Home for the holidays

My experience with the American health care system.

This is based on one experience, early October '07.

One day at work I developed a mark on my arm that alarmed some of the people here: they thought it was a bad spider bite (caution: spider images). My mark did not look nearly as bad as those images, more like a mosquito bite really. And it was surrounded by different red blotchy-ness. I was urged to go to the hospital, just in case.... And we have a good health care plan.

So off I went, to the nearest hospital of the company that hosts my health care plan (same place I went for my pre-employment drug tests).

I waited in the emergency room for maybe 15 minutes after flashing my super health care card.
I was not visited by a doctor. I was seen by an assistant, who concluded it was a spider bite, but not the one i was warned about at work.

I was given a prescription. I had to pay for the drugs (about double the price for the same thing in Canada, or 20x the same thing in Serbia) because I did not have the health care plan issue drug card. And I went back to work.

The following morning I realized it was poison ivy, which the drugs do nothing for.

Two months later I got a bill from the hospital for $100.

Overdue photos*

I have received some photos* from the race I did late September on the southern end of the Delmarva peninsula.

To recap, we crossed the finish line last after 29 hours, but placed 20th (28 finishers) after penalties applied. It included paddling, trekking, night and day orienteering, and biking.


This is approaching the ocean from inside the barrier islands.







On the beach. The waves were too big and we had to stay off the ocean, most teams opted to carry boats on the beach, rather than head back inland to the next checkpoint, which was also on the ocean side of the barrier islands.





OK, drag the boats.







Heading inland again through the maze of canals.







The tide went out.











The end (note, photos only taken during paddling sections, its easy to take photos when you're not paddling... you know who you are?)


*All photos copyright Cathy Cosentino

Rio Summary - Armação dos Búzios

The beach by the apartment at Buzios, with Internet!
(some posts sent while in Rio were posted right from here)







The beach in the daytime. See, we came early in the season.






Real cacti, not in a pot, in my apartment.




My first gecko sighting.








Fish puffing up with a man's face.








Brazilian road kill.

Rio Summary - Maracana Stadium: Estádio do Maracanã

Maracana stadium, host of the 1951 and 1914 World Cup, from the bleachers,


and from the field.



Touching the legendary grass,




I may post a funny video we made on the field.

Rio Summary - Christ the Redeemer: Cristo Redentor

This was worth the trip: the train ride up (and down) Corcovado, the view, and the statue itself.






Rio to the North



The Lagoon - Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas






The Christ