Born, like other comic book characters, out of an otherwise trivial but life-changing animal bite, the Rabid Librarian seeks out strange, useless facts, raves about real and perceived injustices, and seeks to meet her greatest challenge of all--her own life.
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Sunday, October 13, 2019
We did not play the game today, although I prepared and we all got together
We watched the latest episode of 'Perfect Harmony'--which is a really good show, and the movie Coco, which I loved very much. The animation was wonderful, as was the story. I knew what was going to happen most of the time, but that doesn't really bother me. In fact, I love it when a story falls into the place with the various pieces like a puzzle.
Monday, October 07, 2019
Grrr...
Warning: I am about to vent mightily.
I am Southern, which means I tend to bury anger and try not to show my emotions. As a result, things sometimes boil over.
I am very proud that I kept it together going through Kroger's five-deep lines for my one item today because while I was justified at being angry, it wasn't anything that had to do with the place or people I was dealing with, and I really just wanted to scream at somebody...anybody.
So what got me so riled? I went to the pharmacy Saturday because I was almost out of my insulin and they told me that the endocrinologist's office had sent back a denial for a refill request they'd made, saying I never had been on the medication, even though I have been on long-acting insulin for years, mostly through this office. I had a little left of my pen, albeit less than I estimated, so I was calm and said I would call the doctor's office on Monday, which I did. I spoke to someone and the doctor is out this week, as is her nurse. She said she would route it to another nurse and they would call me back, but I didn't get any sort of phone call. At 2:30 I called the pharmacy to see if they'd heard anything. I took my last dose this morning (only because I skipped last night, otherwise I'd have had none today), and they told me that they'd sent over another request and it, too, had been denied. They suggested I ask my PCP, so I called and spoke with his nurse, gave her the dosage (he'd prescribed the same dosage years ago, so it's not like he wasn't aware of the condition or anything), and she said there shouldn't be any problem. I left work at 5 and called the pharmacy to see if the medicine was there, and they hadn't heard anything from his office, so I went home (stopping at the aforementioned Kroger), as there wasn't much point in going and the pharmacy was going to close at 6 pm.
After I got home and explained things to my roommate, the pharmacy called and said the prescription had finally come through as an e-script about 5 minutes to 6 and they didn't have it in stock but would order it and it would be in tomorrow afternoon. So on the one hand, I will have it tomorrow after work, but on the other hand, I'm going to miss three doses total.
I really want to know why my endo's office keeps denying the request as I have been on that medicine for years, with them having a prescription that lasted all the way through last month. I see the doctor in three weeks and I am definitely going to discuss it with her. Also, while I'm glad my PCP apparently came through, waiting till the end of the day, when I'd specifically said I was out of the medicine was not the best, especially as they know my pharmacy is a small, independent outfit which closes early. Finally, while I love my pharmacy, I'm irked that 1) the original denial was 9/10/19--almost a month ago--and they didn't say anything while I still had pens left and if they had, I could have taken care of this weeks ago. 2) They knew I was going to call today yet didn't put in an order for the insulin until they had the prescription, rather than putting it in when I came in on Saturday.
So anyway, I'm feeling better now that I know I can get it tomorrow, but I don't like this cluster of circumstances that is mucking with my health. If it were something like a cholesterol pill, that's one thing. This is insulin we're talking about here.
Okay, thanks for letting me vent!
I am Southern, which means I tend to bury anger and try not to show my emotions. As a result, things sometimes boil over.
I am very proud that I kept it together going through Kroger's five-deep lines for my one item today because while I was justified at being angry, it wasn't anything that had to do with the place or people I was dealing with, and I really just wanted to scream at somebody...anybody.
