How the heck did it get to be August already?
I’m having another special time with the VA over a prescription shipment. I ordered insulin late on Sunday, July 24th, knowing they’d get the request on the 25th. Typically, I’ll get insulin about three days after I order it, so I thought I’d be fine. On the 26th, I looked at MyHealtheVet and they said it’d be filled on the 28th. That was cutting it a little close for comfort, so I sent a message to the Tulsa Pharmacy Team. They assured me that it was already filled and I’d have it shortly.
You already know where this is going, don’t you?
I emptied my last vial on Sunday, and nothing arrived Monday. I had to go up to the Muskogee pharmacy to pick up two vials. No one could tell me why the system said it was filled on the 28th, even though I didn’t get shipping information until Tuesday, the 2nd. I’m used to the shipping info lagging behind the actual shipment; usually, I get the notification the day after I receive the shipment. It’s just so damned frustrating because the general reaction of people at the VA is, “Yep, that’s just the way it is.”
And we’re playing musical cars again. Oldest Daughter’s car overheated Wednesday night on her way here to pick up Grandson. She contacted USAA’s Roadside Assistance unit, a third-party outfit called Agero. I’ve not been impressed with them. Agero contacted Morgan’s Towing, a local company that’s usually very good about beating their ETA. Wednesday night though, we waited almost six hours before finally recovering her car ourselves and canceling the tow.
I wouldn’t be so upset if it weren’t for Morgan’s bumping us down their list because they got a “priority tow” call. They wouldn’t tell us how we could get priority service, though. I’m also annoyed because they didn’t bother to call us when our place in the line changed. That’s crap customer service right there. At any rate, this means that Oldest Daughter is temporarily driving the car that Middle Son gave to Youngest Daughter, and YD will be driving my car or her mom’s car until OD’s car is fixed. At least we’ve got the cars to be able to do this.
On the brighter side, I got my car back Thursday after some front-end work. There’s still something causing some shaking at high speeds though. After that, the next step is probably electronics. I’ve been meaning to swap the stereo since I got the car because the existing unit doesn’t have Bluetooth. I also need to get the speakers checked out because only two of the 11 are working. I’m going to add some USB ports and get a bad antenna connection repaired as well, even though I rarely listen to terrestrial radio these days.
And Youngest Daughter came home from camp Saturday. With trips to Florida/Alabama, Hawaii, and three weeks of camp, she’s had an exhausting summer, but she had a blast. I’ve missed having her around. She’s starting her senior junior year, and I’m not sure how ready any of us are for that. She’s got a job as a barista at a local coffee shop, which she really enjoys, and the owner seems like good people.
So many changes.
Writing
Ghost of Innocence is now over 17k words and I’m seven chapters in. It must be getting serious, because I’ve even got a “Notes For The Editor” file. I mention things like
“In the shooting scene in Chapter 28, make sure I kept track of Thing One and Thing Two properly. I realized at one point that I’d gotten them mixed up, but I think I got it straight. It doesn’t matter which one goes where. I just need to be consistent.”
Another note for that same book pointed out that I’d deliberately dropped words in dialog for a couple of characters, so my editor didn’t chastise me, or have to guess if it’d been deliberate. She told me later she really appreciated the file and wouldn’t mind if the rest of her clients picked up on the idea.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to share a comment or thought. Sign up for my infrequent newsletter here. Find some of my other writing at The Good Men Project, too. Subscribe to the blog via the link in the right sidebar so you never miss an update here, either. You can also add my RSS feed to your favorite reader.
Share your thoughts!