I recently came across a post detailing a trip to an emergency room. In this post, the patient’s family member was asking the blogosphere why they should they pay for medical services rendered if the diagnosis and resulting treatment was incorrect. Although I’m not a medical treatment personnel in any way, I believe I can address this issue.

Medicine is and always will be a practice. You don’t see doctors establishing medical service centers, they establish medical practices. So what does that mean? It means that no matter how much schooling, experience, or fancy equipment a doctor has, he is essentially still making an educated guess when it comes to diagnosing your illness. A doctor can never master medicine like a mathematician can master formulas, a doctor only practice the techniques of treating and diagnosing using the ever changing tools and techniques of his profession.

So why are you paying for someone to merely guess? A doctor’s guess isn’t as bad as it sounds, doctors have spent years in school learning to connect the dots between symptoms and illnesses. They have a wide variety of techniques and equipment to help them gather data unique to your situation in order to make a more educated and refined diagnosis. You are paying for the time and effort it takes to make a normal person into a fully equipped, stethoscope carrying doctor. Not to mention the medical supplies and lab tests used to diagnose and treat you. These things add up.

Is a doctor’s guess always right? Oh no, doctors make mistakes just like everyday people. The amount of mistakes and gravity of their mistakes depends on their training, experience, amount/quality data gathered from patient, and equipment/facilities available to them. Illnesses manifest themselves in many different ways in many different people. Some people have a higher tolerance of pain than others, so what seems like excruciating pain to one person, may only be a mild discomfort to another. Viruses, such as the cold virus, tend to mutate through out their existence bringing forth new symptoms and rendering older treatments ineffective. These constantly changing variables make it that much harder to diagnose and treat many illnesses accurately.

So now that we understand doctors a little more, lets take a look at the restrictions placed upon them by your insurance company. Its been established that doctors can only guess what ails you, but the more data the doctor has to analyze, the more accurate his diagnosis. Sometimes its necessary to conduct various lab tests in order to gain more data. These tests are expensive due to their complexity and materials needed, so your insurance usually covers them. However, since insurance companies want to prevent excessive spending, they will setup internal limits that limit the amount of services your insurance company will pay for. Most insurance policies detail the amount of in-patient days they will cover, the amount of medical lab exams a doctor can perform, etc. A doctor may have several ideas about your ailment, but if the insurance will only pay for 2 lab tests, he still might not have sufficient data if the tests are inconclusive. To make matters worse, if a doctor makes a diagnosis with this limited data, and gets it wrong he will be held responsible for any possible side effects of the resulting treatment. With the growing perplexity of illnesses, the escalating cost of equipment, and the limitations placed upon you by an insurance company, its tough out there as a doctor.

As far having to pay for the treatment prescribed by the incorrect diagnosis, I don’t really see what can be done about that. I know I wouldn’t purchase any medicine or equipment that has been opened or previously used to any degree. Eww.

Technorati Tags: diagnosis, doctors, lab test, Medical, medicinal, medicine, treatment, virus

With Hollywood’s writers taking an extended leave of absence, we’ve been left with little to no good television. Unless of course you believe “reality TV” is good television, in which case I must ask you to push that little red x on your top right hand corner.

Good, with them gone I can continue. Sure we’ve got a few shows still airing, but these writers have left quite the void in our television infused lives. What are we supposed to do with all this spare time? Go outside? Outside is over rated! Let me suggest something to keep you entertained until those pesky writers get back to work.

To feed your superhero/martial arts appetite I recommend a moderate serving of “Beast-Fist Squad Fierce-Ki Ranger”, or as its known in the land of the rising sun, “Jyuuken Sentai GekiRanja.” These days, it shouldn’t be too hard to find places to download episodes of GekiRanger on the net.

Some of you may recognize the term “Sentai”, and for those of you who don’t, let me take the time to briefly explain. Sentai is best described as a genre of television shows in Japan featuring a team of super heroes wearing brightly colored spandex outfits and helmets. These heroes have giant robots known as “mecha” to help them fight giant monsters. Yes, like the American Power Rangers, only better!! In fact, Power Rangers is actually a combination of censored Sentai footage dubbed with American voices and meshed with American written footage.

Jyuuken Sentai GekiRanja is this seasons Sentai series; each season starts anew with new costumes, characters, and mecha (aka “Zords” in the US.) This season is based around martial arts, Kenpo to be exact. The premise behind the entire show is that a group of legendary Kenpo warriors split into two distinct groups. One group fought to protect the innocent, and bring about peace and justice; this group was known as Geki Jyuuken. The other group fought only for power and personal gain, this group was known as the Rin Jyuuken. Still with me? Good.

The Geki Jyuuken users are able to transform into animal themed GekiRangers by using their Geki Changers, better known to us as “Morphers.” Rin Jyuuken users focus their power and transform into representations of their Kenpo style and inner Ki, usually some form of animal.

You all should know the formula by now, bad guys send evil monster to attack the city, the good guys show up and destroy said monster using flashy martial arts, and crazy looking weapons. Said monster is defeated but suddenly grows to humongous proportions and continues destroying the city. The rangers then summon their giant robots and defeat said monster. As old as that formula is, the Japanese writers always find ways of keeping it interesting by tossing in various levels of drama, comedy, and twists to keep us hooked.

Don’t come in expecting a silly children’s program just because I compared it to Power Rangers! Sentai is actually a show aimed at young adults in Japan. The show contains more serious subjects, and features more violent fights. The characters sometimes actually draw blood, and some of them even die on screen. Disney would not approve!

