Mishmash Musings

So have you heard of the latest health care trend? It’s something called health travel, which is basically when someone elects to go to another country to have a medical procedure done — usually due to cost considerations. I’d heard of people doing this to take advantage of experimental treatments not offered in the U.S., but hadn’t really thought about folks doing it to save money.

One of the biggest destinations in health travel is Mexico, where most everything is around 80 percent less than similar procedures in the U.S.

Hmm, I guess if you really need something done and don’t have proper insurance, it would be worth looking into a trip south of the border.

No, I didn’t hit the stores today. I can’t stand crowds, and only do my Christmas shopping online now. But it’s still interesting to see what some of the hottest products are. Here’s a short list of stuff:

• Nintendo DSi Bundle
• Zhu Zhu Pets
• Ugg Boots
• Toshiba BDX2000 (Blu-Ray Player)
• TomTom XL 325 SE
• HP G60 507DX laptops

For the record, I haven’t bought any of these products, nor do I plan to. My Christmas gift-giving list consists of much cheaper stuff!!!

Marian Hossa will make his debut with the Blackhawks tonight in San Jose!! Take a first-place team on a 7-game winning streak and add a 40-goal scorer. What do you get??? Hopefully some more dominating performances.

Marian. Hossa. ‘Nuff said!!!

I usually don’t care about these types of baseball awards, but I have to say that I was happy to hear that Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins was named the AL MVP. Mauer has been deserving of that award for several years now. In fact, I thought he should have won back in 2006, but teammate Justin Morneau inexplicably got the nod instead.

What did Mauer do this year to earn the award? Besides being one of the best defensive catchers in the league, he hit .365, with 28 homers and 96 RBI. But more than that, he’s absolutely critical to the Twins’ success.They probably wouldn’t be a playoff team without him.

What a brutal week this was in terms of homework! School’s out all week next week for Thanksgiving, which means I’ll finally get some time off. But to make up for the lost week, my profs really piled on the work right before the break. Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever done as much reading, writing, or research in my entire life than I had to do last week! Ok, that’s clearly and exaggeration, but that’s really how it felt.

Anyway, to reward myself for keeping my nose to the grindstone, I’m just sitting in front of a few choice football games all day today. First, I watched the Ohio State – Michigan game, which wasn’t anything special this time around. Then I watched TCU beat up Wyoming, and now I’m currently watching BYU and Air Force while waiting for the Cal Stanford “Big Game” to start.

It’s nice to be completely unproductive every once in a while — especially when a lazy day like this was actually earned!

As you might know, I’m currently in an online Master’s degree program. The program is offered by a real bricks-and-mortar institution, one whose name is recognized all over the country — not necessarily based on academic excellence, but just because it’s a state school (Missouri).

Anyway, I can’t believe some of the perks that the on-campus students receive. For instance, I just got an email today saying that the school is providing free assistance to anyone who wants to quit smoking. In addition to the usual counseling that you would expect, they’re talking about giving out FREE nicotine replacement patches! Do regular health insurance programs like Blue Cross North Carolina even do things like that? I doubt it!

Nicotine patches are expensive. I tried quitting smoking that way about 15 years ago and spent several hundred dollars on patches. They didn’t work for me, so that money was essentially flushed down the toilet. I eventually had success with Wellbutrin, but not with the patches — though I know the patches work for other people.

Anyway, between the free smoking cessation help and dollar movie nights, free mixers, discount lunches, etc. I feel like I’m missing out by not being on campus. Bummer.

Yesterday I read a blog post about the ugliest hockey players of the last decade or so (I didn’t think to bookmark the post at the time and now I can’t find it), which was quite amusing. I agreed with all of the choices, especially #3 on the list, Brent Sopel. He plays for the Blackhawks now and I can’t help but cringe and shudder whenever his ugly mug appears on screen. He scored a goal the other night, which prompted a closeup, and… well, ewww!

But I was surprised to see that Alexander Ovechkin didn’t make the list. He might clean up nice, but he chooses to keep himself looking as ugly as possible. Between the stringy hair, unshaven face, and missing teeth, it’s no wonder the NHL has chosen Sidney Crosby to be the ambassador of the league. Sheesh, you’d think Ovechkin would at least replace his teeth, but he refuses. Hey Alex, I know a good Plano dentist who will give you a discount!

There was one choice I disagreed with on the original blog post. The author listed Evgeni Malkin as an honorable mention. While I don’t think Malkin is particularly attractive, I would stop short at calling him ugly. There are much worse out there!

Why are people up in arms about Obama bowing to the Japanese Emperor on his recent trip to Japan? I am usually the last person to defend the president, but in this case, I don’t see what the big deal is. He was in Japan, so who cares? If he did it while the Emperor visited the U.S., that might have been a different story. As it was, though, no biggie.

I do have two minor issues with Obama’s bow, but they have to do with form. First, he should keep his back straight, not all hunched over Quasimodo style like in the picture. WTF?? And second, he shouldn’t do it while shaking hands. Both his arms should be at his side while bowing.

Other than that, people are clearly overreacting to this situation.