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AIBU?
» to think the n.h.s is going to ruin for things like this
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to think the n.h.s is going to ruin for things like this
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diabeticsanon Tue 26-Feb-19 11:03:25
dm was in hospital and when she left was transported back with two hospital blankets. i took them back to the ward a week later and one auxillary said 'oh, give it to the nurse over there, but you could have kept them or thrown them away'. the other nurse looked at me as if i'd given him a bag of dog shit and put them on the side without a word of thanks .
mum also has put out two perfectly good walking frames [without my knowledge] for council bulk collection. her excuse ? wouldn't give me one.
so much money and resources are drained from the n.h.s.every day it's stupid things like this that aren't helping anyone.
bilbodog Tue 26-Feb-19 11:43:18
I think the problem with this is that they would have to clean things to such a high standard once they have left the hospital that they cant afford to and it is cheaper and simpler to bin things now. They wouldnt take back my crutches after a knee operation either - im keeping them for when i get old 🤣
TFBundy Tue 26-Feb-19 11:45:44
YANBU - I dutifully returned walking frames, a hoist and a commode after MIL died. I was looked at like I had 3 heads and spoken to like dog shit. Won't bother next time. They went to landfill!
BooksAreMyOnlyFriends Tue 26-Feb-19 11:50:11
Such a waste of money but without staff to sort through the stuff I guess it just becomes another burden on them.
FraggleRocking Tue 26-Feb-19 11:50:42
Not saying that you didn't treat them well but the hospital has no idea if they are safe anymore. If they have even the slightest damage something could end up going terribly wrong down the line. Plus there is obviously the hygiene issue.
The staff should've been more polite though. That's just manners.
Alsohuman Tue 26-Feb-19 11:51:32
They wouldn't take the commode we had back either, despite if being immaculate. Infection control I guess.
Mosaic123 Tue 26-Feb-19 11:53:00
They should have a label saying what to do with them afterwards.
Thesearmsofmine Tue 26-Feb-19 11:55:18
My ds was sent home with an NHS blanket and they said not to worry about bringing it back in. It does seem wasteful.
SoupDragon Tue 26-Feb-19 12:00:22
The One Show had a segment about this wastage. There are some locations with schemes to collect things like commodes/crutches/frames etc and get them back into use though.
Dungeondragon15 Tue 26-Feb-19 12:04:12
I don't really get how not taking back the blankets you have used is "wasteful". If they took returns they would have to be cleaned and perhaps disinfected and there is a cost to this which could be as much as the blanket is worth. If you keep them you can use them so they are only wasted if you don't do that i.e. you have wasted them not the NHS.
As for walking frames etc, I think that many NHS trusts to recycle them if not all. They certainly do in my area. Did your mum even check? If not again, it is not the NHS that is wasting resources!
I don't really get how not taking back the blankets you have used is "wasteful". If they took returns they would have to be cleaned and perhaps disinfected and there is a cost to this which could be as much as the blanket is worth.
What do you think they usually do with bedding?
SpuriouserAndSpuriouser Tue 26-Feb-19 12:14:42
You're being far too simplistic. The NHS is in crisis because it's chronically underfunded. It needs millions more pounds investing in it a year, not whatever could be saved by getting a few blankets or walking frames back (minus the cost of implementing a scheme to facilitate this).
AlexaAmbidextra Tue 26-Feb-19 12:15:40
If they took returns they would have to be cleaned and perhaps disinfected
Yes, just like they do with all the bedding that is used every day in the hospital.
DaveCoachesgavemetheclap Tue 26-Feb-19 12:18:38
When my mum was in hospital recently, she was given a pair of non slip socks every day, even though she was immobile for the first week and needed to use a bed pan etc She was horrified that the HCA would put a new pair on everybody and just throw the old pairs in the bin after one day's wear. Apart from the expense, think of the landfill!
Dungeondragon15 same as they would be if they weren't sent home in the first place!
I don't think sending blankets back would save the nhs I just think it is really wasteful, they will have to replace every blanket sent home,'any of those blankets will just end up in landfill somewhere.
LaFreaka Tue 26-Feb-19 12:19:45
I had to beg for a pair of crutches when I broke my toe - they complained that people never returned them.
cdtaylornats Tue 26-Feb-19 12:20:47
When my mother's next door neighbour died the council came and collected all of the things Social Services had supplied.
downcasteyes Tue 26-Feb-19 12:23:23
spuriouser is right. The problem is (deliberate) underfunding, and a false narrative that the problem is inefficiencies rather than the astronomical costs that come with an ageing population with increasingly complex health and social care needs.
Yes, there are always minor ways you can save money in an organisation. No, they are not the major problem, which is that we all need to pay more in taxes for a first class health system.
GregoryPeckingDuck Tue 26-Feb-19 12:23:59
I think that these things are very minor in comparison to the number of people taking advantage and using the nhs for unnecessary procedures (like mastectomies for transmem or colds in A&E) or using the NHS when they could easily afford private treatment. This is exacerbated by NHS policies prevent private referrals/refusing to use results from private tests/scans.
When my DH broke his leg, I was told he could keep the crutches as they didn't reuse them, yet when in A&E with my mum before she was admitted, one of the nurses gave a bloke a crutch to use but told him to bring it back when he'd finished. This was in the same hospital. I imagine that if someone were given a used crutch and it broke, they could sue the hospital for injuries caused.
AnyOldPrion Tue 26-Feb-19 12:25:24
Not just the NHS. These kinds of wasteful attitudes are one of the reasons our planet is subject to global warming.
My parents' generation rarely threw anything away. You can't alleviate all risk, but throwing perfectly good equipment away is appalling. The UK now has such a blame culture that many perfectly good and sensible pathways are now pushed aside as potentially too costly.
OhTheRoses Tue 26-Feb-19 12:27:42
My local hospital has notices up asking for things to be returned.
Don't understand the mentality upthread though when in the next breath inpatients may be told they can't have another pillow due to lack of resources though.
What gets my goat is the money spent on endless reviews that lead nowhere.
The bedding that they used every day in the hospital would be designed to be disinfected without disintegrating. I'm not sure that the bedding used to transport the patients to the hospital in an ambulance would be the same. The latter would probably be warmer and not necessarily made of the same material.
orangetreesinspring Tue 26-Feb-19 12:34:40
As a hospital worker I would imagine the issue is that the management of a hospital would in theory like all the equipment back again but there is no one in the hospital who's actual job it is to accept returned equipment and ensure it goes back into service.
So equipment is given to random staff members who have no clue what to do!
Our reception is peopled by volunteers who would have even less idea what to do with equipment.
Although, I find ward staff not wanting blankets to be really odd, we would just put it straight in the washing hold and be very grateful!
As part of the big nhs picture, it's not that we are wasteful in this instance, it's that we are so understaffed we can't really manage the issue of returned equipment. There are too many other jobs to be done with too few staff.
Toddlerteaplease Tue 26-Feb-19 12:35:20
I'd be quite impressed with your honesty if you bought a blanket back. But I'd really wonder why you bothered!
Wouldn't you keep them and reuse them yourself though? I would. It seems a bit bizarre that you are blaming the NHS for being wastful when you would through a perfectly good blanket in the bin.
Cerealkillers Tue 26-Feb-19 12:37:27
The cleaning process for hospital flat work, sheets, blankets etc is much cheaper than replacing them!
I didn't say I threw the one we have I the bin, it is sat upstairs in my house but many people will just throw it away just like they do with everything else.
BrazenHusky74 Tue 26-Feb-19 12:40:23
I am in for a MRI soon and will make sure that the clothes I wear are free of metal. This serves 2 purposes, firstly it saves the NHS having to provide me with 2 gowns (one to cover the front and one worn like a dressing gown) which then have to be laundered. Secondly, it ensures that I am comfortable, I don't have to worry about exposing bits in the waiting area or shave my legs.
Nowhere in the pile of paperwork which I received is this suggested even though I strongly believe most people would prefer to wear their own clothing if they knew.
I realise this doesn't save the NHS vast sums of money but is it just one example.
I would absolutely throw it away - Christ only knows where it's been and I doubt it would survive being boiled in Dettol. The cleanliness of most hospitals I have seen in the UK leaves much to be desired.
NancyFrank Tue 26-Feb-19 12:51:46
After a serious accident over the years I had a banana board, wheelchair, walking frame, crutches and 3 different walking sticks. The physio team were so grateful that we returned it all as so many don't. Always return things even just to save them from landfill
SpringForEver Tue 26-Feb-19 13:05:30
I have seen things like these on Ebay and Freecycle/Freegle, people are grateful to get them. Maybe not take them to landfill and waste them when someone else could use them.
Council probably sell them on.
With regard to blankets, I spent a night waiting in A&E to be seen (not allowed to leave due to head trauma otherwise I would have gone home). There was someone waiting and there was a blanket which she was using. When she finally went to be seen it was left on the seat, a nurse took it in the end.
Just take them to A&E maybe, and leave them there, they might get re-used, or taken home by someone that needs one rather than binned.
Birdsgottafly Tue 26-Feb-19 13:11:20
Animal charities will take any bedding, including hospital blankets.
Your Mum was very wrong for not phoning the number she would have been given to have the equipment collected.
CoolJule43 Tue 26-Feb-19 13:16:47
I notice there was an article on the news the other day (can't remember if BBC Breakfast or Channel 5 at teatime) where they were cleaning something like a walking frame. Looked like it was being jet-washed. I think they are now taking them back again.
It is totally wasteful to not sterilise and re-use as they are charged a fortune for these type of products.
I'm gobsmacked that they didn't require the blankets back. So wasteful. I think we shouldn't complain about Government funding of the NHS until waste within the NHS is eliminated/minimised.
Aquilla Tue 26-Feb-19 13:20:02
The point is if waste is going on at this small level heaven knows what's being squandered higher up the chain.
PlainSpeakingStraightTalking Tue 26-Feb-19 13:23:42
We have this discussion so frequently – you only have to google to see the infrastructure isnt there to keep, clean , disinfect and reuse in a great many trusts
This one – body parts and medical waste www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45750389 the back log is horrendous www.hsj.co.uk/quality-and-performance/exclusive-major-incident-as-hospital-waste-collections-halted/7023994.article
Our trust does not take back crutches or frames because the cost to clean is more than the cost to buy.
The NHS is incredibly wasteful, so much stuff is use once, eg every time DH goes to hospital they in put a set of cannulas, I looked up the cost, around £2 an item, often they are never used, or they are discarded and a fresh set re-sited in his arm. A waste of money but infection control prevails, they cannot be sterilised and reused. I have hundreds of pounds of equipment at home, thousands of pounds worth of drugs, but they cant take them back when his scripts change. A complete waste of money.
