Shoot the Wall (A.K.A. The Rant Thread)

[Artemis]

A list of Christmas carols organized by country, language, or culture of origin.    I love Wikipedia.

 

[Arcadia]

12 hours ago, Artemis said:

If you're on desktop, there are two ways.  One is pressing SHIFT + ENTER....

That's how I do it. When I can be bothered.  

[Hikari]

On 11/30/2019 at 12:21 AM, Artemis said:

There was a debate?   

 

Some fans insist that it should be pronounced 'BOW (Rhymes with Sow)-ee' . . Baby take a BOW not BOW as in, on a present.  But David self-identified as the latter, so that's pretty definitive.

David's birth name was Jones.  The director Duncan Jones is his firstborn.

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Hikari said:

Some fans insist that it should be pronounced 'BOW (Rhymes with Sow)-ee' . . Baby take a BOW not BOW as in, on a present.  But David self-identified as the latter, so that's pretty definitive.

When you say rhymes with sow, I take it you're referring to the pig (rather than to planting seeds).     But this is interesting, considering that Jim Bowie (inventor of the eponymous knife) apparently pronounced his name neither way, preferring BOO-ee.

[Artemis]

17 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

When you say rhymes with sow, I take it you're referring to the pig (rather than to planting seeds).    

That's what I was thinking, lol.  Weird, I've never heard it pronounced any way other than the "rhymes with hoe-ee" way.

BOO-ee, lol.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

In the case of Jim Bowie (who was apparently the inspiration for David's choice of a stage name), here's a little song (theme from the 50's TV series) to help you remember:

Just remember to take the rest of the lyrics with a grain of salt!

 

 

[Sheerluck]

Three and half bloody hours sitting in the surgery waiting to see the doctor for a simple prescription.  😧 What a disgrace.

[Arcadia]

13 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

In the case of Jim Bowie (who was apparently the inspiration for David's choice of a stage name), here's a little song (theme from the 50's TV series) to help you remember:

Great scott. Even I'm not old enough to remember that one. 😛 

13 hours ago, Sheerluck said:

Three and half bloody hours sitting in the surgery waiting to see the doctor for a simple prescription.  😧 What a disgrace.

Agree, that's pretty sad. Is there a doctor shortage?

[Sheerluck]

7 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Agree, that's pretty sad. Is there a doctor shortage?

There are a lot of factors involved but it all amounts to a decline in basic services. At least for those of us that can't go private.

[Carol the Dabbler]

5 hours ago, Sheerluck said:

... it all amounts to a decline in basic services. At least for those of us that can't go private.

That's often the problem when anything is "free" -- people tend to overuse it (e.g., go to the doctor for a little scratch or sniffle that they would previously have dealt with just as well at home), so that the available services are overloaded.

[Arcadia]

14 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

That's often the problem when anything is "free" -- people tend to overuse it (e.g., go to the doctor for a little scratch or sniffle that they would previously have dealt with just as well at home), so that the available services are overloaded.

Hmm. I think that's (as you may guess ) oversimplifying the situation a bit. I have friends with expensive insurance that go to the doctor for every sneeze. And friends with expensive insurance who don't bother with a doctor unless they're on death's door. I'm thinking personality may be at least as much of a factor as the cost of the care in deciding whether to have your sniffle attended to or not.

But of course people who can't afford health care tend to congregate at ERs and free clinics and such, so they do get crowded. I'm just not comfortable with attributing that to "overuse;" I'd rather see these places staffed to meet the needs of the patients, even if their issue is trivial. Pipe dream, I know.  

[besleybean]

Welcome to the UK!

[Carol the Dabbler]

  

5 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Hmm. I think that's (as you may guess ) oversimplifying the situation a bit. I have friends with expensive insurance that go to the doctor for every sneeze. And friends with expensive insurance who don't bother with a doctor unless they're on death's door. I'm thinking personality may be at least as much of a factor as the cost of the care in deciding whether to have your sniffle attended to or not.

But of course people who can't afford health care tend to congregate at ERs and free clinics and such, so they do get crowded. I'm just not comfortable with attributing that to "overuse;" I'd rather see these places staffed to meet the needs of the patients, even if their issue is trivial. Pipe dream, I know.  

When I said "free," I was including not only tax-financed medical care, but also private insurance -- in either case, trips to the doctor are "free" (or very low cost), so some people will tend to see the doctor for things they could very easily deal with at home.  I don't generally consider that sort of thing to be an actual "need."  Well, the first time maybe, but once the doctor tells you to treat that sort of thing with a cold compress or a Tylenol pill or bed rest and fluids or whatever, you can just do it at home in the future.  If you continue going to the doctor every time, that's what I would call overuse.  And it can mean a long wait for people who really do need to see a doctor.

[besleybean]

There is a big campaign here about not demanding antibiotics.

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, besleybean said:

There is a big campaign here about not demanding antibiotics.

Good idea!  There are many illnesses (e.g., the common cold and the flu) which antibiotics won't help.  I've encountered some doctors who will give you an antibiotic for such things if you so much as ask whether they think it might help -- let alone demanding it!

[besleybean]

Used to happen in the past here, but not now.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Maybe they've stopped doing it here as well (especially since most of those doctors are presumably dead by now).

[Artemis]

6 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Maybe they've stopped doing it here as well (especially since most of those doctors are presumably dead by now).

Nope.  My dad recently got some for a cold.  Didn't even have to ask about them.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

How old is that doctor?

[Artemis]

She looked to be in her early- to mid-40's.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

*sigh*  There goes that theory, then.  Maybe she thought he might have a secondary bacterial infection.  Did he go to the doctor because he thought it might not be just a cold?

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

*sigh*  There goes that theory, then.  Maybe she thought he might have a secondary bacterial infection.  Did he go to the doctor because he thought it might not be just a cold?

My doctor has done that (given me antibiotics in case of secondary infection). Although I must have been sicker than usual, because I wouldn't ordinarily go to the doc for a cold, or even a flu. If he wants to do it again, some day, I'm going to ask that he not, because those antibiotics almost wrecked me. I didn't feel "normal" again for at least a couple months.

[Sheerluck]

Colds and flus are viruses and completely unaffected by antibiotics. The only reason to prescribe them for cold/flu is if there is a bacterial infection forming. And unless you're prone to bacterial infections there's no need to take antibiotics if you have a cold or flu.

The last time I had antibiotics was when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. They kept infection away but they also killed all my good gut flora. I ended up with thrush of all things. Took weeks to build them back up again with probiotics. On the other hand recent studies into bacteriophages may put an end to antibiotics with no resistance build up. The next 5-10 years will tell.

[Carol the Dabbler]

15 hours ago, Sheerluck said:

... recent studies into bacteriophages may put an end to antibiotics with no resistance build up ....

Really?  That would be cool.  I'm envisioning them as little Pac-Men swimming in my bloodstream, eating the bad bugs!  I do hope that people wouldn't assume they had carte blanche to use them indiscriminately, though.  For one thing, wouldn't they also eat the good bugs?

[Artemis]

On 12/6/2019 at 5:18 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

*sigh*  There goes that theory, then.  Maybe she thought he might have a secondary bacterial infection.  Did he go to the doctor because he thought it might not be just a cold?

Nah, she told him it was just a virus.