So what got me so riled? I went to the pharmacy Saturday because I was almost out of my insulin and they told me that the endocrinologist's office had sent back a denial for a refill request they'd made, saying I never had been on the medication, even though I have been on long-acting insulin for years, mostly through this office. I had a little left of my pen, albeit less than I estimated, so I was calm and said I would call the doctor's office on Monday, which I did. I spoke to someone and the doctor is out this week, as is her nurse. She said she would route it to another nurse and they would call me back, but I didn't get any sort of phone call. At 2:30 I called the pharmacy to see if they'd heard anything. I took my last dose this morning (only because I skipped last night, otherwise I'd have had none today), and they told me that they'd sent over another request and it, too, had been denied. They suggested I ask my PCP, so I called and spoke with his nurse, gave her the dosage (he'd prescribed the same dosage years ago, so it's not like he wasn't aware of the condition or anything), and she said there shouldn't be any problem. I left work at 5 and called the pharmacy to see if the medicine was there, and they hadn't heard anything from his office, so I went home (stopping at the aforementioned Kroger), as there wasn't much point in going and the pharmacy was going to close at 6 pm.
After I got home and explained things to my roommate, the pharmacy called and said the prescription had finally come through as an e-script about 5 minutes to 6 and they didn't have it in stock but would order it and it would be in tomorrow afternoon. So on the one hand, I will have it tomorrow after work, but on the other hand, I'm going to miss three doses total.
I really want to know why my endo's office keeps denying the request as I have been on that medicine for years, with them having a prescription that lasted all the way through last month. I see the doctor in three weeks and I am definitely going to discuss it with her. Also, while I'm glad my PCP apparently came through, waiting till the end of the day, when I'd specifically said I was out of the medicine was not the best, especially as they know my pharmacy is a small, independent outfit which closes early. Finally, while I love my pharmacy, I'm irked that 1) the original denial was 9/10/19--almost a month ago--and they didn't say anything while I still had pens left and if they had, I could have taken care of this weeks ago. 2) They knew I was going to call today yet didn't put in an order for the insulin until they had the prescription, rather than putting it in when I came in on Saturday.
So anyway, I'm feeling better now that I know I can get it tomorrow, but I don't like this cluster of circumstances that is mucking with my health. If it were something like a cholesterol pill, that's one thing. This is insulin we're talking about here.
Okay, thanks for letting me vent!
Saturday, October 05, 2019
It's very quiet in the house
Just the sounds of my fans going above my head and nearby. We finally have some relief to the heat (it's been in the 90s with little to no rain for weeks), with rain in the forecast tomorrow, but I'm hot-natured, so even though it's in the 70s now both inside and out, I keep the fans on in my room whenever I'm there. But the quiet is nice. Sometimes it's good to only hear your own thoughts.
Today I did many things but I did not go to the YMCA and do exercises in the pool like I meant to. I haven't given up, I just had a lot to do today. But I did have some time to myself and some relaxation time, as well as game notes and laundry and errands.
I went to the pharmacy today to get my roommate some medicine and see if they had my Lantus, as I started on my last pen of the pack. Turns out they'd sent a request to my doctor's office for a refill and it had been denied. The reason? They said they had never prescribed it.
Now, I have been on Lantus for a couple of years, Basaglar before that for a short time when it was on my insurance's formulary, and years of Lantus prior to that, including quite some time of it from this office, continuously up till this past month. So obviously there has been a mistake. I'll have to call them on Monday. I'm hoping I have enough to last me through Monday so we can get it taken care of, a pen only lasts a few days--I get 10 per refill, and they last about 3 days each.
On Habitica, the task/productivity 'game' I play, there was a reading challenge I took up to read a book called The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury. Now I like Ray Bradbury, and it's actually a children's book, so I thought it would be good to read some fast-moving fiction. It's been such a struggle to read fiction (even non-fiction has its challenges), for several reasons. For one thing, I think being on the Internet has made my attention span that of a gnat. I've also apparently been a little off in how I use my bifocals, and it's hard for me to find a nice comfy place to read--I can't read in bed easily, and the comfy chairs are in the study (where my friend is often watching streaming stuff) or in his room. Reading in bed requires lots of pillows, a folding lap desk, and a study pillow with a neck bolster. I can read at the kitchen and study tables, when it is quiet, but the chairs are wooden and really need cushions after a while. Still, I managed to read the whole book in a very short time, maybe an hour or an hour and a half (it's 145 pages long). I enjoyed it--I knew all the various cultural ties to the practices of Halloween, but that was fine. And I'd figured out what happened to one of the characters. I guess the only real thing I had a bit of an issue with it--not a lot, just a bit, were that there were no girls at all in the characters, and little to no character description or development, really. But it is a product of 1972, and while Bradbury's writing deviates poetically from standard writing styles, he shares a common thread you find particularly in male writers of the time, and especially in science fiction writers, somewhat tilted towards action and away from characterization. (Women, by contrast, tend to over-describe and have a lot of emoting going without driving the action forward at all)--a good writer balances both. Still, his description of the settings and experiences are very good, and this story actually needs somewhat blank characters, as they represent certain timeframes of history in their costumes and with the exception of the one character from whose perspective the story is told, there's no real personality among the children, and I guess there really doesn't need to be. Anyway, I did enjoy the story, and it was a little chilling there at the end, so suitably Halloweenesque.
