Crazy Jane:

Pes Baskervillesský!

A little something that playing at the theatre across the street from our place...

Anyone but Crickets?

Yeah, so I know I never write anything here anymore. It's because I'm so busy writing 15 page papers about the use of the modal verb will to make predictions about non-imminent future events, and  how the contracted form of will is pronounced with "dark l" -- the "l" that appears at the ends of words and carries the resonance of the nearby vowel, as opposed to "clear l", the "l" that begins words like "lick" and "like". Bottom line: I just don't feel like my brilliant jokes about "DARTH L" are that funny, and what's more, being this big a geek is incredibly time-consuming. Every time I think "hey, I should blog this..." I'm usually in a hurry to the next episode of my teaching someone the grammar of transitive and intransitive, separable and inseparable phrasal verbs, and you know... It just never really pans out, time-wise.

Things here, though, despite the intense geekery of my course and my job, are good. I am doing well on the teaching diploma course I'm taking, and I'm still living the dream here in Praha. At the moment, the hill across from our loft is bright green with new linden flowers, and the days are longer and warmer. I work a lot, but at the end of every day, I come home to a man so kind and sweet that it boggles my mind  that he puts up with me. I'm happy, healthy and well.

How are you guys?

A Little Detail...

So, FYI, there have been big changes in the Czech tax code and state medical insurance scheme. Firstly, we're going from a progressive tax rate to a flat tax of 15% for everyone, and secondly, from now on, we all have to pay 30 crowns when we visit the doctor. In case you're wondering, that translates to a little less than two dollars.

The money goes to the doctor, and is a new revenue stream for Czech medical professionals who, to put in mildly, are incredibly underpaid by American standards. Fair enough, right? I mean, when I go to the doctor around here and pay my pittance, no matter what my problem might be, I feel like I'm getting away with crime after years of having NO insurance, and paying my doctor in Los Angeles nearly $200 to let me sit in her examining room. 30 crowns? NO PROBLEM.

So, the other day, I was in a lesson with a student who will have her first child in April, and who is appalled -- APPALLED! -- that she will have to pay 90 crowns when she goes into the hospital to give birth. That's right people. Here in the Czech Republic, it costs the citizenry a grand total of less than SIX DOLLARS TO GIVE BIRTH TO A CHILD IN THE HOSPITAL (and, for the record, that includes a week's stay with full nursery support), and they are PISSED!

I know it's a bit of a non-sequitur, but I just thought I'd share that flabbergasting little detail.