Voltage-variable capacitor doesn't work in LTSpice

Almost. On the way back I had a Strong Blonde Ale at one of my bicycle "gas stations":

Eight volts, woohoo ...

Like most statistics, it doesn't tell the entire story.

Insurance companies? Lawyers? Congresscritters?

Nope, they're going broke too. Obamacare is putting the small regional hospitals out of business. The large city hospitals seem to be doing OK, but...

Who pays the rates on the "obscene chargemaster lists"? Insurance companies certainly don't and those without insurance don't (pay anything). Who's left?

That is true for many.

Some are retiring early. Others don't take Medicare and/or patients. I know people who've had serious difficulties finding a doctor that had time to treat them and was willing to.

Lawyers, liability insurers, unionized workers and hospitals, mostly. A nurse makes more money than an engineer in many places. The health "system" in the US has gone beyond absurd. Which is why many people with non-urgent or elective surgeries go to Thailand and other places to have it done.

Not sure that it matters. The drugs and effects are the same. If you don't exercise for several days, you'll have withdrawal symptoms, too. Drugs don't addict the user on first use, either.

Thanks for the link:

The article linked to another article in the NewYorker, "Cowboys and Pit Crews":

This was a very enjoyable read - thank you.

But the problem is once you start reading about these issues, you quickly get overwhelmed with the complexity. There doesn't seem to be a single string that if you pull on it, out will come the solution. Given all the different factors - politics, liability, social, and plain greed, there may be no solution.

Medical tourism may be the answer for those who can afford it, but many cannot. Possible solutions abound, for example the free health care enjoyed by Canadians. But it is doubtful anything like this could be introduced in the US.

I know many people in health care are very idealistic about helping others. But when it starts affecting your family, you have to make a choice.

I guess you can consider yourself lucky to have got out when you did.

At some point, professional indemnity insurance costs more than health insurance (with reduced liability). It seems likely that the USA is well past that point.

Life is dangerous. Not everything that happens to you is "someone else's fault".

The key points are missing in most publications (sometimes because they are not "PC") and those are that, before doing anything to our medical system, we must get rid of the parasites in it and also make it at least as transparent as the process of buying groceries. If a cardiologist has to pay north of $100k just in liablility insurance just to be able to practice that is sick. If people cannot find out before committing what a procedure costs that is never going to work in the long run.

I wouldn't want it. Socialized medicine results in the usual, waiting lists. Except people die on those kinds of waiting lists. Wealthier Canadians often quietly carry a Mayo Care card or something similar in their pockets. That way they can avoid the mediocre performance of their country's health system and skip across the border for top notch treatment. While at Mayo I was astounded how many Canadian patients were there, their accents gave them away. Problem is, if our system turns sour we have no border to skip across for medical care. We'd have to cross an ocean and with a heart condition that may not be possible.

It would have been ok to get out later but it would have created a lull in assignments. I'd have used that for mountain biking :-)

I didn't get out completely, still doing one medical project and that is a very challenging one. When it's tough, it's fun.

I do. That is because it isn't the endorphins, it's the experience. On Friday I used my mountain bike to go to Placerville, a 36mi ride and often through gnarly terrain. I met many horses, dogs, had a fox travel in front of me on the trail for a while, saw beautiful birds, pretty flowers, a few chats with ranchers. Then there is the experience of achievement. For example, for the first time ever I was able to hammer up a particular uphill stretch staying in the pedals. I and almost anyone I know used to walk the last part of it.

Because they can't give you any of the above.

You're wrong. It's the drugs.

Wrong again. It's *exactly* the same process. Your brain likes the endorphins, no matter how you get them (whether it be dope, exercise, or chocolates).

Nope. For me it's mostly the memories of the last ride. For example, I do not net much fun out of a tough ride along one of the main county roads here and there isn't much of an "endorphin high" afterwards. But when coming back from a similarly strenuous trail ride it's completely different. I feel good and can't wait to go back there. This is because of the whole experience and has little to do with body-produced substances.

Where do you think those happy thoughts came from? You're ADDICTED! ;-)

It's probably from the Strong Blonde Ale, Guinness or Hefeweizen at an outdoor pub on the way back.