Lee @ 80, John @ 91:
Yep, that was it.
Talking of fire, but with a happy ending...
I love emergencies where it turns out there's absolutely nothing to do. We saw a car fire start last night on the 401 coming back from Toronto. Went up like ... like a thing I have no suitable metaphor for; call it "like a sonofabitch" -- just as we were coming around the curve w/o Kingston.
Cat-my-girlfriend dropped speed, passed the mess as far over as possible, pulled over (oh f*ck oh f*ck oh f*ck watch for running pedestrians oh f*ck), and I grabbed the phone and the first aid kit (oh god oh f*ck please let me not need this not for burns burns scare me oh God is there even anything useful for this situation in here oh f*ck), headed back to the fire.
Driver had pulled over due to smoke in the dash, got out about 20 seconds before the whole thing went up. Not at all hurt, was alone in the car, had grabbed his coat (I know they tell you not to worry about grabbing anything in case of fire but this is Ontario; you grab your coat), was leaning against the first car that had stopped (the driver of that car had called it in already) and having a cigarette and a small, controlled hissy-fit.
So there wasn't damn-all to do but we couldn't get back into traffic flow (100 km/hr nominal, 120 km/hr that time of night, crappy sight lines due to the huge orange fireball and the tractor-trailers were just blowing on by in the right lane at normal speed) until the truck showed up and blocked the right lane. So we stood around for 45 minutes watching bits of the car go flying off (tires make NOISE! But windshields make one heck of a light show. Also, the passenger side hazard light kept blinking for longer than you'd expect was possible. That was amusing, in a sick sort of way) and telling new people who stopped that it was called in, nobody was hurt, you probably don't want to go any closer, and the fire extinguisher from your pickup (though bless you for carrying one and for stopping and for grabbing it) wasn't going to make a dent in that mess and besides you'll never get near the car without hurting yourself, wanna shift your car up so the firetrucks can get in and then stand here and help us watch for grass fires until we can get back on the highway?
So, volunteer firefighters are lovely people, and, amusingly, they all seem to leave their shoes behind their cars and just walk away from them - even when, in this case, they're going to be just standing around admiring the lightshow until the truck arrives.
I amused myself by dropping footwear into open trunks and truck beds while waiting for the lane to be closed. And then we got back into the traffic flow, stopped for tea to clear out our throats, and came home.
So, that turned out well.
Rick @ 1: [long discussions of what Darwin's theories do and do not say, the idea that there is indeed such a thing as culpable negligence and it is indeed widely considered to trump in whole or in part the victim's 'personal responsibility', and a whole bunch of other stuff skipped by way of cutting right to the chase. It's been a long day.]
Yeah, no, sorry about your pretty pink bubble.
You are not infinitely smarter than anyone who went into that hellhole, your ability to detect lies and incompetence is not that much greater than theirs is or was, and it could totally happen to you.
If not that particular flavour of scam/negligence/reckless endangerment, some other flavour.
Your implied conviction that you, unlike those idiots, can't be scammed into doing something life-endangering actually increases the odds of it happening to you.
P.S. The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, 6th Edition is available as a free Gutenberg e-book and you should maybe read it.
Because I have to get to Family Supper, this is partly a straight-up cut-and-paste from Terry Karney's lj; apologies to those who already saw it there.
My husband Ian had his right kidney removed in 2004. He'd been having troubles since about 2001, of a hard-to-pin-down sort.
We'd been to a neurologist, a rheumatologist, and had countless GP visits (fully covered) when he went into his GP with suspected food poisoning (when the abdominal pain finally made itself known).
They took a look at him, suspected appendicitis, and shipped him off to the hospital by cabs (not covered; had he been in BAD shape an aumbulance woudl have been, but he was mostly just unhappy at that point) for [note: I was not in town for the next bit, the order of the incidents may be off but all of it happened] an MRI (done within an hour), looked at the results, said 'oh dear', drew some blood, and sent him up for a CT scan (within 45 minutes). Whereupon they noticed that his left kidney appeared to be more like an eggcup than like a kidney, scheduled an ultrasound for the next day, looked at his blood results and general condition, and slapped him into ICU with a load of fluids and Cipro and painkiller running into his arm.