elloelloello Tue 26-Feb-19 13:29:19
We recently had a local appeal asking people to return stuff like crutches, walking frames, etc to the hospital
DD had a pair of crutches so I took them back - reception refused to take them. I've seen various posts on FB from people with the same experience.
It seems so wasteful
Biker47 Tue 26-Feb-19 13:35:35
Spending on healthcare has increased year on year for the better part of 3 decades, what is spent currently is nearly 3 times as much than the year 2000. Underfunded it is not, misspending and wastage are some big problems people seem all too happy to bury their heads in the sand about, as minuscule or something that wouldn't make a difference.
LeekMunchingSheepShagger Tue 26-Feb-19 13:39:53
I also tried to return a pair of crutches and the hospital refused to take them. It's baffling really. Surely the nhs could be saving tens of thousands a year by taking stuff back to re use?
GrandmaSharksDentures Tue 26-Feb-19 13:40:13
My unit has no facility to clean & safety check returned equipment (crutches).
There are no guidelines about how they should be cleaned or what should be used to clean them. We have no spare parts (grips for the feet or handles).
Would you be happy to be issued with used & dirty & unsafe equipment?
EdWinchester Tue 26-Feb-19 13:44:49
I was really surprised to be told to throw my son's crutches and a boot away, rather than return them.
GunpowderGelatine Tue 26-Feb-19 13:48:12
Infection prevention is a big issue, ex NHS worker here, it's cheaper to buy a new walking frame for example than it is to deal with the fallout and hassle of a virus spreading round the hospital.
But yes there is a lot of waste still in the NHS
PurpleWithRed Tue 26-Feb-19 13:50:19
If all it took to re-fund the NHS was the return of a few blankets believe me it would be happening.
The NHS isn't underfunded - like any government organisation it is chronically mismanaged and wasteful because they don't have to actually account to shareholders anyone for their sloppy management.
We did this the other week too – a meeting with Band 8's and above, looking at 15-20 people a round the table on an annual salary between 70K and 100K. It was a meeting of nothing in particular, a scheduled Assurance Meeting, with no agenda, scrabbling round looking for topics the chat aimlessly about. Pointless, wasteful. Then I sat at Committee and listened to the same aimless conversations again, with the same people, and few extras for good measure. Utterly fucking pointless.
www.rcn.org.uk/employment-and-pay/nhs-pay-2018-19
I use a Band 8 temp - £76 an hour shes paid - not in a clinical role. £2,800 a week to chat to patients and do some referals. Its not a clinic. Thats your waste.
ChardonnaysPrettySister Tue 26-Feb-19 13:56:25
Husky I believe you still will be asked to change into a gown, it's mainly to protect the expensive equipment.
As for blankets, crutches and so on, then yes, it is wasteful and it's also creates unnecessary rubbish witch needs to be disposed of.
ajandjjmum Tue 26-Feb-19 13:59:29
Surely the hospitals could adopt the same protocols for cleaning equipment, that they do for beds between patients. I can't believe that employing people to do this would cost more than re-ordering more equipment.
PookieDo Tue 26-Feb-19 14:01:13
Bringing down HAI is of very high importance to the NHS. No one wants aun uncontrollable outbreak of Cdiff. Those HAI's cost lives and money
It's not cheap or easy to clean the items to a good standard so they buy in mass bulk
@ajandjjmum
They don't have space or staff or equipment
They do sometimes outsource the cleaning to contractors but it's usually cheaper to buy a brand new one
But that doesn't make sense Pookie.
Cleaned, used equipment takes no more storage space than new equipment.
Employing appropriately trained people would cost less than contractors (who have to make a profit). If they did the job properly, infections would be prevented. Like with cleaning beds.
cushioncovers Tue 26-Feb-19 14:07:12
They should have accepted them graciously and then with gloves apron on quickly checked them and if they were ok put them in the laundry same as the rest of the bedding. That's what we used to do on the ward I worked on. Not that it happened very often.
icanthelpyou Tue 26-Feb-19 14:10:15
See I don't think the NHS is underfunded. I think it's been managed terribly, not to mention all the fraud.
Yabbers Tue 26-Feb-19 14:11:34
It's a minor cost. The reason they don't take back walking frames is they have no idea whether they have been damaged and weakened. They only have a certain working life. There are places collect them for charities overseas.
Plenty of wastage elsewhere in the NHS will ruin it before someone having a couple of extra blankets becomes a problem.
It's not true that we spend 3 x as much on healthcare now as in 2000!
fullfact.org/health/spending-english-nhs/
We're spending more on healthcare for many reasons - not least an ageing population. People are living longer, but not necessarily healthier, lives. The costs of care for older people with complex needs can be astronomical. Treatments have also become longer and more complicated and hence expensive than they were in the 1950s (thank goodness).
That, plus the legacy of PFIs, big pharma taking their cut etc. etc.
The NHS absolutely is under funded, that's why it's in crisis. It could be better managed but it's desperately under resourced, both financially and in human resource terms. Where's all the fraud, then? Some examples would be helpful when throwing that kind of allegation around.
dietcokemegafan Tue 26-Feb-19 14:17:51
@GregoryPecking duck
This is exacerbated by NHS policies prevent private referrals/refusing to use results from private tests/scans
there is no such policy - I'm a GP and I will look at private tests/scans that patients bring me, as long as they are from a reputable source and are in English. If not in English then I will happily look at them once the patient has arranged professional translation.
The fraud, Fraud Squad NHS. It's on catch up.
mogtheexcellent Tue 26-Feb-19 14:25:09
My village have a scheme where they lend crutches, wheelchairs etc that people have donated to those that need for post operation or, like me, severe SPD during pregnancy.
I was given a full leg brace when I broke my knees, it must have cost a few pounds so its such a shame these things cant be reused.
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6251751/amp/Fraud-costs-NHS-1-29bn-YEAR-report-reveals.html
Another. It's not underfunded it's wasteful and people are ripping it off.
I knew someone who bought a small community hospital to convert into a house, when she showed us around prior to the work starting there were rooms full of modern electric hospital beds with the air flow mattresses to stop pressure sores. The NHS had just shut the doors after the last patient had gone. We estimated the cost of the equipment left behind was £60,000. No one at the NHS wanted to know.
My small local hospital has just closed and I dread to think what might be locked away there.
Kazzyhoward Tue 26-Feb-19 14:38:12
2.5 times then. It was £50bn in 2000 and £125bn in 2018. That's a huge increase even accounting for inflation and increasing population. But it's OK, as we have loads of fancy new hospitals with atriums!
CiarCel Tue 26-Feb-19 14:46:09
The way to deal with NHS wastage (and I don't mean a couple of blankets) is proper reform but I can't see the UK accepting the need to privatise the NHS any time soon because people automatically assume this means an American model of healthcare and imagine people going without because they can't afford it, ignoring the excellent systems in Germany, France, The Netherlands etc. I have lived and worked in those countries as a low earner (minimum wage or less) and received great healthcare either completely free or at very low and affordable cost even on my meagre income.
We do spend less as a % of GDP compared to other European countries, which is why people often say it is "underfunded". However, in most comparable countries there is an element of co-pay usually on a sliding scale according to means, in addition to "government" money, so it's comparing apples and oranges really. It's also not clear whether "social care" is included in that figure or not.
It seems nuts to keep hosing money into the NHS without fixing the leaks. I think every patient has some anecdotal experience of waste - mine was the scissors that a procurement bod had decided were cheaper to buy in packs with dressings, meaning that 7 or 8 dressings were wasted each time scissors were needed on the ward....
Even the fact that every appointment requires 5 or 6 letters to be arranged (and reorganised, as is the NHS custom) increases costs massively.
When budgets increase, I have seen trusts spend on artwork and other aesthetics while patients endure horrible conditions on the wards. Terrible management decisions are made every day.
DH (NHS doctor) works for an unusual hospital that is consistently performing at or below budget. Result: he (and every other consultant) is issued with a brand new iPad for DS every year.
Meanwhile, the University hospital up the road is in special measures....
LittlePaintBox Tue 26-Feb-19 15:02:53
This is exactly how the Tories want us to think - NHS shortages are the fault of the NHS, preferably 'managers'. All we need now is for someone to cry BRING BACK MATRON! - preferably a matron looking just like Hattie Jacques.
If this patient had arrived home shivering because they hadn't been covered up, we'd all be hearing about it.
There are no economies that can make up the budget shortfall that has been planned in by the government.
Oh so there must be huge amounts of fraud because some crap TV programme says so. I was hoping for some real evidence.
And the Daily Fail as well. Not buying it.
"The Tories" are not a homogenous group (and even if they were, I doubt they could agree on what to have for tea based on their present performance, never mind how to systematically dismantle the UK health service.
Plenty of patients arrive home shivering now. Or they shiver in corridors backed up to kingdom come because there are no beds. (My 93 year old gdad a couple of weeks spent 14 hours there before being placed on a ward with 3 dementia patients and deprived of sleep for a week). That isn't budget-related - it's bad management, inadequate planning and staff being inured to patients' suffering. We allow the NHS to be shit by expecting so little of it.
I would happily pay more for a decent health service, but not through tax (too much pissed up the wall) and not without major reform (because we are sleepwalking towards the US system when we could be embracing a far superior European social insurance one).
EnthusiasmIsDisturbed Tue 26-Feb-19 15:24:03
I see money wasted at eye watering levels all the time
NHS culture (waste, let's look into it, meetings held, an inquiry, an inquiry into the inquiry and so it goes on no one is held accountable) and our reliance on the NHS (can it really cover all aspects of healthcare like it was promised when medicine has advanced beyond what was thought possible) without wanting to really pay they much more into our health system is the issue
The NHS needs to go and replaced by systems that work better like France has but we shall be paying considerably more
BartonHollow Tue 26-Feb-19 15:30:19
Having spent a lot of time in and outside the NHS I could tell you stories of waste to send your head spinning
PatchworkElmer Tue 26-Feb-19 15:35:30
In contrast, I literally had to beg for a towel to use after a shower when DS was in SCBU. Was made to feel like I was really taking the mickey. A bit of kindness and common sense at that time in my life would've been very much appreciated.
We all know about the stories of waste. There is appalling management in some parts of the NHS, most of it in the higher echelons. As soon as an NHS trust goes into special measures management consultants and turnaround experts are called in to throw good money after bad when the staff on the ground know exactly how money could be saved. But the fact remains that it simply hasn't got enough money or staff.
As s
If £125 billion (that is about 10p of every £ of GDP) is not enough, how much would be?
Likewise, it's already the third (?) largest employer in the world. We are a tiny island. How is that possible? Why isn't it enough?
Don't get me wrong, I agree that people with the means need to pay more. I just don't think it's credible to keep the current funding model.
