Whats up? I just got back from a quick trip up to the hospital. No problems for me, I only had to take Anne's badge up to her as she forgets it on occasion. "You mean a pharmacist gets to wear a badge?" Yep, you know it. Actually I think everyone that works in the hospital has to have one, its a proof of identity sort of thing. Anyway, while I was in the parking lot I was thinking (wishing) that I could just walk in there and get a quick x-ray of my left hip. Its been bothering me quite a bit here lately and it stems from an old motocross accident about 12 years ago. Both of my hips got broken, one of them was pretty bad and they operated on it and basically put a little titanium hand in there to put it back together, thats what it looked like on x-ray anyway. Its been excellent and gives me no problems at all. The left hip wasn't broken as badly, there was only a crack in the ball of the femur and I think another crack in the hip socket itself. The surgeon thought that two surgeries would be a lot to handle and so since it wasn't that bad he decided to let it heal on its on. For the most part it healed pretty good, however the ball of the femur doesn't sit perfectly aligned in the socket and it causes some pain from time to time. Usually it only hurts after i do something like run on it. "So don't run on it." I don't, but occasionally I forget about it and I'll run a bit with the dog or something like that and then the next day the pain kicks in. It can hurt pretty bad and causes some problems walking for a day or two but then it usually just disappears. Something happened this past week in Jonesboro that has it hurting again, and I'm not sure what I did but the pain is not going away like it usually does and I think its time to get it checked out. It makes me not feel like getting on the bike, but oddly enough when I'm on the bike it doesn't bother me.
The pain isn't the worst part for me, its the not knowing what is wrong and the wondering of what its gonna entail to fix it. Is it bad? Is it gonna need operating on? How long is that gonna take? How much is it gonna cost? I start planning the whole thing out before I've even gone to see the doctor. "Slow down Dimitri, the first step is to get an x-ray so you know whats wrong." Oh great! Now I have to make an appointment and probably wait two weeks, it'll probably be healed by then. And then the thought hit me. Why not have a quick stop for x-rays, you know, like the In-N-Out Burger. Instead of specializing in burgers and shakes it would be x-rays. You could drive in, get a quick x-ray, pay 'em and be on your way. And it would be way cheaper also. No waiting, less money, save the doctors some time, and get on with the important stuff. I'm always imagining starting a business for every little dilemma I found myself it. Why not? Take a little misfortune and turn it into something profitable that could benefit everyone. I can't remember the last one that I thought about, theres been too many, but its basically what I did with bicycle frame building. Take something thats important to you or that you love and find a way to make it your work. If I actually tried to open a business for every idea that I had...well, I'd probably be broke, but some people actually do it. I think its just a natural thought process for me. Its the business man in me, I get it from my father. Only thing that separates my father and me is that he knew how to make money, it seems I only know how to spend it. When I was a kid my dad use to say to me, "Pee-wee, you can't rub two quarters together." I didn't even know what it meant then. So anyway, I don't imagine hip surgery is gonna be cheap if thats what it comes to but luckily Anne's hospital provides us with insurance so thats a good thing. Medical costs are crazy expensive but then so is everything else. Something that always amazes me is the number of people that go to the ER for no reason at all. I always thought the ER was for car wrecks and people with broken bones. Its like, "I had a fever of 101 and couldn't sleep last night so I went to the ER to see the doctor." What? Really? I remember being a kid, laying in bed with a 103 degree temp. and my mother would just put a cold wash cloth on it, give me a cup of sprite, and tell me to sleep the fever off. Sometimes I would have 5 blankets on top of me and other times I would be sweating my arse off but I never went to the ER. Whats the bill on that little visit, five hundred bucks? Did it get paid? Maybe thats why medical cost are so high. Who knows? I was watching a few minutes of a Chris Rock comedy act last night and he was talking about insurance. He was calling insurance, "In case shit happens." "I'm giving them money every month just in case some shit happens. But if shit doesn't ever happen, shouldn't I get some of that money back?" Theres an idea right there for an insurance company. One of the other ideas I had before the In-N-Out X-Ray came to me was just being able to take my own x-ray with my cell phone. Just take your I-phone, place it over your hip area or wherever your pain is and give it a quick scan. It might not be sufficient for the doctor but at least you could have an idea if something was wrong or not. How much is that phone gonna cost?
The In-N-Out X-Ray could have a menu board similar to this only instead of burger, shake, fries, it would say Foot X-ray-$25, Spinal Column-$49.99, so-on, so-on, then you could also have a Value X-Ray, or Combo Platter where you get your whole lower/upper body done for "X" amount of dollars and you would get a lollipop with that one.
Ok, one last million dollar idea that I had about a year ago that I haven't had time to pursue and I'm gonna just throw it out there for anyone to run with and I hope you remember me when you get rich and famous. Ready?
A dog that is trained to walk on, and or, scratch people's back. Think about it. One night about a year or so ago I was on the floor playing with Pinky, our little chunky 15 lb. Shih-tzu, and for some crazy reason he got up on my back and started walking all around. Dude, it felt so good. Did any of your dad's ever have you walk on his back when you were little? Mine did. Granted, I know a dog scratching someone's back is not as noble as leading the blind or sniffing out drugs or bombs but it would definitely command a price. Imagine if you went to the local Humane Society Adoption Day and they showed you a dog that would walk all over your back and scratch it on command. How long do you think that dog is gonna be there? Hey National Humane Society, you want to find homes for all those dogs, teach 'em to scratch people's backs. I'm out. Chao.
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