Let me start with the etc. part. I don't really have much to report from last weekend. I spent about 6 hours in lab on Saturday and 6 more on Sunday (not saying that that's a lot, just reporting) and then hopped on my bike for a couple of rides. On Saturday, I left lab about 2 and was on my bike shortly before 3. I had planned a route to the west, southwest of Grenoble partly through Vercors, another park in the area, that I thought would take about 3 hours; turns out I was off by an hour and a half, which was fine. The first 1:50 of the ride was flat and uneventful, but then I turned left and started climbing. I unfortunatly didn't have my camera, as I didn't really expect a) to do as much climbing as I did, or b) for the ride to be that scenic. I feel like I climbed forever, (only about 16km) as I wasn't feeling so well and was having some stomach issues. But I forged ahead, and the scenery was excellent! I rode along a river through some beautiful gorges, and under some very cool overhanging "cut outs", and finally reached the ~1300m summit. At this point I was about 45 km from Grenoble, rode a little on some flattish roads surrounded by meadows that reminded me of the Sound of Music, and then was duely rewarded with a fun and fast descent back into town. It really was a great descent; the road was well maintained and had a nice mixture of gradual and hairpin switchbacks. I again was feeling like a Euro pro. I can't say I was that tired when I got home, but I was having trouble holding 200 watts, and man, did I want to get off my bike. I think I was under fed going into the ride, but it was beautiful, none the less. On sunday, I got on my bike about the same time as on saturday and headed south to Vizille, a town I have ridden through a number of times. This time, however, I had picked a small mountain road to climb on the south face of whatever mountain runs between there and Grenoble. Bad choice. There aren't many things that can make a ride not fun, but this climb seemed to have a number of them. First, I was apparently still dealing with hunger knock, because my legs just weren't there. Second, the road was bumpy (that's what I get for picking a small road). Third, I'm guessing 10-12% for 8k or so. Fourth, lots of bugs. In any case, I wasn't really happy to be riding my bike on this thing, but made it none the less. It was really steep. The descent, however, was most excellent! Wide road and new pavement, again with a good mix of semitechnical corners and tight switchbacks, and fun straightaways. I actually caught and passed two cars...until it started to rain, at which point I throttled back a bit. Total time, 2.5 hours in the saddle, but I was happy it was over.
Now on to other things. First, congratulations to Jason Lowetz for winning the Cat 3. race at Manhatten Beach. Pretty cool, man!.
Second, a brief rant. I hate going to the grocery store here (I actually hate grocery shopping ANYWHERE, but even more so here). No, I don't mind not being able to communicate, I don't mind not having some of my favorite foods(like peanut butter and bagels). But, I HATE waiting in line. Oh, and there are always lines. Maybe I pick bad times to go, but every cashier has 6,7,8, etc. people waiting in line. In fact, I think that the least amount of time I have waited at the grocery store is 15 minutes. The most, you ask? Oh, yes, at least 30 minutes last Saturday. WTF? I don't understand. I never wait more than 5 minutes in CA, and I can't figure out what takes so long here! People bag their own groceries, but still, that's not hard. So, I ask again, WTF?
And the final installment of this piece is maybe aptly titled "there is no free lunch". I was thinking about health care this week, as we had been talking about different systems at lunch. (I eat with a couple of French students, one from Romania, and one from Norway (who also speaks no French). I'm not sure I really know enough to argue for one system or another, but I know that the US doesn't have governmental health care systems like much of Europe. (and we also don't pay 40% federal tax like in Norway, although with State and sales tax, I feel we are close if not in excess, of that.) I'm not going to take sides on this issue, but I generally believe that I am better with my money than someone else is with my money. I now need to digress for a moment. When I was in the Paris train station last weekend, I needed to use the restroom....and it cost me 0.5 euros. I hate paying to take a leak. Where are my public bathrooms? See where I'm going with this. No, I'm not suggesting health care is as simple as public restrooms. What I am saying is that I want to figure out my own health care, but I want the Los Angeles airport to provide me with fast and clean access to a toilet. Do I really believe that access to that toilet is free? Of course not. Northworst, et. al. pay fees to the airport to maintain the terminal, and are inevitable included in my ticket price. On top of that, my tax dollars go to supporting LAX. So, I end up paying for the toilet anyway, just not at the time of use. And I like it that way. So, back to health care. I like being able to choose where my money goes and how it gets spent...but I like "free" toilets. If I had been born in Europe, would I like to choose whether or not to pay to use the bathroom, and love the convenience of "free" health care? Ok, so I've drastically over simplified things and I'm sure there are economic and legal flaws in what I've written. Just some thoughts. And always remember, in life, just as in thermodynamics "There is no Free Lunch"! Please don't hesitate to chim in. I love seeing flaws in my logic (or, possibly, lack thereof).