After the ultrasound, they realised they couldn't give him an internal stent [boring details skipped over] so they opened him up enough to fit him with an external nephrostomy setup, got him stable and on a pain control regimen, and - after some discussion - sent him home to wait for surgery.
He could have had surgery immediately if we'd wanted to do it the old-fashioned way and crack his abdomen, but as this is far more major an traumatic surgery than a laproscopic removal entails, we [Ian, me, the doctors, all together] decided to wait it out.
This was February, and at this point we have spent no actual money. The province covered all proceedures, all nephrotomy supplies, and all meds given in hospital, Ian's work plan covered all other meds.
Ian was off work from the beginning of February to the end of August. 66 percent of his wages after the first two weeks were paid by the Canadian Government via Employment Insurance; it was made up to 80 percent by his workplace's Long Term Disability coverage, who also paid out Employment Insurance's aforementioned 66 percent to us direct and recovered it from the government rather than leaving us to deal with the two-week delay and the weekly paperwork.
We had a longer wait than planned: yes, there was a 'waiting list'. Everyone ahead of us in Ottawa had active cancer. One of those people was a friend of mine. Had Ian's condition begun to deteriorate, they would have moved him up if possible or else we would have gone ahead with the conventional abdominal surgery.
While waiting we had five rounds of IV antibiotics, numerous nephrotomy equipment replace/repair visits, a weekly visiting nurse, and six or eight rounds of oral Cipro.
So, eight months of fairly constant medical attention with a hospital admission an minor surgery at the front end and another one - with major surgery - at the end.
Oh, and a year and a bit later he developed an incisional hernia, which required an emergency room visit (covered) and more surgery (covered). No Long Term Disability this time, but the lost wages were about two weeks in total.
So because we had good workplace insurance, we were out of pocket 20 percent of his salary and some cabfares.
Had we had NO insurance we would have been out of pocket 44 percent of his salary plus meds plus some cabfares.
We ran into debt, but were out again by November. With no workplace insurance, we still would have been out of debt within a year at worst.
Without Provincial and Federal coverage, we'd have been bankrupt, at best. At worst, I'd be a bankrupt widow, because we wouldn't have been able to find the money to do the tests to find the problem in time.
Quality of care: stellar throughout. They did partially dislocate his shoulder moving him after surgery, but my husband is 6'8" tall and weighed 260 at that time. The doctor assured me very apologetically that they had as many hands on the transfer as would fit. They thoughtfully put it back in while he was still good and out.
We also learned a valuable lesson about "waiting times in Emergency Rooms". You can walk into any emergency room in Canada and go straight to the front of the queue, under certain circumstances. Having lived said circumstances, yself and with Ian, I can testify to this: You never, ever ever want to be that person. You'd FAR rather have time to read a medium-size novel than walk in and say 'my neck just went 'spung' or "I have this pain in my chest that stops me breathing properly' or 'my ear is sort of bleeding, only it's a funny colour' or 'I don't think fluid is MEANT to be coming out of my husband's stoma, is it?" or any of the other things that have gotten me/us immediate service. But if those things happen to you, you will get immediate and efficient and usually kindly treatment, for free. Otherwise you will only get efficient and kindly treatment for free.
Joint replacements: those waiting times are average and include both people who get done immediately because they cannot walk and people like my father whose doctors put them on the list at the 'you're going to need it in the next five years, how is next winter for you?' stage.
Terry @ 342: I'm slightly disturbed by how easy it is to learn to read disemvowelled text, actually. Someday the trick may stop working just because everyone can read it anyway. I've was just looking at that and realising that despite never having made any particular efforts, I have mthrfckr, gnv cnvntn, ncnstttnl, trtr, lbrl, and ntrntnl lw pretty much down cold ...
thnk hv ld m str. :-)
Abi @ 534: yay for flea control!
And I hope I wasn't excessively strident. After several years of hearing Dove talk about having these cats come in dying, and having realised just how very unknown the problem still is among good, conscientious pet owners - even less among good conscientious people who do not own pets and have never had occasion to know this stuff - I'm afraid my response to the words "flea collar" tends to be, um, a bit hair-trigger.
The village vet is probably also an excellent resource for rehoming the cat if his orgiginal owners can't be found; most vets I have dealt with are happy to put up a "good cat needs good home" sign on their noticeboard, or otherwise spread the word.
