green

You are welcome to move to Canada, Meow. The more the merrier, eh. And I like cats, too.

Not all doctors are jerks. Was this an off day or is she customarily rude? If so can you find yourself a more supportive one? I briefly saw a doc who was so nasty that she might have actually had psychiatric problems before dumping her in order to hunt for a nice one. This took a bit of time as I wanted one who was close to home and a woman but it was worth the work. The one I've got now is a good doctor and a supportive human being. By the way, I went about finding a doctor by asking people in the neighbourhood including store owners about their own doctors.

You are right. My blonde on this one!:rolleyes

You are right, and pete53 is right in his mention of their resentment when we prop up puppet regimes. Just as Americans feel a powerful attachment to their land and to their sense of autonomy, so too do these Islamic nations. It is an issue of dignity. If there was a time when Saddam could have been naturally disposed of it would have been during the first Gulf War, one that was justified in the eyes of the world because Iraq had invaded another country. Now the country is in chaos and will not settle down until another local strongman takes over. By getting rid of Saddam, we may be preparing the route for a more religious dictatorship in the style of Iran. Those boys are much more difficult for the west to deal with. And in the meantime those who live inside the country grow accustomed to living with chaos and violence. I suspect that it may be difficult to turn off that tap once it is opened. It might also be said that there is no reason for these people to like or trust George W. or his representatives. Indeed he is not popular in most parts of the globe and many Americans do not like or trust the man either.

Yah, Shock & Awe must have scared the cr*p out of those who were on the ground....

Ah, when politicians say that about the Canadian health care system that is just their big business backers talking. Canada is not as densely populated as the U.S. is and thus the majority of the folks up here who do have trouble with health care are those who live in small communities, particularly those that are remote from cities. These communities have troubles attracting doctors and of course are far from those centres where the big ticket high-tech diagnostic machines are. For someone who lives in a large city, as I do, treatment is good, even stellar. For those individuals who live in smaller centres falling sick can be a nightmare because it involves travel and sojourns out of town. I don't think that private health care would change this. It is unlikely that these resources would be shifted to thinly populated regions. They are simply too expensive. My brother now practices medicine in the States. He says that one difference is that he can no longer freely pursue an avenue of investigation when treating a sick individual. He must juggle what he would like to do with what the economics (i.e. insurance) will permit him to do. This wasn't a concern before. (He is, by the way, very fond of his new country and is now a citizen.)

The blonde situation is a strange one. I am blonde and one of my girlfriends is certain that I get better treatment than she does, so sure in fact that she gets me to deal with sales clerks, so sure in fact that at one point she had her hair dyed blonde. She quickly dyed it back to its natural colour. She looked lousy as a blonde. As for my own experiences, I work with men and I am treated as a blonde. They are inevitably surprised when I show signs of intelligence. I dyed my hair red for a few years and got away with being as cranky as I want to be. They said, "well, what do you expect? She's a redhead." As for being treated better because you are a blonde. My friend is right. I do get better treatment than she does. Men must enjoy helping bimbos. And when I actually am having a dim moment I now blame it on my blondeness. This generally raises a laugh.

My drug plan carrier is Green Shield. For any prescription I pay 5 dollars. It used to be 35 cents but the company raised this to 5 dollars during contract negotiations a couple of contracts ago. The plan has saved me a fortune over the years. I am being treated for depression, something that runs in my family, and am on a raft of drugs for this as well as something for cholesterol and something else for incipient osteoporosis. The drug plan also permits my GP to prescribe high-tech antibiotics whenever I do have an infection. The fact that we have universal health care up here in Canada has also saved my butt. My GP is comfortable sending me off for tests in order to ensure that none of these drugs have adverse side-effects.

That's a really cool approach. I tend to be a hothead but I am impressed and would like to try it.

I was having a pleasant afternoon out today with a girlfriend. Then we dropped into this upscale discount clothing place which was having a sale. Perfect, I thought, but nothing was larger than size fourteen in women's sizes although men of size were covered. I was pissed. I have money and I was there to shop. I also know that some of those manufacturers do make sizes that are bigger than fourteen. My friend wanted me to stir things up but I didn't want to risk eating a humiliation sandwhich.

