You May Share Your Mini-Rants Here!

[Lacunae_Matata]

Got a bee sting last night. Whee! Right at the crease of my thigh, edging towards the private bits. Double whee!

I’m a little paranoid about stings, because my mother is very allergic, and I’m aware that allergies can develop at any time, and I’m not really sure whether my mom’s tendency to nearly die when stung can be heritable. So I took Benadryl. And I can never predict how I’m going to react to antihistamines, so I passed out for 14 hours, and apparently punched my husband in the face. And now I feel all hungover and loopy, and I should be asleep, but…

[Catamount]

@GuanoLad

Another of the sites I frequently visit has fallen victim to the tabletisation of the Internet, with big random-sized blocks, huge fonts, and infinite scrolling.

I wish this design trend had a practical motivation behind it, instead of just “what everyone else is doing.”

That shit’s going to look more dated than a Geocities page in about five years.

[Locrian]

@Lightray

Grrr. Getting out of the car tonight upon arriving home, glasses fell off, and I promptly stepped on them, breaking them. Despite them being the flexi-frame kind that are supposed to stand up to that. So now I’ll get to replace the frames again (they’re my Glasses of Theseus, having had the frames and lenses replaced identically to the original.)

And then after additional minor annoyances – cut face shaving, cut finger opening soup can, bonked head on cabinets – I loaded up the dishwasher… whereupon the disposal it’s linked to groaned, started spilling out water and the smell of smoke. The hell? Dishwasher and disposal are lifeless, now, after cleaning up that mess.

And I get to take off a half day tomorrow since it’s the only repair time available within the next week.

I’m going to bed.

Lightray, this is exactly what I expect to happen to myself everyday when I wake up. Similar events have happened to me somewhat recently. My only suggestion: get Transitions lenses. They’re better than the Photobrown lenses from days of old ('80s).

[GuanoLad]

@SpazCat

That shit’s going to look more dated than a Geocities page in about five years.

It’s apparently called “responsive design” but I think what it ought to be called is “nobody cares about desktops anymore, old man!”

[Jackmannii]

Well, life on a farm is kinda laid back.

Maybe she was really short, brown and furry.

[saje]

@MissTake

Seriously? I can’t give the ever creeping lily of the valley away! Hostas are gold in my neighborhood. They frequently walk away.
We have a bet going on how long my new super purdy heavy as hell birdbath will stay. TheKid gives it two weeks, I say a month. I will be going and buying stuff to tether it down. Considering someone stole a 400lb wishing well my sister had in the yard when she lived here, worrying about theft is not out of bounds.

That’s gorgeous! I might have to have one…

Is it really slick inside though? Or is there some texture for the wee clawed feet?

[saje]

@cochrane

There was a scene in “Welcome Back, Kotter” that had me chuckling in recognition. Gabe gets out of bed in the morning and groans. He says to his wife, Julie, “That was my father’s noise!”

“What, Honey?”

“My father made that noise when he got up in the morning. But he didn’t start making that noise until he was 40. I’m too young to make my father’s noise!”

As I get older, I find myself making all kinds of noises I never imagined I’d hear coming out of my mouth.

I remember that episode! (Oh god… now I feel old!)

[Catamount]

@GuanoLad

It’s apparently called “responsive design” but I think what it ought to be called is “nobody cares about desktops anymore, old man!”

Nobody cares about people being able to find anything on the website anymore is what it’s called. The local free weekly rag changed to a tablet-style layout about a month ago and now I can’t find the movie reviews. I can read the ones for the new releases in the print edition, but the ones for the special screenings are online-only and unfindable with the new layout.

Sounds petty, I know, but I adore the reviewer for this paper. He’s so delightfully snarky with the one-star reviews.

[MissTake]

@saje

That’s gorgeous! I might have to have one…
Is it really slick inside though? Or is there some texture for the wee clawed feet?

It’s glazed, but not perfectly so little bird claws and squirrel feet have purchase.

[ENugent]

@SpazCat

The local free weekly rag changed to a tablet-style layout about a month ago and now I can’t find the movie reviews.

Up at the top of the screen, do you see the word “Movies”? There’s a drop-down menu there that takes you to movie reviews.

[Jackmannii]

I just spent about 20 minutes trying to get ahold of a couple of MDs. The first office has absolutely zero way to reach a live human being - all five prompts go to recorded lines (and dialing “O” gets you an error message). The second doc’s office also has no humans available, with the recorded explanation that 12-1 is their lunch hour. How nice.

In neither case was I trying to get an appointment or a prescription or anything personal. I was attempting to reach these MDs for clinical information on a patient whose case I am working up.

If I was a current or prospective patient, I’d find another doctor (there are plenty in the area with live humans answering phones). What a terrible way to demonstrate your (un)willingness to deal with people. And there’s no excuse for not knowing the impact your office’s phone interface has on the practice.

[Skara_Brae]

Ugh, Dr.'s offices are the worst.

I recently had this experience. After calling the main line, I was told to call the local clinic directly. After calling them, I was told that I needed to be transferred to a certain department’s admin, and they would transfer me, but “she doesn’t have voicemail, so you just have to keep calling until she picks up.”

Who the hell doesn’t have voicemail in a professional environment in this day and age? And how is that acceptable?

[LavenderBlue]

Doctors are the fucking worst. I need to see an orthopedist for a badly busted ankle that hurts like hell. I can’t drive on this damned ankle and I have a small child so I need someone to watch her. The earliest reasonable appointment I could get is next Sunday. Fucking lazy assholes. I called SIX fucking orthopods. Most don’t have any appointments after four in the afternoon or on weekends. Why the fuck did you become a doctor if you don’t want to keep weekend or evening hours?

