On Many Subjects

I just want to point out that Opera was not my firend for at least a couple of days this week when I tried to post things that happened at work and elsewhere, but it refused to cooperate with me. I could not stay logged in to the page. Any time I did anything... like try to write a new post, I was unable to post it because Opera would log me out.

It is apparently all better now.

News of the week:

I was under the weather for a few days with the flu, but I seem to have weathered the storm, to use a clever metaphor. Then, when feeling much better, I went to my doctor for a regular follow-up because he gave me a new prescription and wanted to make certain I wasn't growing hair on the palms of my hands or anything else weird.

Because my insurace company stinks, I cannot get blood work done at the doctor's office, but I have to go to a lab. The women there are, in my experience, as close to incompetent as anyone I have ever encountered. They lost the paperwork for my doctor, so he still knows nothing more now than he did before. So, I have to go back a second time to have the same procedure done again, by the same incompetent people. This happened once before and when I mentioned it to the girl to please be extra careful because I didn't want to have to come back yet again, she threw the vial with my blood in it onto the counter and stormed out of the room. What????? The manager of the place came in and fussed at me for upsetting the little girl. I was like, "Hey, wait a minute! YOU people are the ones who lost my last specimen and/or paperwork. I didn't take it with me and drop it in the trash on the way out the door. All I did was to ask your princess if she would be careful because I am totally not into needles and pain and all that stuff and I really didn't want to have to come back here. I am certain, with your bad attitude, you will agree that seeing me as little as possible is a real plus in your life."

Not surprisingly, she agreed. I will never understand how it was MY fault that they lost paperwork and/or a specimen. What ever happened to customer service? What happened to human decency? What happened to saying "I am really sorry this happened. We will try to be extra careful."

Also, I embarassed my doctor, which was totally unintentional. My stinky insurance comapny told me I had to go to a different doctor, and I was definately not happy with that decision. Because the thinking is if you go to another doctor, then anything you have wrong with you miraculously goes away and somehow starts again as if you never had that ailment before in your life.

Twice I have been through this, where I changed doctors, then the insurance company tells them, well she can't have drugs for her arthritis that she was taking before... give her Tylenol. While Tylenol is a wonderful product and I do not object to taking it, it is hardly what I need to combat the aches and pains I live with everyday. So, for a year, I had to take nothing but Tylenol, which doesn't help Rheumatoid Arthritis very much. Only when I had reached a point where I was unable to function as a human being becaue of insufficient pharmacuetical help the insurance company agreed to pay for something a little stronger. But, they only pay for very low dose and make me work into the level where I should be. This process will take up to 3 years.

The insurance company saves money because they can delay paying for the really expensive drugs and save themselves a lot of money. Without my insurance company's help, I could not pay for the drugs that I am taking now on my own. I don't know which is worse... the insurance company or the drug company.

So, long story short, I called the insurance company and had words with a couple of people until they changed me back to the doctor I had before.

Also, the guy is a good doctor in that he really listens when a patient talks and seems to care about the overall well-being of the his patients. He has been at this a long time. The pictures hanging on the walls in his exam rooms are old and faded and at least 30 years out of date. That doesn't deter me in the least. Worn pictures on the walls tells me he is not worried about spending money on decor. That way, he won't have to pass the extra cost of fine decorating on to his patients. Thoughtful.

When I told him all of this, he said I embarassed him, which embarassed me because my reasons were not totally altruistic.

I got my hair cut yesterday and it is pretty darn short. But, it is also cute. It is a fact, that I am worried about my own comfort and could care less what any one else thinks. It is my hair and I am the one who cares for it on a day to day basis. The next time I get the crazy idea of maybe letting it grow a bit, I would like one of you to smack me in the back of the head.

I must go to the grocery store when I leave work today. Only a handful of things on the list: Cooking oil, milk, tea, bananas and bleach.

I often wonder what the check-out person things when they see an odd combination of items on the counter. Likely "What in the world does she have planned for the weekend?"