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Apologies to all my blog readers for the lack of blogwork over the last month or so - hope you had a great Christmas and Happy New Year. I've been keeping busy - as I'm sure you have. December was a great month. Quite possibly my best yet!
Since my last entry we had a fantastic Thanksgiving Day party hosted by one of the other rotator families, we've had not one but two trips to Chicago (courtesy of a bargain on hotels with priceline.com), we've been sledging and cross country skiing, we had an awesome Christmas hosted by another rotator family, we also had a lovely 4 course fondue meal on New Years Eve, and a New Years Eve party hosted by yet another rotator family. We've also had quiet nights in front of the log fire with a bottle of Napa Valley's finest and occasionally I've been to work.
For those, like me, who love their home comforts it is possible
to find proper Christmas pudding and mince meat for mince pies - though they are not easy to come by. Christmas TV wasn't quite the same, although if you are moderately technologically minded it is quite easy to set up a VPN (Virtual Private Network) on your home computer that will allow you to watch BBC iPlayer from the USA (normally it blocks foreign access).
On the plus side of course, there is snow - an essential ingredient for the perfect Christmas. Lots of it - although not as much this year as there was in Wales - typical! We were very excited about it and couldn't get enough of it, after growing up with grey drizzly winters for most of my life. It's made the 12 minute cycle to work a bit more interesting. Previous rotators have developed a guide to cycling to work through the winter, as most rotators with families don't buy a second car here, it is the only choice. It's really not too bad as long as you're prepared. Essentially you want to make sure every inch of skin is covered. So far the coldest it has reached since I've been here is -15 Centigrade. It has been known to get down to - 28. That's frost bite territory! The wind chill can also really make it much colder too. I've been told to cover up or risk losing bits of body...
There is a list of essential equipment to buy that includes:
Snow tyres for your bike (metal studded tyres) - As well as the cold, there is also the risk of slipping and breaking some bones of course. They're great in the snow, but not so great on black ice as I found out,
Thermal underwear - best $$ I've spent since arriving!
Good thermal breathable tops,
Waterproof breathable jacket and trousers,
Balaclava / Woolly hat, neck warmer,
Snowmobile goggles (like ski goggles but not tinted - as it's dark on the way to work and usually on the way home too)
Really good thermal, waterproof gloves or mittens,
Good thermal socks (some people say not just for the feet, but I haven't had to do that yet),
Snow boots - thermal and good grip.
I spent about $650 on thermal clothes. They work though. The only problem is when you arrive at your (heated) destination you have to strip as quickly as possible before you overheat. They will also come in very handy for future skiing holidays.
Speaking of which - the Ramoray household is very excited about another vacation in a few weeks. We're going on our first ever skiing holiday - to Breckenridge, Colorado. Flights from Detroit are about $220 return, and we have found a bargain condo to rent online. There are some Ski resorts in Michigan which are apparently quite good. We were originally planning to go there instead. The two main resorts are Boyne Highlands and Crystal Mountain - both roughly 4-5 hours drive away, so close enough for a long weekend trip. In the end though it worked out only slightly more expensive to go to Colorado for a week.
It's funny how every time it snows in the UK the news is of catastrophe. The country has come to a halt. Airports are closed. Travellers are stranded. Roads are blocked. Councils have run out of grit. Etc. Then someone always pipes in and says how shameful it is when other countries manage perfectly well every year it snows. Well, it's true - no catastrophe here. But not because of the government that's for certain. The council here doesn't run out of grit probably because it doesn't seem to bother with grit. For weeks after it snowed all the roads in Ann Arbor still had a thin layer of super slippy compacted ice. I was amazed that the roads weren't gritted or cleared at all. Not even the main interstate between Chicago and Detroit which was a bit of an ice rink on our more recent drive back. I had to walk instead of cycle to work for 2 weeks when the roads got really bad. Yet there was no news of disaster, no despair or panic. I'm not sure why, but I suspect the difference is purely down to the population here go through it every year, so they make much less fuss about it. It snows, the roads
are treacherous, so just be careful! No big deal. Oh, and most people seem to have a 4WD which probably helps a bit. We love our big 4 WD. It's a gas guzzling beast, but if I could afford to fill the tank in the UK I would seriously consider shipping it home.
It has also struck me this last few weeks that my time here is getting near the end. 2010 went so quickly. It's been a great year in and out of work. I've seen a lot of America, and I've had the chance to see some amazing Medicine in work. You really feel at the cutting edge of health care (so to speak) when you're here. Robotic surgery is a big thing here, and is the next big thing after laparoscopic (key hole) surgery. For more details take a look at www.davincisurgery.com
At home keyhole surgery is limited to Gallbladders, diagnostic procedures, appendicectomies, sometimes colon surgery and a few other things. In the last month I saw patients having their tonsillar tumour and also a thyroid gland removed by robotic key hole surgery. The thyroidectomy was particularly interesting as the incision point was via the arm pit. Now I know what you're thinking... WHY??? Well - that's what I was thinking anyway. The thing is, in a competitive private healthcare system, you always have to offer something above the competition. One of the problems with a thyroidectomy is a scar at the front of your neck where everyone can see (unless you wear turtle neck jumpers for the rest of your life - which is probably worse). Now you can have your thyroid removed with no visible scar. If your insurance will pay for it - why not? People probably questioned laparoscopic cholecystectomies (Keyhole gallbladder removal) when they first started doing them. Now they are doing them endoscopically in some centres - so no scar at all. It really is fascinating, and feels great to be part of. It's more expensive of course, but that's not a problem if someone will pay for it. How long before someone declares it a travesty of justice that robotic laparoscopic thyroidectomies aren't available on the NHS? Of course if I was employed by the company that sold the robotic equipment, I'd be outraged that anyone would consider any other type of surgery.
Thats the thing about healthcare. Everyone always wants the very best, but it would be impossible to pay for everyone to have the very best. It would be like all travellers going first class, or all hotels being five star. If that were the case then 5 star hotels and first class travel would have to be more like economy class and 3 start hotels. I know this is a statement of the obvious, but nothing annoys me more than people complaining about drugs or operations that are unavailable on the NHS. The NHS is great because what it manages to provide for everyone is actually a very good standard. There will always be those who can afford it who will search for bigger and better though. Of course if politicians had any balls they would just state clearly what the NHS will and won't pay for. Then if you want something that's not on the list you pay for it yourself or you pay for extra insurance. Unfortunately politicians like to perpetuate the myth that everyone can travel first class and stay in five star hotels.
The reality is most people are quite content with economy flights (and bargain condos booked online). And are still very grateful for it. After all, they still get you there!
My other mission this month is to try and find a pub in Ann Arbor that will show the 6 nations. I will let you know how I get on with that and with the skiing.
Thanks for listening,
Till next time, Drake.
