We're #1! We're #1! We're #1!

A new study conducted by the pharmaceutical company Novartis and McKinsey and Co. shows a stunning difference among countries with regard to health-care efficiency.

For example: Smoking rates are higher in France than in the United States, so the French population has higher rates of lung disease. Yet the French system is able to treat the disease far more effectively than happens in the United States, with levels of severity and fatality three times lower than those in this country. And yet France spends eight times less on treatments per person than the U.S. system. Or consider Britain, which handles diabetes far more effectively than the United States, while spending less than half of what we spend per person. The study concludes that the British system is five times more productive in managing diabetes than is the United States. Moar

Or Why I Often Don't Wear Sandals

It's been a mite warm lately, generally warmer than Sai Gon, not that I'd notice or nothing, and wot with them being eleven or twelve hours off, I can only compare the high of the day. So, yesterday, I did not do much, but curse that the house WAS TOO WARM. I stayed off the bike. I went out for coffee with Michael around four, with plans on buying some AA batteries on account of because the batteries I'd bought at Lunds for the thermostat wuz AAA, and of course, it needed AA.

Habits
The usual Caribou was packed to the roof, well, OK, all the inside chairs wuz taken. We walked over to the D'Amico's on the corner, which was almost deserted, I drank ice tea (free refills) and Michael tried to entice me with basil lemonade. He failed.

Habit #1: Menards
I'd fixated on a trip to Menards. I knew they were open because I'd already checked the website. Michael suggested Walgreens just up the street would have batteries, so I went there, driving past the Hennepin SuperAmerica and Holiday where I should have stopped to get gas. But, of course, at Walgreens, I also bought pseudophed and Allegra. Menards just might have been cheaper.

Habit #2 SuperAmerica
The usual SuperAmerica, Lake & Aldrich was packed. There wuz no empty pumps, even the ones with the bad card readers wuz full. And the pump has to be on the passenger's side. I headed home instead.

The reason I wanted the batteries, was that I'd reasoned I was having trouble changing the thermostat because the batteries wuz dead. Wuzn't so, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. I changed the batteries, but I still couldn't change the thermostat. Off to google and the intarwebs, where I discovered not the manual to the specific thermostat I have but to somewhat similar thermostats. Lock? Unlock? Reset should fix it! Tried it, didn't work. Hold Hold Hold Next. Tried it. Unlocked. If only I could blame some other idiot for locking it in the first place...

Offa Work and CONvergence Bound
Soon. Soon. Soon. Gotta pick up my registration. Got batteries charged. Gotta parking ramp across the highway if I can't squeeze into the hotel's lot if only I can figure out how to get across. Commuting.

Why Geeks Wear Socks?
My feet are sore. No arch support. Blister on my toe that I have absolutely no idea how it got there, and sores on top where the sandal strap rubs on my poor delicate feet -- well, ok, foot.

I'm sure it being 100 degrees (or 101) fondly Fahrenheit yesterday has nothing to do with any of this. Nope.