Life in the... well, up the lane
I have been awol girl (and I owe replies and comments and emails), but I have been awol in quite pretty surroundings - on Saturday I actually headed northwards to spend a day with cousins and aunts and uncles, passing fields of yellow and spreads of daisies, and other bits of rather pictureskew countryside on the way...
It was a nice day - they're a decent mob, and more ready to laugh than complain about things, which is always good to be around! My uncle was over from the Island, visiting, and so it was a bit of a get-together. Really nice to see my wee second cousin too, who is no longer wee at all, but a beautiful grown woman who writes, writes about feminist issues, and also sings in a band. Go her! I love it when kids turn into brilliantly inspirational adults!
Meanwhile, back at this ranch - it's not that I've been fed-up exactly, but I've been fretting about dentists. I realised at the last minute one reason why, and cancelled my "free review" appointment last night for the fancy tooth filling they did the other week. It's mostly fine, and after a second dentist coming in and trying to scare me about my teeth (which I know are bad, largely because I was one of the babies given an antibiotic that screwed up their second teeth for life) I just don't trust them to simply check the filling, be honest about it, and then let me go. You know, without trying to convince me to pay them to take it out now, or for various other work which they'll try and frighten me into. Or worse... Yeah I know, I'm a suspicious character, but the trouble with private dentists is that they're trying to make money out of you.
Speaking of which - general election... I'd like to think that I have hope for it (and having a slightly Clockwise-John-Cleese-character type person, I do...), but on the other hand, so many of the UK public seem to have shown their true colours over the past year and it's a bit frightening. And Theresa May seems bent on selling the UK soul even further to US corporations - and will not rule out the idea of selling the NHS to US corporations. Saying that it will "remain free at point of service" does not mean that payments etc. will not be introduced and expected at any other point of the service, either. I've lived under both health systems, and while I felt safe and in good hands under NHS practice, I was actually treated badly and then expected to pay for it under the US system. And this was despite having university-selected health insurance at the time - they don't tell you about the huge excess you have to pay, and the exclusion clauses for this-that-and-the-other, or that they will only pay for so many visits to a hospital, even if the hospital says you need them, and those visits are actually the result of the original consultant not being bothered to leave his cosy fire to treat you! So - be careful what you think you want, UK voters! (Not that I think there are many of you reading my lj these days...)
On a cheerier note - I've been bashing myself up about not being able to write, and then as I was having breakfast this morning, forcing myself to read through my original Victorian m/m thingie, I realised exactly what it is that will probably fix it and the problems I'm having with it. So yeay... And if I can cheer up about that and the dentist, then maybe I can cheer up and catch up on my other posts and emails too! Right - off now to wrangle a couple of wee girls... *g*
It was a nice day - they're a decent mob, and more ready to laugh than complain about things, which is always good to be around! My uncle was over from the Island, visiting, and so it was a bit of a get-together. Really nice to see my wee second cousin too, who is no longer wee at all, but a beautiful grown woman who writes, writes about feminist issues, and also sings in a band. Go her! I love it when kids turn into brilliantly inspirational adults!
Meanwhile, back at this ranch - it's not that I've been fed-up exactly, but I've been fretting about dentists. I realised at the last minute one reason why, and cancelled my "free review" appointment last night for the fancy tooth filling they did the other week. It's mostly fine, and after a second dentist coming in and trying to scare me about my teeth (which I know are bad, largely because I was one of the babies given an antibiotic that screwed up their second teeth for life) I just don't trust them to simply check the filling, be honest about it, and then let me go. You know, without trying to convince me to pay them to take it out now, or for various other work which they'll try and frighten me into. Or worse... Yeah I know, I'm a suspicious character, but the trouble with private dentists is that they're trying to make money out of you.
Speaking of which - general election... I'd like to think that I have hope for it (and having a slightly Clockwise-John-Cleese-character type person, I do...), but on the other hand, so many of the UK public seem to have shown their true colours over the past year and it's a bit frightening. And Theresa May seems bent on selling the UK soul even further to US corporations - and will not rule out the idea of selling the NHS to US corporations. Saying that it will "remain free at point of service" does not mean that payments etc. will not be introduced and expected at any other point of the service, either. I've lived under both health systems, and while I felt safe and in good hands under NHS practice, I was actually treated badly and then expected to pay for it under the US system. And this was despite having university-selected health insurance at the time - they don't tell you about the huge excess you have to pay, and the exclusion clauses for this-that-and-the-other, or that they will only pay for so many visits to a hospital, even if the hospital says you need them, and those visits are actually the result of the original consultant not being bothered to leave his cosy fire to treat you! So - be careful what you think you want, UK voters! (Not that I think there are many of you reading my lj these days...)
On a cheerier note - I've been bashing myself up about not being able to write, and then as I was having breakfast this morning, forcing myself to read through my original Victorian m/m thingie, I realised exactly what it is that will probably fix it and the problems I'm having with it. So yeay... And if I can cheer up about that and the dentist, then maybe I can cheer up and catch up on my other posts and emails too! Right - off now to wrangle a couple of wee girls... *g*