Washington/Oregon 2021 - A Last Look - Mt. Hood

 We arrived at the lot to return our rental car. The manager, the same one we had doused with windshield washer fluid at the beginning of our trip, came out to tell us that we would be better off returning the car at the airport as his shuttle wasn't running yet and he wasn't sure when it would start, which seemed odd, but off we went to the airport. 

Going up to the counter to check in, we were informed that, although both our bags were within the weight limit for two people, one was too heavy than the allowable weight of a single bag. We went off to the side to shift contents. It was an awkward moment. I felt the eyes of the people in line judging us and our level of  traveling competence. 

After a few last minute purchases, tee shirts, hoodies, airline passengers are captive consumers, as I learned while working at a store in O'Hare. We were taxiing towards the runway. We had, during our stay in Portland, searched fruitlessly for a peek at Mt. Hood. Clouds, rain and location had thwarted our efforts. But, as we moved towards the runway, off to the left we saw the snow covered peak out the plane window. As we lifted off into the air we viewed three majestic peaks on the horizon, each dusted with a coating of mid June snow. 

Washington/Oregon 2021 - Traveling and the U.S. Health Care System

 Without going into lurid detail I needed to visit an urgent care facility our final day in Portland. It kept me pretty much in the hotel room for the majority of that day but I was rather over the devastation that was Portland at that point, so, no great loss. My husband, with my complete blessing, headed off to Nordstrom, getting lost both coming and going by his later account. 

But back to the urgent care. When it became apparent I was having a problem my husband called the first phone number that came up on his phone. Oddly, they had no physical site, they only came to the patient. They then informed us that they would not see us because we were from out of state. The women at the desk at our hotel, who were wonderful throughout our visit, not only found a nearby urgent care site but also made an appointment for us.

Now, because I am covered by the ACA, my insurance is not accepted outside my state. Thankfully the fee was affordable but brought to my mind, once again, the horrible and unfair conditions of our country's health care system. What might have happened had the problem been more serious? Though I pay for insurance "in network" care was unavailable to me. 

We are the only industrialized country without a system of national health care. We also, because our health care is allowed to be profit making, spend more on it per capita. Some might yell "socialism". I call national health care a system that is fair, efficient and rooted in common sense and decency.