EssexGurl Tue 26-Feb-19 16:08:03
The One Show ran a huge report on this a few years ago. All about the waste of not reclaiming walking frames, sticks etc. But even with that publicity they couldn't get hospitals to want them back. It is utter madness but there is no system in place, from what I recall, for logging what has gone out and getting it back.
When I needed so crutches after a private operation, the hospital billed my insurer for them. I will need another op in a few years, so have held onto them. Won't be charged twice.
Jux Tue 26-Feb-19 16:29:52
I think it must be different for hospitals than for community services. My physio has just given me a heled walking frame (they cost about £400) and said if it's not right for me she'll take it back for someone else.
OlennasWimple Tue 26-Feb-19 16:33:41
The system needs to be set up to enable the return of items and whatever needs to happen to check them over, sanitise them and re-use them
This would surely save the NHS money and certainly help save the planet - we make too much, we waste too much, we need to start thinking differently
SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius Tue 26-Feb-19 17:02:07
The blankets used in the ambulances have to be properly washed too, @Dungeondragon15. I'm sure they are just as robust and washable as the blankets used on the wards.
Graphista Tue 26-Feb-19 17:06:28
It's for infection control reasons.
More expensive to clean to the right level than to dispose of and the costs of infection occurring are HUGE! It's a massive, expensive pita dealing with bugs caused by things like this.
There is a major issue with imo corrupt practices in procurement but then it suits the tory agenda in making the Nhs at least appear if not actually be ineffective/wasteful.
It's a combination of underfunding and wasteful practices imo
The tories want us thinking the Nhs isn't fit for purpose and judging by some responses on this thread they're succeeding.
Dietcokemegafan you might accept private test results etc there's numerous posts on here by mners who's Gp's refused to even discuss the possibility.
Ciarcel - the reason many of us fear this govt taking us into an American healthcare system is because they've vested interests in American healthcare companies particularly insurers, they've been meeting with and discussing how this could be done while having far fewer similar meetings/discussions with healthcare experts from other countries. It's not an unfounded fear.
TFBundy I agree I get annoyed too at the frivolities like artwork when basics aren't being covered. Also things like the scissor issue. That's the type of poor procurement decisions I'm meaning.
pineappletower Tue 26-Feb-19 17:11:07
A hospital blanket would only need to be placed in the laundry hamper with all the other washing. A walk to the sluice is all that's required of the nurse.
YANBU. FWIW the 'looking at you like you handed him dog poo' is the other reason the NHS isn't what it was. Caring is central to the profession, yet appears in such scarcity it's terrifying.
SalrycLuxx Tue 26-Feb-19 17:24:16
I do work for the NHS. It's wasteful, inefficient and riddled with problems. Horrifically so.
And we should be fighting against the failure to reuse items. We consume far more planetary resources than there are available for each year. This needs to stop. And if that means reusing crutches, that's what we should be doing.
Iamnobirdandnonetensnaresme Tue 26-Feb-19 17:25:14
Why on earth do people think that a hospital would want a used commode designed for single patient use?
If you have used a commode in hospital you would see they are built with infection control in mind - not the home use ones.
These are also generally supplied by an outside company not from the hospital and would be labelled up with how to return.
Blankets generally do not actually belong to the hospital they are rented from a laundry company.
Look at the items you have - if they have a label like mediequip that is who should collect it
If it looks like it can easily be cleaned then take it back.
Syringe drivers and other medical devices need to be returned.
They're not made up stories, be it in the daily mail or not. People have been prosecuted.
Just because people have been prosecuted for fraud in thr NHS doesn't make it a widespread problem. Still not got any hard evidence I see.
WikkiTikkiWoo Tue 26-Feb-19 18:07:03
8a's DO NOT earn 70k!
But a non clinical 8a temp??? 😮 😮 😮 😮 I can't even imagine a role a non clinical band 8 temp would be needed outside a few very specialised technical roles.
Aside from the tv programme and articles and prosecutions Widespread enough for it to be reported on.
That's true. They often use outside companies for linen services.
Regarding waste, there is a lot but patient themselves a responsible for a great proportion of it. I think medicines waste accounts for about £300 million a year. The waste of an odd blanket (which could be reused anyway( seems negligible in comparison.
I work in a hospital
We do not have spare rooms free to store dirty broken equipment and do not have staff to clean it.
We pay some contractors to take it away clean it and return it and often its just cheaper to buy it brand new!
Yes a syringe driver is owned and serviced by the Trust/hospital
Imagine if everyone returned their commodes to the hospital where would you put them all - covered in infectious bodily fluids?!! it is not viable to do that
We do take crutches back and refurb them but we get our independent living aids from an independent living aid company and they are responsible for them
Also the air mattresses need to be replaced every so often. They are not bought they are usually rented now. Used to be hospitals bought them then had no way of disposing of them properly so end up in a cupboard somewhere all dirty and useless. These items have a shelf life and can become health hazards - I wouldn't actually WANT them in an otherwise clean hospital... would people really want to be admitted to a ward that had a hoard of filthy bodily fluid covered equipment in the space where a bed could go?!
@icanhelpyou, I'm not surprised you can't supply any statistics for fraud in the NHS. I can't find any at all. Forgive me if I can't find a TV programme and the Daily Fail a reliable source.
There is safeguards for fraud in my trust
All time sheets are electronics and only handled by a manager
All expenses are the same
All purchasing is authorised by managers are varying levels - under £5k and over £5k
Monthly budget meetings to spot any discrepancies
Most trusts are in such tight reins everything is scrutinised by the CCG monthly and everything accounted for
Agency staff is all electronic now too
I think the only fraud that can take place now is minimal. I've worked in the nhs for 20 years and it was rife years ago when it was paper based with people fiddling time sheets. Really not easy to do that now
CQC and CCG pressure means it's much harder
CluedoAddict Tue 26-Feb-19 18:26:45
Our hospital send any equipment abroad. It seems such a waste when our own country is on its knees.
C Diff kills so many people here is a 27 page document on how to manage it
And 'single use' is very much how we manage to manage infectious diseases
www.nhsdg.scot.nhs.uk/Departments_and_Services/Infection_Control/Infection_Control_Files/Local_Policies/Specific_Infections/Policy_for_the_Management_of_Clostridium_Difficile.pdf
My grandmother died of C diff. She wasn't fatally ill in hospital and it was their poor cleaning standards and dirty equipment which killed her. It kills people. All. The. Time. You may see it as septicaemia on a death certificate. It's often due to a HAI
I see someone said that the UK have been talking to US healthcare providers and this is the concern about proposed reform to the NHS (sorry for slow response and if this disrupts the current flow of the conversation) but similar private providers are functioning in Europe and the services are still free/very heavily state subsidised where not free. I admit to not having lived in the UK for quite some time so am behind on the discourse - all I know is that I have many friends in the UK with strong "No to NHS privitisation"/ "Save our NHS" feelings/banners etc. (by which they mean no private providers) yet it is clear that the system is crumbling. No politicians in 2018/19 want to touch the subject of the need to switch to European models where there are always private providers involved even though the "customer" does not pay.
I think there is confusion about what part of the system is crumbling too
They are trying to get people out of the hospitals and cared for at home so most of the money now is put into 'patient at home' and community services. The big push is on patient self management. We know the top of the pyramid of patients who are very old and/or frail need the services the most so we are trying to push out the younger more healthy patients from the system to free up resources for the older/frail. This is why it looks like it's all gone wrong, because people who don't usually rely on the system struggle with it when they do go into it, whereas those who need it the most/frequently are being treated and seen.
Different parts of the system are struggling - social care being so underfunded puts huge pressure on the NHs as people who ought to be at home are not, therefore means other people have delays to treatment
Not that this seems to be the point of the thread, but it seems that some people seem to think fraud in the NHS genuinely doesn't occur anymore. It does. There is an entire department dedicated to stopping it. You'd probably only be aware of it if you had cause to report it.
cfa.nhs.uk/fraud-prevention/what-is-nhs-fraud
DangermousesSidekick Tue 26-Feb-19 21:09:21
Isn't it remarkable how all of this desperation to cut costs, e.g. by outsourcing random tasks and forcing people to work for less - even forcing what used to be paid jobs to become voluntary, so no one knows what they're doing - is actually increasing costs and waste, and delivering poorer service? On all levels: on an organisational level, in the service to individuals, and in the cost to our economy as a whole in forcing the cost of labour down, resulting in no one having money to match our rising living costs.
I wish everyone would put the ideology aside and look at what is actually happening. While they're at it they can have a look at systems thinking e.g. vanguard-method.net/2017/11/do-shared-services-bake-bread/ But no, that would be pragmatic and sensible and we mustn't do that, we have to focus on appearances instead.
Pookiedoo I see the point you are making but hospitals are filthy anyway. I had DS1 at what was then a brand new flagship hospital. The midwife told me to have a bath (it would mean the pee didn't sting). So I tried. The bath was blood stained and full of pubes, the floor was filthy. I trundled back and was told "that's how women leave them" and instructed yo use the vim and green paper towels to clean it. There must have been six midwives chatting as she said it. No emergencies it was Christmas day and my baby was still in SCBU.
Seriously a woman who had had a difficult birth five hours earlier and they told me to have a bath, then to clean it first.
Chelsea & Westminster 1995! All gleaming on the surface.
One of my local trusts has recently published a 132 page equality report. In their clinics they call men as Mr John Brown; women as Jane Brown. How much did that report cost? A report that has no impact on sexist practices?
SnagAndChips Tue 26-Feb-19 22:39:08
I'm in Aus.
Not long after I moved here I broke my leg.
My private medical insurance paid for a man to come to me at home and check my needs (and fit me with a removable cast). Then he said when I was ready for crutches to go to a pharmacy and rent them!
I was a bit shocked but hey- I paid a deposit and a weekly rental, and made sure i returned them. It worked well, although was surprising.
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Starting a diet plan is by no means easy, in fact, it can be one of the most difficult issues to do. Considering about all of the foods that you'll have to reduce out of your diet plan may have you questioning what you can consume. A diet plan plan is a good begin to a wholesome way of life, which is why we've place together this checklist of the leading four foods that you should put on your plate.
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text:
#include "ListExps.h"

