It is too damn high

I was due in for my annual physical tomorrow, but in lieu of Kaiser Permanente workers commencing a three-day strike today, I had to reschedule. Because I too am a member of a union, and the unofficial rule (or perhaps official?) for union members is to never ever cross a picket line. Not the one of your union, or any other union. In respect and support for the Kaiser workers, it’s no big deal for me to delay my routine visit. It’s not like I’ve got an open arterial wound (would have been long dead by now).

A huge fist of solidarity to those healthcare workers. These inflationary times are indeed super tough. Have you guys noticed the gas prices lately? The cost per gallon of gas has jumped solidly into the six dollars. Well, except at Costco. But then you’d be queuing up with everybody and their mothers just to save a few bucks. I get it though: it certainly feels like a unit of money doesn’t get you very much these days. Workers are simply fighting for wages that keep up with the inflation. Those PG&E utility rates aren’t shrinking, that’s for sure.

Inflation is even more jarring when you know what the prices were from way before. A breakfast burrito at the taqueria on campus used to cost less than five dollars. I curiously checked last week and it has ballooned to over $11! Granted, that’s about par for the course these days for a meal, but because I know what that burrito used to cost - more than half of what it is today - I cannot bring myself to pay the new price. I rather walk to nearby Chipotle and get a bowl for $12. At least that item was never under five dollars.

Kaiser Permanente workers on strike: I hope you get the maximum possible. I shall see some of you in two weeks when I go in for my rescheduled annual checkup.

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I’m on the next level.

No pandemic 15!

A few weeks back I went to Kaiser to get an annual physical. The first time in over four years! My last checkup was way back in 2018. Then I got lazy, and then the pandemic happened. Now that things have largely gone back to normal, it was time to check that I myself am normal.

I no longer have any pandemic weight gain! Last September I went to a wedding, and my suit definitely felt a bit tight in certain places (neck, waist, and thighs). Fast forward to this month, and I measure out at within five pounds of my 2018 weight. Walking to and from work five days a week seems to have helped a lot, because I didn’t really change my exercise regiment. As a result, at the wedding I went to last week, the suit that I got tailored eight years ago fit just fine again.

The last book I read is The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. In it, the author mentions a great way to exercise is to simply carry heavy things. That walk you go on can be made more difficult and challenging with a backpack and some weights. Apparently, carrying a significant load over long distances is a staple of our armed forces. It make sense: we’ve all seen soldiers overseas with those impossibly enormous packs.

Reading that inspired me to put weights in the backpack I wear to work. It’s a cheap and effective way to add a training dimension to something I have to do every day. If that twenty minutes of walking can count as exercise, then I can avoid having to schedule in additional workout time for the week. Because I plan to do a half-marathon later this summer, so I have to get back into running shape.

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It’s been a long time.

You really get what you pay for

Recently, my mom took an awkward fall off her bed, causing a hair-line fracture on her left clavicle. Before knowing this diagnosis, she went to her family doctor to check on the massive bruising and pain that resulted. The clinic took a CT scan, and recommended she go to an emergency room to have the x-ray images checked out, and if needed, receive treatment. The clinic itself is not equipped for such procedures, and heading to the emergency room would be far quicker than waiting for a referral to see a specialist.

Being disabled, mom has Medicare coverage, so she can quite literally go to any emergency room at any hospital. We chose a local private hospital because we figured there’d be less people there waiting than SF General, the city’s public hospital. My presumption was correct as there weren’t a line at all (this is 7 PM on a Friday, for what it’s worth); we quickly checked-in and my mother received care almost immediately. The facilities are modern and nice, and the staff is super attentive - no less than four personnel tended to my mother for what amounted to only a confirmation of small fracture and a demonstration on how to use a sling to secure the arm.

The quality of care between private and public hospitals is immense.

I’ve seen this myself. I’m lucky that my work provides great health insurance through Kaiser, and as someone who grew up poor and relied on clinics and hospitals catered towards low-income, the superiority of the care at Kaiser was eye-opening. I remember vividly getting blood-work done at a Kaiser campus, and was surprised the results came back the same day within a few hours. I was still accustomed to waiting a few weeks for reports and test results that was the norm of my childhood healthcare experience.

For the richest country this planet has ever seen, this gulf of care between the haves and have-nots (healthcare-wise) shouldn’t exist - it’s morally wrong. Until the day America provides universal care for its citizens, it’s a continued stain and shame on this country. The benefits of a healthy populace with no fear of medical debt burden are incalculably positive, and we can certainly afford it (looking at you, military budget.)

For me personally, the question of healthcare certainly gives me some pause in regards to switching jobs or moving to another State. Having proper insurance takes such a load off in terms of stress that it’s downright scary the thought of being without it for any period of time. Imagine a United States with Medicare for everyone: people would be more apt to move freely within the country for jobs and opportunities, and I think it’ll be great for innovation.

We can get there. We have to. One of the saddest things in America are the GoFundMe campaigns for a person’s gross healthcare bills. A failure of society that we mustn’t continue to accept.

I don’t always drink regular Coke, but when I do, it’s got to be the bottled version with real cane sugar. Stay thirsty my friends.