GemiDoc, Music for the Dead, and the Happiest Girl in the World

Well, I guess the universe didn't like me talking so high and mighty about how young and fancy I was feeling last week, because it sent me a rather unpleasant, painful one which landed me in not one, but two hospitals. And through both, it wasn't the pain, discomfort, or subsequent anxiety which bothered me most, but this utterly corrupt, messed up system that is Romanian healthcare.

To say the conditions here are apalling would be an understatement (I mean, at least, for a country in the EU). Dirty, cramped waiting rooms, angry, abusive nurses, and unethical behavior around every corner, as we say round these parts, may God protect you from ending up in one of our hospitals. Sinister places that flashed back all sorts of unpleasant memories and rightful rage from them good old pandemic times.

Not that I needed a confirmation, but I definitely feel more entitled in my skepticism toward the medical system now. Just in the last few days, I encountered a doctor deciding I should "go on the IV", without so much as informing me what was in there (thankfully, I hold to my guns and asked), and another lambasting me for "promising" to take part in a study she runs and then changing my mind(something I never did, and even if I had somehow suggested I might, it would be profoundly unethical to try and force me to take medication I do not want). Fuckers. Absolutely insane, but it'll definitely cure you of any ailment. Rather than be stuck in a Romanian hospital? Absolutely anything.

Much as I am wary and skeptical of AI, I did spend a good deal of time in the last few days with good old Gemini, dissecting ailments and pills. A lot of our doctors complain about and mock patients searching their symptoms on Chattie, then coming in all haughty and arrogant, as though they know better than the doctor. Then again, in a system where the doctor can't bother to listen to you for more than 3 minutes, I guess it's no surprise Gemini wins.

Anyway, sorry, wanted to get that out of the system. If you ever do come to Romania, take out travel insurance, so you can go to private care if needed.

One thing I've found profoundly helpful over the last few days has been, of course, music. I haven't listened to much of it lately, but it struck me how much better I seemed to feel whenever I had something turned on. That even if I had been feeling weak or uncomfortable just before, I'd find myself singing along to my favorite songs and just, overall, feeling a lot better simply because there was music.

My all-time favorite band, as some of you here have heard. I do believe I may one day be dead, and still return to sing along to them.

"Să fii gata să treci.
Prin păduri, pe cărări, când noaptea-i adâncă,"

Be ready to go through forest paths when the night's at its darkest.
This song, like a spell, has walked with me, itself a shadow to my own worst and best moments as I've grown and matured. And rings, to this day, like a plunge through the fated abyss. Has brought me so much comfort and faith down the years.
And just the other day, I was prepping some pasta, not in the best of moods, but found myself singing along and feeling strong once more when these guys came on.

Well, we had a long playlist that was medical-related this past weekend, to at least savor the irony, which included A Cure for Pain. While I knew the song, I didn't know the full album, and must say, this one and a few other of the more jazzy numbers (like Dawna, for instance) were extremely well-placed.
To keep me resting, Fish introduced me to a fun little game about properly running a hospital, and jamming to this while playing was by far one of the most soothing moments of the last few days.

And this. Halestorm, one of those bands that, like Alternosfera, make me sing out loud and put me in a better mood instantly regardless of the situation. I've long been fascinated by this song's energy, and knew for a very long time I hoped to find something that would make me feel like this (ideally sans the abusive relationship in the song :D).

And how could I not be happy, the happiest of all, perhaps, when I have? For me, there is no other. So I guess all minor, passing grievances (and even the worst ones, the ones that come to stay and wreck your world) are worth it, if it means getting to live this life I'm living.

Ahoj, @ablaze. Happy #threetunetuesday!