Random Thought Thread

SharpBits said:
In theory you are pay for the cost of the expert who reviews the X-ray image, the tech that took the image, the negligible energy cost, and a few other things.
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Yeah, let's say those costs are $200 an hour and it takes 10 minutes...

Why does a round of x-rays cost $400?

Because fuck you, that's why.


Edit: not you specifically. Unless you're getting x-rays.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Yeah, let's say those costs are $200 an hour and it takes 10 minutes...

Why does a round of x-rays cost $400?

Because fuck you, that's why.


Edit: not you specifically. Unless you're getting x-rays.
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Someone has to pay for the care given to those who cannot afford it, right? They cannot turn anyone one away who needs care until they are stable, at least. Maybe that’s changed?
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
What are the absolute best tweezers for removing difficult splinters?

I don't even care what they cost at this point

Our process produces pounds of sharp work hardened micro serrated ultra pokey needles everyday. And, no matter how careful you are, some of them end up in you. No glove can stop them.

I had a really bad one a while back, I had to go to my neighbor Bradley, the farmer (and veterinarian), and he sat there and picked at that thing with some sort of surgical kit through almost half a bottle of tequila. It actually had a sharpened undercut that could really seriously grab something, although it was still struggling with the slippery nature of steel splinter.

The tweezers I've been using for years come to a sharp needle point and I've shaped them to have a little bit of a bend at the point so they can really grab something small and hold it tight, but they are not hardened steel so there is a limit to how hard you can squeeze them before they yield.

View attachment 3236634

View attachment 3236635

Anyway, I'm in the market for some good surgical tweezers that can grab slippery steel stuck in there with little micro barbs and snatch it out of people.

"Don't worry Nate, if you ignore a splinter long enough your body will just push it out"

I've got one in my hand that's been there so long it's just a brown spot now.
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Well, does this mean I can finally get a CPK grooming kit with my beloved D3v nail clippers, tweezers, and straight razor.

Ok fine. Take my money. I’ll send a check to Jo.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Yeah, let's say those costs are $200 an hour and it takes 10 minutes...

Why does a round of x-rays cost $400?
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You should spend a bit of time with a radiologist to see how fast they can go through images, how they can notice things that other providers missed, and appreciate how much time they spend when something looks ‘off’. They are under appreciated and save lives daily- that is all separate from the actual radiologic specialty procedures they perform. They also at times prevent surgeries from being performed because of their expertise. Being able to call one to go over an image that you ordered simply because you aren’t sure, or to have several discussing your wife’s breast imaging is very comforting and priceless.
Just my opinion.
 
snuffle said:
The full bill was $1670. (I am nowhere near my deductible.)
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I'm pretty sure the money doesn't actually go to the doctor or the practice

But

If it makes you feel any better

At least you're helping some person in the equation that I'm not exactly sure what it is they actually do make a boat payment.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
I'm pretty sure the money doesn't actually go to the doctor or the practice

But

If it makes you feel any better

At least you're helping some person in the equation that I'm not exactly sure what it is they actually do make a boat payment.
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Increasingly PE firms (private equity) are taking stronger foothold in this American healthcare system. Although their ownership percentage is still lowish (typically in mid single digits to teen digits percentile) the pace is fast accelerating, specially in high profit margin fields of "healthcare" such as dentistry and ophthalmology; x-ray and MRI labs are also very profitable vectors of this industry. IMO, healthcare should never be an "industry" but I'm probably just an old antiquated commie fool like say a Bernie Sanders 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
AR-Trvlr said:
Not really tweasers, but just a big-ass magnet? It’s steel, right?
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I have tried magnets.

The problem is, splinters are quite small (volumetrically) and the force retaining them is not insignificant. The force of magnetic attraction is correlated to the volume of material whereas the friction is more related to the external surface area. This is a problem with small splinters, because area and volume do not scale at the same rate. A magnet might wiggle it a little bit, but it would take something a lot stronger than any magnet that I have to actually remove a steel splinter.
 
In fact. I don't think even a multi Tesla level magnet like a big MRI would remove a steel splinter, it would just wiggle it around and heat it up enough to damage surrounding tissues but I think it would take something quite a lot larger than a splinter to actually move, even in an ultra high magnetic field like an MRI machine.
 
Larger pieces of metal, on the other hand, are physically moved within the magnetic field of a large MRI. Which is why it's important not to wear a steel core butt plug into an MRI machine

You absolutely should Google that
 
bluemax_1 said:
And the cost of the machine.
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There's no way those machines cost as much as a Mori Seiki machining center. And shops are charging something like $65 an hour for spindle time.

Edit: I just looked it up and it's actually closer to $200 an hour for spindle time on a high-end machine tool.

I never properly recalibrated my "what things should cost" for this modern era
 
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