ListExps::ListExps() {}

ListExps::~ListExps()
{
	Log::writeToLog("ListExps", 10, "~ListExps");
}

void ListExps::add(Expression* exp) {
  m_listExps.push_back(exp);
}

void ListExps::typeCheck(Projection* lpProjection) {
  // to add here
}

string ListExps::toString() {
  if (m_listExps.size() > 0) {
    string s;
    for (list<Expression*>::iterator i = m_listExps.begin(); i != m_listExps.end(); i++) {
      if (i != m_listExps.begin()) {
	s += ", ";
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      s += (*i)->toString();
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list<Expression*> ListExps::get()
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	ListExps* lpPObject = new ListExps();
	pushBack(lpPObject);
	return lpPObject;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Muscle Memory is especially effective when you're having FUN!
As you rev up your exercise program, the muscles and the synapses that trigger them will spring back to life: Aha! A brisk walk! Leg activation. Arm-swinging. Balance. Posture.
You might not run the five-minute mile and please, don't try. Start slowly. Muscle memory is powerful, but give it the help it needs and build your strength little by little.
The rewards of rebooting the dark corners of muscle memory are many.
Studies show more than half of the US population takes at least one prescription drug. Meanwhile, researchers agree that for many conditions, exercise is the No. 1 treatment.
Not long ago, employees at a health clinic in Vista proved my point – they were handing out prescriptions to walk! Whether it's walking, gardening, or training to run a five-minute mile, the key to any successful exercise program is to enjoy it.
Maybe you've never worked out. Maybe you think you're over the hill. I don't buy it, and neither does your muscle memory.
I have the privilege of working with adults who are 65 and older. In that capacity, I have inspired many seniors to rediscover their muscle memory and to open pathways to activities they used to enjoy. Through guided-imagery, brain exercises, grounding techniques and being Present, seniors can activate muscles they hardly ever use.
The end result is a heightened sense of confidence, strength, balance and awareness.
All this carries from the exercise studio right into daily life.
That's something your muscles, your mind, and your spirit won't forget!
Ann Heizer is a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor.


text:
Colombophiloscia cavernicola är en kräftdjursart som beskrevs av Schultz 1977. Colombophiloscia cavernicola ingår i släktet Colombophiloscia och familjen Philosciidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Gråsuggor och tånglöss
cavernicola

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Galloisiana nipponensis är en insektsart som först beskrevs av Andrew Nelson Caudell och King 1924.  Galloisiana nipponensis ingår i släktet Galloisiana och familjen Grylloblattidae. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Bildgalleri

