Category: opinions

  • pain management clinics in the news again

    The St. Petersburg Times has a good story on the pain management clinic epidemic in Hillsborough County today.  Obviously Tampa Bay Wellness Center is not alone in doling out prescription drugs (in all likelihood to addicts and dealers, though I don’t know that for certain).  The story says the police are finally starting to do…

  • in the news…

    I wrote up my experience with the pain management clinic behind my house on my blog a few months ago. Since then, a lot has happened. A bunch of people have emailed me about the clinic; I’ve talked to lawyers and reporters and patients and documentary film makers about this. I’m not sure what will…

  • the pernicious evil that is Disney

    I’ve now been to four Disney parks: Disney Land (California), Disney World Magic Kingdom (Florida), Disney World Epcot Center (Florida), and Disney World Animal Kingdom (Florida). I went to Disney Land when I was younger, though I have some memories of various attractions (the Matterhorn, Swiss Family Robinson House, the Haunted House, and the nightmarish…

  • Ronald J. Heromin, M.D. & Tampa Bay Wellness Centre

    I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but in the last few months a new pain management clinic was opened in the strip mall behind our house called Tampa Bay Wellness Centre. For two and a half years, we’ve had no problems with the strip mall that is just over our fence. But in the…

  • you know healthcare is bad when…

    You can’t get your healthcare provider to talk to itself. Some background to explain.  Upon moving to Florida, I took a job at the University of Tampa with Ryan, where I had good health insurance.  A large chunk of that insurance was covered by the University and we didn’t really worry about the insurance that…

  • dishwasher woes

    I noted on here that we bought a new dishwasher back in November of 2008.  It’s a great dishwasher; it has a built in food grinder so you can put all sorts of stuff in there and it makes quick work of it.  It worked fine for about 10 months, but about 2 months ago…

  • PEACE Alternative Break – day 2

    Our second day in Southeastern Florida was mostly spent volunteering at Horses for the Handicapped.  We did a variety of things while there, from painting to picking up rocks to grooming horses, but mostly we cleaned up horse feces.  Horses defecate a lot.  I was happy to help, but I’ll be happy if I never…

  • Why we won’t see real healthcare reform

    The answer is simple: $$$$ The St. Petersburg Times ran a good story this morning looking at donations to politicians in the state of Florida by… Health insurance companies and other groups who stand to see a decline in their windfall profits if the Federal Government actually reforms healthcare.  Now, you may be saying, “But…

  • survey fail

    I received this fun little piece of mail the other day: If you click on it you’ll see that it says, “Dear Toren Cragun; WE VALUE YOUR OPINION.” It then proceeds to ask him to fill out a survey evaluating his recent doctor’s visit. I considered being a bit snarky and sending back the survey…

  • Housing Market Rant

    My sister posted a rant the other day… My turn! —Begin Rant— We bought a condo in Cincinnati because we were told: (1) home prices never go down and (2) if you’re going to live there for more than 2 years, it is a safe investment. We now recognize both of those as lies. Always,…