Got a reply from Vet Friend:
I don't know if I ever made a "Hartz Blowz" post--basically all of the "otc" spot drops are potentially toxic to cats, and flea collars are poisonous AND ineffective. (There is a very low margin of safety on pyrethroids--an overdose almost always causes a toxic reaction, and many cats will react at the recommended dose. Also, pyrethrins degenerate in 24 hours, so I'm not sure how they can be effective for a month...)
If Advantage and Frontline are not options--and those are available without a prescription, don't let a vet tell you they're not, if they won't dispense them you can probably find them at Petco or Target; they're not that expensive when you consider that they're a six-month supply and you probably only need to treat from last frost to first - uh, what was I saying?
I told you about the coffee, right?
If Advantage & Frontline aren't options, hmmmm. Honestly, I don't see a lot of success with natural remedies, especially for outdoor cats. Garlic doesn't work, and can cause Heinz body anemia in cats. Brewer's yeast also doesn't work.
I know in one of my knitting books, I have a recipe for an herbal flea-repellent collar. I have no idea what's in it (lavender? tea tree? spearmint?), but if you poke me when I'm home I'll look it up for you. ObDisclaimer: I've never tried it, so can't vouch for it.
Honestly the best bet might be to remove the cat to a different location for a day or two and bomb the shed, although really, if she's got free reign of the great outdoors, this is a losing battle. Be grateful for winter, that's all :) Also, remember that fleas on a cat = tapeworms in a cat. Tapeworms aren't life-threatening in otherwise healthy animals, but they sure are gross (and zoonotic).
abi: NOT a flea collar. Most of them are useless and many of them are extremely dangerous. They can kill cats, horribly.
http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/what_you_should_know_about_flea_and_tick_products/
You can call any vet and ask what they recommend for flea control: I believe my vet friend favours Frontline, but there are lots of safe ones. The problem is, there are lots and lots of dangerous ones, and anything available in a supermarket or chain pet store I wouldn't trust unless a vet advised it.
Tim May #2: I have yet to forgive Rocket Salad for turning out to involve argula.
I mean, I like argula just fine, but Rocket Salad sounded seriously cool.
Vicki @ 362: If you're ever going to be making it to Ottawa, do let me know ...
MEC will require you to buy a membership, just so you know, but it is $5 CDN and gives you a lifetime membership. Also, it's one share and entitles you to vote at their yearly meetings and stuff - they will mail you a ballot.
Occasionally they accidentally make too much money and send out dividend cheques. I think over the last twenty years I have turned a 400% profit on my $5.00, though what you get may be based also on lifetime spending at MEC, which topic I do not wish to think about too closely; they sort of own my Visa, especially now that they ALSO make attractive comfortable casual urban clothes.
Vicki @ 302: Sorry, I might have been unclear: I wasn't suggesting BUYING them online, only that you might want to look at the shoes and see if they move you at all before trekking out to a store. Buying shoes online is for getting the ones you already know fit like a dream only in a different colour.
I don't know about REI myself in terms of customer service, though I have heard excellent things.
If you're by chance coming to WorldCon, I'd be delighted to meet up and go over to the Montreal Mountain Equipment Co-Op with you, because I am prepared to quite seriously bet you the price of a pair of good shoes that they will treat you not only decently but very well indeed, no matter WHAT you ask to try on. Plus the CDN dollar is kind of in the bucket again, so you'll save some money. :-/
I walked in there once with a fresh stress fracture and instructions to buy at least two pairs of (extremely specific and tedious details on what the podiatrist wanted me to buy omitted, but available on request if anyone has a fresh March Fracture), and they spent about two hours bringing me everything they had that seemed even remotely possible.
Specifically, Keen's Bern Boot:
http://www.keenfootwear.com/product/fw09/shoes/women/market%20street/bern%20high%20boot
appears to have a goodish heel. Plus, phwoar. Almost makes me wish I had wide feet ... they can't be that much harder to cover than AAAA's are.
Vicki: have you tried Keen's?
I have very narrow feet, and therefore wear Merrell's a lot - like, "if they ever start doing high heels I'll never need another shoemaker" levels of "a lot" , but every wide-footed shoe-loving woman I know seems to worship the Keen's. They make everything from good-enough-for-Ottawa winter boots to light hikers to kicky little dress-casual shoes, prices in the 80-110 USD range, quality very good.
http://www.keenfootwear.com/
The boots are under BLVD on the website, for some reason unclear to me.