Källor

Externa länkar

Syrsborstsvansar
nipponensis


text:
Copyright ©2021 - Carlyle Fielding Stewart, III, All Rights Reserved.
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Democrats (and Republicans) Must at Least Pursue Impeachment Inquiries To Uncover the Whole Truth.
Posted in America, Articles, Democracy, Moral Courage, Politicians, Public Servants, Social Justice, Truth
America stands at the crossroads of freedom and non-freedom. Will we retain the right to determine our future as a free nation or will we have our future belligerently and arbitrarily trampled afoot by persons preferring to be dictators than compassionate public servants seeking liberty and justice for all?
Will we continue as a Democratic Constitutional Republic dedicated to the higher ideals, values and principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness where no man is above the law or will we descend into an authoritarian, autocratic state of tyranny where our cherished freedoms and ideals are finely shredded and abolished?
Democrats (and Republicans) must take "yes" from the American people as an incentive to begin impeachment inquiries to discover once and for all the whole truth of whether collusion, obstruction and cover-ups were committed by President Donald J.Trump and his political cohorts in the last presidential election.
With all that has been said about the President, nothing has been finally and conclusively proven. He is still innocent until proven guilty, notwithstanding the mountain of alleged information disseminated largely by his own words and actions which keep piling up to the contrary.
"It's not what you know it's what you can prove." said Detective Alonzo Harris in the movie Training Day."
Due largely to the D.O.J's policies, and prohibitive rules citing that no sitting president can be indicted, Mueller's report stopped short of explicitly accusing the President of collusion, but left open to further investigation by Congress the facts of whether obstruction of justice actually occurred. As it presently stands, the Mueller Report contains a ton of information about the possibilities and implications of possible corruption and obstruction by the president but the process of obtaining additional corroborative evidence from key players by the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees have been stonewalled.
Impeachment inquiries would finally and ostensibly determine whether impeachment hearings and actual impeachment of the president are justified based on the Mueller report and all other empirical findings such as open and closed-door testimonies, court proceedings and decisions and the work of journalists, scholars and others who continue to diligently investigate what truly happened.
"Supporters of an inquiry argue that they are not necessarily seeking the president's ouster but instead are pursuing a legal strategy — warranted by the stakes — to try to break Mr. Trump's blockade of nearly every document and witness that Democrats have requested since the release of the redacted report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, in April. Opening an investigation, they say, could increase Democratic chances of winning court orders to require compliance with House subpoenas."But others are wary, saying it would be politically risky; impeachment implies an effort to remove the president from office, and Mr. Trump is primed to try to exploit any such effort politically. On Thursday, he called impeachment a "dirty, filthy, disgusting word."But others are wary, saying it would be politically risky; impeachment implies an effort to remove the president from office, and Mr. Trump is primed to try to exploit any such effort politically. On Thursday, he called impeachment a "dirty, filthy, disgusting word."
Still in the current climate is a cloud of unknowing hanging in the air and a "cancer still growing on the presidency, " his administration, the present and future state of American Liberal Democracy, coupled with a flagrant refusal by the President and his cohorts to readily and openly share vital information with House and Senate committees and the American people at large.
Michael Shermer reminds us that the moral arc of the universe not only bends toward justice but bends toward truth. The laws of science, human nature, politics, the universe and civilization rest firmly on truth. The American people must know the truth and impeachment inquiries will substantially begin the process toward final conclusions in all related matters.
Reminiscing about the negative fallout from the Watergate hearings and the resignation of Richard M. Nixon on the American people, some contend that Americans can't handle the truth but I believe Americans can handle it and yearn to know the truth. Without the heroic efforts of people like Sam Ervin, Howard Baker, and others hotly pursuing the truth of Watergate, our governmental system of checks and balances would have failed to bring justice from those proceedings.
In the words of J. Robert Oppenheimer: "There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry. There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors. Our political life is also predicated on openness. We know the only way to avoid error is to detect it and the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. And we know that as long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think, free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost and science can never regress."
On another note, I fully understand Speaker Nanci Pelosi's position on this issue. It is better to move cautiously and slow-walk the "dog" than rush full-bore into proceedings which can create a political backlash from the electorate with the "dog" pooping all over Democrats in the 2020 elections. But couldn't some elements of the proceedings be fast-tracked? Could not some parts of the process be quickened and other parts slowed at the same time?
If Democrats act hastily in the process, they can run the risk of becoming political fodder for Republicans and could lose their political seats in 2020. I believe however, if they stand up for justice and do what is right by at least beginning impeachment inquiries, the American people will respect and applaud that decision and a similar momentum which swept them into a commanding majority in the House of Representatives last fall could possibly boost their chances of winning back the Senate and the presidency in 2020 because they will have taken bold steps to seek and lay claim to the ultimate truth by going where Republicans have dared not go.
In my humble opinion, if Democrats do not at least pursue impeachment inquiries to determine if impeachment of the president is justified; if they fail to execute their full responsibilities as a co-equal branch of government to unearth the truth as history and the rules of governance demand at this critical hour, they could receive the Lion's share of blame for failing to stem the rising tides of the current political menace threatening to engulf and paralyze our nation.
Failure to reach political consensus by not facing the truth mandates calling a truce between Democrats and Republicans alike to make peace in a political system already reeling from feverish attempts to obviate and subvert the rule of law.
Scholar Michael Grant reminds us that one of many factors influencing the fall of Rome was perpetual civil wars and battles which weakened and eventually undermined its system of governance. The same fate possibly awaits us if we fail to correct course.
On the other hand, failing to act at all implicitly and potentially could mean giving the green light to reckless and unbridled corruption of political leaders in the future which might certainly portend even greater disaster for the republic.
The constitutional hallmarks of checks and balances in our American Representative Democracy were precisely constructed to prevent leaders from running awry and abusing power. Failure to pursue impeachment inquiries, even if such strategies in the short-term or long run appear to be imprudent, if not impudent, portrays Democrats (and Republicans who already appear timid) as political weaklings, devoid of the requisite moral courage to seize the day and right the ship of state.
Thus they must "beard the lion in the den," so to speak, but instead will appear to have surrendered their moral authority out of fear by not holding accountable and putting in check the renegade or rogue factions of our government, which perilously appear to have abdicated and side-stepped their constitutional duties by refusing to challenge and call Trump to account, and by permitting the insidious and incremental dismantling and sell off and sell out of our government.
Current problems must be faced head on and who knows what irreparable damage has been already done once political order is restored to our nation?
S.W.A.T leadership methods call for leaders, organizations and nations to evaluate "strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats" to our democracy accompanied by P.E.S.T which also assesses all "political, economic, social and technical" problems and threats.
Responsible leaders must act. It is no exaggeration that failure to act responsibly puts our nation at risk.
One sure way to discover the truth, "the whole truth and nothing but the truth" is for Democrats and Republicans to begin open impeachment inquiries; to call the appropriate witnesses to finally clear the air to determine the facts; to pursue final corroborating evidence from all players and sources as to whether the President committed any crimes. Then the historical record can be clarified, the process of political redress qualified which the American people can verify.
The goal here is even more than discovering and knowing the truth but literally saving our democracy. It means restoring order, seeking and re-establishing equality, civility and respect for the law, and not allowing America to perish by arrogance, ignorance, tomfoolery, hubris or what M.L King Jr. called "conscientious stupidity."
Instead, what we have now are crock-pots of talk bubbling over the air waves; a potpourri of accusations and recriminations, affirmations and denials, retorts and rejoinders ad nauseam. The American people must finally know the "who, what, how, why, when and where"of what really happened by pursuing formal and open impeachment inquiries by the institutional authorities possessing the power to render and execute final judgment on these matters which means Democrats taking the lead and effete Republicans stepping up and growing a set.
Too much is at stake. American Democracy, the Constitution and our freedoms hang in the balance. The future of our nation is at risk. Failing to act is acting to fail.
The maxim is true, "Ignore your rights and freedoms and they will go away," which applies not only to the rights of individuals but the rights of governing powers and authorities, aggregates, and institutions called to constitutionally protect, preserve and defend our nation against all enemies foreign and domestic during times of crises and to ensure the survival of liberty, freedom and justice in America.
The handwriting is on the wall. Is it a forgery or is it credible tell-tale evidence of where our country is headed?
When a nation surrenders its national sovereignty to its enemies, ultimately such actions amount to an inside job, which means that people in the interior have in some furtive manner cooperated with those on the outside who seek their demise. And when the rights and powers of the people in having their say in the affairs of government in this nation are denied, dismissed and permanently derided, the end of the beginning and the beginning of the end occurs and all that the nation has stood and worked for, sacrificed, lived, bled and died for in all its years of existence, painfully perishes in the dung heaps and quagmires of needless, mindless and willful self-destruction.
Too many Americans have "given their all that we might have all," to strengthen, protect and preserve this nation, and if Democrats (and Republicans) fail to act because they believe that a "McConnelized" Senate will unequivocally thwart the impeachment of the President in the face of possible overwhelming evidence that the president has colluded and conspired to obstruct justice and has cooperated with adversaries in rigging our elections, those persons will have died in vain which is not only politically suicidal but morally meretricious.
Where those hearings will lead, we do not know, but failing to act pro-forma and pursue the final truth could spell disaster for Democrats and Republicans and precipitate the destruction of the American political process as we know it. This is no exaggeration.
Even with the Republican failure to hold the president accountable up to this juncture, the heroic example of Representative Justin Amash and a silent few notwithstanding, I do believe that if confronted with irrefutable, unimpeachable evidence of President Trump's violations of rules and laws, Republicans and Democrats will vote for impeachment.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," said Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The American people want strength, courage and wisdom not "fear and trembling and sickness unto the death" from their leaders, to paraphrase theologian Soren Kierkegaard.
Where caution is warranted, let there be caution. Where expediency is demanded, let us move ever so swiftly.
"Let us never negotiate out of fear but let us never fear to negotiate," said John F. Kennedy which ultimately means possessing the moral courage to mount up with wings of courage by boldly confronting and navigating conflicts at home and abroad.
"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war," said Lincoln at Gettysburg.
As the battles for the heart and soul of American democracy continue in the political realm, and as we possibly descend toward Dante Alighieri's ninth ring of hell with the potential disintegration of American Democracy and by the cold-storing of our cherished freedoms, Democrats (And Republicans) must fight for what is right in order to preserve, defend and protect our Constitutional Democratic Republic for the survival of our nation not only for the present but for all future generations of Americans.
If we fail to act for right, we open the floodgates of tyranny and inhumanity which will deluge and dissolve every iota of our democratic strength. The great experiment in democracy will sadly and regrettably tailspin into a fool's paradise.
Thus again I say, Democrats (and Republicans) must initiate impeachment inquiries if we are to finally arrive at the whole truth of President Donald J. Trump and whether any violation of laws and rules were committed during the last presidential elections.
Impeachment inquiries will be the last best hope of ever knowing what really happened so the final historical record can be completely set straight.
The Latin word, credere, means to "believe in." The ultimate goal of politics is justice; justice of the people, for the people and by the people. But once the American people no longer believe that its leaders and institutions possess the power to pursue and establish justice as a moral force and an ethical reality to right wrongs, perpetuate its highest ideals and values, and protect the nation from peril, then the principles on which that nation stands will no longer have the value, meaning, promise and power to sustain that nation amid competing and conflicting interests and the rising threats to its long-term safety, vitality and posterity.
So in the final analysis what will it be? Fight or flight?
The words of Frederic Bastiat in The Law, written in 1850, signal a stark warning:
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system which authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."
"Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,— Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own."
RFRD
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Harassment among women at workplace: A cross-sectional study in coastal South India
B Unnikrishnan1, T Rekha1, Ganesh Kumar2, B Reshmi3, P Mithra1, B Sanjeev1
1 Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, (Manipal University), India
2 Department of Community Medicine, JIPMER, Puducherry, India
3 Department of Health Information Management, Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal, India
Date of Submission 15-Sep-2009
T Rekha
Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore
Unnikrishnan B, Rekha T, Kumar G, Reshmi B, Mithra P, Sanjeev B. Harassment among women at workplace: A cross-sectional study in coastal South India. Indian J Community Med 2010;35:350-2
Unnikrishnan B, Rekha T, Kumar G, Reshmi B, Mithra P, Sanjeev B. Harassment among women at workplace: A cross-sectional study in coastal South India. Indian J Community Med [serial online] 2010 [cited 2019 Jul 17];35:350-2. Available from: http://www.ijcm.org.in/text.asp?2010/35/2/350/66888
Harassment is any improper and unwelcome conduct that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation to another person. Harassment may take the form of words, gestures or actions which tend to annoy, alarm, abuse, demean, intimidate, belittle, humiliate or embarrass another or which create an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. [1] Women face discrimination from childhood, especially in communities where there is a preference for the male child. [2] Harassment in the work place is becoming increasingly important in all sectors of the economy, largely due to growing numbers of negative consequences. This has lead to the formulation of anti-harassment policies by several non-government organizations. [3]
This study was carried out to find out harassment among women at workplace, types and reasons for harassment generally faced by working women.
A cross-sectional study was carried out within the Municipal Corporation limits of Mangalore, a coastal city in Karnataka state. The study area has a literacy rate of 83% (male=86%, female=79%), [4] a high gender related development index (GDI) [5] with a score of 0.714 and a favorable sex ratio of 1022. [4]
The study participants comprised women working in educational institutions, banks, hospitals, and shops as these are the establishments where considerable number of women work. The sample size was calculated based on the expected proportion of harassment faced by working women as 25%, [6] absolute precision of 7% and confidence interval of 95% and 10% non-response error. The final sample size came to 160 women. The list of the banks, schools, hospitals, and shopping centers in the study area were obtained from the municipal corporation office. The study sites were selected by simple random sampling from the list. Finally, the study participants were selected by convenient sampling. The data were collected by means of a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire after obtaining the written informed consent from the respondents.The questionnaire assessed the respondents' socio-demographic profile, their perception of harassment, their personal experience and their awareness regarding anti-harassment policies. Socio-economic status was assessed using modified Kuppuswamy's scale. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 11.5. Chi square test was used for the analysis and p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
[Table 1] depicts the socio-demographic profile of the respondents and the harassment faced by them at workplace. It was seen that the younger respondents faced more harassment compared to the older respondents. There was a linear association which was found to be statistically significant. It was also found that sales girls (80%) followed by nurses (45.7%) faced more harassment compared to school teachers (13.3%) and bank employees (6.1%), this difference was found to be statistically significant. The majority of the respondents who faced harassment were from lower middle and upper lower socio-economic status which was found to be statistically significant. It was also found that respondents with less experience faced more harassment as compared to those with more years of experience at workplace which was found to be statistically significant.
[Table 2] shows that out of 160 working women interviewed, about 28.8% of them were harassed; majority (47.8%) of the respondents were harassed within one year of joining their employment. The perceived reasons for harassment were - them being more efficient than their male colleagues (45.7%), followed by them being beautiful (23.9%). The type of harassment was mostly verbal (67.4%) followed by physical (23.9%) in nature. Among the respondents who were harassed, 52.2% had complained and the most common mode of complaint was spoken (83.4%).
In our study, we found that about 28% of the study subjects had experienced some form of harassment, out of which 37% were less than 25 years of age. This could be because the younger girls are more vulnerable and are unaware about the job requirements, or it could be due to the fear of losing their job or a hostile atmosphere in their workplace if they complain. This coincides with a study done in Denmark, where the occupations which were most exposed to the threat of physical violence were nurses, followed by health care workers and teachers. [6]
Among the 48 (28.8%) women harassed, 22 (48.8%) revealed that they had been harassed within a year of joining their jobs. This recent harassment could be explained by the fact that when the women join their new jobs, they are ignorant of their right to complain about harassment and afraid of losing their jobs. The reasons perceived by women as the cause of harassment were them being more efficient in their jobs (45.7%) than their male counterparts, followed by them being beautiful (23.9%). This could be attributed to the fact that males feel less secure about their jobs when their female colleagues are good looking or are more efficient. This also reflects our male dominated society where people still think that males are superior to females be it even in the workplace. Majority (67.3%) of harassment were verbal in manner whereas 22.7% were physical. Similar results were found in a study done in Croatia among school teachers. [7] Complaints were lodged in 52.2% of the cases; mostly to their higher authorities of which only 8.3% were written. Other studies also substantiate these findings. [8],[9],[10] It was found that action was taken only in 15.2% of the cases whereas 41.3% of the complaints were ignored. The fewer written complaints explain the hesitancy of the women to complain since action was taken in only a few cases and it could also be because the women felt it would create a bad working atmosphere.
Our study gives an insight into the depth of the workplace harassment among women, which is on the rise because of the increase in number of working women. Harassment is a serious problem that must be addressed by the government in order to ensure a safe working environment for women.
Our sincere acknowledgements are due to all the participants of the study. The present work was supported by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, International Training and Research in Environmental and Occupational Health Program, Grant Number 5 D43 TW05750, from National Institutes of Health - Fogarty International Centre.
1. International Monetary Fund: Policy on Harrasment. Available from: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/pdf/IMF policy . [Accessed on 2009 June16].
2. Ulasi I. Gender bias in access to healthcare in Nigeria: A study of end-stage renal disease. Trop Doct 2008;38:50-2. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT]
3. Gardner SV, James MF, Evans NR. Gender issues among South African anaesthetists. S Afr Med J 2002;92:732-6. [PUBMED]
4. Government of India - Ministry of Home Affairs: Census 2001 data. Available from: http://www.censusindia.net . [Accessed on 2009 May 4].
5. Karnataka Human Development Report. Human Development in Karnataka - Chapter 2. Available from: http://planning.Kar.nic.in/khdr/english/2-chapter.pdf . [Last cited on 2005].
6. Violence, bullying and harassment in workplace; European foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions. Available from: http://wwweurofound.europa.eu . [Last cited on 2007].
7. Andrea R, Ranko M, Bojana K, Rosanda M, Jadranka M. Harassment in workplace among school teacher: Development of a survey. Croat Med Journal 2008;49:542-5.
8. Krieger N, Waterman PD, Hartman C, Bates LM, Stoddard AM, Quinn MM, et al. Social hazards on the job: Workplace abuse, sexual harassment, and racial discrimination: A study of Black, Latino, and White low-income women and men workers in the United States. Int J Health Serv 2006;36:51-85. [PUBMED]
9. Kapur, Naina. Sexual Harassment and Law Reform in India. Expert group meeting on good practices in legislation on violence against women. United Nations Division for Advanement of Women. EGM/GPLVAW/ 2008/EP.03. Available from: http://www.un.org/womenwatch . [Last cited on 2008].
10. Marsh J, Patel S, Gelaye B, Goshu M, Worku A, Williams MA, et al. Prevalence of workplace abuse and sexual harassment among female faculty and staff. J Occup Health 2009;51:314-22. [PUBMED] [FULLTEXT]
[Table 1], [Table 2]
Unnikrishnan B
Rekha T
Kumar G
Reshmi B
Mithra P
Sanjeev B
Article in PDF (390 KB)


