New Zealand doesn't just take anyone. You usually have to have a job offer or a sizeable account at a New Zealand bank to apply for citizenship. They also take applications for citizenship for certain types of skilled workers (types vary based on need) but that's essentially a lottery if you can even qualify for it.
That's emergency care. No one is waiting 3+ months for someone to set their broken leg.
Meanwhile, I'm dealing with what is likely some variety of IBD by getting up 3 hours early for work so that I can completely empty my bowels before my shift starts and I'll have to keep doing that for 7 more weeks until I even get to see a GI doctor.
My wife is afraid of leaving, it's expensive, and immigration laws can make it challenging to move somewhere desirable.
Just to be clear, the point of my post was that I pay for insurance, pay for the visit, and I still have to wait 3 months to see a specialist. I'll then need to wait weeks or months for an appointment for any sort of procedure or scan.
Just to be clear, you should have read my post in the most sarcastic voice you are capable of. I don't think 3 months is an acceptable amount of time to have to wait for a doctor's appointment and I think it's absolutely insane that I have to pay as much as I do for insurance and still have to pay something out of pocket for the visit. The only thing keeping me in this country is my partner's fear of starting over in an unfamiliar place.
Well yeah but you have those long wait times to deal with right?
Here in America, I only had to wait 4 weeks for a video conference (in-person would have been 6 weeks) with my primary care physician so she could recommend me to a specialist that doesn't have any openings until mid-August. Thank goodness I live in the land of the free where I only have to wait 3 months to see a doctor who has about a 20% chance to cancel on me last minute due to a "scheduling issues" and leave me hanging for another 4-8 weeks.
AND I get to pay for some of it out of pocket despite paying monthly for better than average medical insurance!
USA #1
Diagnosing people you've never met is generally a bad idea.
They review hundred of hours of hidden toilet cam footage. How else would you investigate?
I think a better way to phrase that might be: I'm not going to trust a cocaine addict who tells me that cocaine is a safe and healthy alternative to my morning cup of coffee. I would like to see those findings peer reviewed and replicated by people that don't have a vested interest in making access to cocaine easier.
Sorry, let me rephrase for you: I'll just go ahead and uproot my entire life to move to a country that sells Chinese cars.
Some real examples that are specific to the trip I take:
There is no rail service that goes there. It would be a combo of trains and busses that takes significantly longer and costs more than the gas.
Our dog comes with us, generally isn't allowed on mass transit, and the much longer trip would stress her out if she was.
There is little to no mass transit in the town they live in to get around once we arrive so we'd end up borrowing or renting a car anyway.
With limited amounts of time off, making the trip overnight adds a full day of getting to see our family to the trip.
The only other realistic means of getting there is flying but, I enjoy driving and hate everything about air travel. It's a pretty cheap flight for one person but becomes more expensive once you add in the rest of the family and the dog can't come.
Edit: formatting
who wants that?
I do. We have family that we visit a few times each year. If I leave at 2am and drive straight through, we get there in 7-8 hours. If I make the drive during the day, it takes 10-13 hours.
You're not wrong.
I also saw some evidence further down this thread that oil companies provide funding to this group that I had previously been unaware of. I deleted my comment shortly after that but it might still be showing up because federation can be screwy.
Non-violently blocking the entrance to an oil refinery = good protest
Defacing ancient monument temporarily = bad protest
Don't you ever get tired of finding coins, gemstones, generic art items, and magical items? OK, maybe not magical items...
As a long time DM, I certainly got tired of handing that stuff out. That's why I decided to make a conscious effort to embrace setting-appropriate realism when placing loot and creating random tables in my current campaign.
For example, the party journeyed through an ancient elven city that had once existed within massive, living trees that were now blighted and petrified. Each tree/building was well over 1000 feet tall and were more likely to be inhabited by monsters at higher levels While exploring the city, they passed through a variety of districts that were themed and named. Loot was then determined using tables based on district type and altitude.
The first tree they went through went like this:
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Lower levels - residential district - loot found: sweet smelling soaps with dried leaves and spices preserved inside, a badly water-damaged book of fairy tales, some coins and basic gear found on the corpse of a dead adventurer
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Middle levels - temple district - loot found: scented oils, decorative holy symbols, material components for cleric spells, ancient vestments, incense and a lavish burner
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Upper levels - market district - loot found: a rare magical item, ancient promissory notes from a bank, a very complex lock with 2 keys, ancient cookware and pottery
The journey both to and through the ancient city was... harrowing. I'm running an eldritch horror campaign and this was point in the story when the horror started really ramping up.
That's why, after exiting the forest, our barbarian, Arthur, felt the need to blow off some steam by pranking our fighter, Clive. While keeping watch, Arthur dug out an ancient clay pot and filled it with warm water. Then Arthur totally biffed a stealth roll and woke Clive up while putting his hand in it.
When asked what he was doing, Arthur stammered for a moment before saying, "You found those soaps and scented oils in [the city], I thought I'd surprise you with a nice manicure."
This started a runner between those two that lasted for months and got the ball rolling on some character growth for Clive who was learning that he REALLY likes the finer things in life.
How has creative non-magical loot influenced your campaigns/characters?
tl;dr: The barbarian gives the fighter a manicure.
