Tuesday 29 June 2004

Pic of the day: Hand and body lotion with Aloe Vera. Or so they say. Not tested on animals, so I suppose we are the guinea pigs for this one.

Hello Vera

I have a basically chronic rash on the inside of my thighs, stretching quite a bit further than my underwear. It is worse in the summer. I bought a couple tubes of hand lotion with Aloe Vera, which is supposed to help skin regrow. Well, it doesn't seem to work much on this, but I don't know that yet. I have just started using it. It is most strange at work, when I sneak off to the toilet with a tube of hand lotion discreetly hidden in my pocket. I'm a bit worried of getting discovered: "Is that a tube of hand lotion in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?" Also in general, I think hand lotion and toilets are not considered a good combination, but I'm not eager to pull down my pants in my office either. Meh. I have one tube here at home as well, but here I keep it in the computer corner.

I should see a doctor about this, in a couple years when there are too many doctors here in Norway. Of course, the "too many doctors" has been said for a while and it's always in the future. I think there are a lot of people like me who don't go to the doctor because there aren't enough doctors, so we just do our best. When there are more doctors, there will be more for them to do as well. I have for instance a lot of different skin problems, and have had for years, but I only seek medical help for it when there is a suspicion of cancer.

***

Also my hand is hurting again. From July 1st there is a new and harsher law about paid sick leave. Basically, from what I've gathered reading the letter from the public insurance (something like the American Medicare or Medicaid, I think ... it's tax-paid health insurance for everybody) - the new law seems to assume that people have been just faking it up till now and aren't really ill. So from now on, just because you're sick doesn't mean you can stay at home (unless you're quarantined, of course).

That's fine by me, I'll be happy to go to the workplace if I don't need to actually work there. If I do, my hand will continue to degrade until it falls off or otherwise stops functioning. It is a slow but steady process which will probably take about 5 more years. Of course, by then we may all be eaten by a black hole, if CERN's Large Hadron Collider makes one as they'll try to. But then again, maybe not, and if not then hands will presumably be nice to have.