How do you create a custom color pallet in Tableau on a Mac? I tried opening the Preferences.tbs file but it says the file is not recognizable.
These are the colors I will need in my Tableau workbook.
Tableau uses the Preferences.tps file but does not actually open it in the usual interface nor edit it. You'll need to make your changes using a text editor such as TextEdit on the Mac. See Create Custom Color Palettes for more details.


Earlier this week, I asked, "Where are the quads?" I've been wondering when Intel's Core 2 Quad, released in January, would show up in a brand-name consumer desktop PC. I expected to see the chip first from a company like Alienware. But the first Core 2 Quad system that I have found that isn't a corporate workstation—Dell's Precision 390, for example, offers the chip—is Gateway's uber desktop, the FX530.
The Gateway machine, which is available only direct from the company, can be purchased with the 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor for under $2,000. After adding the quad-core chip, itself a hefty $895 upgrade from a 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo E6300, I was able to price an FX530GV model at $1,646 on the Gateway's Web site. To get to the lowest-possible base price, I chose the lightest configuration I could get away with. That meant only 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combination drive and an ATI Radeon x1300 graphics card. I also left off a monitor and sound card.
It's pretty safe to say that few people would purchase the FX530 with a quad-core processor, but choose such a minimal configuration just to get to the lowest-possible price. Thus, a more fitting starting configuration for a Core 2 Quad-equipped FX530GV model, which includes 2GB of RAM, 500GB of hard drive capacity (using twin 250GB drives), a DVD-burner, an ATI Radeon X1900 graphics card and a sound card, will increase its price to $2,349, the Gateway site shows. Adding a monitor or a pair of ATI Radeon X1950 graphics cards will add several hundred dollars more to the setup.
Given that choosing a Core 2 Quad saves only $144 over upgrading to Intel's Core 2 Extreme processor—the extreme chip helped the FX530 get a good review from Tom's Hardware, recently—I don't expect many buyers to opt for the Core 2 Quad. But, to answer my earlier question, the Core 2 Quad chip appears to be slowly working its way into the market. Like all other processors, it will come down in price over time.


Ina Rilke was born in Mozambique and grew up in Portugal, speaking Dutch, English and Portuguese. She was educated at the Oporto British School, and obtained a degree in Translation Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Until 1997 she combined free-lance translation of art-historical texts with teaching translation at the University of Amsterdam.
For the past twenty-five years she has concentrated on literary translation from Dutch and French into English, for which she has won the Vondel Prize, the Scott Moncrieff Prize and the Flemish Culture Prize.
She lives in Amsterdam and Paris.


text:
Celebrity News October 23, 2018
Attorney Michael Avenatti Seriously Considering a Presidential Run in 2020
Michael Avenatti wasn't kidding when he said he might run for president in 2020.
"Extra's" Tanika Ray caught up with Avenatti at Politicon, where he revealed, "I'm seriously considering running in 2020."
Avenatti, the lawyer famous for representing Stormy Daniels explained, "I think there's a lot at stake, and I don't believe that a typical politician is going to be able to beat Donald Trump."
Meanwhile, he is still fighting against President Trump for Stormy, "The most significant case, the NDA case continues. There's another case that's also continuing. So really, they only, they only tossed out one claim. We've appealed that claim. So it's far from any significant loss to my client or to me, despite the fact that Donald Trump wants to try to claim otherwise."
The attorney also shared his thoughts on Melania's comments in a recent interview that she doesn't believe her husband has been disloyal, "I think that she has her own reality, I guess, that she has come to believe. I don't know what he has told her or convinced her of, you know, people very often want to believe or believe what they want to believe."
He does believe there is a shift in women's perspectives of the President now, saying, "I think that women especially are starting to realize on, on both sides, not just on the left, but also on the right. I think that they are starting to come to the realization that Donald Trump as a misogynist does not like women, does not like women in power, does not, especially, like women that speak truth to power. And I think Donald Trump is going to have a significant problem, as he should, with women on a go-forward basis."
#DonaldTrump #MelaniaTrump #Politix
'SNL' Skewers Meeting Between Trump & Kanye
Jimmy Kimmel Weighs In on President Trump & Kanye West's Meeting
Stormy Daniels' 7 Bombshells About Alleged Trump Fling!