The storefinder suggests that they are widely available in all three cities.
For winter boots Sorels are kind of the gold standard in Canada, and not unreasonably - they tend to last and last - and while the women's run average-to-wide to account for winter socks, there are many, many unisex styles, recognised as such by the company, so no Sorel dealer should give you that hassle. They apparently sold out last winter due to the impressive badness of the weather - so I was told when I triumphantly scored what seemed to be the last pair of women's 9s in Ottawa for my adopted kid - but should be reappearing fairly soon.
REI appears to carry them.
I'm not driven desperately mad by charity calls. Or doorstopping, or street solicitation.
Possibly I am just terminally placid. Possibly they're much politer in Canada. Partly, I *hate* solicitation by mail. I'd rather take the call than toss out the flyer.
This is probably partly due to having worked (not as a fundraiser, before anyone offers to dip me in boiling oil) for enough charities and political parties to know how it all works, which is, some people will *only* give money by phone, some people will only do it by mail, some people will only do it in person, and some only online ... and to stay solvent a charity has to try it all, despite the fact that nearly everyone has one strongly preferred method of giving and one or two that they cannot stand being solicited by.
I don't even mind if they ask why I won't give by phone, as in my experience "because I do all of my giving online" gets me off their call list.
Sadly, two of the charities we support most regularly - monthly withdrawal - are two of the worst for taking one off the mailing list. I won't say which, as they both do a fantastic job of necessary work and I'm afraid I'm not willing to risk putting anybody off them.
The RNLI, on the other hand, is fantastic about taking one off - at least, about taking overseas donors off; it is possible that they are less good about UK donors. I sent them a polite email explaining that I generally gave to the Canadian Coast Guard Auxilliary and had donated to them as a one-off in gratitude for having had a friend I value pulled out of the North Sea. I got a lovely and short email back and haven't heard a word since. (I was a bit sad to do it, as if you give the RNLI money they will send you a magazine that is actually full of interesting articles about ocean rescue, not just a begging letter with staples down the spine, but at nearly 3 GBP postage a time and me never apt to donate again I didn't think it was right of me to let my entire donation be gradually eaten up by administration costs...)
Glinda @ 212: Well, yes, but it does sort of make assembling yet more calm and reasoned arguments on the subject a bit of a waste of time, except as a means of maintaining mental suppleness.
Rob @ 221: Ah, Toronto the Good ... fortunately, to the best of my knowledge this does not apply to the gentleman at Yonge and Bloor who solicits for coin and small bills whilst playing a bagpipe. I think he used at one time to charge $2.00 to play Scotland the Brave and $5.00 to stop playing it once started.
Toronto was also, IIRC, the location of the court case which established that giving away oral sex for free with the purchase of a $50.00 condom was still soliciting within the meaning of the act.
Obviously, I meant "politically INcorrect". Yeah, I can't even type that phrase anymore, apparently.
Well, it's useful for defeating the "women who get raped must have been asking for it somehow" BS. Or it would be, except for the part where anymore I just can't have that argument so if I'm around it basically gets as far as "Well, you know, I don't mean to be politically correct but if you ask me, some women just kind of -" and then all of a sudden the whole debate turns into "Yargh! Ack! Crazy woman attacking me with a cricket bat, help help help ..." *horrible crunchy yet somehow wet thwacking noises* "Aaaaaaaargh!"
Terry@ 196: I cannot tell you how much I wish I had saved the link to the story (with which I simultaneously horrified and convulsed a dear friend) about the legal case which established in Canadian law that it is not a defense against a charge of sexual assault that you were at the time of the offense under the impression that the victim was deceased.
I mean, I suppose I am glad to have this potential loophole dealt with, but who the Hell finds a woman in a snowbank outside a bar and a) thinks "damn, that's convenient!", and b) seriously tries that as a defence??
Serge @ 820: You are a Very Bad Man.
I guess I will be sticking around this time, so this is me.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
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| 2009 | 77 |
| 2008 | 44 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2006 | 64 |
| 2005 | 30 |
| 2003 | 7 |
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