Scruit

If it makes a difference, my lights were checked by the BMW examiner when I did my driver's test in '97. And it was a pitifully simple test because the examiner knew I was just converting UK license to a US license so she knew I could drive. Did the cones then just drove around the block. Took 2 minutes and done. Still checked my lights even with the abbreviated test.

Also depends on how easy it is to revert to a legal configuration versus the impact of failing. If it's gonna take a couple of hours to switch back and he doesn't mind waiting for a retest then heck, roll the dice. If it will take 5 minutes to correct and a failed test will have a significant impact then just fix it. I'm sure it's somewhere in the middle for both, so it's a judgement call.

I would never go for any legal bike test if I knew something about the bike was not legal...

It's flash. Steve Jobs is enthusiastically waving his middle finger at you from the grave.

So my friends with the kid with leukemia? They were IT professionals earning high salaries and had insurance but couldn't handle a $4m healthcare bill. That wasn't laziness - that is the reality of catastrophic illness in the US. There ARE those that genuinely ARE lazy, and they need to be weeded out. But there are many more normal hardworking people that suffer through no fault of their own. That time it was them - next time could be you, or me, or anyone. We have the ability to fix that.

In the spirit of "Don't knock it 'till you've tried it", I'd like to hear from anyone else who had experience both a socialised healthcare system AND a private system. Compare and contrast the experiences you had at both.

Yet, despite the not-for-profit the UK system, there are still inhalers to be had. Go figure.

Wait, did I just see a spark of anger there? Possibly caused by emotion? You are uncomfortable when faced with the true human cost, but are too stubborn to consider changing that, aren't you? There's concern-for-your-fellow-man feelings in there somewhere, let them out...

Nice. I found his mugshot and booking, but Fulton county court records system is offline right now. Was gonna check prison records next but you beat me to it.

Then they will de-fund medicare. The folks arguing against us here don't realize they are just as at risk of a catastrophic illness bankruptcy as anyone. They think "I have insurance, I'm fine." Hopefully they never find out how wrong they are.

I paid my bills. The bills were just rediculously high. Now image I was living paycheck to paycheck and an $8k bill landed in my lap. Good luck, huh?

Not my kid, a work buddy. The whole company pulled together to help them out as best we could (donating vacation time, organizing fundraisers etc) but at $4m owed we couldn't save them from bankruptcy. Moral of the story - even wealthy people with insurance cannot survive a catastrophic illness. Not you, not me, not any of us normal people. Oh, and who do you think paid that $4m? You did.

What of the 50m who earn too much for free care, but can't afford insurance?

All my vacation time for two years, so he could could stay at son's bedside at St.Judes.

So have I. The NHS is not perfect either, but nobody goes bankrupt through medical bills when they get sick, nobody has any reason to delay preventative treatment until more aggressive intervention is required, and nobody worries that they'll have to choose between life-saving medical care or providing for their families. Nobody worries about in-network, out of network, reasonable-and-customary, annual limits, lifetime limits, deductibles, copays, in-network-coverage percentages versus out-of-network percentages, pre-approval or any of that bullshit. For non-life-saving treatment going to the doctor is just the start of the crap. You can spend months chasing the paperwork to ensure you got paid correctly. I once spent 18 months chasing payments from an insurance company that made mistake after mistake after mistake, denying coverage at every turn until I finally proved they were under-paying me. It's bullshit start to finish. I've been treated under NHS and under the US system, and I'll say the US system is faster for electives if you are willing to pay, but that life-saving and preventative health care is the same in both countries, with the UK sparing us the paperwork burden of the US system. Neither system is perfect, but I'd rather have people wait-listed for electives than people (both insured and non-insured) bankrupted by major medical expenses. Most recent example... I broke my nose last year. Did the same thing in England when I was a teenager. US: Went to the ER. Got an x-ray and a MRI. Got my Dx and was discharged with referral to ENT. $2600. Out of pocket due to HDHP insurance. Went to ENT the next day, scheduled closed reduction surgery. Went to surgery, stayed 4 hours, discharged. Paid the ENT $2000. Paid the surgery center $3000. All out of pocket due to HDHP. End of the day I spent 6 months following up on paperwork to make sure that the amount applied to my deductible was appropriate and connecting bills from 4 different sources (ENT, ER, Surgery center, anesthesiologist) and reviewing the health plan to correct deduction limits and THEN found out the surgery center is either in-or-out of network depending on who did the surgery, so both ENT or SC bills may be applied to out-of-network deductible instead. I didn't choose the anesthesiologist and the SC didn't check my network so we didn;t know if HE was in or out, which would have knocked the SC out of network. Argued it out and got the deductible applied back to IN-network deductible. Final out-of-pocket wound up being a little over $8k, which took my months to pay back. And my wife and I both earn 6 figures and have typical employer-provided insurance. England: Went to ER. Got x-ray and MRI. They treated me and scheduled a closed reduction surgery for 3 days out. Went to outpatient surgery center and had the op. Stayed in the center for about 4 hours then went home. That was the end of it.

Don't worry - Bubba will fill daddy's void.

It would be funny if I didn't witness it myself. If I hadn't spent hours helping his parents scrub their house top to bottom before the doctors would allow the immuno-compromised child to visit home one last time before goign to St.Judes... If I had watched his parents (two highly-paid and well-insured IT folks) lose their jobs, and eventually every penny they had when the insurance said; "$1m lifetime max payout. The last $4m is on you." Yeah, I feel strongly about it.

Simple: Go on ebay and search from "1080p dashcam". I have three of these ones: I got them direct from Hong Kong via ebay for about $150 each. My car, wife's car, my bike. Hands down the best quality and most reliable of any ebay dashcam I have seen. US sellers will charge $260 for these - you call if you want to pay the extra. If you can't find one of these exact ones then just check fro any HD dashcam but beware of low-res that has just been upscaled to HD. Make sure it has a HDMI out - not that you'll ever use it, but confirms it is HD. You also need a 32gb >>>CLASS 10<<< SD card from newegg. Depending on the camera it will be either a regular SD or micro SD. But is must be class 10 for constant full HD 1080p. 32GB gives me about 3 days history, and I drive/ride 2 hours a day. I have a bigger commercial system in my car based upon the AverDigi EB1304MOB and 4 external cameras, but that system need maintenance and new hard drives every now and then. These cheapo car DVRs on ebay are so much easier to use. Plug it into the big lights and you're done. I actually installed a separate 12v outlet under the dash and ran the wires hidden inside the a-pillar and behind the roof liner. Cleaner look.

Sorry I'm late.

Don't give me ideas. Under the deck, watching the cutting motion in slo-mow. (Ba-dum-TSSS... slow-MOW, get it?)

Gopro has to be turned on and off each time. Guarantee you will forget to turn it on. OR will forget to turn it off and run down the battery. The card must be cleared every day or two manually. Not a long-term solution.

Ever looked into the eyes of a 7 year old child who is dying of Leukemia? Ever had to explain to him why he can never go back to his home because his family lost it in a bankruptcy action due to medical bills when their insurance quit paying out? No? Then shut up, Buddy.

First pic; "So you caught me huh?" Second pic; "Let me know how that works out for you."

Posthumously.

Never could find a followup on this guy. Anyone else find anything?