So I was kind of lazy over Spring Break and was even too lazy to write a blog post. It just flew by. I worked a lot at Macy's, and I went to visit Matt in Springfield, which was super fun. We hung out with his friends from school (who are just really great and funny people). It made me miss going to a school where you have an actual college campus and college experience. Barnes is a great school, and I like the people a lot, but there's just not the community you find at a residential campus.
I had an interesting experience on my way to Springfield. I'm one of those (lazy) people that doesn't fill my gas tank up until the very last minute. It's like I get some sort of adrenaline rush by seeing if I can race my mileage and get to a gas station before my car comes to a complete stop. So I realize when I'm in the middle of nowhere Missouri that I should probably stop ignoring the gas light that came on as a last minute warning. There was finally an exit after a few miles (middle of nowhere as I said), and I find a gas station. I thought I was totally in the clear until I saw that there was a sign on my gas pump that said "out of gas.". I thought that was odd, so I drove up to the next...and the next...and the next. I frantically ran inside, and the lady told me they were out of gas as I suspected. I can't even explain to you why a gas station, which you think their main source of income would be found in that very name, would be out of gas. The lady pointed me in the direction of a gas station right across the bridge, and when I drove up, I realized this was not just a gas station. It was gas station heaven. This place was filled with candy, all types of taffy, and homemade fudge. They had a sign that boasted both the cleanest bathrooms in the world and the largest gift shop in the world. All I can say is I love Missouri.
I really like driving long distances. It gives me a chance to think. I thought about how this will probably be my last visit to Springfield before Matt's graduation (exciting!). I'm already getting nostalgic, but don't interpret this as nostalgia for a long distance relationship (yuck). Springfield boasts the most restaurants per capita than any city in the US (didn't check my sources, but this is what I've heard), so we always go to a lot of fun places when we're there. Springfield seems to love its breakfast food 24 hours a day. They also love their cashew chicken. Their cashew chicken is nothing like cashew chicken I've had anywhere else, though. It's like chicken covered in gravy goodness. Also, we saw Alice in Wonderland...trippy like I expected, but I wasn't very impressed overall.
Onto something completely different...I'm no longer covered under my parents' insurance next month after I turn 23. I've been looking into really cheap plans to cover myself in case something happens. If you have not had the joy of trying to buy your own health insurance, it is extremely frustrating. I am realizing that I will have to pay more than I can afford a month for an extremely high deductible. My doctor told me the biggest reason people go into bankruptcy is because they cannot afford their medical bills. Does this seem right to anyone still reading my obscenely long blog post? I am angry that I basically have to guess how sick I think I will get this year and pay for insurance that will barely cover me if something happens. If something horrible happens, I surely would go broke with those kind of deductibles. I am angry that I live in one of the only industrialized nations where we have to pay for health care. Don't we all have the right to live healthy, productive lives (I think I just stole that from some foundation that supports npr)? Everyone just pray now that nothing happens to me this year, because, if you know me at all, I'm pretty clumsy and who knows what will happen.
I'm super excited about our next choir concert with the St. Louis Chamber Chorus. We're doing all of our songs (with the exception of one) with guitar, and they are really cool. I'm even more excited, because I was chosen to sing a solo in this one! Although it's only six measures, I'm excited/nervous to sing a solo in my first concert that will be reviewed by St. Louis' newspaper.
I know this was long. I've just been thinking about things a lot lately. I think it's because I actually had time to stop think, and reflect on life and where my life is going during break. I don't get that opportunity a lot with nursing school :) Well, I'm back to the 15 chapters of pharmacology I should have read during Spring Break. Love you all.
I can't believe you don't fill up your gas tank before going on a road trip! Crazy girl! Good luck on your solo, I know you'll be great!
ReplyDeletei wish i could hear that solo in person! will it be recorded?
ReplyDeletei'll be entering the insurance market myself in a matter of months, & am NOT looking forward to it, to put things mildly. i completely agree with your statement about the status of health care in this country. the ridiculous thing is that one of the main arguments people have against universal health care is that they shouldn't have to pay for the medical expenses of others. BUT THEY ARE ALREADY DOING THAT! because every time someone who can't afford health insurance has to use the ER as their primary source of medical care, taxpayers foot much of the bill. there definitely is a better way to deliver health care, although half the time we're too busy looking down on the approaches of other countries to admit that our system could learn a few hundred lessons from them.
I've been living without health insurance since last July....I just literally could not afford to purchase anything when I was first unemployed, and then working just at Barnes and Noble (they don't offer health insurance to part time employees until they've worked there for a year). Now I could probably afford some kind of really horrific basic coverage with an exorbitant deductible, but since I'm getting married and may be a student soon (most grad programs offer student health insurance), I'm hoping to just get by until August when I'm married (Jeff's insurance is expensive tho), or a student. I do finally have accident/cancer/catastrophic coverage in case something horrible happens, but still...
ReplyDeleteIt's a shitty system, that's for sure. I wish there was some way of knowing I could be taken care of if something happens, but the reality is, I will be financially destroyed. If it's only a month or two, you could probably be OK-but I do NOT recommend going for a year like I will have done. I've had too many health scares already!
miss you!