my PIC so owes me

weather: 25° F
reading: stop prediabetes now

it's that fatal time of year for all pharmacies. most people look toward the new year with optimism and hope of better days to come. not i. i watch the days on my calendar creep closer and closer to january the 1st and i think "oh crap. not again." here's a brief explanation why, for those of you not in the pharmacy field.
insurance companies are basically the spawn of the devil. they live to make life as miserable as possible for as many people as possible. this includes pharmacies and doctors. after the beginning of a new year, several things happen. many people change insurance companies. most people have to start over on their deductible. and some people lose coverage all together. all this equates to a crap load of work for pharmacists, interns, and techs every where.
the last few days before the new year and spent with people trying to cram every last refill in that they can before they have to start paying full price for them. occasionally, they'll even come in a few days after the new year and ask you to back-bill the claims for them.
there are also those patients who expect you to magically know their new id numbers, insurance policies, etc. and become irate when you tell them that the old insurance you have is no longer in effect.
saturday was the 2nd to last business day before the new year hit. we're closed on the 1st and only open half a day on the 31st. hence, saturday was a nightmare. we were also short staffed, which is usually not a problem for a saturday. but when you do 174 scripts compared to the usual 80-120 with just a tech, pharmacist, and a clerk, it really sucks.
not to mention that our all-time favorite drug addict paid us a visit. last time we saw this man, he swore he would never return to our pharmacy because we had "defaced" his prescription for some ridiculous amount of oxycontin by writing "refill too soon until (certain date)" on it. after all, he told us not to run it through his insurance (yeah, like that's not a give away that you're doing something illegal). anyway, so early in the day i receive a call from a man that goes a little something like this:
me: pharmacy, technician speaking.
man: hi, i was wondering if you could give me some price quotes for some medicine.
me: sure, go ahead and tell me the names of the medications.
man: well, i have about a half dozen or so scripts.
me: okay.... well, just start telling me and i'll give you the quotes as we go.
man: the first one is for Lortab 10-500 #120.
me: (thinking "oh this will be fun...") that's $xx.xx
man: okay, the next one is for oxycodone 30 mg #150
me: (RED FLAG!) that's $xx.xx
....conversation continues in this manner, all price quotes being for controlled substances in extremeley high amounts.
man: well, i think that's it. i have one for oxycontin, but i know that's a lot. besides, i used to fill there all the time.
me: oh really? well, what's your name? (in case we gave him a break or something last time he filled these)
man: it's werner heisenberg ***(not actual name)
me: (why does that sound familiar....???) okay, well, is that all?
man: yeah, thank you.

as i get off the phone i turn to my pharmacist and ask if she remembers werner. her jaw drops and eyes bulge and i see a little bit of her soul die. she reminds me of his previous escapades at our pharmacy and all i can think is why i didn't ask for the name first and start hiking up the prices in hopes that he would find somewhere cheaper.

this was not the last i heard from dear werner, however. he made a point to call me twice more to ask me the price for that oxycontin 80mg #90 script. and i told him the same price both times. as the clock slowly crept closer and closer to closing time, i told the pharmacist that i bet he wouldn't show until a quarter to closing. well, that came and went. then it was 10 to. still nothing. finally, at FIVE MINUTES to closing, he shows up. his "girlfriend" arrives a minute or two later, and they sit together waiting for us to fill his scripts (luckily he only filled 3 out of his gigantic stack). the girlfriend actually has the nerve to say "i bet you guys are trying to go home, huh?" NO FREAKING KIDDING! THEN GET YOUR REAR END OUT OF THE PHARMACY! the pharmacist and i make it a point to count at the speed of light and not respond to anything the say to us. perhaps we'll be so rude that he'll never return. as our clerk is ringing them up, we're sending off orders and running final reports when i hear him say "i don't have enough money. can i just get part of this prescription?" to which the pharmacist almost screams at him "we don't split prescriptions. you can leave it here until you have the money or you don't get it." so he decides to leave one of them behind. AFTER I TOLD HIM HOW MANY FREAKING TIMES WHAT THE PRICE WOULD BE!!! i nearly walked out there and strangled him.

yeah. the owner SO owes us.

uunnnghhh...freshmen

weather: 28°F
reading: essential cell biology

freshmen+alcohol+finals week=angry me

especially when they stand in the middle of the hall screaming "F*** YOU MAN! I'M DONE WITH THIS! F*** YOU!" especially when it occurs at 1:30 AM.

but only 3 more days and i have a 4 week vacation away from the little hooligans. HALLELUJAH! however, if my final grades are suboptimal, there will be blood shed come january.