That's what I think when people tell me I'm so good at this job. I know what an absolute slacker I am, and I'm waiting for the day when the higher-ups gasp and say, "You've been faking it all along!"

I wait for this to happen every day.

Also? I am still of the firm belief that Lady Heather was a way better fit for Gil than that whiny-ass Sara.

Verily.

Prostitution is only legal in certain counties - not the whole state.

New information! Must research.

Same for smokers, and they say they will do random cheek swabs to check for nicotine.

Say what? Like hell anybody is sticking anything in my mouth without my written permission. If I said I don't smoke and never have, and nothing in my medical history refutes that, the minute any corporate representative comes at me with a cheek swab, I will quit and then sue. Get the hell away from me with the big Q-tip.

Mandatory drug tests are bad enough, but at least then they'd only be molesting my byproducts.

this is ridiculous. I am technically obese according to the BMI scale, but I go to the doctor once a year for my annual exam (and probably wouldn't bother to do that if I could get BCP any other way). The only major health costs I've had in the last 20 years are fibroid related, which don't have anything to do with weight. But, the skinny kid who smokes a pack a day and eats Mountain Dew and potato chips for lunch is healthier than I am?

I am almost Vortex, here. My annual exam always shows my cholesterol slightly elevated (but HDL high) and nothing else wrong with me. I haven't had any major health problems, knock wood, except for that pulmonary embolism, that one time. All the health problems I thought I had when I lived in New Jersey basically turned out to be (a) allergies and (b) stress. Except for chronic depression/anxiety, I'm totally, disgustingly healthy; the only problem my weight causes is extra stress on my joints. Insurance companies don't seem to care about chronic non-fatal conditions. Having them means we can't drop our insurance coverage, and their bedfellows the drug companies can sell me overpriced drugs for the rest of my life. I used to be "the skinny kid who smokes a pack a day and eats Mountain Dew and potato chips for lunch" if you substitute drinking for smoking. I'm probably healthier NOW even though I'm fat.

Rant over. Carry on.

A plump, juicy baby.

See, this is where your diet fails. You've gotta get the lean ones.

No, see, it's LOW-CARB!!!

I haven't had any major health problems, knock wood, except for that pulmonary embolism, that one time.

Is it wrong that this statement made me do my loud donkey laugh?

> I don't understand how employees can be required to disclose HIPAA-protected information in order to not be forced to pay more for a health plan.

Yeah, I don't think this falls under HIPAA. I looked it up today.

It made me begin writing an SAE narrative.

Zenkitty was hospitalized for PULMONARY EMBOLISM (CTC GRADE 3). Both study drugs were interrupted in response to this event, which resolved the next day.

The investigator considered the event of pulmonary embolism to be UNRELATED to the patient's BMI, citing Mountain Dew and potato chips as an alternative explanation.

I don't understand how employees can be required to disclose HIPAA-protected information in order to not be forced to pay more for a health plan.

Also, because it's "optional"--you are not required. You may choose to not disclose and pay the "regular" plan fee. Also, not sure smoking is covered as a HIPAA protected information. And the rest...well, some of it, you are not disclosing to your employer, per se, you are disclosing to your health insurance company. Which is already covered under HIPAA to know your stuff. Your employer doesn't then know your BMI or your cholesterol or what have you, just "Employee X gets 15 points, so that's the 5% "discount"!"

Oddly, despite a number of chronic conditions I am probbably healthier than I have ever been -- if I am not careful now, I can get really sick. so I get more sleep , more exercise and eat better than ever. The only time I really didn't eat well, I was in college. My DH is one of those people that really doesn't understand healthy eating . But that is because he was an exercise fiend in college and could eat 3 or 4 quarter pounders at a sitting and lose weight. Living with me he has learned a lot. But it sometimes surprises me what he doesn't know.

How ever knowing is part of it. practice , another. And I like most foods, so in theory it should be easy. I even like to cook. But real life gets in the way. And the only way I see it being different is if I was a full time stay at home mom . Because I believe the only way to get a healthy eater is to create the environment for it. ( this is not to say anyone shuould do what I say -- it is just one of those places where my life would be different if I had had kids. Like the tv would be on less if I had kids )

Because I believe the only way to get a healthy eater is to create the environment for it.

On the one hand, yes - I don't keep cookies in the house because I don't want Dylan to get used to having access to cookies all the time. (I do keep ice cream in the freezer, but Dylan is too short to know it's there.)

OTOH, BWAH. The amount of extra food I eat because Dylan left half a sandwich on his plate and I don't want it to go to waste is...well, let's just say it's a good thing I'm supposed to be eating for two right now.

My advisor responded to an email! Seems like it takes at least five emails plus a note on his door to get a response.

Whoo, Hil!

BMI as health indicator is bullshit in so many ways that I don't EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN.

So I won't!

I also won't go into how food is not an indicator of good or evil- it is necessary to live, and you know what, I don't care how anyone eats, healthy or not healthy. Whatever.

I am so, so over our national eating disorder and insane obsession with food and weight.