Vacancy

Fanini is off visiting my brother and sister-in-law. Sanini and the boys are off visiting relatives. I've got the house to myself for 5 whole days! Here's my to do list:

1. Lie in (a clean) bed with an absorbing novel and an un-lidded drink.
2. Let the dishes stack up.
3. Look in the fridge at 7:45 p.m. and say, "hmm, what should I have for dinner"?
4. Tidy my bureau and put out fresh flowers in the irreplacable, fragile vases.
5. Decide to go to a movie on the spur of the moment.
6. Plan ambitious landscaping project. Stroll about the neighborhood plant nursery.
7. Clean the kitchen floor. Once.
8. Get all my personal ablutions completed before exiting the house.
9. Call lots of people on the phone.
10. Make a list of everything that has to get done. Write blog instead.

Yes, I've pretty much got that list completed. Except for the flowers. I couldn't be bothered to pick them. That smacks of yard maintenance, and I'm on vacation.

I'm reminded of my dad's joke about vacation: First prize--One Week's Vacation! Second Prize--Two Weeks' Vacation.

The quiet is nice, but I'd rather not do this long term. I'd rather be with my people.

Full Disclosure

I didn't start out blogging under the name "Janini". In fact I started blogging using my real name. But Karen convinced me that I should use an alias, because of safety and privacy issues. I never fully agreed with this--I think anonymity can equal irresponsibility. I have noticed that other bloggers use their real names. Or at least I assume it is their real names. But what about my family? My sons and my mom would not be capable of expressing whether or not they want their names on the internet. My husband argues that some level of privacy should exist, worried about identity theft or things I might discuss and his coworkers and family might read.
So I'm taking comments. What do you feel about the blogger's mask?

How to Order Medication

Here's why eldercare (or anycare) takes so much time.

Fanini is out of her meds, meds she is required to take consistently.

Thursday: Notice that meds need ordering. Forget.

A Week Thursday: Notice that meds really need ordering. Get paperwork with Rx numbers and account numbers.

Friday: Call P___ S____ to order meds. Since W's great Medicare reconstruction, all Medicare patients who get prescription medication must have a Drug Provider. This is a private drug insurance company. That is to say, if you want Medicare to pay for drugs, you have to sign up with an insurance company. Your insurance provider does have specific guidelines about what they will and will not cover, where you can buy it and how much. This is, of course, assuming you are able to get signed up in the first place. It took literally months of communications with the doctor/pharmacy/myself/my sister to get all the paperwork filed, web ordering set up, prescriptions written, payment logged, passwords verified, etc. So. Back to Friday. Get paperwork to order prescription, notice that in order to pay by check you have to call P_____ S_____ to get a price. Call P_____ S_____. Talk to LaShirell, who will not discuss Fanini's prescription anything unless Fanini's HIPAA (http://www.hipaa.org/) form is updated, even though I am listed on the account and have ordered meds before. LaShirell insists on talking to Fanini, even though Fanini can't talk. I threaten to cancel the account. LaShirell gives me a customer service number to call. Call customer service. They aren't open.
Monday: Call customer service. No answer. Leave message.
Later Monday: Get call from Susan, grovelling customer service agent. Says LaShirell was wrong to deny me access to the account, says HIPAA form only needed the address updated. I update address. Susan gives me total amount due. I make a copy of the form for my records, fax a copy to Sister J. with the check number written on it. Decide to program fax machine with Sister J.'s fax number, so I don't have to keep looking it up every time. Can't figure out how to program speed dial. Google Hewlett Packard all-in-one fax copier, search and find manual and speed dial programming instructions. Program speed dial and fax copy. Write check, address envelope. Put in mail. Collapse.