Friday, January 30, 2009

We're all out. You can get more in France...

It seems that the really silly stuff always happens when I have only a few minutes left on my shift. Tonight was no exception when a man came in with a prescription for his mother. The drug store across the street didn't have what he needed in stock and he wanted us to fill it. On a Friday afternoon if you don't find it at your drug store you're not going to see it until some time Monday and he was desperate to find his mom's meds. I looked on the shelf and not only did we not have what he needed, there wasn't even a place on the shelf for it. I broke the bad news to him and offered to call our store in Apollo Beach to see if they have it. While I was on hold with them he told me he'd go all the way to Brandon - which is 20 miles away - if he had to. The tech in Apollo Beach said they didn't have it but she knew they had it in the Parrish store because she sent someone there a few hours ago. I got on the horn with Parrish and sure enough, they had the drug we needed. I faxed the prescription to them and started to write down directions when the guy says to me: "My mother has new insurance but we don't have the card. Is this going to be a problem?" I told him it probably wouldn't be (even though I knew it would). We have sneaky ways of finding out what medicare part D plan people are on but I was off in 5 minutes. He told me his mother gave him a letter from Humana with her info. "Great!" I said. "This will be easy then." He handed me the letter and it was page 3 of a 3 page letter where the pertinent information I needed was on page 1. He told me his mom was in the car and she had the rest of the letter and he went out to the parking lot to get her. I continued to work while I was waiting for them to come back and all the sudden the cutest little old lady walks up to the counter. Mom was 94 years old. I got nearly all the info I needed except, of course, her ID number. Meanwhile, the son and I were talking about getting the prescription at the store in Parrish and I was telling him I faxed it there and told them he'd be by in a couple hours to get it. Mom asks, "Are we getting the medicine?" I told her no, we didn't have it and she could get in in Parrish.

"Paris? How am I going to get to Paris?"

I was really tough not to laugh but I managed. I corrected her and told her it was about 20 minutes south of us and that her son had the address of the store.

"Oh. Ok. Are you going to give me my medicine before I go there?"

"No, ma'am. They're going to give you your prescription in Parrish."

"My medicine is in Paris?"

"PARRISH" I said in that voice you use with 94 year old women who can't hear. You've heard people use that very loud, very clear voice before I'm sure. "Not Paris."

"That's right." She wandered off while I finished typing in her info. By now her son decides he just wanted to go straight there and get it as soon as he can. I called the Parrish store and told them. Mom wandered back to the counter with a box of Kleenex.

"Is my medicine ready?"

"No, ma'am, your son is going to go get it at another store."

"The one in Paris?"

(sigh)"Yes, ma'am, that one."

"Can I pay for my tissues there or should I pay for them here?"

"You should pay for them here, ma'am. The cash register is on the other side."

She paid for her tissues and off to France she went!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Sometimes the answer is so simple

John and I have been trying to find ways to motivate Jack to do things we want him to do. You know, subversive stuff like picking up his toys and eating his dinner. His preschool puts happy faces and sad faces on the sheet they send home with him every day and apparently the fear of getting a sad face is a pretty big deal amongst the 3 year olds there. John had the idea of getting a small dry erase board and putting it on the fridge. We drew a happy face on it and if Jack acts up all we have to do is ask him if he wants a sad face. It's worked wonders so far. He especially likes it if you draw a smiley face with teeth.

Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best ones.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Remembering Hell

It's hard to believe it's been 15 years since we were in Somalia but it has been. Time sure flies when you're safe and sound. I was poking around on the internet today and found an online book called Basement of Hell. The memories just keep flooding back like everything happened yesterday after reading some of this stuff. It was a life changing experience that I'll never forget. I can almost feel the stink of the place in the back of my throat. I've never smelled anything like it since. It's a bizarre combination of sewage, death, decay, garbage, dust, sweat and sunscreen. I'm pretty sure Calvin Klein won't be coming out with a cologne that smells like Mogadishu. It was an experience I could have lived without but then again I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. There's nothing quite like seeing the extreme poverty and desperation of the Somali people to appreciate what I have here. The people I met from all over the world and learning exactly how Americans are viewed in a lot of countries. At least how we were viewed back in 1993-94. Our image has changed somewhat since then I fear.

It wasn't all awful. While alcohol was forbidden for Americans it wasn't for everyone. A buddy and I snuck over to the Israeli PX one evening and ended up getting rip roaring drunk with a couple soldiers from Zimbabwe. I traded unit patches with soldiers from Kenya and had tea with an Irish platoon in the mid-day heat. I learned to play pinochle and built friendships that will never be forgotten. I even created a small international incident when I punched a Pakistani soldier. Now there's an interesting story!