Later, we ate dinner from Subway with a friend, who had a couple of Pierce Brosnan 007 movies on, and then we returned home and I took up finishing the laundry. I've done my clothes and I'm working on my friend's bedding right now. I'm going to do mine tomorrow.
Tomorrow I think I'll try to get up early. I was supposed to do a couple of shelves, pulling off the books and dusting them. I didn't, but I can today. I did do the game notes, which were more timely. If I could get that and my normal Sunday pre-game chores are done really early, I might still be able to go to the Y and do some exercises in the pool and work out in general for maybe an hour, total. Then Monday I can go back for the low-impact pool class that I took this past week. I did really well with everything (and have been in much less pain and been able to move and bend better as a result) except this thing where you put the foam dumbbells under your knees and then balance above them. I need something to hold on and even so couldn't do it. The instructor suggested getting a lighter pair of dumbbells (I had the heavy ones) next time. People were really nice and non-judgmental, though, and I enjoyed it. The instructor was very good. We ended with a mindfulness exercise. So it starts out easy, gets the heart pumping, puts you through all sorts of movement, but it isn't extremely intense--just right for my level of conditioning.
I also need to run by the library while they're open and pick up a book on hold on the zero-waste home--I've been on the list for a while. It must have been there when I picked up The Halloween Tree earlier, but I didn't realise it was in, so I didn't look. I also checked out CDs by Sam Smith and Rush.
Okay, I'm going to get ready for bed. The laundry's still in the dryer, but at least I'll have my teeth brushed, etc. Hope you're having a good weekend.
Today I did many things but I did not go to the YMCA and do exercises in the pool like I meant to. I haven't given up, I just had a lot to do today. But I did have some time to myself and some relaxation time, as well as game notes and laundry and errands.
I went to the pharmacy today to get my roommate some medicine and see if they had my Lantus, as I started on my last pen of the pack. Turns out they'd sent a request to my doctor's office for a refill and it had been denied. The reason? They said they had never prescribed it.
Now, I have been on Lantus for a couple of years, Basaglar before that for a short time when it was on my insurance's formulary, and years of Lantus prior to that, including quite some time of it from this office, continuously up till this past month. So obviously there has been a mistake. I'll have to call them on Monday. I'm hoping I have enough to last me through Monday so we can get it taken care of, a pen only lasts a few days--I get 10 per refill, and they last about 3 days each.
On Habitica, the task/productivity 'game' I play, there was a reading challenge I took up to read a book called The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury. Now I like Ray Bradbury, and it's actually a children's book, so I thought it would be good to read some fast-moving fiction. It's been such a struggle to read fiction (even non-fiction has its challenges), for several reasons. For one thing, I think being on the Internet has made my attention span that of a gnat. I've also apparently been a little off in how I use my bifocals, and it's hard for me to find a nice comfy place to read--I can't read in bed easily, and the comfy chairs are in the study (where my friend is often watching streaming stuff) or in his room. Reading in bed requires lots of pillows, a folding lap desk, and a study pillow with a neck bolster. I can read at the kitchen and study tables, when it is quiet, but the chairs are wooden and really need cushions after a while. Still, I managed to read the whole book in a very short time, maybe an hour or an hour and a half (it's 145 pages long). I enjoyed it--I knew all the various cultural ties to the practices of Halloween, but that was fine. And I'd figured out what happened to one of the characters. I guess the only real thing I had a bit of an issue with it--not a lot, just a bit, were that there were no girls at all in the characters, and little to no character description or development, really. But it is a product of 1972, and while Bradbury's writing deviates poetically from standard writing styles, he shares a common thread you find particularly in male writers of the time, and especially in science fiction writers, somewhat tilted towards action and away from characterization. (Women, by contrast, tend to over-describe and have a lot of emoting going without driving the action forward at all)--a good writer balances both. Still, his description of the settings and experiences are very good, and this story actually needs somewhat blank characters, as they represent certain timeframes of history in their costumes and with the exception of the one character from whose perspective the story is told, there's no real personality among the children, and I guess there really doesn't need to be. Anyway, I did enjoy the story, and it was a little chilling there at the end, so suitably Halloweenesque.
