The new craze in kitchenware? I found quite a number of these with my best pal in Bed Bath and Beyond while we were looking for a bridal shower gift.
My personal favorites are the silicone numbers, because they're so nice and colorful. It makes me wish I hadn't sprung for the LL Bean pasta/stock pot/steamer/colander combo....almost. You can't really steam broccoli in a silicone colander because the plastic frame might melt.
Of course the plastic ones that unfold like milk crates are interesting, too. They just seem like they're made out of Lego brand building blocks, which isn't kitchen-y at all, but reminiscent of the Lego brand building block living room on While You Were Out. A bold decorating statement, although perhaps not an attractive one.
23 September 2007
18 September 2007
Finding a doctor
In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz discusses why "more" is actually "less," specifically that the "more" becomes so overwhelming that you somehow mysteriously wind up with less. Scary.
I understand what he means. I need to find a doctor, and it's really difficult. Back in the "good old days" (which possibly didn't exist, according to historians), there was only one doctor, and you were basically dependent on his expertise and training, which in the 19th century could possibly have been quite little. Let's face it, the Johns Hopkins, which was the first scientifically based medical school, wasn't founded until rather late in the 19th century, and before that medical training was largely based in what we now call the "humane letters." This meant that your doctor had probably read rather a lot of ancient Greek and could therefore understand the Hippocratic oath in the original, but might not have understood very much about infection...which makes sense since most microbes had not really been invented/discovered.
Nowadays, doctors are smart and have lots of scientific training...at least in my personal experience. They study for a long time in very difficult environments and read tons of journal articles and basically have to do tons of research just to stay current. One of the curious things about this current state of affairs is that we read scholarly medical expertise back into the physicians of the good old days. This is why we have episodes of Little House on the Prairie in which the doctor is able to research the literature to discover that a child has a rare form of leukemia that can only be treated by radiation that hasn't been developed for medical use, but the writer saw on Disneyland in the 1950's.
I read a lot, and watch a lot of television, and I like older items and newer scientific materials. So, in finding a doctor, I'm a bit unrealistic. I'd like to have a cross between Doc Baker, the Walnut Grove internist, the cute doctor from E.R. played by Kelli Martin, and Albert Schweitzer. Not likely. Of course, it really doesn't matter if this fantasy vision is likely because the option of a smart, competent practitioner in my insurance plan isn't much less fantasy-based.
Most doctors I've met are, indeed, smart. They're usually better than competent, particularly if you get them on a good day. But you also have to consider that some of them get better training, or have better motor skills, or better rapport in the practice. And sometimes, their office staffs are not doing what they need to be doing, which makes finding a doctor a relatively difficult decision. It's not just about the doctor. It's also about the billing office and whether or not the nurse understands what the doctor is talking about.
...so, as I'm doing this, I almost wish I could go to a veterinarian. After all, there are very few vet schools, the office staff generally like dogs and know a lot about them, and they give treats....
I understand what he means. I need to find a doctor, and it's really difficult. Back in the "good old days" (which possibly didn't exist, according to historians), there was only one doctor, and you were basically dependent on his expertise and training, which in the 19th century could possibly have been quite little. Let's face it, the Johns Hopkins, which was the first scientifically based medical school, wasn't founded until rather late in the 19th century, and before that medical training was largely based in what we now call the "humane letters." This meant that your doctor had probably read rather a lot of ancient Greek and could therefore understand the Hippocratic oath in the original, but might not have understood very much about infection...which makes sense since most microbes had not really been invented/discovered.
Nowadays, doctors are smart and have lots of scientific training...at least in my personal experience. They study for a long time in very difficult environments and read tons of journal articles and basically have to do tons of research just to stay current. One of the curious things about this current state of affairs is that we read scholarly medical expertise back into the physicians of the good old days. This is why we have episodes of Little House on the Prairie in which the doctor is able to research the literature to discover that a child has a rare form of leukemia that can only be treated by radiation that hasn't been developed for medical use, but the writer saw on Disneyland in the 1950's.
I read a lot, and watch a lot of television, and I like older items and newer scientific materials. So, in finding a doctor, I'm a bit unrealistic. I'd like to have a cross between Doc Baker, the Walnut Grove internist, the cute doctor from E.R. played by Kelli Martin, and Albert Schweitzer. Not likely. Of course, it really doesn't matter if this fantasy vision is likely because the option of a smart, competent practitioner in my insurance plan isn't much less fantasy-based.
Most doctors I've met are, indeed, smart. They're usually better than competent, particularly if you get them on a good day. But you also have to consider that some of them get better training, or have better motor skills, or better rapport in the practice. And sometimes, their office staffs are not doing what they need to be doing, which makes finding a doctor a relatively difficult decision. It's not just about the doctor. It's also about the billing office and whether or not the nurse understands what the doctor is talking about.
...so, as I'm doing this, I almost wish I could go to a veterinarian. After all, there are very few vet schools, the office staff generally like dogs and know a lot about them, and they give treats....
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