My Lieutenant and I were filling our fuel cans at the fuel point and 3 Pakis asked him if they could have a picture with us. He was all for it but I was leery. LT assured me nothing bad would happen. Well as we were getting ready for the picture one of the Pakis threw his arm around my shoulders and grabbed my left breast. I decked the guy. LT freaked and says, "What the f&$% did you do that for, Mallory?" I looked him in the eye and said, "He grabbed my tit, sir." LT's eyes got HUGE and he blushed and said, "Carry on." We filled the rest of the fuel cans and left. I thought it was pretty much over after that but the next day I was sitting in the maintenance van and a Colonel showed up asking for me. LT tried to cover for me, he was convinced I was going to get busted. I could hear him outside stammering, "Um...Sir...um...Mallory is on a service call I think....maybe she's in her tent...umm..." I decided to bail him out. I stepped outside and said, "I'm Mallory." The Colonel proceeded to tell me that the CO of the Pakistani soldier that grabbed me wanted to know if I wanted to have the guy whipped. I told him no, unless I can do it. The Colonel said, "That's probably not an option." So I said, "Okay, just let him know that he'll get a beatdown any time he grabs an American woman." The Colonel left and I thought the Lieutenant was going to faint!

It wasn't normally fun though. Seeing a partially decomposed body is awful. That's not something you see growing up in coastal Maine. The nightly sniper fire and mortar attacks went from being frightening to just being annoying. I'll never forget the fear of seeing tracer rounds wizzing by about 5 feet above my head. The disgusting living conditions, vermin, disease and death that surrounded us those months are impossible to ever describe much less put completely behind you.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Overworked, angry and going bald.

Yes, bald from pulling my hair out. Seriously, a 10 hour day spent trying to do the work of two people really takes it out of you. It's frustrating because it didn't have to be like this. We had a guy call out today because...get this...it's raining. Yes, it's frikin RAINING. He called in late twice and finally decided to just not come in at all and ditched us for the day. So here we are on one of the busiest days of the busiest week of the year short one tech. Happy frikin days. So I had an incredibly ADHD day running from workstation to workstation backing up people. Then the delivery shows up and I got that checked in. The phreakin phone was ringing off the hook the fax machine kept running out of paper and dude decides to call out because he got wet riding to work on his motorcycle in the rain. We managed to keep our heads above water but just barely. My back and knees are killing me.

So here I am going through the day from hell and this guy calls wanting us to carry something we don't carry and order it so it'll get to the store an hour before he called us. He insisted that he knew we really carry the item because he built CVS and he knows what we have on our shelves. He absolutely knows what's on the shelf better than I would. I mean I'm only the inventory specialist for our store. I put him on hold so he could have the same conversation with our pharmacist that I just had. I think the idiot was drunk or something. He livened things up a bit.

I have tomorrow off. If Friday is anything like today was I'm going to end up totally bald.

Oh, as promised, I'm letting you guys know I got my notebooks in the mail! The three pack came with a pen, a pencil and a sticker as well. It was a bright spot in an otherwise crappy day. I can't wait to fill it up with the nifty little bits of string that come out of my imagination.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Ear infections stink!

Poor Jack. He started feeling bad yesterday, had a little temp and was pretty lethargic. John took him to the doctor this morning and poor Jack has an ear infection. We're loading him up with amoxicillin and tylenol. The antibiotic should work especially well because Mommy filled his prescription.

The amoxicillin is apparently doing it's job. He's hungry like crazy and ate some spaghetti, apple sauce and a bowl of cereal. That's more than he's eaten in the last 36 hours put together.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Jack's Super Fun Day


We took Jack to the Lowry Park Zoo today. It was a good day. The zoo wasn't crowded and he walked most of the way. I think it's time to scrap the stroller, he really doesn't use it any more. I mean Dude's 3 1/2 now. Strollers are for babies!

I always like visiting the Southern Bald Eagles. Both of them have injuries that prohibit life in the wild. They love to pose for pictures.










Jack pretty much ran through the whole place and scored himself a stuffed elephant and a new hat. By about 1 o'clock he was wiped out and we came home. He really got into riding on the carousel. He rode the elephant of course. He's really into elephants since seeing Tamani, the baby elephant. Today we watched him interact with another male at the drinking hole in thier habitat.

He kept stealing water from the mouth of the other elephant. He's starting to get his tusks and is much bigger than he was last time we visited.