October 21st, 2004
109836242165563428
Japanese health care
Feeling miserable I took today off, though fortunately with less guilt this time as the voice of my superior when I called in had a ring of concern that somewhat eased my fears of the rising tide that will invariably await me upon my return [somewhat].
I watched my beloved “team of idiots” beat the tar out of the stupid Yankees, so that made me feel better. The icing on the cake was that my favorite BoSock of them all, Johnny Damon, smacked the bejeezus out of two singular pitches to rack up six RBIs.
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Captain CAAAAAAAVVVVVEEEEMMMMAaAaAaAaAaNNNNNN!!!!!
Still, no game playing was done today, but I took a couple leisurely rolls around the neighborhood, and got the dishes and laundry under control. Oh, and after tearing through Onegai Teacher in two days last weekend I’m halfway through Evangelion now and liking it even more.
On one trip out I sought to alleviate my sore throat and bring some credence to my absence from work with a visit to the doctor. By chance I picked a small, one-man clinic and ended up waiting over an hour to get my five minutes with the head reflector-wearing dude. Fortunately I had a fresh volume of Dr. Slump with me for just such an occasion.
Things went all right, I guess; better than the last time I went to the doctor at least. I filled out the brief questionnaire with little difficulty, except for the last two questions in a bold box at the bottom. Luckily I remembered to bring my PDA with me so I could look up the kanji and ascertain what the question was asking before I marked yes or no. The receptionist and I had a good laugh when she came back, for just about that time I figured out that framed inquiries were asking if I was currently pregnant or planning to be so in the near future. I suppose I could have left them blank, but I was a little dazed and went ahead and circled “no” instinctively.
It’s always a little disconcerting when the doctor takes a look at your throat and recoils with a shudder. I guess my uvula isn’t going to draw any portrait commissions anytime soon. Anyway, I got my throat swabbed with two unlabeled liquids: one brown, one clear. At least he asked me if it was okay before he did it. My take on what he had to say was that I have a bacterial infection or something, so I got five days worth of “medicine” to knock it out. To be honest, I started thinking I was on the up and up by the time I was in the waiting room for an hour, but I guess that doctors don’t want you to feel like your medical insurance money goes to waste.
I have government coverage, which basically means the feds (or emperor, or however you want to look at it) steal away about a hundred and twenty dollars a month from my paycheck, and in return I get bargain basement prices for treatment in the unlikely event I actually do get sick. Just look at all the goods I received, in addition to my appointment, for TWELVE DOLLARS!!
Pick a pill, any pill. I feel like I should get one of those plastic sorters with an oversized label for each day of the week.
