That Houston’s metro area population is larger than Scotland’s?

This and other interesting facts can be found on wikipedia.

The Greater Houston Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (Houston CMSA) consists of eight counties which cover 8,778 square miles, an area slightly smaller than Massachusetts but larger than New Jersey. The actual city population is 2.1 million – it was only 2,396 in 1850.

Of all the facts about the US which I learn every day, I am always astonished at the pace of growth of this country in such a short history. And it is a history that is preciously guarded and looked after.  Many cities have regenerated their downtown areas, their city centres, and re-invented these as areas for visitors with interesting places to see and to go to and things to do.

I can’t imagine the current plans for Marischal Square in Aberdeen attracting such crowds, other than to protest the lunacy!

Houston is also home to the Texas Medical Center – the largest medical centre in the world, apparently, with a local economic impact of $10 billion. More than 52,000 people work within its facilities and look after some 4.8 million patients each year.

We all know that the medical systems of the UK and the US are worlds apart. Our NHS is as preciously guarded by the UK population as the Alamo is in San Antonio. It does provide us with a totally different psychological approach to healthcare.  In the UK we just expect it. In the US we pay for it so we expect more. However, that expectation of ‘more’ has resulted in a strange symbiotic relationship between the health of the patient and the healthcare provider, where insurance providers are a third parasitic organism intruding into this relationship and feeding off the spoils.

Ultimately it is your healthcare insurer that decides the extent of your treatment and what can and can’t be paid for. There are two contrasting possible side effects here – you don’t get all the treatment you actually need as your plan is insufficient or you choose to get treatment that really you don’t need, just because your plan can and does provide it.

And day time tv provides some interesting evidence. You have got to love daytime tv in the US for the adverts alone.

I can’t say I have ever seen a gastric band surgery advert in the UK.

And as for the ads for pharmaceutical products – the disclaimer informational statements are longer than the actual ads.

Other than the occasional car and furniture sale ads, the rest appear to be for all types of food.

These ads do provide an insight into the state of the nation’s health. Obesity and all related illnesses are particularly prevalent. So the population ingests vast quantities of food – way more than it needs – then spend the twilight years of life paying the penalty, and paying the insurers and healthcare providers to look after them. Economically it is what makes the country tick so you can see why there was such a backlash against so called ‘Obamacare’.

It would take generations to adjust to a different mindset to health care here. With a massive health care facility providing employment and rich pickings to so many, slap bang in the middle of Houston, I can’t see it happening anytime soon.

Which brings me to our next important task – to find a doctor. Type ‘doctors in Houston’ into a search engine and you will see the extent of this task!

A round up of a few more firsts this week. We purchased an EZ tag. This allows us to travel on the toll roads and automatically charges us for the privilege. It proved to be a relatively EZ task – although getting to the EZ tag store was a bit of a chore. Hopefully we won’t have to do that again.

I had my first proper driving lesson. I managed to drive on the ‘big roads’, although my palms sweat so much when I do that holding on to the steering wheel becomes the biggest challenge.

We had our first power cut – construction work in this street sliced through a main cable – so our ‘shining’ corridor was pitch black for a while – a bit scary.

And the water supply dried up too – possibly for the same reason. Our street was closed with emergency vehicles flashing their lights – we assumed a major water pipe had been breached.

BTW I am watching daytime tv only while at the gym! In case you think that’s all I’m doing over here.

My viewing has included – a piece about an internet craze for teens to set themselves on fire and film themselves doing this (seriously), another about a girl who was beaten to death by an angry mob because she photobombed their selfie, and the beating was also filmed and no-one stepped in to stop the mob – of girls, and a story about a girl who slashed the tyres of someone who unfriended her on Facebook. First world problems.

But the sun is shining and the temperature is due to rise to around 22C tomorrow. This city is massive and surprising and does have some lovely corners. The population is interesting and diverse – from all corners of the globe and all religious permutations. Vietnamese Baptists being one such unlikely combo.

And at last we seem to have secured our home. Not the one I reported last time, a greedy landlord spoiled that plan. But a lovely house in a secluded street – very close to – the Texas Medical Center…so we’ll be good for health care when we need it!