[Leica] collectors and used Leica rareness and new Web page.....

["Robert G. Stevens" <robsteve@istar.ca>]

Walt:

It could be better or worse, depending on your situation if you lived in
Canada.  You never get bills for medical treatment unless it is something
cosmetic like plastic surgery.  You pay in other ways, with high taxes on
income, cigarettes and alcohol.  If you have a low income and don't drink
or smoke, you get a pretty good deal. 

 If you make over about $35,000 a year, everything over that amount is
taxed at about %50.  So when the Doctor goes out and pays $2,500 for his
Leica, he had to earn $5,000 first and pay half of it to income tax.  While
if you are a professional like Ted Grant, when he pays $2,500 for a tool of
the trade, he can deduct it as an expense of his business and pays with
before tax dollars.  Assuming that his income is great enough to meet these
expenses, Ted gets his Leicas for half price compared to a Doctor. 

This tax situation, also explains why a lot of Canadian doctors are heading
south.  I was in North Carolina last week visiting a friend who moved there
a few years ago with his doctor wife.  He was an electrical engineer and
also found it easy to get a job that payed much better than in Canada.
There are risks to this too, after he got there and was working for a year
or so, he had an illness that the HMO tried to claim as a prexisting
condition.  He got it straigtened out.  

As for his wife the Doctor, she works very hard and deserves the pay she
gets.  I imagine a good portion of the bill you get goes to the HMO.  I
belive she said she was paid about $75 per hour.  That is not much over
what a good auto mechanic charges.  As a matter of fact, she had her car in
for repair and the mechanic who was just out of trade school, said he made
about $35 an hour including his comissions. 

Sorry about being off topic.  I will link it to Leica with a few scans from
my trip through to North Carolina.  I took a M6 with a 35mm Summilux ASPH,
50mm Noctilux, and a Tele-Elmarit.  This kit and a few filters and film
were put in a Billingham Alice bag which nicely fit into the tank bag of my
motor cycle.  The picture are a bit pedestrian, but I was only in the New
York and Washinton for a few hours each.  My drive into North Carolina was
in the Dark so I don't have any pictures from there. 

http://home.istar.ca/~robsteve/photography/trip.htm

I thought these pictures were worth sharing if only so the LUG members
could put a face to my name.  If you look at the Washington picture, you
can see the Alice bag sticking out of the tank bag on the motorcycle.  As
for the Times square picture of me, a kind bystander took it for me.  He
happened to be one of the new Times Square police force and I figured I
could trust him not to run away with it.  The Noctilux pictures were taken
at F1 at about 1/30th with E100s.

Lastly, for all the veterns of wars and conflicts out there, thank you for
what you have done, as today is Remeberance Day in Canada and I believe
Veterns Day in the USA.

Regards,

Robert Stevens


At 04:38 PM 11/10/98 -0600, you wrote:
>If the medical/legal professionals are offended by our disdain 
>for "dr./lawyer camera bashing", imagine how offended this poor 
>photographer/lab supervisor was when a local E.R. doctor was paid 
>$250 for FIVE minutes observation by my insurance, THEN the dumbass
>sent ME a bill for an additional $200, clearly in violation of my 
>HMO regs!!
>
>$450 to tell me I had an intestinal infection and was dehydrated -
>WHICH I TOLD HIM WHEN I ARRIVED!!!
>
>So be offended....I too have eight years of higher education, 20 years 
>of experience, and it takes me FOUR DAYS to earn that amount, gross.....
>
>
>Whine on....
>
>Best to everyone, even with letters after your name, Walt in Denton, Tx.
>
>
>
>
>