From: thorongil@telenet.be.invalid   
      
   On Thursday 17 Mar 2016 19:49, Bobbie Sellers conveyed the following to   
   alt.os.linux.mandriva...   
      
   > On 03/17/2016 10:28 AM, Aragorn wrote:   
   >   
   >> I've just checked the statistics, and it does indeed appear to be   
   >> affecting more than half of the people at some point in life.  And I   
   >> am currently at the age where it would indeed start manifesting   
   >> itself. I'll be hitting 53 in about three weeks.   
   >   
   > Ah you are 25 years younger than myself. By the time I was 25   
   > I had my first career behind me and was trying to make a living as   
   > a nurse.   In the long run that did not work our and by the time I   
   > 40 my nursing career was history.  That is bi-polar in the age before   
   > lithium became popular.   
      
   Well, I don't have bipolar and I've also done a great deal of different   
   things.  I've even worked at the assembly line at the (then) General   
   Motors plants in Antwerp, as well as that I've worked as a janitor at a   
   super market and that I've driven a forklift and worked as a janitor at   
   a store that sold horseshoes and other related articles.   
      
   I've also worked in schools ─ administration and IT ─ as well as that   
   I've been an assistant in teaching IT-related and language-related   
   courses to adults, and my last job was in administration again for the   
   local Town Hall. ;)   
      
   >>> Did you do the post-operative exercises after your hernia surgeries?   
   >>   
   >> You mean back in 1998?  Because I have not had my surgery yet at this   
   >> point.  I'm afraid my financial situation ─ I have to survive on a   
   >> disabilities income which sits way below the official EU poverty   
   >> barrier ─ does not allow for that yet, especially not with some huge   
   >> bills coming up.   
   >>   
   >> The first time I had a bilateral inguinal hernia, and had surgery for   
   >> it, the doctor actually told me _not_ to exercise at all, because it   
   >> could cause damage to the healing tissue.  He even specifically told   
   >> me not to ride a bicycle ─ not that I own one ─ for the next three to   
   >> four weeks.   
   >   
   > Well that was just after surgery but when the surgery was   
   > healed you should have started on light exercises for the abdomen.   
      
   Well, they certainly never mentioned anything of that nature to me at   
   the time.   
      
   > Herniated inter-vertebral disks are a surgical matter.   
      
   Yes, but all doctors I've ever spoken to about this advise me to _not_   
   have surgery, because it could make things far worse.   
      
   > I am surprised that you have to worry about paying for medical   
   > care. I thought the USA was the only modern nation without health   
   > insurance for everyone.   
      
   Well, all non-self-employed people here do have to have a membership of   
   a health fund of their choice, and the health fund does pay back part of   
   the regular doctor's and dentist's visits, as well as part of your   
   hospital bills, but not everything by far.   
      
   You can get an additional hospital care insurance, which also doesn't   
   cover everything ─ there's a forfeit ─ and such an insurance is very   
   expensive, so I've never taken one.  And if you have a certain recurring   
   condition, then they will not insure you for that particular condition.   
      
   We also don't have public health care.  We used to have public hospitals   
   here ─ albeit that they were certainly not free (as in free beer) ─ but   
   that is no longer the case now.  The government has ruled that all   
   health care should now be privatized, so all hospitals are private   
   corporations, and all doctors are self-employed professionals, even if   
   they're working for a hospital.   
      
   It goes even farther than that now.  Newly graduated doctors and   
   dentists can't even start their own practice right away anymore.  They   
   now have to work for several years as assistants of doctors who already   
   have their own practice.  In addition to that, the costs of starting a   
   practice are now so high that most doctors now work in so-called group   
   practices.   
      
   My general physician for instance.  It's a practice of four doctors (and   
   one temporarily helping out) with offices within the same building, and   
   they share their patient files, so if you make an appointment, then you   
   can end up with either one of them.   
      
   >>> Take care and good luck with the hardware.   
   >>   
   >> Thank you, Bobbie. :)   
   >   
   > And thank you for countless pages of good writing about   
   > partitioning and other matters.   
      
   You're very welcome, Bobbie.  It's nice to be appreciated, and I   
   continue to do what I can to help. ;)   
      
   --   
   = Aragorn =   
      
            http://www.linuxcounter.net - registrant #223157   
      
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