Like all good martial artists our team of heroes must rely on strength, heart, will power, abilities and techniques to attain victory. Each Ranger has one primary strength which is detailed in their introductory phrases.

“This body swells with infinite energy, Unbreakable Body! GekiRed!”
“With daily purification polishing the heart, Honest Heart! GekiYellow!”
“Techniques color this grand flower! Fantastic Technique! GekiBlue!”
“Excitement, my style, to the limit of my will! Iron Will! GekiViolet!”
“Polishing the talent, I cut open my future! Amazing Ability! GekiChopper!”

Technorati Tags: Geki, GekiRanger, Jyuuken Sentai, KaGeki, Martial Arts, Power Ranger, Sentai, TV

Professor Cornelius Venkkman!

Steampunk+ Ghostbuster = Awesome!

Being the huge Ghostbuster fan that I am, I couldn’t help but to put this up as soon as I stumbled across it on ectoplasmosis.

I can only hope that the upcoming Ghostbuster games on the "next-gen" consoles are as cool as this guy’s cosplay. Either way, you can be sure that come launch day, I’ll be picking up a copy of Ghostbusters for each system its released on! After all, what better way is there to support my favorite movie franchise of all time, than by throwing heaps of money at officially licensed products?

Technorati Tags: Cosplay, Ghostbuster, Ghosts, Steampunk, Venkkman

I don’t understand funk-ridden people! Don’t get me wrong, I understand the whole ’scruffy, I just got outta bed look’ but its possible to achieve that look while maintaining a decent level of hygiene. Having had the absolute “privilege” of working alongside various degrees of funk throughout my years, I more than anyone understand the importance of a good shower.

One year it was an computer tech who made it seem as if he didn’t shower or brush his teeth. His presence was unmistakably known to anyone in the same room, and it wasn’t just hurting his professional image, but it was hurting his performance because customers and staff members alike would avoid dealing with him as much as possible.

At another location, I worked with someone who constantly reeked of wet cigarettes and stale beer. His hair was an oil ridden, dandruff spewing, half balding “I’m still cool” pony-tail that would occasionally be dyed a color the staff dubbed “piss-yellow.” His work space was littered with specs of dandruff, his PC and phone developed layers of what I think is a nicotine and skin cell mixture. People were afraid to even venture into his office cubicle!

My time as a bank teller exposed me to some nasty folks as well, but one in particular stands out above the rest even years after leaving. This customer came once a week smelling as if his mouth were fermenting its own brand of moonshine. Add on top of that some high levels of BO, and a very small space dividing tellers and customers…and you’ve got cruel and unusual working conditions. The tellers fortune enough to spot this man before his arrival would either delay themselves with their current customer to avoid the man, or if no other customers were present, some would take that time to excuse themselves for various other reasons.

I understand sometimes people fall into economic hardships, especially with our current economy, but really? You can’t afford a bar of soap and some running water? There are places even in this small town that offers public showering facilities! I fail to see how someone can care so little about hygiene and go on about their business as if nothing was wrong. Merely recalling some of these funk-ridden people has made me feel dirty all over, *shudder* I’m off to shower.

*Note: This post was heavily inspired by Michael Ferraro’s post on the same topic.

Technorati Tags: balding, body odor, firmenting, funk, funk-ridden, funny, gross, pony-tail, putrid, smell

The local school board has begun the process of firing one of the most knowledgeable and caring high school teachers in the entire school district, why? Because he has a high failure rate and refuses to simply babysit students. He attempts to teach them something useful, and actually grades them on their true performance.

In his defense, I posted the following in the city forums:

————————————————————

Mr. Menzel is a great asset to the district!
His physics class was the first class I ever failed…EVER!
After that, I saw him as an evil communist Nazi…or some of the other ignorant names that the high school kids came up with.

But the next semester, when he found out I decided to get my final science credit in a babysitter class the next semester, he personally tracked me down and convinced me to give his physics class another shot. He told me I would be wasting my time in that joke of a class called...Integrated Science and Physics. He had a long talk with me, and hesitantly I enrolled in his class.

Once there, he pushed me hard to meet his demands! He already knew my name, so he’d constantly ask me to answer questions, solve problems on the board, and even help out other students. I felt as though he was pushing my buttons waiting for me the break…I regretted signing up for his class.

At the end of the year, and even now, I look back and I’m glad he did that. I’m proud to say that I truly worked my ass off to pass his class. To this day, I don’t think I’ve worked as hard to meet the demands of any other teacher, and most of my classes were labeled “Advanced Placement” classes! Ha!

Yes Menzel fails people, but he doesn’t do so because he takes pleasure in it.
Menzel fails people to snap them into shape, he doesn’t sit back and allow students to pass simply because they play football, or they’re good lookin girls. He fails them because they fail themselves.

Having sat in his class a second time, I was able to better see my mistakes from the first time around.
I came in expecting an easy ride.
I came in expecting to do the minimum amount of work required…just enough to get by.
I came in expecting threats of failing grades to be bluffs, much like other “AP” teachers on campus.
Boy was I wrong!

Menzel is the kind of teacher this district needs.
Forget football, you’re son will never go pro!
Forget cheerleading, you’re daughter is just another pretty face in a world full of pretty faces.
Forget band, your mijo/mija isn’t going to be the next musical prodigy.
Take a Menzel class for some real education.

Technorati Tags: Del Rio, Education, High School, Physics, School Board, Texas