Changes

When my mother spent some time in India she said she enjoyed it so much more when she decided to stop thinking of ways that the country needed to change. Of course she was referring to piles of garbage heaped on the ground and people urinating freely in the streets.

I realize, too, that I keep wanting to change things here. But, I guess if it were like home then I might as well have stayed put. However, I think if I could implement just a couple of changes, I could possibly become a gazillionaire.

The first is something like an MLS and a CCS service when it comes to real estate. When we told Erryl, our estate agent, how things worked at home when it came to real estate listings and showings, he was blown away at how much easier it was on everyone involved.

I've mentioned this before, but here if you want to view a property, you must call the listing agent or listing company to view it. The person looking to buy the property pays the estate agent fees, too - which kind of stinks because after a day of showing you HIS listed properties and you go with something else, he's SOL... some other agent gets the money. Erryl especially loved the idea of CCS (centralized showing service), since they don't have key boxes here, the listing agent meets you at every single property to let you in. CA-RAZY.

The other thing that I would like to introduce here is this fantastic, new device called a fax machine. Oh, and email, too.

Actually, most of the UK probably knows what it is, but the NHS has no clue. Yes, yes... I've been pretty hard on the NHS, and today is no exception.

Did you know that here, you keep your own medical records??? And if I'm traveling (being pregnant), I should have my records on me at all times??? This is incase I have to go to another hospital while away - or have to go to an ER not at my assigned hospital. I have to admit, I feel kind of naughty being able to look over my own records, but that's not the point.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that when a hospital has to post a banner stating that they are "open 24-hours for you" that I also shouldn't be surprised when they can't make a phone call or a use the fax to get information. Simple things that could remedy the situation of someone keeping their records on them at all times.

The other reason I bring this up is that I did get in with my future hospital. This is the hospital that is closest to where we will be living. I guess getting out of the hectic city, they aren't quite as busy and bookings go much faster. YES! And, I must say that they are super friendly. However, I had to go through the exact same 2-hour question and answer list that I had just completed at another hospital two weeks ago. Seems like there could be some kind of computer link for a "national" healthcare. But, that would just be too easy. Now, I have to go back in to meet an OB... which I just did at the other hospital last week. Wouldn't it be easier AND save money to just have that other OB fax over the blood work results instead of taking another pint of my blood?? Guess not. Maybe they are stockpiling blood for vampires... yes, that craze has hit here, too.

But, like I said... if I didn't want to experience something new and different, I could have stayed home.

The good news is that everything is still normal (a whole week later). Scott and I start an antenatal class this Saturday. Not sure I'm ready to know about all this labor and delivery stuff. But, I do think that the midwives seem to offer a more supportive environment than what we are used to at home. And though I'm not really looking forward to the actually birthing process, I think I'm glad I'll be able to experience with a midwife. And for my parents... yes, it's in a hospital and yes there are doctors incase of emergencies.