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6 comments:
I'm impressed. I did a little bit of thinking about the public policy of health care, and your toilet analogy is pretty useful.
-Porten
I think there is a difference between toilet usage and health care, at least with respect to the kind of coverage Americans enjoy. Let me start by saying that, to me, a bathroom is a place to take a leak or a deuce. Therefore, it need not be more than a hole in the ground. (I will admit that washing my hands is more a necessity than a luxury.) In contrast, a free-market system allows citizens to pick the style and amount of health coverage that they want. Admittedly some folks like fancier bathrooms, just like some folks like fancier health coverage. But that’s the beauty of a free-market – you decide. In any case, the point I’m trying to make is that a place to crap is more binary (you either have a place to crap for free or you do not), while health coverage is not binary (although it could be). Besides, there’s likely less abuse of free crapping than free surgery.
Furthermore, people come from around the world to get medical treatments at places like the Mayo clinic in Rochester. That alone should be some indication as to quality of “capitalistic” healthcare.
Nonetheless, I think you have a very good point, and it probably boils down to a difference in priorities. Americans recognize a fundamental right to crap and much of Europe recognizes a fundamental right to health care. (sorry, I couldn’t resist)
Vive la laissez-faire!
-Mike
About the grocery stores- have you tried stealing? You never have to wait in line and you also save money!!
Health Care, What you are saying sounds like you want to use your own money to pay for your own healthcare rather than having the Gov. increase taxes to pay for your healthcare. But you prefer not to pay out of your own wallet for each toilette use and prefer to have facilities increase fees to make toilette usage included.
Looking at it this way it appears that America has socialized bathrooms but free-market Healthcare, while Europe has Free Market Bathrooms, but Socialized Healthcare.
With the US Freemaket healthcare we end up having a large number of people with out healthcare because they don't or can't pay for it out of their own pocket. Now I'm wondering is there a lot more Urine and Feces on the Streets of europe because of people that can't or won't pay for their free market Water Closets?
Fritz
Well, not to create a health care debate on McKeen's blog (or state the obvious), but it bears mentioning that supplying a bottom-line, government subsidized health coverage will harldly pre-empt competition for coverage generally.
To continue John's analogy, the benefit of having public toilets (which, I can assure you, pale in quality comparison to most Euro-pay toilets) isn't simply that the person who really needs to go can, but also that the person who doesn't have fifty cents doesn't just piss in the bushes. In the same way that hiring janitors to clean up the feces in the airport hallway eventually costs airline consumers more than simply providing a toilet would have, uninsured and underinsured emergency care (and work-stoppage from untreated illness) drags not only the health care industry but the economy in general (think illegal immigrants).
That said, the biggest problem with American health is precisely lack of competition; not because some socialist drive to provide basic coverage does or does not exist, but because health care has been tied to employment in a way that stifles choice. Divorcing health care from job status (and giving employees the money to choose), combined with a sensible, subsidized safety net is both more workable and more in line with a sense of free-market liberalism.
As regards the Mayo Clinic and the people who travel to it; suggesting that this trend proves the effecacy of the American coverage system is like saying that having a speedway makes Indianapolis residents better drivers. It completely ignores who is allowed to use it and how. Mayo proves the superiority of American health technological adavances which only Wahhabist Saudi oil barons can afford.
-Porten
I'm just jelous of the riding you are doing J!
Seriously, man. Less philosophising, more giving us personal reports on Le Tour!
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