Turned 27 yesterday.
The day started out with my laptop frying itself. I am very good at fixing computers, but after I took it apart, found the problem, and looked up what it would cost to buy the necessary replacement parts, I found out that it would cost almost as much as an inexpensive laptop or one of those netbook mini-laptops. So, I salvaged what I could see component wise, and tossed the rest of it out. Minimum price for the components would have been $350 and the laptop was from 2003, it just wasn't worth repairing. For the most part, I've been using my T-Mobile G1 phone to do all of my web surfing, although right now I'm using a spare desktop in the house.
Then I spent the rest of the day doing medical stuff. I went to get bloodwork (a lot of bloodwork). There were 3 rounds of bloodwork scheduled throughout the day (there was a reason for it). Gross alert: Anyways, in total, it came to 24 vials drawn (the majority of it at 8 AM with 21 vials then). That was the most I think I've ever had for diagnostic purposes. End of Gross Alert The lab folks gave me a hard time while I was there. They told me that they couldn't do a test for "Ubiquinol Level". I asked why. They said they no longer did those. I told them that I had spoken to corporate HQ a few days ago to make sure that everything was going to go smoothly, I went through every test with them on the phone one by one, and they didn't mention a problem with any of it. I asked them to call corporate, they did. Then they put me on the phone with corporate and the lady (supposedly the expert) asks me, "What is this medication ubiquinol? It seems to be an herbal supplement?"
"I'm guessing you just googled it and saw that there are ubiquinol supplements, but no - it's not just a medication. It's a naturally occuring benzoquinol in your body." I said. She put me on hold. Then when she came back she told me to put the lab back on the phone. They talked, and then the receptionist at the lab tells me, "Your paperwork calls for a coenzyme-Q10 level test, it's the same thing."
"No... No it isn't. Ubiquinone is the same as coenzyme-Q10, but ubiquinol isn't the same as ubiquinone, if it was, it wouldn't be called ubiquinol and would be called ubiquinone." She argued with me that I was wrong, so I tried to explain to her that while ubiquinol can be converted to ubiquinone and vice-versa as they're both part of a cycle, they are not the same. They're related, but not the same. I mean, I know I'm no doctor, but I am capable of basic research + the doctor explained everything to me when he wrote up the sheet for those tests (and others). She called corporate again and this time they supposedly got somebody who knew what I was talking about. He told me that yes, I'm right, but unfortunately they discontinued that test and only do the coenzyme-Q10 level test and that if I want to get a ubiquinol test too, I'd have to have it done elsewhere, like at a hospital.
I asked if they could just draw an extra vial and send it to the hospital for testing (since the needle would already be in my arm), but they said they couldn't. Then later when I was getting my blood drawn, I reminded the phlebotomist that some of the vials needed to be protected as some of what we're testing for is light and temperature sensitive. She didn't know which ones I was talking about, so they had to get their supervisor on the phone (I guess they have a regional supervisor or something) who confirmed what I said. I just hope that in the time that elapsed, the sample's quality didn't deteriorate from not being protected from light. It probably didn't, but I'd hate to have to do it again. The worst part about the whole thing was how everybody at the lab had this attitude of "I really couldn't care less about you." I've noticed this attitude at just about every location in South Florida of this lab (it's a big one name-wise, you've heard of it). While I disputed some of what they said, I remained polite, they weren't polite and were constantly cutting me off with, "Sir, all I can do is what I'm trained to do, so I would appreciate it if you didn't tell me how to do my job." Or when I stood up to go use the restroom I got, "Sir, you need to remain seated." Why? They weren't taking my blood at the time, why couldn't I stand up? If I know something isn't right, why would I not share that with them? If I was in their position, I would use every opportunity to learn more and more, even if from the patient (assuming the information is confirmed as accurate), so as to be better at my job. I know it's not me, because when I was at a few locations of the same company's lab in Minneapolis, there was no such attitude, and they were happy to check on things and make sure everything was done properly. I guess it's a regional thing. I just don't understand it. It didn't leave me feeling warm and fuzzy though. It made me want to go back to Minneapolis ASAP.
Going back to what I said about learning from the patient, I just want to share one thing - I used to work in sales for a major retail chain that selles musical equipment. I worked in the department with the majority of the hi-tech stuff. I once sold a guy a portable professional digital audio recorder a high quality microphone, and a cable to connect them. He came in several hours later saying it wasn't working. I thought maybe the microphone wasn't working so I plugged it into another system and checked it, it was. I thought maybe the recorder wasn't working, so I plugged in an already set up recording station into it, and it was fine. I didn't test the cable because it was top-of-the-line and we never got any defective cables from that company. So, I assumed that maybe the customer had just not read the manual. I told him that I couldn't find any problems, so to double check the manual and try again. He came in a few hours later again with the same complaint. I was baffled, and I held the second highest rating possible in the department as far as technical knowledge on the subject (it allowed me to buy stuff myself at the price the store paid for it, I was one test away from the highest). Also, I still supposedly hold the record for being the fastest employee to ever earn that rating in the store's history, and that was almost a decade ago.
Anyways, I showed it to a friend who was the department manager and held that higher rating (only guy in the store with it) and he found the problem. I had been careless with the cable and sold him one that reversed the polarity between the two plugs. It was a specialty cable that had been on the wrong rack, but I should have been more careful and noticed it. I felt so bad, that I refunded the money for the cable, and gave him the right one for free (still top-of-the-line), along with a pack of digital tapes for his recorder as compensation for wasting his time that day due to my carelessness. Those tapes and the cable weren't cheap btw. I just felt that it was the right thing to do and the manager agreed with me (afterall, he had to sign off on it). I once sold a guy $10,000 worth of studio equipment. To show my appreciation for the sale, I came to his house and set it all up for him the next day, which was either a weekend or my day off, I don't remember which. Why is it that so many people don't care about customer service like I did? In Minneapolis, it's a lot better than down here in South Florida and a lot closer to the way I think when it comes to customer service. Down here though, it just feels like most people treat everybody else as though they weren't worth the dog poop that they just scraped off their shoe.
Anyways, getting back to my day yesterday, I later spoke to my primary doctor about surgical clearance (conveniently his office was in the same building as the lab) and out of left field he said he wanted an EKG and Chest X-ray. I mean, it's not totally out of left field, it's just that he gave me surgical clearance last year without that. So I went over to my dad's office where they had an EKG machine and my aunt (who works there) did an EKG on me. I scrambled to get it back to the doctor and I already have a chest X-ray from October 2009 when I had H1N1, so I just need the hospital in MN to send the film. I guess it's not a big deal, it just was unexpected.
It could have been worse though. I've spent my birthday in the hospital at least once, I think twice.
The only fun thing I guess is that I got to eat Chinese food at the end of the day and hang out with the cats.
I guess at the same time, at 27, I probably shouldn't expect much from birthdays anyways these days. Once I'm working, I'll be spending my birthdays at work unless they fall on a weekend, and it could be a bad work day. I'm also starting to get to the point where I'm actually not happy about my birthday in the first place. It used to be when I was younger that I looked forward to my birthday and would count down the days until it. Now, it just kind of sneaks up on me and somebody mentions, "Happy Birthday" and I'll be thinking, "Oh yeah, I guess it is my birthday today." Is that normal? Do birthdays get less and less pleasant over time for everybody? I feel now like every birthday just signifies that I have less time left to accomplish my goals in life. It also isn't fun that it comes a couple days after Valentines day, the day of the year I hate the most. I don't even know why I hate Valentines day. Something about it just annoys me I guess. I think it's that if you're single, you end up feeling lonely on Valentines day, and if you're not single, you have all this pressure to make it perfect, or else you may have to suffer the wrath of your gf or wife.... especially if you forget about it until the last second and end up having to stop at a 24 hour 7-11 the day before at 11 PM because nothing else is open and buy a bag of Hershey's Kisses and then somehow figure out a way to make a card on your computer that doesn't make it obvious that you forgot and spent midnight to 2 AM using Microsoft Publisher to make something that can pass as acceptable, and gluing multiple sheets of paper together so that it looks and feels like card-stock. Or is it just me who has gone down that road?
Anyways, I've gotten out my whining and ranting out for a while. I should be good for at least a few days, maybe a week without venting again.
The day started out with my laptop frying itself. I am very good at fixing computers, but after I took it apart, found the problem, and looked up what it would cost to buy the necessary replacement parts, I found out that it would cost almost as much as an inexpensive laptop or one of those netbook mini-laptops. So, I salvaged what I could see component wise, and tossed the rest of it out. Minimum price for the components would have been $350 and the laptop was from 2003, it just wasn't worth repairing. For the most part, I've been using my T-Mobile G1 phone to do all of my web surfing, although right now I'm using a spare desktop in the house.
Then I spent the rest of the day doing medical stuff. I went to get bloodwork (a lot of bloodwork). There were 3 rounds of bloodwork scheduled throughout the day (there was a reason for it). Gross alert: Anyways, in total, it came to 24 vials drawn (the majority of it at 8 AM with 21 vials then). That was the most I think I've ever had for diagnostic purposes. End of Gross Alert The lab folks gave me a hard time while I was there. They told me that they couldn't do a test for "Ubiquinol Level". I asked why. They said they no longer did those. I told them that I had spoken to corporate HQ a few days ago to make sure that everything was going to go smoothly, I went through every test with them on the phone one by one, and they didn't mention a problem with any of it. I asked them to call corporate, they did. Then they put me on the phone with corporate and the lady (supposedly the expert) asks me, "What is this medication ubiquinol? It seems to be an herbal supplement?"
Going back to what I said about learning from the patient, I just want to share one thing - I used to work in sales for a major retail chain that selles musical equipment. I worked in the department with the majority of the hi-tech stuff. I once sold a guy a portable professional digital audio recorder a high quality microphone, and a cable to connect them. He came in several hours later saying it wasn't working. I thought maybe the microphone wasn't working so I plugged it into another system and checked it, it was. I thought maybe the recorder wasn't working, so I plugged in an already set up recording station into it, and it was fine. I didn't test the cable because it was top-of-the-line and we never got any defective cables from that company. So, I assumed that maybe the customer had just not read the manual. I told him that I couldn't find any problems, so to double check the manual and try again. He came in a few hours later again with the same complaint. I was baffled, and I held the second highest rating possible in the department as far as technical knowledge on the subject (it allowed me to buy stuff myself at the price the store paid for it, I was one test away from the highest). Also, I still supposedly hold the record for being the fastest employee to ever earn that rating in the store's history, and that was almost a decade ago.
Anyways, getting back to my day yesterday, I later spoke to my primary doctor about surgical clearance (conveniently his office was in the same building as the lab) and out of left field he said he wanted an EKG and Chest X-ray. I mean, it's not totally out of left field, it's just that he gave me surgical clearance last year without that. So I went over to my dad's office where they had an EKG machine and my aunt (who works there) did an EKG on me. I scrambled to get it back to the doctor and I already have a chest X-ray from October 2009 when I had H1N1, so I just need the hospital in MN to send the film. I guess it's not a big deal, it just was unexpected.
It could have been worse though. I've spent my birthday in the hospital at least once, I think twice.
The only fun thing I guess is that I got to eat Chinese food at the end of the day and hang out with the cats.
I guess at the same time, at 27, I probably shouldn't expect much from birthdays anyways these days. Once I'm working, I'll be spending my birthdays at work unless they fall on a weekend, and it could be a bad work day. I'm also starting to get to the point where I'm actually not happy about my birthday in the first place. It used to be when I was younger that I looked forward to my birthday and would count down the days until it. Now, it just kind of sneaks up on me and somebody mentions, "Happy Birthday" and I'll be thinking, "Oh yeah, I guess it is my birthday today." Is that normal? Do birthdays get less and less pleasant over time for everybody? I feel now like every birthday just signifies that I have less time left to accomplish my goals in life. It also isn't fun that it comes a couple days after Valentines day, the day of the year I hate the most. I don't even know why I hate Valentines day. Something about it just annoys me I guess. I think it's that if you're single, you end up feeling lonely on Valentines day, and if you're not single, you have all this pressure to make it perfect, or else you may have to suffer the wrath of your gf or wife.... especially if you forget about it until the last second and end up having to stop at a 24 hour 7-11 the day before at 11 PM because nothing else is open and buy a bag of Hershey's Kisses and then somehow figure out a way to make a card on your computer that doesn't make it obvious that you forgot and spent midnight to 2 AM using Microsoft Publisher to make something that can pass as acceptable, and gluing multiple sheets of paper together so that it looks and feels like card-stock. Or is it just me who has gone down that road?
Anyways, I've gotten out my whining and ranting out for a while. I should be good for at least a few days, maybe a week without venting again.