There seems to be a marriage between the government and big biz. This is too bad for the middle class, isn't it?

Testosterony, minestrone, they both sound like soups.

I woulda said "sounds like someone needs his Viagra."

Someone, I believe it was Sir Peter Ustinov, said that terrorism is the war of the poor and war is terrorism of the rich. Another way of expressing this difference would be to say that some blow things up from below and others blow things up from above. Either way you cut it, the consequences are dirty and tragic.

Prescription drug prices are cheaper up here in Canada. Surely prices could be cut south of the border where the population base is much higher.

I have been reading that Bandsters experience hair loss. I have just been newly banded (Sept 7 of this year) and have learned a lot from all of you who post on this site but I know nothing about hair loss. Does everyone experience it? How much hair do you lose? And why? If you would tell me your experiences I would really appreciate it.

What a fantastic idea! I'm going to have to get myself a tape measure ASAP. My weight gain was kinda funny in that almost all of it is on my torso. My arms and legs are relatively skinny but my trunk has gotten bigger all over and I have the gut of a 8-months pregnant woman - with twins! My weight gain, like my mother's, was primarily post-menopausal (I went through menopause when I was 41) and over the last two years it has really been accelerated by one of the drugs that they have me on for depression. A friend of mine who used to be one of those little skinny flat-chested women gained over 60 lbs on a similar drug. I would quit the drug and in fact did try but it seems that I need it. I do like the idea of keeping track of my measurements and I should get into the habit of weighing myself, I guess. The truth is that I really want this band to work. I should use any and all tools that might help.

Yep, you're right, Yoda, and the TLBC is so close to home. I can get filled and defilled whenever I'm in the mood.:clap2: And they promised me that they will do it for life. Wheee!!!!:faint:

You've got a point. Maybe I'll buy one this weekend. I might be losing weight right now and not even realize it....

I am starting to wonder whether I should buy myself a scale. I've never owned one and for years - since I was 25 years old - I didn't know my weight. Whenever I had to be weighed I would ask that I not be told. I knew that I was getting fatter and fatter by the sizes of the clothes I was buying and by looking in the mirror, something I was only doing by accident over the past decade. (Ugh!) I weighed myself the morning of my operation at the TLBC. Naturally, I didn't like the news but then I wasn't expecting to. Now I have finished my second week of post-op diet, my gut is still big, but people say that my face looks thinner. I am at the point where I am starting to feel like I am starving, especially at night (I am a nightime eater), and I am impatient to see that gut start to deflate. There is a lot of action at first: the op, the first week of post-op when a grrl is going through a lot of big time recovery, and then the thrill of being able to eat soup. Now I am feeling healthy, bored and hungry, and yet I haven't healed enough to go to the gym and work off some of my frustrations that way. And I can't meet any of my friends for lunch! Oops! This ended up being a long post, eh.

Thanx for your feedback, Susan4794.

I've just been doing lots of soup (Gardenay), apple juice, and yogurt along with vitamins and clacium supplements. I am hoping that the yogurt will cover my protein needs. Speaking of that, I bought some low-fat sour cream dill dip today. I figure I can do with a break from tzatziki. I am starting to look forward to a week from today when it will be mushie time!

Wow! I paid 16 Gs at the TLBC. Maybe I should have shopped around but then maybe I would have chickened out. I dunno. TLBC was easy for me. It is practically within walking distance of my house. Still, I could have saved a lot of $$$....

This is brilliant! Congratulations!! Goes to shows that the band really does work, eh. Good work, Argon!

Where I live teachers are unionized and they are well paid but this doesn't stop them from suffering from burn-out. One of my closest friends is a teacher and she has told me many stories over the years. At this point she is looking forward to retirement. It's a tough job and one that I couldn't handle. Teachers should be well-paid and well-respected.