caliente

Ladies and gentlemen, it is HOT.

So hot that practically the only thoughts in my head this week have been something along those lines-- it's hooootttttt.

I think this may be why saunas have never really appealed to me. They're really hot and humid. Exactly like Georgia in May, June, July, August,and September summer. People of the (more temperate regions of) the Union-- let me save you some money. Don't buy a sauna, just come visit Georgia! And let me go stay at your house in [wherever the weather is cooler and less humid] while you're here. Thanks.


Anyway. In other news...


Can I gripe about the cost of healthcare for a minute here? Okay, thanks. Um, it's RIDICULOUS.

I've heard lots of stories before of people being in the hospital (havin' babies, minor surgery, whatever) and looking over their itemized bills to see absolutely RIDICULOUS charges. I'm not talking about the actual cost of surgery, which I imagine is (somewhat) justifiably expensive. I'm talking about the $30 ice packs and nonsense like that. Things that any old person could buy at Kroger for a teeny tiny fraction of the cost. We're talking highway robbery, folks. It's infuriating.

I am lucky enough to be receiving stacks of bills in the mail every day to square up my HSG from last month (and checking the mail is sooooooo fun when you have THAT to look forward to!). Most of the bills thus far haven't fallen into the Completely Ridiculous category yet-- the charges seem somewhat commensurate with the product/service. Except this one.



I'm not sure how well you can see the breakdown there, but I underlined the product and drew an arrow to the charge-- $375 for SALINE. SALINE. As in, salty water. The stuff I wash my contacts with every night. I can get a whole bottle of it (12oz? 16 oz?) for $9 if it's NOT on sale (and we all know I'd never do that). And I saw how much of it they used for the HSG. They showed me! It was like MAYBE an ounce. And that's being generous.
That's just about enough to make a girl mad. Next time, I'm taking my OWN saline (and that's a rhetorical statement-- I don't plan on having another HSG, thankyouverymuch). If I were better at math, I'd calculate how many bottles of saline I could buy for $375. Now I'm willing to accept that it is probably not the exact same saline as the contact solution stuff. That's fine. But I promise you that whatever it is, it didn't cost anyone $375 an ounce to produce.


Anyway...grrr. I didn't have any illusions that infertility treatments would be cheap. And I guess I should be thankful that my insurance is even covering any of it. And I don't mind spending the money, if it results in a baby. But I'd like to think I'm spending the money on like...you know...something useful. Like state of the art technology. Highly skilled doctors. Not so much on saline.
In conclusion...it is hot. And I just spent $375 on saline. Happy Friday!