14

That's how many hours of sleep I got yesterday / last night, between a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and 12 hours at night, only waking up twice. I don't feel 100% due to this cold, but at least I'm not the walking zombie I was yesterday!

Two big news items : 

1) I got my Carte de Sejour yesterday, which is basically my residency permit card allowing me to live here for longer than they allow tourists. Now, due to a mix-up with UK Immigration at Gare du Nord in Paris, I have to go have a meeting or two with them so the UK can reinstate my work permit (long story and not that interesting).

2) I got 2 tickets to see Jimmy Buffett in London on Sunday, July 5th!!!!!!!!! Any takers?

This summer will be great : 

July : Buffett in London, Bruce in Brest (France), holiday in Canada

August : Belfast for Tall Ships

September : Boston / Maine for friends' wedding ; Buffett in Paris 

October : Patriots at Wembley (UK)

Now, I just need to find time to actually do and see things in Paris and in France.

Smells

Paris might be called the "City of Lights" (which, in this economic time and environmentally-conscience time, wouldn't it be better to turn off the lights?), but it is also the city of smells.

Sure, there is the smell of fresh bread baking at every boulangerie each morning, the sweet smells from the patisseries, smelling wine at tastings, and soon the trees and flowers in bloom.

However, just to warn you, it is also smells of exhaust, urine, feces, cigarette smoke, and other such unpleasantness. Yes, I have seen several men urinating in the street (in the bushes, against the sides of buildings, on a car's tire...), and some of my colleagues have seen the same. There is dog sh!t everywhere. I couldn't tell you what a lot of the buildings look like because I'm always looking DOWN to watch where I walk. And I swear, some of these piles on the sidewalks cannot possibly come from the accessory-sized dogs that seem to plague this city.

I figure a few years are being taken off the end of my life just by living here and breathing all of this. And, I'll probably develop some ghastly combination of allergies and asthma. Vive la France.

It figures

Taking the lead from Tiggs' blog, I'll say "U know what this means". I have a cold/flu. And it figures as I generally always seem to get one on vacation. 

The flight from London to Cincinnati on Friday was fun. For about 3 hours I was freezing cold to the point of teeth chattering, and the ends of my fingers were feeling tingly. So that was 3 hours of internal panic. Then, that ended and I started getting really warm and achy. When we landed, it was all I could do just to walk through the airport to meet my dad at baggage claim.

We got home and I immediately put on my PJs and laid down on the couch. We took my temperature and it was 104!!! My face was on fire but the rest of me was cold. I just laid there with a cold washcloth on my face, eating cheerios and drinking water. My dad kept bringing me whatever I needed, would hold the cup of water for me so I wouldn't have to sit up - basically being great (he also has the most amazing immune system (knock on wood))! My mom just tried to stay away so she wouldn't get any germs.

My brother and sister-in-law are saints though. Whenever I fly in on a Friday, the whole family goes to Price Hill Chili and I get a goetta grilled cheese sandwich and mac-n-cheese (this is really good mac-n-cheese and the woman who makes it only works on Fridays). Anyway, Adam & Heather got an order of goetta and mac-n-cheese to go and brought it to me for dinner!

I then went to bed and slept for 12 hours. Fever is nearly gone, but still have this chest cough and every time I cough, my head feels like it's being squeezed.

Bah humbug.

postings to come

Ok, I know I am behind as I need to write about the Eurostar fiasco, my holiday in Ohio, my trips to Paris, the new bell choir I've joined (in Paris), and a variety of other things. I figure if I list all this out, put it in writing, I'll actually write and post it.

But, right now I just got home from Paris, and what is about a 5-6 hour commute, and I have a cold. I hate being away from home with a cold - and I am saying London is "home" because this is where my Puffs Plus are (I just want to hug that box and wipe the tissues all over my face because "boutique" hotel tissues are sandpaper; my Sudafed; my tea; my Vicks; a few other things I am probably forgetting; and my bed are. I just want to get a cup of tea, go to bed, and sleep til about noon. So much for doing anything cultural or touristy tomorrow.

Good night.

Podcasts and Your Health

I’ve been so engrossed in podcasts these past several weeks that I haven’t been reading as much - otherwise it’s just too much information, too many words, during the day. Also, I think I approached my entrée into podcasting the same as I did my entrée into TV land back in June. I’m insatiable – I feel like I have to listen to everything, just because it’s there and to figure out what I like. And I only download NPR and Slate.

Currently, I’m making my way through NPR’s: Technology; Economy; Environment; On Health; Religion; News from Lake Wobegon; On Science; Pop Culture; and Sunday Puzzle. Plus, I haven’t even started on the backlog of Car Talk; Fresh Air; Intelligence Squared; Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!; and This American Life. Whew!

If you have suggestions for podcasts that you think I should listen to, or would enjoy, please let me know!

Of all that I’ve listened to the past few weeks (podcasts dating back from June to present), some were informative, but I’d say the ones that have stuck with me, or that I’ve enjoyed are: Lake Wobegon; Sunday Puzzle; and On Health. And I want to share these two things from On Health.

1) NPR’s Health Care for All series. Tagline, “In Europe, it’s a reality.”
They did studies of the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Japan. In each case, highlighting the +/- of that country’s system, interviewing people, and comparing it to the U.S.

“Countries with governments and economies similar to the United States have come up with a variety of methods to make sure that all of their citizens receive health care. While residents in Europe and Japan may pay higher insurance premiums or taxes than Americans, in the end, when all costs are added up, Americans spend more money on health care per person — with fewer people covered.”

Click the “Interactive Graphic” for a comparison of the different countries’ policies versus the U.S.

I’d be better off staying in France if I ever decide to get sick during my lifetime. I worry that when I’m older (1) Social Security will be gone so I cannot rely on that for income; (2) cost of living will be much higher; (3) I will have to rely on my current investments for retirement income, and the state of the US economy is doing nothing to calm me; all thus leading me to point (4) it’d be very easy to go bankrupt in the US when faced with health problems.

Just because you have insurance doesn’t mean you’re covered. It could be coverage only up to $100k (and that doesn’t cover a lot for a major illness); or doesn’t cover some types of surgery, rehabilitation, medicine, etc. And, who’s to say there will be enough doctors in the future?

2) WHO Patient Safety Checklist
Hard to imagine that there wasn’t such a checklist before (see it here) – I mean, having to put on paper, and check off, that everyone in the operating room has introduced him/herself to the rest of the team; or stating what procedure is going to be done; etc. seems redundant. But, you hear horror stories of people having the wrong operation, having medical instruments sewn up in them, etc.

If I ever have to have surgery, I’m taking this checklist with me! Maybe I’ll even create my own checklist for regular doctor’s visits – i.e. review what was written in my chart; ask what alternatives to the suggested treatment are available; etc.

Hope these are helpful and informative to you.