OT: Back

I want to move there. We'll probably give it a go this summer for 6 months and see what happens. SteveH will be along to tell us all it's a bad idea shortly :-p

The place is full of Americans.

That's a good enough reason not to go.

Do it, only way to find out. And ignore the nay sayers, especially those who snipe from the depths of *Wales*[1].

[1] See, prejudice works whichever way you want it to work

If you say so. I assume you've spent enough time over there to make a qualified judgement.

Just the thought of spending time with Americans puts me off the whole idea.

Probably one of the few places in the world I have absolutely no intention of ever visiting.

So you're basically giving out emigration advice on the "strength" of an unverified assumption.

I haven't.

Not sure if I'd want to go there permanently though, given some of the troubles you see... but then it is a bloody big place and I'm sure it would be wrong to judge the whole of the UK by way of Manchester / Birmingham. ;-)

Not giving advice. Expressing an opinion.

or even "South of the river" if you believe cabbies, who know "everything".

I know, curse them and their 'can do' attitude........ That and their absolute all encompassing 'land of the free' patriotism. And their four genuine seasons.

What's to like about the place.

My exact thoughts when I got off the Chunnel.

That's what I always used to say, until I *had* to go for work purposes. It was nowhere near as bad as I feared.

I take it you didn't get ill then.

Wouldn't matter if I did, company insurance covered me at the time. The job I'm going for have similar cover. Even at the highest rates it's still a f*ck sight cheaper than my BUPA which I had to continue paying to finish the treatment for wifey's eyes when I got made redundant was. I'd not be paying

26% income tax there either. My brother in law pays 8%... it doesn't work out much different in the end

Heard on the radio today that some 15% are totally without health insurance. And about one who had very good insurance, but a disabled child where the extra bills were still high. Like 200 quid a month for medical supplies not covered by the insurance. I'm sure it's a super place to live if you're young, healthy and successful. Not quite so sure if you're not.

Never quite seen the need for BUPA. All my family and friends who've needed serious medical attention have had it under the national health - generally with no real complaints.

I have a niece who has private health care, and on the couple of occasions she's needed serious attention it was only available through the national health system anyway.

Dental and normal eye care are the exceptions. Sadly.

Just don't eat or move arround like an american and I'm sure you will be fine.

I mean why else was the segway invented but to get fat americans from the fast food stand at the mall food court, back to their cars without moving their muscles.

And to be honest, it's not good to be back in the United Kingdom. From the stench of the underground through to the rudeness of people, I wholeheartedly miss being in California this time. Yeah, standard gasoline was around the $2 / US gallon so it's still relatively cheap, most highways are free flowing and it was warmer with much stronger sun than the UK.

Against this, it's good to be driving a manual again, as most of the autos I was driving didn't feel attached to the driven wheels.

Most entertaining moment? Illuminating the beach before the sunrise wedding with three V8 SUVs... ;-) Second only to discovering that the Mazda6 is available with two engines. One is a 2.5 I4 with 170 hp and the other, a

3.5 V6 with 270 hp. The 6 being of course a compact...

You assume. Having cover doesn't guarantee treatment. The HMO companies employ people whose sole job is to deny you treatment. "Pre-approved" is a term bandied around a lot when denying payment for emergency treatment. Many millions of insured Americans have been made bankrupt from medical bills their insurers refused to pay.

The richest people in the USA with the best medical insurance have poorer health than doleys on the NHS here.

I suggest you take a look at the movie "Sicko". Whilst slightly propoganda-ish as many M.Moore films are, Morgan Spurlock briefly covered the US medical system when doing a documentary on living on minimum wage which highlighted similar issues.