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Feb. 10th, 2022 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stitchwhichToday was one of those days... It started out nicely, as I'd gone two whole days with eight(ish) hours of sleep and woke up refreshed each morning. These instances are rare and I really enjoy those days. Bossman left the car at home so I had wheels for the day (I could take his truck any other time but I hate driving that behemoth. Except to and from camping trips when it is worth its weight in gold) so I did chores after breakfast and left the house after the three-hour window of time called "the lunch hour" so I could hit up the base pharmacy for my prescriptions and then run all sorts of errands, as the mood should strike.
Well. About that. There was a line waiting to enter the pharmacy. That was new. I spent 20 minutes in that line and then got in, did the computer check-in thingy which generates an assigned letter category & waiting number on a slip of paper. It is all sorted out; "E" patients are folks who are picking up new prescriptions, which is a two-step time wasting process, "C" people are there to get called-in renewals (those get taken care of very quickly), and "D" folks are active-duty personnel who have their own category for head of the line privileges. Ther are a couple other categories but those are rare. For this visit, I was an "E" patient. I had waited in the "E" line last week to drop off a paper copy of a new prescription and was told that it would be ready in three working days (that is normal), so returned today to get it and to "activate" a second script. That one had been sent electronically to the pharmacy but like all new ones would not be filled until I personally showed up and requested activation for it. And then I'd have to wait three business days before I could go back to get it*. Yes, this is a stupid system. So windows 1-3 are the first stop for any "E" person once their ticket number is called for the first time. There our ID is checked again, our ticket number confirmed, our age double-checked, and the prescription is confirmed to exist in the pharmacy's system and has been approved by the military medical insurance. When all of that is done, we go back into the waiting area before we can be called to one of the windows 5-7. (#4 is only for "D" paper holders). So my afternoon was:
Drive to the base and show my military ID card to the guard at the gate. Stick it in my shirt pocket because why bother putting it back in my wallet?
Wait 20 minutes for a parking space to clear.
Don a mask, grab my folding stool from the back of the car, and get in the outside line headed by a guard.
Show my ID and confirm that I have not travelled out of area or had/been exposed to any Covid risks.
Enter the pharmacy and stand in line to use the check-in computer.
Use the computer to scan my ID and sort my customer category, get the dreaded "E" slip, and find a place to set up my folding stool since all chairs were full.
Wait 58 minutes before being called to window #2. Go through all the confirmation steps and get sent back to the waiting area. (I've used my ID four times by now.)
Inside the building there is a jammer for phone signals but free (and intermittent) internet. There are just too many people using it.
I wished I had brought my book. Solitaire games on my phone were getting boring.
One hour and five minutes later my number was called for the second time.
Walked to window #5, showed my ID, confirmed my name and birthdate, got told that while my toothpaste prescription was in the computer, the actual tubes could not be found, and there was a problem with the second prescription as it was for "lotion" rather than "cream", which they should have caught at window #2, and as the lotion was not in the military system the clinic would have to send a new script. But hey! The clerk actually said she'd call the clinic and explain it to them and get a replacement prescription sent in. I got the impression that I was going to get the second prescription that day - weird but fabulous! So I waited at that window.
20 minutes later I walked out with both prescriptions after showing my slip of paper and ID card again and signing two signature pads.
Total time: 183 minutes.
Yes, three hours for a package of cream and some souped-up toothpaste. The process is the same for any medication. The good part is that there are no costs to me as a dependent of a retired military service person (that was in our military contracts back in the days when my spouse and I were active-duty.) No co-pay for prescriptions is a fabulous benefit when one is getting old and body parts don't work as well as they once did. But geez, did it blow my day. By the time I'd fought my way through the traffic to get off base (afternoon rush hour) and put gas in the car it was already time for an early dinner. Or in my case, for a late lunch. Which I bought via a drive through and brought home. Fish and chips for the win.
My husband worked a long day today and we got home at the same time, both of us frustrated with rude people we'd encountered in person or on the road. I think folks in the area went a little crazy because the weather was so very mild (65 degrees f) and sunny - everyone was out, it seemed, and yet in a self-focused bubble so just were not aware of who, or what, was near them. or in front of them. Or beside them. Or taking up the space they decided they needed to be in... I eschewed any further errands and came home to cower in safe solitude.
