Another Balancing Act

I seem to be seeing examples of balancing everywhere latelyThese guys were installing the joists (?) for the second floor next door. They had a roof beam lifting machine which was very noisy but certainly made their job easier. They walked along those narrow boards as if they were on solid ground. I could have pulled up a chair outside to watch them, only it was cold and damp, so I watched from the laundry room...
 
The tile guy is coming tomorrow to prep the shower wall and floor for new tile. That means that they aren't taking out the hated pebbles that we chose but didn't turn out as promised, but will put some sort of 'mud' over them and install new tile on top. David came by to install the new,  medicine cabinet made smaller to accommodate the toilet tank in the wall. It will be all go starting at 8am tomorrow. Fortunately we seem to have worked out a sleeping plan that is acceptable to the dogs and everybody slept better last night.

There is a lot of talk , among Democrats at least, about switching to a 'single payer' medical system which would effectively eliminate the insurance companies. Inflation in medical services is, in many instances running at over 300%. Most people don't know how much their operation, or their heart procedure costs until they get the bill. The doctors are joining together under, in the case of Sonoma county, three major groups. Despite the outrageous prices for many medical services, due to insurance company negotiations,  individual  general practitioners can't really make a living wage without joining together with other doctors to share staff and overhead. This means they are overworked and inefficient. I spent a month trying to get results for a test that should have taken no more than 48 hours. I'm pleased to say that the result I finally got today was negative, but if it hadn't been I could have died before any action was taken. As I say, the current attitude seems to be that you either die or get better on your own....

I feel horrible even complaining about this when I think about the pictures of women evacuating a maternity hospital in Ukraine which was being bombed by the Russians. It is a war crime, it is evil and inhuman, yet it continues. How long can the Ukrainians hold out under this kind of brutality?  Why can't the world figure out how to stop it without igniting a nuclear war? When you have someone who is operating outside the law, they can effectively get away with anything while everybody else suffers....