the money, but unfortunately I don't have it so here I am - a sitting duck.  I much prefer the American way of doing things where the hospital settles directly with the insurance company and sends you a bill for the difference.  They are also very good at letting you pay in installments if money is tight. 

So where do I go from here?  I suppose I will call these people on Thursday during the specified hours and see what is going on.  Will explain the situation, see if I can get ultrasound moved up here in the Midlands and if not, just stick with the date in Dublin.  I do not want to go to this appointment only to have the same thing happen and take up another womans spot.  God know how long she has  been waiting.

So there you go.  Nothing new really, just more incompetence within the HSE. Nothing new there I suppose.