Later, we ate dinner from Subway with a friend, who had a couple of Pierce Brosnan 007 movies on, and then we returned home and I took up finishing the laundry. I've done my clothes and I'm working on my friend's bedding right now. I'm going to do mine tomorrow.
Tomorrow I think I'll try to get up early. I was supposed to do a couple of shelves, pulling off the books and dusting them. I didn't, but I can today. I did do the game notes, which were more timely. If I could get that and my normal Sunday pre-game chores are done really early, I might still be able to go to the Y and do some exercises in the pool and work out in general for maybe an hour, total. Then Monday I can go back for the low-impact pool class that I took this past week. I did really well with everything (and have been in much less pain and been able to move and bend better as a result) except this thing where you put the foam dumbbells under your knees and then balance above them. I need something to hold on and even so couldn't do it. The instructor suggested getting a lighter pair of dumbbells (I had the heavy ones) next time. People were really nice and non-judgmental, though, and I enjoyed it. The instructor was very good. We ended with a mindfulness exercise. So it starts out easy, gets the heart pumping, puts you through all sorts of movement, but it isn't extremely intense--just right for my level of conditioning.
I also need to run by the library while they're open and pick up a book on hold on the zero-waste home--I've been on the list for a while. It must have been there when I picked up The Halloween Tree earlier, but I didn't realise it was in, so I didn't look. I also checked out CDs by Sam Smith and Rush.
Okay, I'm going to get ready for bed. The laundry's still in the dryer, but at least I'll have my teeth brushed, etc. Hope you're having a good weekend.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
So sad
Sandeep Dhaliwal: Texas mourns 'trailblazing' Sikh sheriff's deputy
He was shot from behind at a routine traffic stop. No motive is known yet, but a suspect is in custody, but he had permission to wear his turban and beard on duty, so one does wonder whether it was directed towards him as a peace officer or him as a Sikh. There are lots of people out there who are anti-Muslim who see the turban and misidentify Sikhs as Muslim, because let's face it, hate is partly based on ignorance and stupidity.
He was shot from behind at a routine traffic stop. No motive is known yet, but a suspect is in custody, but he had permission to wear his turban and beard on duty, so one does wonder whether it was directed towards him as a peace officer or him as a Sikh. There are lots of people out there who are anti-Muslim who see the turban and misidentify Sikhs as Muslim, because let's face it, hate is partly based on ignorance and stupidity.
I saw this show's pilot the other day and liked it quite a bit
Lake Cumberland area is setting for NBC's 'Perfect Harmony'
The Princeton professor reminds me a lot of YKWIA. It's set here in Kentucky, and one of its creators is rooted here in Kentucky.
The Princeton professor reminds me a lot of YKWIA. It's set here in Kentucky, and one of its creators is rooted here in Kentucky.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Go, me!
I finally got to the YMCA around 6:15 pm, spent 10 minutes on the reclining elliptical/Nu-Step machine (starting small), and then an hour in the pool, doing my exercises. I feel really great. On the other hand, I was able to weigh myself on the scale in the ladies' locker room. I'm 310 lbs, which is just two short of my all-time greatest weight of 312. :( So I definitely need to make changes, mainly staying away from the vending machines, since I eat pretty well at home, with all the homemade, vegetable-laden food.
Today's agenda
Shower.Take medicine.Caffeinate.Do two loads of laundry.Go to the optician.Go to the Rusty Scabbard [a local gaming store that's been around for ages].Go pick up a couple of books on hold at the library.Go to the YMCA and work out and then hit the warm water pool during open swim.Do the game notes.Dust some bookshelves.Relax.
