Back to school

School started again, and surprise, surprise, it’s overwhelming!  A ton of work, a ton of reading, spending hours at school, hardly seeing Uri…Yey!  I’m so having pasta tonight!  I thought I might need comfort food tonight, since I’ll be in school tonight in meetings until 7pm, and then when I get back home I will still have multiple tasks (reading article for one class, solving a case and creating a slide deck for another…), and now I can completely see myself with a bowl of pasts at hand with some of the béchamel sauce Uri made last week.

I’ve wanted to share with you guys something and I haven’t found the time for it.  This really goes back to this blogs claim to be the adventure of 2 Israelis in the land of plenty.  

One of the more popular toilet paper brands in the US is “Charmin”.  I highly recommend watching the commercial below.  You will probably find yourself asking “Who are the marketing idiots that thought that cartoon bears are cute enough to make people oblivious of the fact that the commercial is discussing toilet paper being stuck to your butt when you wipe it”.

 Anyway, they have several grades of paper.  We started out buying the cheapest one, which was perfectly fine.  Then recently bought the Ultra Soft.  Immediately we both noted that it was very strange.  In a way that might be hard to imagine, it’s actually too think and too soft.  This country is crazy! Excess excess!

Read the fine print => Listen to what is said quickly

One of the freaky differences between Israel and the USA are the commercials for pharmaceuticals.  Israel has its share of commercials for over the counter drugs (Head ache medication, strep throat drops, etc.).  In the US there are also commercials for prescription only drugs.  But one of the reasons these drugs are prescription only, is because they have a lot of side effects.  It turns out that drug companies have to say those side effects during the commercial.  This makes for some very, very strange text.  I think my favorite is a recent anti-psoriases drug that in some cases can cause death.  Here, for your pleasure is the text:

Man voiceover: I hate psoriases

Woman voiceover: Love Clearer skin

Man voiceover: Forget the embarrassment

Woman voiceover: And the flaking

Man voiceover: Humira can help clear you moderate to severe psoriases.   In one clinical trial for psoriases 7 out of 10 patients taking Humira saw 75% skin clearness and 6 out of 10 patients had clear or almost clear skin16 weeks.

Woman2 voiceover: Humira can lower your body’s ability to fight infections.  Some people have had serious infections including tuberculosis and infections that spread throughout the body.  Some of these serious infections have been fatal, so tell your doctor right away if you’ve had tuberculosis or hepatitis B, if you are prone to infection or if you get an infection.  Do not start Humira if you have an infection such as an open sore or flu.  Certain type of cancer – non- melanoma skin and  lymphoma, and blood disorders, nervous system disorders, serious allergic reactions and new or worsening heart failure have occurred.  

Woman voiceover: Hate covering up?

Man voiceover: Love seeing a difference!

Woman voiceover: Talk to your doctor about psoriasis treatment options.  Ask whether Humira may be right for you.  Today!

You can check it out for yourself here.  You’ll also find there multiple testimonials about the drug (the one I randomly selected wasn’t very positive to say the least).