Florida Man isn’t sick, just a sicko, but I do go to the doctor from time to time.
I’ve been told that my ears are wax collectors like my teeth are plaque collectors and I get checkups every six months.
So, I went to my ENT (why in the world do I have one) three weeks ago with clogs.
He uses an industrial size water gun that shoots water completely through one ear and out the other. Bang bang and I’m out.
But a week later the ears were clogged again so I went back. He said I had a mild infection and gave me a script for drops, 0,17 ounces for $47.
Not a big bottle
The doc, a man in his 80s but on the ball, told me the insurance will be billed $250 for a mostly-water bottle of stuff that wouldn’t fill a teaspoon. He said in Canada the whole thing would cost about $10 dollars.
“it’s a real ripoff,” he said. I agreed.
Regardless of the price, the water drops didn’t work so I went back yesterday and told him to fix it.
I said, “Doc, you’re a nice fellow, but I’m seeing you more often than my friends.” He said OK then used his ancient gun again and gave me another script.
I know ears have a lot to do with balance; mine stinks, and I asked about it. He said about 50% is the inner ear, 35% in your eyes and the rest in the upper body. Legs don’t matter much apparently.
One other slightly less boring thing.
While I was waiting in the exam room I read some certificates on the wall that gave his middle name as Hayes, an odd spelling I thought.
He had some time so we chatted about Hayes for a few minutes. The doc said it’s an English-Scottish name and he had traced his ancestors back as far as 1617. Now that’s a name with a history.
Google says Hayes is a surname, not a middle name, thought to be a place somewhere in England. It’s derived from the Old English ‘haes’ (meaning brushwood or hedge), given to those who lived at or near that kind of land feature.
Brushwood
In Scotland, most Hayes’ are believed to descend from the Anglo-Norman ‘de la Haye’ and a knight named ‘William II de la Haye’ is known to have arrived in the country at the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. Being named after a knight is pretty special.
MyName Stats.com says Hayes is the 125th most popular name in the U.S., found about 220,000 times.
Just so you know, Smith is the most popular name. There are 2.4 million Smiths or 828 per 100,000. Even so, I don’t remember knowing anyone named Smith.
Well, that’s the news from the medical, historical and ancestral worlds and thanks for stopping by. l’ll have an update and film at 11:00. Hope you haven’t dozed off.
