The Lounge 2

The root canal treatment cost 370€, a filling 50€, professional cleaning 90€ twice a year. A crown would also be between 300-500€.
That's cheap by Aussie prices Thomas, especially the crown which would cost me $2k +.
In recent years I got on to a dentist who I went to School with. He was old school and didn't believe in crowns, rather really tough fillings at a fifth the cost. I've never had issue with his work but sad that he's retired now.
 
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That worked out well for you Jessica, well done.
35 + 80= £115= $A224 which is fairly cheap for Austrailia.

My cat and dog had a rumble the other day and he sprained his shoulder. $137 for quick exam and medicine.
The price of love for our pets 😍

I was told by the private dentist that sedation costs around £200 per hour and as my wisdom tooth will be coming out in bits I'm so pleased that the hospital will be doing it for free 😃
 
Our vet surgery in town that has been here since forever is closing because the lady is retiring and there is no will buyers to take it over. She shared it with someone else but they left a couple of years ago. We are now left with 1 mobile vet in a town of 2.5k people along with a heap of farms.
 
That's cheap by Aussie prices Thomas, especially the crown which would cost me $2k +.
Including or not including insurance? My price was for a steel crown with ceramic without insurance. Other crowns would be up to 1500€ without insurance cover.
 
Including or not including insurance? My price was for a steel crown with ceramic without insurance. Other crowns would be up to 1500€ without insurance cover.
Now that's not cheap Thomas.
Many Australians take out private health insurance with options for dental work and glasses.
Not me though. I have a slush fund to cover a lot of contingencies and find that cheaper in the long term. Glasses last me years and years and I get the best multifocals.
No health, dental, optical nor Pet insurance for me. Home, car and contents I do insure for.
Having no private health insurance I have worked out ways to get cheap medical treatment such as bulk billing medical practices. There is a government funded dental scheme I've tried but found it's useless. They mainly do extractions and not root canals nor especially crowns.
 
Vets are actually relatively poorly paid given the considerable education and training it requires.

Anyone after money would be a in another profession.
Not exactly "poorly paid" here in GER but, as you said, the education and training should be acknowledged financially. Their fees were raised noticeably recently.
 
Richie Richie Was wondering what happened to your pool disaster some months ago. You said you were upset and sounded as if you wanted to give up, but then you never kept us posted on what you ended up doing. Update, update, please.:D
 
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Richie Richie Was wondering what happened to your pool disaster some month ago. You said you were upset and sounded as if you wanted to give up, but then you never kept us posted on what you ended up doing. Update, update, please.:D
Mate after plenty of elbow grease the pool is now looking pristine, sparkling and inviting. I may even have a dip this summer. I have found an antidote to the dreaded black algae which pervaded it earlier this year. So with the first sign of this hard to remove pest I now apply a super anti black agae tablet to the area and it is gone within a week. This is new to the market, only wish I'd have had its use years ago, it'd have saved me so much work.
 
Mate after plenty of elbow grease the pool is now looking pristine, sparkling and inviting. I may even have a dip this summer. I have found an antidote to the dreaded black algae which pervaded it earlier this year. So with the first sign of this hard to remove pest I now apply a super anti black agae tablet to the area and it is gone within a week. This is new to the market, only wish I'd have had its use years ago, it'd have saved me so much work.
Thanks, Craig. As I remember, algae were not the only problem. You were devastated after a thunderstorm had played havoc with your pool, weren't you?
Meanwhile I got an update on your weather myself according to which you can look forward to a lovely 20-26 degrees in the coming 16 days.:thumbsu:

Who knows, you might prefer our weather which looked like this this morning at 5°C.

Weather2.jpg
:D
 
Spring in WA is glorious, the best of the seasons.
Clear skies and temperatures between 23C and 31C this week.
I'm off for a motorbike ride tomorrow having done all my housework, gardening and diy stuff this weekend gone.
I don't think I could handle temps of 31C, I'd be looking for the nearest swimming pool to cool off in! 🥵
Do you wear the leather riding gear?
 
Thanks, Craig. As I remember, algae were not the only problem.
Yes Thomas that was about 12 months ago now when tonnes of mud and palm tree debris fell into my pool after a ferocious storm. That is what created the black algae. It imbeds itself into the pebble crete, reason it is a nitemare to clean. Mate I'd swap your lovely lake for my pool in a heartbeat.
 
What has spring in AUS been like in the west and in the east?
Sydney usually has terrible springs and this year is no different. If it is not a beautiful sunny day in mid 20s, it is wet or blowing a gale. No two days the same as you have in summer. Not looking forward to the next four months as heatwaves intermixed with wet periods have been predicted. 🥵
 
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From my home I can hear the local high school bugler blowing The Last Post to commemorate Australias's Remembrance Day. Nov 11. In my younger years I worked nites at a Sydney RSL Club and it was my daily job and privilege to recite the Ode of Remembrance "Lest We Forget" in honor of our fallen war heroes.
 
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Now that's not cheap Thomas.
Many Australians take out private health insurance with options for dental work and glasses.
Not me though. I have a slush fund to cover a lot of contingencies and find that cheaper in the long term. Glasses last me years and years and I get the best multifocals.
No health, dental, optical nor Pet insurance for me. Home, car and contents I do insure for.
Having no private health insurance I have worked out ways to get cheap medical treatment such as bulk billing medical practices. There is a government funded dental scheme I've tried but found it's useless. They mainly do extractions and not root canals nor especially crowns.
That sounds a bit risky to me, Terry. Who will pay for a major operation then, should it be necessary? A heart operation might cost you up to 35,000€, 42,000€ for a skin transplantation, 32,000€ for a chemotherapy, a stent would be 16,000€ , a bypass 30,000€ just to name a few.
We do have private health insurance but it's not as advantageous as it used to be and it chiefly makes sense for civil servants who get a 50% allowance from the state. For all the others, insuring oneself privately is risky and has ruined the prospect of a care-free life as a retiree for those who got trapped in it by signing up as a young family. When money is tight as a young family, you might get attracted by the low premiums offered to you as compared to compulsory insurance. For retirees, though, premiums are very high eating up a large portion of your pension and, thus, leaving very little leeway financially while those of the state insurance are very low. The sting in the tail is that the decision to get privately insured which you made 40 years earlier is binding for a lifetime. If it weren't, people would always go for the lowest premiums. I'd have ruined my life as a retiree if I'd given in to the temptations of low premiums as a young man with a family.
My wife has an additional private dental scheme and has fared very well so far. I don't have one but we never pick the standard treatment that is fully covered by the insurance but always treat ourselves to something extra if you like but which isn't an extra. Getting an amalgam filling these days, for example, would be crazy but is the standard dental care for a filling.
 
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premiums are very high eating up a large portion of your pension and, thus, leaving very little leeway financially
Wife and I look on this as a 'damned if we do damned if we dont' scenario Thomas. Do we relinquish our private health insurance and and as soon as we do risk being hit by a huge medical bill of which private care would have covered a large part. A lot more by comparison to premium costs. That is what keeps us hanging on to our insurance policy. We have dropped one or two sections of the policy to save money and now use the free seniors public hospital system more.
Do all Germans pay for public health?
 
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