Today I met up with Adrian for lunch in Carlton. We went and had pizza at Cafe Corretto on Lygon Street. Now, one of the amusing things about eating on Lygon Street is the absolute obsession with Formula 1 racing, and Ferrari and Michael Schumacher in particular. I've walked past shops in the area that have posters for shoes or pasta that are endorsed by Michael Schumacher. It's bizarre. Our restaurant had Ferrari memorabilia all over the place, including the shell of a Ferrari Formula 1 car hanging from the ceiling. In honor of this, I chose to eat the Ferrari pizza, which was quite good. It had cheese, tomatoes, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and olives. Adrian went with the American pizza- it had salami, and I'm not sure why that makes it "American." After eating lunch we walked down the street to get some gelati at Casa Del Gelato. I had a chocolate and lemon mixture, which was yummy. We headed back towards Melbourne Uni trying to eat the gelati faster than it was melting. I said goodbye to Adrian (he had to go back to work) and headed into the City. I finally decided to get private health and apartment contents insurance from HBA. We do have government funded health insurance in Australia (Medicare), but it does not cover dental or optical. Having private insurance means that you get these "extras" and can avoid government surcharges and waiting lists for needed medical treatments. The Federal Government does rebate 30% of the costs as an incentive. I went with a medium level of cover hospital plan and basic level of cover for extras. It's good that you can pick a choose what you want. The only bummer is having to pay out of pocket for a higher level of health care that would be standard in the States with employer provided health insurance.
It was a hot and sticky day today. We reached at top of 37 degrees C/98 degrees F. As I headed home the sky was turning very dark. Right now it is absolutely pouring rain and cooling down a bit- yay for the thunderstorms! It's still meant to be very hot this weekend though (especially Sunday). Hopefully I'll survive.
1 comment:
Don't get too excited about the private system, believe me. Working in the health industry, and trying to get people what they need - you are better off using your money to live it up. In fact having private health care cover when you are elderly is a disadvantage....
Hot hot hot on Sunday? Wow - we are due to get the blow in from the Russiean big freeze, and are going to be freezing our bits off in London!! How funny!
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