[Roderick_Femm]

@LavenderBlue

Doctors are the fucking worst. I need to see an orthopedist for a badly busted ankle that hurts like hell. I can’t drive on this damned ankle and I have a small child so I need someone to watch her. The earliest reasonable appointment I could get is next Sunday. Fucking lazy assholes. I called SIX fucking orthopods. Most don’t have any appointments after four in the afternoon or on weekends. Why the fuck did you become a doctor if you don’t want to keep weekend or evening hours?

So ER is out of the question?

I think most specialists think that their patients don’t really have emergencies and can be seen when it is convenient for the doctor. Even my PCP is hard to see on short notice, but at least he does have a person on the phone, at whom I can wheedle and cry.

[Athabasca]

@Athabasca

Walmart pharmacy and its resident pharmacist deserves a mini pitting. I have never used them before but they have better hours and are closer than my usual pharmacy so I thought what the hell, right?

My doc prescribed 10 mg of a med to start, for 14 days, then an increase to 20 mg if all goes well, then 30, etc. I made sure the clerk understood this, then waited 40 mins for the prescription to be filled. Not bad, I thought.

I pay for my meds, and in the parking lot, I thought I should have a look at it. It’s my first time on this med. I see that they gave me 20 mg for 7 days, not 10 mg for 14 AS THE PRESCRIPTION CLEARLY STATED.

So I go back and ask why the substitution. And, why didn’t they inform me? (My other pharmacy always tells me if they have to make a sub) The clerk shrugs and says, it’s ok. We do this, she says, it saves people money. I say, my doctor has prescribed 10 mg for 14 days. I don’t want to split pills. Are you saying you don’t have any 10 mg pills? The clerk shrugs again, yeah, she says, we do.

So I ask for a do over.

While I wait (and I asked for a rush on it since they fucked up) the actual pharmacist starts complaining loudly about me, using my name multiple times, and it’s my name in full. He is very sarcastic, saying ‘I guess she doesn’t want to save money?’ And whining how he has to undo all the good work he did, just to ‘make her happy’

When I can get his attention, as calmly as I can, I tell him that I didn’t want the 20 mg dose and it was important I get the right dose of 10 mg, and they should have informed me before subbing the higher dose.

To my amazement, he says, ‘well you could have asked.’

Like, I’m psychic? This makes no sense. I am supposed to ask whether they will follow the prescription or start riffing on it?

I then tell him that I heard him say my full name several times, and I didn’t think that was professional behaviour on his part.

He sneered at me, saying, ‘at least I didn’t say what medication you were taking’

Whereupon he threw my new meds at the cashier and walked away.

Total price difference between 10 mg and 20?

Thirty five cents.

Fuck you Walmart pharmacy

@SpazCat

I would complain to higher-ups about that. Aside from the clear privacy violation, there’s also the danger of dispensing the* wrong fucking dosage from what’s written on the prescription*. Where did this guy get his pharmacy degree, from the back of a cereal box?

A full week has gone by and I have not heard back from Walmart about my complaint. Stay tuned.

[LavenderBlue]

@Roderick_Femm

So ER is out of the question?

I think most specialists think that their patients don’t really have emergencies and can be seen when it is convenient for the doctor. Even my PCP is hard to see on short notice, but at least he does have a person on the phone, at whom I can wheedle and cry.

I went to see an ER on Friday. They said if the ankle isn’t getting better I should see an orthopod. It still hurts like hell nearly a week later.

This is fucking ridiculous. Local libraries have evening and weekend hours. So do banks, pharmacies, restaurants, bakeries and most other businesses around here. I can even get a new pair of glasses on a weekend or go the DMV. I often work weekends and later at night. Why can’t a doctor have reasonable hours that meet the needs of working people? I have to wait over a week in pain to get this looked at because the fucking doctors won’t work past four in the afternoon.

[EmilyG]

Okay. This is really trivial, I’ll admit it up front. But once again, I just found out that a friend is having a party, and hasn’t invited me. I mean, it is a bit of a moot point, seeing as I probably can’t make it to the party and even if I could, I know for a fact that this friend really wouldn’t mind me showing up anyway, but still… it’d be nice to feel included.

Yeah, I’m a whiny bitch.

[Lacunae_Matata]

I had a similar story, which I typed with links and funny asides and everything, then lost thanks to hitting a wrong button, so I’ll go with the abbreviated version Lavender Blue:

Hie thee (or some mobile person who loves thee very much) to the pharmacy or Walmart or something and acquire a walking boot. They’re about $60-$70, but it’s what a doctor’s going to prescribe anyway, and it’s worth it to regain a little mobility.

Also, by virtue of my husband having single-handedly (and knee-ed-ly/shoulder-ed-ly/etc.) sent all of his children to good private colleges thanks to his issues, I have the private number of a very excellent ortho who will see you ASAP if you can come visit sunny south Georgia!

[saje]

Try a non-surgical Sports Med doc. Orthos can be hard to see because they have to be in surgery too, not just doing office visits.

Try here: AMSSM - Find a Doc
or here: http://www.sportsmed.org/apps/findadoc/membersearch.aspx

And if you happen to be anywhere near Columbia SC, I can put you in touch with just the right person

[LavenderBlue]

Thanks for the suggestions. I just need to find someone in NJ who is covered under my medical insurance and has reasonable office hours! Part of the problem is that I’m supposed to stay off the ankle and only use crutches. But that really doesn’t work with an active three year convinced fun is strewing the house with toys.