TO MOLLIFY LINGJACKSON OVERDRIVEBERT WHO IS THE SQUEAKY DESERT FIEND, POST ON THIS THREAD AND ONE OF YOUR FRIENDLY ITR MODS WILL TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE WICKED AWESOME, AND POSSIBLY OFFER AN EFFUSIVE ST

*YOU'RE* the one raising ostriches for apparel!

is that what you name your privates?

"ostriches" would be an odd codeword, but I encourage everyone to adopt it.

Imagine if Spitzer had gone to a place called the Ostriches Club.

HISTORY WOULD HAVE BEEN CHANGED

"And how do you like your ostriches?"

"...plucked."

i am speechless

SO MANY LEVELS OF WRONG

haha xpost

wau

Thank you all.

xxxxpost to sara: i talked to jordan this morning about the health insurance thing, and he got really upset because he's worried i won't come over! i told him it'll take more than shitty healthcare to put me off. but i am concerned about getting insurance because i had juvenile arthritis and there's diabetes in my family.

we're thinking maybe jordan will get some awesome job for a big outdoors company in british columbia so we can move to cananda.

also: CONGRATULATIONS JESSIE MONSTER!!!

Okay! To make you feel a bit calmer: you can have shitty health care or great health care here - either way, it costs a ton.

I'm not an expert on insurance (good forbid I go that route), but so far as I know, family history of a disease does not mean you will have trouble getting coverage. Hell, ovarian cancer is in my family and every year I have the "hmmmm, am I going to have prophylactic surgery and avoid this issue" debate. So far as I know, because there is a medical reason for me to choose to do the surgery (i.e. I have a known risk of ovarian cancer), insurance should cover it.

Um... am I making sense?

You have to have the insurance in the first place, though. If I was uninsured and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, no insurance company in the world is going to take me and cover that anymore. On the other hand, if I was uninsured and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I think I could still buy coverage for unrelated stuff.

well, to calm jordan down i told him in the worst case scenario, if i got really sick and wasn't covered enough or whatever, i would just come home to nz. he just worries that if something bad happens in regards to my health it'll be his fault for not moving to nz instead of me moving to the US.

he also told me that denied claims aren't the norm, so i shouldn't get too worried about it.

so are there some insurance companies that have a better reputation than others? i feel like this is something i should post on the 'ask tombot' thread.

I feel sure that Tombot has strong opinions on insurance companies.

We've pretty much always had Blue Cross/Blue Shield through our jobs (well, now A's job) and it's okay. I feel like they are always trying to negotiate down what is offered in the benefits package to college employees, but this economy is kind of sucking for a lot of people, so it's unsurprising. A. was the chair of the benefits committee for a few years, so he might have more insight (although he cannot be lured to ILX).

It is also possible that health insurance companies are regional... also some medical providers only accept some companies. It's complicated!

I feel like I'm not helping here, but believe me, you can figure it out and make it work.

tombot doesn't get sick so tombot doesn't know. tombot definitely doesn't get sick in california and service tends to vary by region. I like kaiser where I live.

i have health insurance that i never use, although i am currently trying to convince Blue Cross that my insane wonky every which way but out wisdom teeth should be covered under health, not dental

this, after a former exes dentist dad who does my dentistry for free refused to do them because he liked me and couldn't knock me out for the procedure

O_O

John's string of former girlfriend's family's could probably provide everything you need, Rubyredd.

And YES John, you want to be out for that procedure.

Dental insurance is something we go without, just because the coverage always seems to suck.

btw, if I thought I could stand it, I would totally go to dental school for the $$$$.

yeah i'm worried about my wisdoms coming through while i'm there.

i have pliers so no worries

do you also have access to hardcore drugs?? if so, then sweeeeeeeet

I had mine removed right before my senior year of high school. It was... interesting. I had FIVE wisdom teeth removed along with a front tooth that was never going to descend (yes, I still have a baby tooth, and I hate how it looks).

Memories of wisdom teeth removal: my doctor's name was Dr. Schmuck3r. I was out for the surgery. Afterward I read Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night a Traveler while on Vicodin and ever since then I've wondered if it's as weird as it seemed. And I got into a HUGE fight with D34n that day (who I'd been dating for too long already). ALL GOOD TIMES

IOAWNAT is one of my favorite books ever. also yes, it is that weird, drugz or no

do you also have access to hardcore drugs??

uhhhh

T0dd lent it to me to read that summer along with a bunch of other books from the avant garde lit class he'd taken the previous year. I liked it but always thought I should get back to it, you know, sans Vicodin. SOMEDAY

I think I read Marguerite Duras' The Lover for the same reason at about the same time. I don't remember that book as fondly.

dammit, xpost

STATS PAGE SAYS WE'RE #2!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! SUCK IT "CHICAGO"

now we could just get our shit together re: this whole democratic nominee deal, we would be CRUSHING THE COMPETITION

^^^ this

Also we're kind of yo-yoin' with i luvv cooking. It's upsetting tbh.

tombot, plz to lock primary thread and delete ILCOOKING

YOU KNOW ITS THE RIGHT THING TO DO

YES YES

I love cooking...beef?

yesyes

TOMBOT I WILL MAKE AN EXTRA SPECIAL SMURF CARNAGE PHOTO WITH FAKE BLOOD AND STUFF FOR YOU IF YOU LOCK ELECTION THREAD AND DELETE ILC

I can't actually delete boards guys. also if I lock the primary thread that will just create an unpleasant diaspora of primary thread refugees spreading their boring, short-sighted opinions and functional illiteracy all over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Containment

yeah it's kind of a hamsterdam for politics discussion. instead of 15 threads about the party we all vote for sucking ass we just have one.

keep those opinionated hoppers off the corners and let the taxpayers be.

I'm aware of the primaries thread; I just didn't realize that I Love Cooking was so popular.

Probably because I hate cooking, usually.

I need my own sub-board entitled I Hate Cooking But I Want To Love It: Help Me

Ask Mark Bittman

I should read his cookbook from cover to cover. Something has to help me.

Probably because I hate cooking, usually.

What kind of freak are you.

Ask Mark Bittman

So very true.

Sara, try reading Harold McGee's 'On Food and Cooking' before Bittman