No Need For Sunglasses at 10:18 PM

Okay, for real this time. I think I like this design better. Sorry I've been burning everyone's retinas for a few days. This one looks a bit cooler, I think. What's your take?

So. The last couple days. Yeah. Um, they weren't so great. I didn't want to post last night because I was just generally annoyed with the world, and I usually sound more bitter than witty when I post in that mood. Now I'm just resigned to the fact that sometimes days are crappy for stretches and there's nothing you can do about it. Anyway, so this week I've been working the later shift (12-8). This is cool with me because since I go in late, I can stay up later without paying for it as much as when I work the 6-2 shift. But I digress.

I switched for the early shift yesterday because I had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon, and I had a visit to make in the early evening. The downside was that the guy who switched with me had an appointment at about 7:00, so I had to go back to work and cover the last hour. This was not that big a deal, but it was another minor annoyance that added to my general annoyed state. So now that I've built this up too much, I'll just tell you what made my day annoying. The morning was okay, but little things kept happening where I would say, "Well that's obnoxious, but I'm in a good mood, so whatever." So right before I walked out the door at work, it started raining. Did I say raining? What I meant was that the Apocalypse began. So in the 50 feet from the door to my car, I was completely soaked from head to toe. Now I like the rain, but this was a little ridiculous. It was one of those storms where you walk outside, take a few quick steps, then realize it's fruitless to hurry because you will be equally soaked whether you walk or run.

So I got wet and went home. I had to leave about an hour later to go to the doctor's office (not this one). The appointment was at 3:15, and my other visit was at 6:00. Now usually at a doctor's office, one is obliged to wait for at least 17 hours before being called back, so I was ready for this. To my surprise and delight, however, I was called back only about five minutes after I sat down in the waiting room. So the doctor came in, assessed my malady, and said there'd be someone coming in a few minutes to hook me up with some health. This was at about 3:30. I waited in the little room until 4:00, when the doctor came back and said, "Has anyone been here? Why hasn't anyone been here?" I assume he was being rhetorical, as I had no answer for him on the latter question.

Anyway, the nurse came in shortly after that and we finished things up in about ten minutes. At this point, I was still cool. I'd brought a book after all, so I hadn't been bored the whole time. And to top it off, the doc gave me a coupon for a free car wash because my wait was so long. He had a big drawer full of these, so I imagine my situation was not so rare. He said he'd call in a prescription to the in-house pharmacy for me, and I figured that'd be no big deal, even though my wife usually gets her prescriptions from a pharmacy down the street. Well, I was wrong. This was the first prescription I ever remember having, and I didn't even really need it. Had I known the annoyances that would ensue, I would've just left. Anyway, I went out to this pharmacy and told them I was there, but I didn't have my prescription card with me for my insurance. This apparently presented a problem, because they spent 45 minutes on the phone with my provider, trying to get my ID number. Had I known that they somehow hadn't tried my social security number (which I had given to them earlier), I might have suggested it to them. Eventually I got on the phone with the provider, who told me the ID number they needed was "usually" the social. So I said what it was and she verified that it was indeed my ID number.

By this point, I was considerably annoyed, but there's more. After all that, the insurance covered $.60 of the prescription. I paid $45. If I'd been in my right mind, I wouldn't have gotten it. I should have just left. But I paid and I was on my way. By this time, I was hot. I considered a random act of violence, but opted instead to slam my car door and throw the prescription against the passenger side window (it was in a cardboard container...no danger to the glass). It didn't help much. So anyway, to make a long story longer, by the time I had time to blog last night, I was tired and overly annoyed, not to mention I had to get up early regardless of my late shift so that we could get Luke down to Indianapolis for his sweat test. What's a sweat test, you ask? Well I'll tell you tomorrow, because this post is getting a bit long. I guess it's been a while since I've had a nice long story, so there you go. Not to mention, now I have a few more mentions of "doctor's office" for people to catch on searches. Good times.

P.S. (I'm adding this a few hours after I actually posted): I just watched this week's episode of The Inside. If you haven't seen this show yet, you should really check it out. Fox needs to give this show more hype. You can catch my review of it here. (And check out the whole Eight Cents blog if you haven't done that, too.)

Song of the Day: "Renegades of Funk", by Rage Against the Machine. I hear that Audioslave recently did a show in Cuba where they covered some old Rage tunes. That would be most excellent to see. I was always annoyed by Zach de la Rocha's politics, but sometimes their music just hits the spot. Is that the guy's name? I can never remember, and I don't feel like looking it up. So there.