That's right. I said it. What Galileo proved about the Sun 500 years ago, we're still having trouble figuring out about God. I mean, that God does not revolve around the Earth, or me, or you for that matter. And when it comes to worship, the biggest disservice we do to ourselves and to our children is mistaking our music, our emotions, our praise, our thanksgiving, our instruction, even our love for our worship of the Triune God.
And we're teaching this to our children.
So, what is worship? We're teaching them that worship is simply singing and a sermon. It is determined by performance and style. And the most important thing is that worship be relevant to us. But worship comes from worth. That simply means that we tell God who He is — and he will always be the sole subject. When "I" becomes the subject of your sentence, even "I love you" is not worship.
This "I" rears its ugly head in other ways. Anyone heard of the "worship wars?" Do we leave church frustrated because we haven't "gotten anything out of the sermon?" Or do we squirm or shudder when a child's cry pierces the air disrupting our prayers?
Try this sometime: without using any personal pronouns like I, me, or my, adore God . . . It's hard isn't it? Before we think we've got the "worship thing" figured out. . . Just remember how easily our own minds wandered during that last prayer service or how easy it is to require "being fed" as our criteria for "good" worship.
In the book, Teaching Kids Authentic Worship, Kathleen Chapman seeks to reassert a basic fact about God and all of us. When we genuinely return our focus back to God — and who He is— we return to our rightful place in relationship to Him. It's a humbling thought. We are not the center of the universe. We are God's people reflecting His image into the world.
So, what is worship? And what does this mean for pre-schoolers who are just beginning to recognize they aren't the center of the universe? This is a question I want to explore with our pre-school team and with you as parents in the coming weeks and months. I want us to think seriously about what we model and teach about worship to our youngest generation. How do we teach our children what true worship is? How does our Kinderchurch space focus our children toward worship? How do we sincerely incorporate our children into intergenerational worship times? And most importantly, how do we foster authentic worship practices in our children?
I believe that children need to worship. They can, sometimes with more imagination and honesty than we adults can muster, come face to face with the living Triune God. Let's celebrate the gift of worship God has given to every one of us. Thank goodness it isn't about us! God is the one who delivers, protects, and provides for His people. And He does it even when we aren't asking for it.
I wrote this for "The Stream" our monthly preschool newsletter (March issue), but I thought others might like to comment.
The past 2 weeks I have done a worship "exercise" with the Kinderchurch children (ages 3-K). Last week we spent 30 seconds in silence listening to what God was saying to us. You know what? God spoke to 3 year olds! He told one boy that He loved him. He told another girl that she should be kind to her sister. Crazy! This week we spent another time of silence waiting for God to bring a neighbor to mind. These children reverently closed their eyes and bowed their heads and people that they can love and care for came to their mind.
Why do we still choose the strong things of this world -- the brilliant successes, the stunning victories of strength and will to "prove" our God? They shame us.
"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, (1 Corinthians 1:27-30)."
Good post. I love hearing about how God's moving in the life of his people (regardless of their age). I think I'm still coming to grips with the reality that I'm not in the center of the universe. I guess it's a pretty commonsensical thought all things considered (for who who argue that the world should revolve around them), but a revolutionary thought nonetheless, one that Jesus taught. Anyway, I think it's awesome how you've worked with children on this issue . . . it's obviously working.
In every genuine experience of Christian worship there is an invariable pattern. A classic example of this pattern of worship is found in the vision and call of the prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 6:1–9.) It consists of an awareness of God, a spirit of repentance, and a rededication to the service of others.
All worship begins with an awareness of God or it does not begin. The first step in worship is to perceive him whom we worship. A lady once said to Joseph Turner, the great master painter of sunsets, "Sir, I have never seen in any sunset in nature the vivid colors you put into your painting of Sunset in Venice." Turner's reply was simple: "But don't you wish you could?" It takes more than the natural eyes of a man to see into the head of nature. Turner saw, with the eyes of the soul, a glory that natural eyes could not see. The same is true of worship. The soul must be awakened by the Spirit to see the glory of God.
When we truly see the Lord, we become painfully aware that we are far from what we ought to be and what God expects us to be. We are sorry for our disobedience. We repent and are forgiven. The great miracle is wrought; we are reborn and become new creatures in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:17.) With forgiveness comes renewal of life and victory over sin and death.
The third step in worship is dedication and service. Worship and service are inseparable; but true worship never ends until the worshiper goes on to serve his fellowman.
True worship can be likened to the gasoline motor. The intake and the exhaust valves perform their separate functions, completing a cycle that delivers power to the wheels. We take in God's grace in the act of redemption and forgiveness, after which we must exhaust ourselves in service to complete the cycle that delivers the power by which we live.
Worship is vastly more than sitting quietly in church. The true worship of God influences all aspects of life.
Many people have attended church services since they were infants and yet have not learned to worship together very well. We cannot achieve meaningful worship without learning its spiritual disciplines. The word discipline may sound harsh, but let's think of it as another word from the same root—the word disciple. When we become disciples of the Savior, we accept his disciplines; otherwise our religion is just a good idea that has lost its way.
There has always been the temptation to worship "the creature more than the Creator." (Rom. 1:25.) We worship what we give our hearts to. Jesus said: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Luke 12:34.) If we love the things of this world more than we love God, we will worship the devil and receive his rewards. If we reject Satan as Christ did and worship only God, we will receive God's blessings upon us and our family.
During the Savior's ministry, his nearness to the Father deeply touched the twelve. They seemed to be especially impressed with his prayers. On one occasion they said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray." (Luke 11:1.) He then gave them a pattern for prayer we refer to as the Lord's Prayer. Although for centuries this prayer has been used as part of a ritual in public worship, the gospels of Matthew and Mark make it clear that it was given for instruction and not for ceremonial purposes. The prayer begins with a statement of reverence for the name of God. The name of God means the character of God, the kind of God he is. Then it asks that God's will be obeyed on earth as in heaven. It asks God to sustain us, to forgive us, and to keep us from the evils of this life. The prayer is intensely personal, and should teach us to communicate more clearly with God regarding our personal needs.
Jesus made his most significant statement on worship when a Samaritan woman asked him about the proper place to worship. Jesus explained that the important thing was whom we worship and how we worship. He said that "the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23.) To worship in spirit is to worship in the spirit of humility, eager to learn repentance, love, and forgiveness.
To worship in truth is to worship with full knowledge of God and his son and the Holy Ghost. To worship in truth is to know Gods plan and to act upon our knowledge. True worship requires action in serving others as well as contemplation of the ideal. The ideal must become the idea we act upon.
Toward the end of the Lord's earthly ministry there were days of dark discouragement for the twelve. John records that many of the Lord's followers "went back, and walked no more with him." (John 6:66.) The gospel required too much of them, so they turned back.
Peter, James, and John fell upon their faces. The vision had pierced the veil and given them a much larger perspective of the Savior's ministry. Jesus was not sent to be a popular itinerant preacher in Palestine but to fulfill the intent of the law and the prophecies of past dispensations.
We are not told what Christ, Moses, and Elijah talked about, but no subject could have been of greater consequence than the immediate journey to the cross that Jesus faced. Luke tells us that they "kept it close, and told no man." (Luke 9:36.) After the resurrection they no doubt shared this revealing experience with the other apostles and believers. We can only imagine how much it strengthened their testimony and confirmed their faith.
The worship experience recorded in the New Testament reached its sublime climax in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Here we see worship at its best. It expresses in sacred drama what the Savior has done for us. It symbolized in one act of worship, the crucifixion of the Savior for the sins of the world and his glorious resurrection. And conveyed God's supreme overture of love to his children with the promise to all of us of our own resurrection. And it was He who set the perfect example, teaching His disciples both then and now, how to worship.


