Dentist in Poland (before 1990)

I want to stress that this video is not supposed to serve as bashing of universal health care systems in modern countries! Note that this video portraits Communist State-Run Dental Health Care System, not Canada, France, etc. (I was once at the dentist in France and it was cheap [much cheaper than in USA] and the dental care was equivalent/same as in USA)

OK. So now that we got that straighten up (as not to give ammunition to critics of universal health care), the video is a slight exaggeration of the situation that existed in Poland before 1990. (I will not comment on today's situation as I simply do not know anymore ... it has been many years since I left Poland.)

What is not an exaggeration about the movie are the following
- the line in the hall of the Dentist with people keeping the order, not the dentist
- the bad equipment
- the luck of any pain killing medication during the procedure
- the "it should not hurt anymore" mentality instead of healing teeth; such things like cosmetic surgeries did not exist at all)
- the God-Dentist attitude (no choice)

So now you understand that I have absolutely no fear when going to a dentist in USA and I find it rather amusing that they offer putting me to sleep for silly things like extractions (wisdom teeth). Man, they give you so much pain medicine here that all you can feel is pressure. They ask you every minute, are you in pain?

Watch this movie and start blessing your dental health care America!

So now you understand why I have to have the below done this year. My wallet is crying big time! But what is one to do? Can't go back in time, can't we?

Nostalgic

This birthday thing must have made me a bit nostalgic. Things are changing in Poland, my native country. It is for better for a lot of people, earnings are higher (by ~300% since I have been there)

Not like that makes me want to go back for good but I am glad that for many Poland is attractive again. I will soon be here almost as long as long I lived consciously in Poland (excluding the first years where we all basically poop in diapers and cry all the time) I am not moving back to something I knew but does not exist anymore (and frankly not sure if the new thing is that much better or better at all)

Anyway, there are some things that we, the Polish people, will always remember about our old Poland. Here is a short part from a Polish comedy "Nic Smiesznego" (Nothing Funny)

And right below a picture of my mother and her house (no more) with the same super car. FYI, it is Fiat 126p, originally designed in Italy in the 1970's and very very popular in Poland. It was produced in Poland under Fiat license. Under Communism one draw a ticket that determined how long one had to wait in line for it. (You still had to have money to buy it, the wait for in addition ... sort of like Prius not so long ago)

Life is too short day

I wish so very much I could put my thoughts together like him …

But I just can’t, I am not that talented. Most Americans should be required to watch him every day and jailed if they fail to do so. Maybe we would not be so brained washed as a nation. Oh boy, instead we watch some propaganda on Faux News ... go figure.

Language defines our ideas

An Française, tout cet différent me ce net pas sel muent pacque ce la même chose me au Française ! No ! La logique, le culturel, l’espacé e différent.

(Wow, that was hard, thank God one can switch languages in World Document and check spelling)

Anyway, listen to Steven Pinker on TED who explains the very deep meaning of language, beyond just simple translations

Below it is the movie embedded in my blog



No wonder my silly buttons on the right do not work well. Language is really complex, on the deep level, it takes years to master it fully, not just grammar wise but to understand all the (cultural, social, economical) meaning behind it

Why I like my job?

I realized recently that as 37 years old person I have been attending different classes and learning different things for around 30 years now, with 2 breaks 1 or 1.5 years long.

When I was 7 I started Elementary School in Sosnie, Poland. Then, into High School but that was High School with Rail Road Specialization (idea was that it is better to have such high school education and increase chances of finding employment afterwords ... not the same as vocational school which also existed [and does] in Poland)

So in addition to Language (Polish), Math, Biology, I also learned about Electricity, Electromechanics of different parts of electrical trains (Poland train infrastructures is far superior to #1 [sarcasm for US] but then so is most civilized nations ...), etc.

I also wanted to be "cool" so I started to study music in School of Music along with my high school. I remember seeing one of my friends who played piano and all the girls gathering around him and at that time I though "mm, I want to play piano like that ..."

Music got me into US in 1993. I was in Polish Army in Orchestra thanks to Music. In USA in addition to music and learning how to march in Marching Band, which I soon realized was not going to bring any bread on the table, in my sophomore year I also started to study business, administration, economics.

Even after graduating and before graduate school I took some classes to learn more, computers, statistics, higher level of English to learn to write and read better (as you can see, I need still many more classes) (I also learned some French living in France from 1998 to 2000)

So what does this have to do with the title of this post? I like my job because I can be creative. I learned or was learning rather about lots of things but this job allows me to use a bit of everything in my work. My work does not pay as much as I could earn in private practice but it provides nice casual atmosphere and very liberal approach to hours worked, leaving work, etc. In a word, I am not a slave of a corporation. I can't afford as many things but I enjoy my days more and learned overtime to be happy with what I have and make the most of it (and if you think this is trivial and not that important, then, well ... that's your right)

The movie below made by some professor about Web 2.0 best describes not just the environment we live in, but for me it reminds me that I get to play with all this ... and incredibly, some people actually are paying me for it!

Hectic Times

... to the Library to pick up readings for PA642 ... sent to campus office for new ID ... then back 400 yards to the Library ... back to my office to put off another fire ... progress some on some projects ... then making copies ... going for another meeting ... back to the library to turn back the few hours reserved material to avoid fines ...

... next day same thing, this time bank account is a little low so I run to one place to withdraw some money, run to the library to deposit it in our bank, then to the dentist who will make 4,000 dollars this year on me ... (because I was lazy as a child and did not brush my teeth! and the communistic dental care was far from good) .... back to the pharmacy for more pain medicine .... back to the office .... oh time to go to school - Wednesday today.

... it will be 8.30 pm before I will open my car's door on the parking spot and the only good thing about going home that late is that I can pretend to be NASCAR driver and spin down the rather empty parking lot all the way down from the top floor hearing squiggling tires on all curves.

... when I get home my kids will be still awake and Iza will no doubt insist on me falling asleep with her and one of the last things she will say will be "Daddy, I don't like your school; it takes too long; I miss you"

...but it is worth it right? Another 2 years of this and I will be a secret agent in some bureaucracy in Washington? (I picked a name already "Natasha" :-)) Or will I be some bureaucrat elsewhere? Regardless, I put nice little title in front of my name ... I will therefore be a "better" person?

... just sometimes, specially when your mouth is in pain for days and when you realized this is some 20th or so year you keep on going to classes of all sorts of colors and shades ... and it is close to a 100 degrees outside and you keep on going and going, you wonder, why can't I just be stereotypically ... "lazy American" ... or maybe stereotypes are just that, stereotypes?

Sincerely,
Shamick

One’s work may be finished someday,
But one’s education never.
Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870