Was she a lonely goatherd?

Lady-o-de-lay-he-o-de-lay-he-hoo!

I lived in cities (well, the Alabama version of cities) during the school year and worked on my grandparents' farm in the summers. The only animals they had were chickens, though, and after a certain point, they'd only set aside a few small patches for vegetables (and scuppernongs) while most of the fields were pine trees. So, not that much work. Clearing kudzu. Fixing the fence. Picking beans. I had a lot of time to myself.

Edit:

I love Bleak House.

Me, too!

Jarndyce v. Jarndyce? If we're to play in British law-geekery, I must insist on everybody wearing funny wigs.

Pretty much no farm heritage at all.

I think this is true of 95% of New England. Then again, we are the latte-driving, Volvo-eating, sushi-drinking commie perverts of political fame. All-city Kansas is probably a little bit rarer.

I just looked it up, and actually? Their address can be either Ward, or the nearest Mn town. With the same RR number. Crazy.

Hivemind help?

For those os you who have worked both here and abroad, what were some of the hiring practices that you experienced in the US that were nowhere to be seen in another country? For example, I've been told that in Korea, it is unusual to have an interview whereas that is common practice in the US.

Jarndyce v. Jarndyce?

Indeed!

I think this is true of 95% of New England.

It's true of my non-New Engand side, too, as far as I know. My grandmother lived in an apartment on her own before she got married (at 18!).

One last point about the Frontline show:

The US spends 16% of GDP on health care, and I think the second-highest was like 8%? I forget exactly, but it was lower.

The reporter did highlight the fact that those who do health care on the cheap, such as Japan, are struggling to pay the bills. The government sets medical costs on an annual basis, and always lowballs the providers. The ones going bankrupt are the hospitals, not the patients.

Japan also has the problem of very low birthrates, so the % of the population who are retirees (and who need more healthcare) is high, and going to get much higher.

Of course, we're gonna have a similar problem with all the retiring baby boomers, but I don't think it'll be as bad.

Oh, and one Japanese solution to this problem? Healthcare robots! No, really.

The ones going bankrupt are the hospitals, not the patients.

Yeah, and they know it's going to be politically dangerous to raise the cost of treatment, but that's what they'll have to do. $10/night for a shared overnight stay in the hospital! $90/night for a private room!

On the other topic du jour, I grew up up the hill from an orchard and a dairy farm, but other than that, have no farm experience. My father's family had a livery stable in western Mass. around the turn of the 20th Century, but his dad was an engineer with Con Ed in NYC. I don't know what my mother's dad did, but they lived in Queens, so no rural background there, either, although her mother came from coal-mining country in Pennsylvania.

Lace-curtain Irish, all the way.

Hey, there's still a farm in Queens! [link]