*And even more fun, the military pharmacy system only allows for 90 days' worth of any prescription, many of which will be dispensed in 30-day amounts, so you must call and activate a refill every month separately for each prescription. Every three months, your physician will have to send in a prescription for the same medications, which will then be "new", and you will have to do the E-category activate/wait three days/pick up thing all over again. The two months when we are "C" patients are golden. We're usually in and out in 15 minutes.
So how was your day?
Well. About that. There was a line waiting to enter the pharmacy. That was new. I spent 20 minutes in that line and then got in, did the computer check-in thingy which generates an assigned letter category & waiting number on a slip of paper. It is all sorted out; "E" patients are folks who are picking up new prescriptions, which is a two-step time wasting process, "C" people are there to get called-in renewals (those get taken care of very quickly), and "D" folks are active-duty personnel who have their own category for head of the line privileges. Ther are a couple other categories but those are rare. For this visit, I was an "E" patient. I had waited in the "E" line last week to drop off a paper copy of a new prescription and was told that it would be ready in three working days (that is normal), so returned today to get it and to "activate" a second script. That one had been sent electronically to the pharmacy but like all new ones would not be filled until I personally showed up and requested activation for it. And then I'd have to wait three business days before I could go back to get it*. Yes, this is a stupid system. So windows 1-3 are the first stop for any "E" person once their ticket number is called for the first time. There our ID is checked again, our ticket number confirmed, our age double-checked, and the prescription is confirmed to exist in the pharmacy's system and has been approved by the military medical insurance. When all of that is done, we go back into the waiting area before we can be called to one of the windows 5-7. (#4 is only for "D" paper holders). So my afternoon was:
Drive to the base and show my military ID card to the guard at the gate. Stick it in my shirt pocket because why bother putting it back in my wallet?
Wait 20 minutes for a parking space to clear.
Don a mask, grab my folding stool from the back of the car, and get in the outside line headed by a guard.
Show my ID and confirm that I have not travelled out of area or had/been exposed to any Covid risks.
Enter the pharmacy and stand in line to use the check-in computer.
Use the computer to scan my ID and sort my customer category, get the dreaded "E" slip, and find a place to set up my folding stool since all chairs were full.
Wait 58 minutes before being called to window #2. Go through all the confirmation steps and get sent back to the waiting area. (I've used my ID four times by now.)
Inside the building there is a jammer for phone signals but free (and intermittent) internet. There are just too many people using it.
I wished I had brought my book. Solitaire games on my phone were getting boring.
One hour and five minutes later my number was called for the second time.
Walked to window #5, showed my ID, confirmed my name and birthdate, got told that while my toothpaste prescription was in the computer, the actual tubes could not be found, and there was a problem with the second prescription as it was for "lotion" rather than "cream", which they should have caught at window #2, and as the lotion was not in the military system the clinic would have to send a new script. But hey! The clerk actually said she'd call the clinic and explain it to them and get a replacement prescription sent in. I got the impression that I was going to get the second prescription that day - weird but fabulous! So I waited at that window.
20 minutes later I walked out with both prescriptions after showing my slip of paper and ID card again and signing two signature pads.
Total time: 183 minutes.
Yes, three hours for a package of cream and some souped-up toothpaste. The process is the same for any medication. The good part is that there are no costs to me as a dependent of a retired military service person (that was in our military contracts back in the days when my spouse and I were active-duty.) No co-pay for prescriptions is a fabulous benefit when one is getting old and body parts don't work as well as they once did. But geez, did it blow my day. By the time I'd fought my way through the traffic to get off base (afternoon rush hour) and put gas in the car it was already time for an early dinner. Or in my case, for a late lunch. Which I bought via a drive through and brought home. Fish and chips for the win.
My husband worked a long day today and we got home at the same time, both of us frustrated with rude people we'd encountered in person or on the road. I think folks in the area went a little crazy because the weather was so very mild (65 degrees f) and sunny - everyone was out, it seemed, and yet in a self-focused bubble so just were not aware of who, or what, was near them. or in front of them. Or beside them. Or taking up the space they decided they needed to be in... I eschewed any further errands and came home to cower in safe solitude.
*And even more fun, the military pharmacy system only allows for 90 days' worth of any prescription, many of which will be dispensed in 30-day amounts, so you must call and activate a refill every month separately for each prescription. Every three months, your physician will have to send in a prescription for the same medications, which will then be "new", and you will have to do the E-category activate/wait three days/pick up thing all over again. The two months when we are "C" patients are golden. We're usually in and out in 15 minutes.
So how was your day?