Next Tuesday we celebrate the 241st birthday of our country. Having a holiday in the middle of the week is always kind of nice, isn't it? Throw in some apple pie and fireworks and everybody's happy–unless of course they are apple or sulfur intolerant. I'm sure that's a thing for some people.
The Fed's favorite inflation-meter du jour is the Personal Consumption Expenditures index. It tracks the price of all of the stuff we buy, including apple pie and fireworks, but it leaves out some pretty major expenses like housing and medical care (which are through the roof right now). Due to these exclusions, the PCE dropped from a 1.7% increase last month to 1.4% this month, thanks in large part to super cheap oil (and gas). It takes oil to manufacture stuff and is takes gas to ship stuff–even if you have Amazon Prime. That 1.4% is well under the Fed's 2.0% target, and a good reason to not raise rates again for now.
More and more prognosticators are warning of an over-bought stock market and calling for a correction. So far, I don't see it, but that's what makes market corrections so scary, nobody sees them coming. On the bright side, if stocks drop, so will interest rates. And low interest rates make it possible to afford a more expensive home.
The third estimate for the first quarter GDP came in at 1.4% growth, slightly higher than the previous guess of 1.2%. At the same time, the GDP Price Index fell from 2.2% to 1.9%.
Initial Jobless Claims were reported at 244,000, higher than expectations, and higher than last week's 241,000 claims. The Jobs Report comes out next Friday.
The market was expecting Pending Home Sales to increase 0.5% last month; in actuality they dropped 0.8%, bringing the index down 1.7% from this time last year–further proof of a declining inventory across the whole country. This could be part of the reason why tiny houses are gaining popularity–that and there are fewer toilets to scrub.
The Case Shiller Home Price Index moderating from 5.9% last month to 5.7% this month would argue against the inference of inflation, though still a very healthy appreciation rate.
Building Permits are down 5.0% and Housing Starts dropped 5.5% today, compared to this time last month. That's the slowest that the new construction market has been since last summer, and is also the third straight month of decline. Most of the slowing has been occurring in the multi-family apartment buildings; single family construction has not suffered quite as much.
The downturn in new builds along with a slowing tech sector in stocks is helping mortgage bonds stay above the 200 day moving average: a good indicator that interest rates are staying low for now.
I know that you know that this is the former Chair of the Board of Governors, Ben Bernanke, and not the current Chair, Janet Yellen. Ben Bernanke navigated the U.S. through the most difficult financial crisis in 80 years, and it is he who said "Monetary policy is 98% talk and 2% action". That idea is a good way to introduce the Fed meeting yesterday.
The Fed raised the overnight lending rate to 1.25%, an increase of 1/4%. That will instantaneously raise the Prime Rate to 4.25%, affecting credit cards and other short-term debt instruments like car loans. It should also raise the yield on your savings account and certificates of deposit. The financial markets all expected this move and so the hike was already priced into long-term debt like mortgages, student loans, and the next iPhone.
Chair Yellen yesterday laid out a plan to begin to sell off the Fed's $4.5 trillion dollars in long-term debt holdings. For the last eight years, they have been the world's largest buyer of Treasury Notes and Mortgage Bonds, accumulating and then reinvesting the proceeds of sold Notes (from people cashing in Treasury Bonds or refinancing their mortgages) by purchasing new Notes/Bonds at the rate of $20-30 billion per month. That will begin to unwind once the Fed Funds Rate reaches 2.0% (presumably the first of next year). The plan is to allow $4 billion in mortgages and $6 billion in Treasuries to roll off the books every month, and to gradually increase the amount to a combined $50B/month "if the economy evolves inline with expectations". Assuming that the hopes of the economy fulfilling the well-crafted statement come to fruition, it will take at least a decade to unravel the balance sheet in an orderly fashion.
After digesting the Fed Show yesterday, mortgage bonds took a slight breather and opened down by about 0.15 bps. Overall, interest rates are still better than they have been since last fall's presidential election. Nationwide, the average conventional 30 year loan is at 3.91%. My rates are better than that and my service and turn times are also hard to beat!
Prior to the Fed rate announcement at 12:15 PM, there are a couple things influencing rates this morning. The first is a shooting at a GOP baseball practice of all places, where five people, including at least one congressman, were shot. Retail Sales dropped 0.3% last month, compared to the 0.4% gain from the month before. Additionally, the Consumer Price Index declined 0.1%, while it had improved 0.2% the prior month. All of these factors have helped mortgage pricing rally up 44 bps to start the day. The big swing though will come with the Fed decision and subsequent remarks.
The Fed has almost $2 trillion dollars in mortgage holdings. As loans have paid off, they have been reinvesting the proceeds of the sales, to the tune of around $30 billion each month, making the Fed the single largest buyer of mortgages in the world. At the last meeting, they hinted that they were going to start letting some of those assets bleed off. With the Fed not acquiring as many new mortgages, long-term rates will head upward. We'll wait to see what they say on the topic in their statement three hours from now.
Stocks and Bonds are up this morning as the Fed starts their two-day Open Market Committee meeting. The Fed's goal is balance. They seek to regulate the velocity of economic growth in our country: not too fast and not too slow. The statement from the last FOMC meeting reiterated their objective of a 2.0% growth rate.
The Producer Price Index released today dropped from 0.4% last month to 0.3% this month, while the Core PPI (excluding food and energy) fell from 0.5% to 0.0%. Tomorrow's Consumer Pricing numbers will tell help tell the whole story of the rising (or not) cost of goods. A 0.25% bump in short-term rates tomorrow is a given. The last few times that the Fed has raised rates, our mortgage rates actually improved. So stay tuned!
I spent the last week in Moab, biking the White Rim Trail and floating the Colorado River with my 15 year old son, Isaac. It was around 100 degrees every day; at one point my GPS said that it was 112. I don't know if I have been that thirsty for a prolonged period in my entire life. We clamored for any shade we could find, which was pretty sparse until the sun went down. Now that I am back in the office and hearing continued reports of our hot housing market, I have more sympathy for would-be buyers clamoring for deals. Our job as professionals assisting buyers is just like my river guide helping our group navigate the rapids. Stay pointed in the right direction, paddle hard when necessary, and have a lot of fun.
The Fed begins their two day Open Market Committee meeting tomorrow, and is expected to raise short-term rates by 0.25% on Wednesday. The wording of their statement at the conclusion of the meeting about the condition of the economy, and their plan for the future of their four trillion dollars in holdings will determine the direction of longer term rates–like mortgages. Drink plenty of water because we'll also see some hard-core data releases along the way.


text:
655 Makeovers
Wendi talks about strange people at their station, beauty, and a TV program.
Wendi: At my station there's a lot of weirdoes. Have you noticed?
Todd: There is a lot of weirdoes in the train station.
Wendi: There's a lot of weirdoes at my station.
Todd: Yeah, why do you think that? Do you think that they just like the train station or it's this area?
Wendi: I don't know. What do you think?
Todd: I don't know either. But I've lived all over Japan and I noticed that this train station is kind of.
Wendi: Quite strange?
Todd: Quite weird. Yeah, like the one guy that amazes me, is the really, really dirty guy.
Wendi: Yeah.
Todd: Super dirty guy.
Wendi: The dirtiest of the dirty.
Todd: Right, the guy that's got the long hair and it hangs down and you can't see his face and he's like caked in dirt, like if that guy took a shower it would hurt.
Todd: I wonder how, and he's old.
Wendi: You know what would be amazing if we put him on Swan. On the Swan.
Todd: What's Swan?
Wendi: Swan is like this incredible makeover show where they like slice and dice people.
Todd: Sort of like change his hair and give him like...
Wendi: Yeah and like they give people like new jaws. They like just cut them up like serious. It's like extreme plastic surgery, like...
Todd: Is this a Canadian show?
Wendi: It's an American show of course.
Todd: Really. I've been overseas. I don't know American shows.
Wendi: Yeah, any ways. The swan basically like, they hang out and they find really unattractive people and they slice and dice them into like pageant queens.
Todd: Oh, wow.
Wendi: It's really foul. But anyway's.
Todd: Yeah, actually that's
Wendi: They could turn him into a beauty.
Todd: Yeah, maybe he doesn't want to.
Wendi: It's actually really twisted this show, like it's, like I've seen shots of it kind of thing, but it's actually incredibly disturbing. Like that people would be willing to fully like, slice and dice, like they kind of do like this inventory. They do like a 360 of the person, like they show then in like their bras and panty of something. I don't really know.
Wendi: And they like, they just do this thing down the side, like,"We are going to take out all of her teeth and you know, crack her jaw in five places and reduce her nose and open up her eyes and take off the left limb and whatever you know, they just like go down this list. It's just unbelievable and then they actually do it.
Todd: Wow!
Wendi: Yeah and then they end up with these people that look like drastically different but that have gone through like crazy, like, I don't know, six month-eight month surgeries and everything else to get there kind of thing. It's crazy.
There is a lot of weirdos in the train station.
A 'weirdo' is a person who is strange because of the way he looks, dresses, acts or thinks. Notice the following:
He was a big weirdo in high school.
I don't understand why you are such a weirdo sometimes.
caked in dirt
That guy is caked in dirt, like if he took a shower it would hurt.
If you are 'caked in dirt,' you have a layer of dirt on you or you are completely covered in dirt. Notice the following:
How did your pants get so caked in dirt?
Please take your shoes off at the door. They are caked in dirt.
slice and dice
Swan is this incredible makeover show where they slice and dice people.
Here 'slice and dice' refers to cutting people up, like in a surgical way, to completely change their appearance. It is a reference to doing plastic surgery. Notice the following:
This is one of those slice and dice horror movies.
I lot of women from this country have had a slice and dice procedure done at least once.
I think it's really foul that they slice and dice people into like pageant queens.
If someone does something 'foul,' it is offensive, cruel, wicked or horrible. Notice the following:
I don't know why I am in such a foul mood today.
That's a really foul way to treat someone you love.
This show is really twisted and incredibly disturbing.
'Twisted' actions are cruel and unusual. Notice the following:
Most of the movie character played by Johnny Depp are a little twisted.
The end of this story is really twisted, and I wasn't expecting it at all.
Answer these questions about the interview.
Vocabulary Challenge
Complete the sentences with the words below.
weirdo • caked in mud • slice
foul • twisted
I thought he was a medical doctor, but he is more of a and dice variety.
The artist must be a very person who is in need of some love.
The dog really needs a bath. He's completely .
There were a couple scenes in that movie that were completely and disturbing.
He can be kind of a when it comes to relationships. Girls think he's crazy.