while we are on the subject how long do you have to wait to see a Dr under the health plan ?

 

cant speak for englishadam but my grandfather (who lived in purley, surrey)needed a hip replacement real bad 3 years ago. they told him it would be 7 months before they could squeeze him in for the operation. so he asked "what if i pay for it myself?" and they said "do you want it replaced next monday or thursday?" so he paid for the operation himself. i cant wait until we get that bs here.....

 

People use to steal for the thrill of it. Now, people steal to survive. Sad situation. - Og

 

I have been using the Texaco by my house for a few years and Friday was my last day. To use my Amex or Visa to fill up (even debit!) is an extra 7 cents per gallon!!!!!!!!!! That is a load of BS! My truck likes the Texaco gas, but I am not pulling $100 cash out every time I want to fill up. My wife told me that gas stations may start charging more for credit card fill ups because the credit card companies have raised the merchant fees........
Whatever

 

I hope thats not true, but I've got to say that it wouldnt surprise me. Thats fine then, Ill hang up the Debit card and go back to using cash only...w/e.
I only fill up every 2 weeks anyhow so im lucky, $100.00 every 2 weeks isnt so bad compared to those that have a far drive...

 

start filling up at half tank and you wont have to worry bout $100 fillups... for now...

 

They haven't raised the merchant fees, it's just they charge the gas stations more when you charge more. It wasn't as bad for the station when it cost $60 to fill up, but when it costs $90+ to fill up it costs gas stations more when we use the card for gas.

 

I'll just go over to Walmart, go in the store, whip out the Visa and put $100 on my Walmart gift card with no service charge, go out to the pumps, and use THAT and get a 3 cent a gallon *discount*. My truck runs as good on Murphy as anything else.

 

People use to steal for drugs. Now, people still steal for drugs. Same situation.




We have the richest poor people on the planet. Some poor people have more, more expensive, stuff than I do.

It used to be that if you were poor, you couldn't have as much stuff as people who weren't poor.

I dobt that the number of people who actually need a helping hand has changed much for a couple decades. What has increased is the number of people who, rather than work, take less for nothing by abusing the system. Then they steal from people who have worked to get stuff so they can buy drugs.

I guess we're seeing two different Americas.

 

Us Canadians have ALWAYS paid more for gas than you guys, and yes, we are getting the crazy increases as well.

I filled up today at Esso, 95 liters of 91 octane cost me
$1.395 per liter x 95 = $132.52
Canadian & US money is the same right now, so for all you non-metric types, all you need to know is 95 liters = 25 US gallons.

I would save $11 per fill, but I'm too stubborn to yank my chip out.
maybe I'll pull it out in the winter when I can't go fast anyway.

I remember paying 79 cents a liter in 2004 right around the time hurricane Frances hit. I remember because most of my street had their basements flooded.

so in 4 years it went from 79.9 cents to 1.39.5

I've been taking steps to use less, in fact, I now use my electric golf cart to illegally go to the corner store and the post office.
It's kind of like driving a Prius but without the body.

I'm actually starting to shoehorn my big **** into my wife's Focus now when she doesn't use it, trying to save a bit here and there.

it sure is hard when you're used to driving the F150, I don't like driving anything else.

 

yea but you guys are in a similar boat as those poor bastards in the eu yes your gas has gone up but half the price is taxes for your socialist programs

 

Definitely. If you believe that it hasn't gotten worse, we do see it differently. It's not all about drug dealers and users. Everybody isn't bucking the system like you're thinking. Spend a little time standing by a pharmacy counter. I'm sure you'll probably see at least one person deciding on what medications to purchase although they need them all. If you think everything is going well, I have no problem with that. Help that person at the counter. I'm sure they will appreciate it. - Og

 

Actually, I don't think that everybody is bucking the system. I don't live in a vacuum. I know that things aren't going well for everyone.

I live in a city in Massachusetts that is a typical American city. There are issues here every day. They type of issues that grab headlines. This stuff isn't happening miles away from where I am. I live and work right in the thick of things. That person at the pharmacy could very well be my aunt or neice.

When I was younger I drove a taxi in this city. I did it for a couple years. I got a pretty good education. I saw the people who had to do without. I saw suffering. I saw it and thought that our government should do something about it. In time I realized that for every person that I saw that clearly needed a helping hand there were two who were clearly taking advantage of the hand ment to help.

It's easy to assume that I'm just some ignorant, affluent, typical white guy. You can't readily see that I'm actually a compationate guy. You can't see that I'm not someone who makes a lot more money than the people we call poor. I want the people who need help to get it. I have family who have been in need of help. I know though, that often times the people who need help have too much pride to ask for it. Then there are the people who have no pride who will take whatever they can get. It's the people who take, when they don't need, that hurt the people that truley need. Not me.

Our government makes little effort to weed out the people who take advantage of the system so that our tax dollars can get to their intended recipient. The ones who actually need it. This is where I have a problem.

 

You can pretty much make an appointment and see your General Practitioner the same day.
He will then either treat you on the spot or issue you a prescription for whatever drugs you need.
If you are under 16, over 65, pregnant or on welfare, the prescription is free.
If you are none of these, the prescription costs you $26 regardless of what the drugs actually cost.
This sounds like a good deal but a lot of the newest and latest drugs are mysteriously "not approved" so you can't get the best available.

Yes, unfortunately, thats the way it works.
Doctors and surgeons can be employed both by the National Health Service and be self employed.
Obviously, they make more money from private parctice than working for the NHS so they are often too busy to do the non essential operations.
Sadly, procedures like hip replacements come under that category.
However, if you have something deemed as life threatening, it is treated pretty much immediately.
When my wife found a lump in her breast, the GP had her referred to an Oncology specialist the next day. A biopsy was done there and then and within another day, she was admitted to hospital to have the lump removed.
All of this was "free" at the point of contact. We did not have to pay for anything.
Same deal when my father had a heart attack. Straight to hospital for bypass surgery, all free. As a pensioner, he did and does not pay for anything.

That's the way it is. Some is good and some is bad.
If you are an earner, this costs you 11% Tax on your salary up to 80k then 1% on earnings after that. High taxes on gas etc also goes into the kitty to pay for the NHS among others.

 

Basically, I see little difference in what we both are saying. But I do have a couple of concerns. First, I never assume anything. I don't know you, nor do you know me. Where you are in your world may be a thousand miles from mine. Moreover, we may live a block away. Secondly, you made the initial comment about drugs and people on them. That's not the angle I was coming from when I said people are stealing to survive. Believe it or not, it's happening. Probably not in your world, but again, I won't assume. As far as your thoughts about the government, we can agree. Veterans, people on fixed incomes, military spouses, etc. are all getting a raw deal from the government. That's the point where our worlds meet. - Og