This is all so lovely I think I am going to have to import an emoticon of violins. :wink: Actually I generally agree with the assessment but you do know what House would say (if he were, you know, a real person, not a fictional character :) ) if he saw this don't you? :whistle:

sasmom, et al, this is a very interesting discussion - ITA that House is much more emotionally fragile that it might superficially appear to others. I think a good argument can be made that's a big part of what Cameron doesn't really get about him during the date arc (& possibly later too) and the purpose of the arc was to introduce the concept of House's fragility & coping mechanisms to the audience before Stacy was introduced (that arc then makes more sense by having this background). Part of his protecting mechanisms with Wilson are the practical jokes in the Odd Couple arc & based on that I can see why Wilson would expect House to be more receptive in Alone - the issue is (as he doesn't react well) is he more affected than he was post-Stacy, or he's just at a point post No Reason & the Tritter debacle where he's less likely to be able to use that particular coping mechanism. My fanwank at the moment & pending better information is its the later, he's simply not coping as well as he used to because of the constant onslaught of issues he had to deal with in s3. And I find it incredibly interesting that he's finding it the hardest to cope with Chase. Though I have no idea why.

he invests so heavily when he cares about someone that when that relationship breaks down it means he breaks as well. I'd ITA, but it'd be redundant since everyone else does too. *g* I think we can draw a parallel here with the way he handles patients. He avoids taking patients when he can, because he knows that once he does commit to treating a patient, he's going to be completely invested in it.

House's Salary. In the personal canon thread, deelaundry posted a link to salary.com that the median salary for a nephrologist in Princeton is about $235,000. Also, House is a tenured professor (which is why Vogler couldn't get rid of him without full board approval.) The closes I could find was Law Professor the median for which is in the $160,000 range. So, how much does House make. And what does he do with it -- you can only buy so many $13,000 guitars.

Gambles.

He could have a few illegitimate Mary Sues tucked away somewhere...*ducks flying fruit* I think it's many things: Expensive sound system, expensive shirts, tailored jackets (even if they don't really fit, which is odd in its own way), expensive instruments, gambling, pr0n...he's a grown man with disposable income and few avenues of pleasure open to him. I suspect he craves distractions and money is a means to an end.

The instruments and the sound system are sort of one-time expenses. I think the jackets (which are mostly suit jackets, not sports ones) are left over from pre-infarction suits. gambling, porn, hookers, expensive shirts... I once read a fic in which House knew that he'd have to stop working at some point and was stashing it away. I like that theory.

I once read a fic in which House knew that he'd have to stop working at some point and was stashing it away. I like that theory. I like it, but I'm not sure I buy it. I think he'd be planning to work absolutely as long as he could until he keeled over. On the other hand, with four firings in his past, I can buy that he'd be stashing it away against potential involuntary unemployment. I can also believe he's got some stashed away to take care of his parents when they're older, knowing he'll probably die first and veterans' benefits aren't that big. I'm not sure the instruments should count as one-time expenses, given how many of them he has. :-) And I'll definitely second the uncovered medical expenses idea. And takeout adds up when you live on it instead of dragging yourself to the grocery store. Plus he lives alone -- even regular things like rent and utilities can add up when you don't have an SO to split them with. And probably the biggest expense -- malpractice insurance! Unless I misunderstand how it works, wouldn't he need his own in addition to whatever covers hospital liability? And legal fees -- wasn't $35,000 mentioned? Tritter may have been the worst, but I had the impression it wasn't his first run-in with the law. I've been shopping before with single men who were raised comfortably middle-class and had well-paying jobs and no dependents -- and been utterly astounded at the ease with which they scattered money about, buying whatever pleased them without regard to price. For House, I bet it would be CDs and vintage albums and textbooks on every subject under the sun. Student loans -- if he was fired 4 times, he might not have been able to pay them off as quickly as someone else would. Anyone have any idea how long he'd have to be at PPTH to get tenure? How would a teaching hospital compare to a regular university? And is he actually considered faculty, given how rarely we've seen him interact with any students other than his fellows?

Just a note to say that I've seen hundreds of cardiac resuscitation efforts. In '97 Seconds' HL does a fantastic job of looking really, really dead. Spookily dead. I have to wonder how his close family and friends will feel when they watch it. I think something like that would seriously mess with my head. Also, loved the 'arm porn' (a new term I just learned) when House was dressing for discharge. What I know about tenure: Some univerity/hospital systems offer tenure on hire as an incentive if the catch (prof/doc/ and yes, even nurse) is big enough. It depends on what their needs are and how much they want to give to fill a position. My guess is that Cuddy knew how valuable House could be and the tenure was offered to sweeten the pot. At the end of Top Secret House states that Cuddy gave him everything he asked for. Perhaps he asked for tenure?

In Season 1, House had been at PPTH for 8 years and survived 3 regime changes (Control). But Stacy had been gone for 5 years (Three Stories, Need to Know). So House was probably already at the hospital before the infarction. The question is, in what capacity?

My guess is that Cuddy knew how valuable House could be and the tenure was offered to sweeten the pot. At the end of Top Secret House states that Cuddy gave him everything he asked for. Perhaps he asked for tenure? May I add that Cuddy may well have added the tenure herself because she would have anticipated the many incidents to come in which someone would be telling her to fire House and giving him tenure would give her an out and make firing him harder--thus making keeping him easier? Make sense? 'Cause sometimes too much coffee is as bad as too little.... :wink: