04 February 2010
The semester has gotten off to a rocky start this time. On Tuesday, our baby-sitter cancelled, and today, Owen had pink-eye. Jennifer called me this morning (I was already at work) wondering what we should do. I decided to come home and be with Owen while Jennifer went off to her classes.
Jennifer called Owen’s pediatrician and he was kind enough to simply call in a prescription to the pharmacy for Owen’s eyes. Around 1:00, Owen and I went to pick up the prescription. The technician who assisted us said she had no record of our insurance or prescription coverage. She asked me a bunch of questions (date of birth, social security number, etc.) and entered it all into her computer. She took our insurance cards and said: “I’ll have to call in to your provider and get some information, so can you just have a seat and wait for a while?”
I told her that, instead, that we would go take care of another errand and then come back.
When we returned, I pulled up to their drive-thru window and was assisted by a different person. He knew nothing of our story and had to keep walking away to speak with his co-worker. Eventually, he said they couldn’t find any information on our prescription coverage. He just kind of left the conversation hanging, so I asked: “Well, can I just pay for the prescription out of pocket?” I figured that if he said anything less than $50, then I would just pay for it and forget all the hassle that comes with insurance companies. He said: “Sure, but that will cost you $14.99.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, “here’s my check card.” As he was ringing up the bill, he kept telling me I was welcome to return with the correct provider information and that he would then credit my account. I just nodded politely but, really, what a waste that would be. I’m sure the co-pay for the medicine would be $10, so I only spent an extra five bucks. And since I can submit it for reimbursement through pre-tax dollars…I don’t think it’s worth the hassle of returning to Walgreen’s.
Is going to Walgreen’s ever worth the hassle?
05 February 2010
Today was a good day. First, it was payday, which always makes for a bittersweet occasion, but I also got reimbursed for last semester’s college class. Wow, it’s hard to believe. I took a class at Hamline University, and my employer paid for it. Wow. Just wow. Jennifer also received a check in the mail for some of the work she’s done for the Mama Campaign and she got a letter in the mail congratulating her for being on the Dean’s list at her college.
We celebrated by going out to dinner at Macaroni Grill, where we both opted for the “create your own pasta” meal and Owen entertained us by using practically the entire table cloth as a canvas for his crayon drawings. Then we went to Target and bought a pop-corn machine.
06 February 2010
This morning I spent about an hour and a half sending out fifteen emails. I was trying to clean-up my in-box and take care of all sorts of stuff. I sent out emails regarding troubles with the photo quality in the MN Atheist newsletter, my membership with the Minnesota Home-Brewers Association, a short film that my friend Ryan and I began about two years ago that I’m finally trying to wrap up, the possibility of taking a class on documentary film-making, the possibility of getting a minor in history, some boring stuff relating to book-publishing, and even correspondence with my cousin commiserating on my grandfather’s rudeness towards his non-cult-member grandchildren.
Later, we went to Cub Foods. Cub has got to be one of my least favorite stores that I actually go to. I mean, I pretty much hate shopping anyway, but I can usually avoid the stores I really hate: Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Sears…these are stores that I have been to three or four times in the past decade. But Cub (and Walgreen’s – see above), is one of those stores that keeps calling me back. But it’s dirty, crowded, smelly, the customer service is, well, nothing that even qualifies as “service,” and there’s nothing particularly note-worthy about the store itself. We only go there because it has everything. Well, not everything, but some of everything, I should say.
When it comes to buying groceries, I much prefer Trader Joe’s, Mississippi Market, and Valley Natural Foods.