Thursday, September 26, 2019
I should be asleep
But I'm not very tired, which is a little odd. I was pretty active today, walking over 7500 steps, although I did not go to the Y and work out, mainly because I had some errands to run that had to be done today and while I could have gone to open swim after 8:15 pm, that's a little late. I don't know about exercising that late. Of course, it's a warm water pool and it's pretty relaxing, so maybe it'll be fine. I'm definitely going to try to go to the gym Saturday for a much longer time, try the Nu-Step machines and the pool and try to figure out where the sauna is, as that's always nice to end with. (I did see where the hot tub is. I've never been in one but it looked very inviting.
I was sharing things from my newsfeed on Facebook and apparently, I got share-silly because a pop-up window came up asking me if I was a robot; I had to check the box to continue. I need to be doing more sharing on this page; I've hardly written anything all summer. I'm going to take the 'habit' I have on my phone on Habitica (the app that's a productivity one but with avatars and roleplaying game trappings that I've used for years now) and make it a daily, meaning I'll be more likely to think to write.
There are several applications I'm using right now that I'm finding useful for my health, beyond the one that comes with my activity tracker or something like Samsung Health or Google Fit. I highly recommend them:
Daylio -- This is a mood tracker that I've used now for over 1100 days (I know, I have entries for that many). Given that I have Bipolar Disorder II, it's been really helpful in seeing how my mood varies. I'm generally in the good category, so that's nice to see. It allows you to track activities as well that might contribute to the mood.
PainScale -- This app allows you to track where and how intense your pain is, as well as a journal, keep track of treatments, triggers, and you can also track food to see if what you're eating is contributing. It keeps track of the weather and activity factors as well.
Ate -- This one is in beta. It's a visual food diary that has you take a picture of your meal and then answer a few questions that have to do with mindfulness--why did you eat, who did you eat with, where did you eat, etc., and rather than keeping track of nutrients and calories, it asks were you 'on path' or 'off path'. It also calculates the time between eating. So instead of working with minutiae, you're getting to the reasons why you eat and how mindfully. I mentioned it to my therapist, actually, as in addition to cognitive-behavioural therapy she includes mindfulness. I'm seeing her about every three or four weeks.
Okay, I think I will try to go to sleep, maybe listen to some soothing music. I've been listening to the collaborative album Ed Sheeran put out all day, and I've now got 'South of the Border' stuck in my head. I like it, don't get me wrong, but it's too damn catchy.
Have a good night.
I was sharing things from my newsfeed on Facebook and apparently, I got share-silly because a pop-up window came up asking me if I was a robot; I had to check the box to continue. I need to be doing more sharing on this page; I've hardly written anything all summer. I'm going to take the 'habit' I have on my phone on Habitica (the app that's a productivity one but with avatars and roleplaying game trappings that I've used for years now) and make it a daily, meaning I'll be more likely to think to write.
There are several applications I'm using right now that I'm finding useful for my health, beyond the one that comes with my activity tracker or something like Samsung Health or Google Fit. I highly recommend them:
Daylio -- This is a mood tracker that I've used now for over 1100 days (I know, I have entries for that many). Given that I have Bipolar Disorder II, it's been really helpful in seeing how my mood varies. I'm generally in the good category, so that's nice to see. It allows you to track activities as well that might contribute to the mood.
PainScale -- This app allows you to track where and how intense your pain is, as well as a journal, keep track of treatments, triggers, and you can also track food to see if what you're eating is contributing. It keeps track of the weather and activity factors as well.
Ate -- This one is in beta. It's a visual food diary that has you take a picture of your meal and then answer a few questions that have to do with mindfulness--why did you eat, who did you eat with, where did you eat, etc., and rather than keeping track of nutrients and calories, it asks were you 'on path' or 'off path'. It also calculates the time between eating. So instead of working with minutiae, you're getting to the reasons why you eat and how mindfully. I mentioned it to my therapist, actually, as in addition to cognitive-behavioural therapy she includes mindfulness. I'm seeing her about every three or four weeks.
Okay, I think I will try to go to sleep, maybe listen to some soothing music. I've been listening to the collaborative album Ed Sheeran put out all day, and I've now got 'South of the Border' stuck in my head. I like it, don't get me wrong, but it's too damn catchy.
Have a good night.
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