And, I got more sleep, albeit, in pieces. It was very hot, but I use ac liberally. There has been no sign of rain. We have gotten enough of that in the last few weeks. So, blue skies and white, non-threatening clouds are so pleasant.
My 4.5 hours of sleep was certainly not enough and did not cover any deficit. So, I slept from 10:30 am until 3:30 pm, a whopping 5 hours. I have been awake an hour and am already tired. I will sleep tonight after such a miserable three previous days.
Tuesday, I ordered a very long bath brush for Tommy. He misses his bath brush that was hanging in the shower. He never used it, but he is pining for a brush to wash his feet in the shower. So, Amazon has a 30" brush that he says will work. One of his two brushes was falling apart, the kind with the mesh puff. It took him two years to agree to toss it. I think the survivor is under the bathroom sink now. But, when he gets the new one, I am sure I can convince him to toss the old one. He now needs a little corner shelf for hanging things and for his soap. The old one left by the former owners in 1980, had mold behind it, visible one cleaner pulled it off the shower wall. ewww. Why does he do these things?
The cleaner is not responding to calls. So, I will call her, leave her a message, asking her if she can recommend someone since she is obviously very busy. She should either come back or at least give me a name for someone else to help me.
When I could not sleep for two of the mornings, I very slowly started cleaning up the little bits in my bedroom I needed to do myself. If you sent your child to clean and the child did the little bits I did, you would send that child back with strong remonstrations. I do what I can.
For the last two dental appointments for cleaning, I have not gotten a free toothbrush like the dentist recommends. Before these denials, I had tried to find the same toothbrush model in at least a dozen stores and pharmacies. No luck. Last cleaning, they offered me one of three other models. I chose one. The bristles actually are little spikes on the end. They were causing pain and damage to my gums.
I finally called the office and they told me where they order them. That was no help, but I made it work. I called and finally found the right place. As it turns out, the machine that manufactures the toothbrushes has been broken and will be repaired by the end of August and toothbrushes will soon be available to dental offices. When I called and talked to my hygienist again, she said no one told them that the machine was broken. So, she was happy to understand the mystery.
Who ever heard of the toothbrush making machine breaking? Okay, I intellectually know it must happen.
This is an old model, so I hope they plan to continue to manufacture this model. I will take the free one and plan to order a dozen more. Amazingly, they are cheaper by the dozen. In retail, this is never an option. I need my toothbrush! I did find another when they gave me two. Actually, I found two more in package.
Over the last two weeks, I have "fixed" the problem of unloading the dishwasher. I have to hold onto the counter and lean over the door to get the dishes out. Then, Tommy stands to the side and takes the dishes from me, putting the dishes on his walker seat. Then, he has to take a load to where they go while I wait. This action of leaning and reaching really hurts my lower back.
Now, I remove what I can put on the counter in front of the microwave. I don't tell him to help. I don't remind him. I don't even think about them again. Usually, this is four or five of the heavy glass dishes we use for storage and cooking and heating in microwave. He sees them when he wants to use the microwave. Just now, I asked him if this was okay. And, it is. I was getting sick of asking him to come help and his being "not in the mood" right then.
Finally, I have gotten an appointment with the oncologist since I fear cancer has returned. The woman who gave me the appointment gave me the third degree to even schedule it. Strange. But, she finally said they usually tell her these things. So that is done. This makes about my tenth call to get in with an obgyn of any ilk.
Have you found that making a doctor's appointment is more difficult? Often, I get a central office that asks me first who I am calling. Then, after being transferred, that office has a voicemail telling me to leave a message and someone will call me to make the appointment. Then, that person seems to be in training and does not smoothly make the appointment. I make the most important appointments first. So, if that office does not call me right back, I don't want to make lesser appointments and chance having to cancel if the first appointment needs to be on a day already filled.
Do they need to hire more people? Are they depending too much on technology to avoid hiring?
I pray that everything will turn out to be ok when you go to your obgyn/oncologist appointment. That must have been so worrisome for you trying to get an obgyn doctor appointment, and not being able to. I'm sorry to hear how you had such a difficult time getting through to a doctor.
ReplyDeleteMy retina specialist always has people there who answer the phone , and can set up the appointment, and get a pretty quick answer back from the doctor when I had a question after my macular hole surgery, but that is a multi doctor office. My primary doctor's office lost almost all of their good reliable message taking and call back people
when Covid came because either they or a family member would have had serious issues had they gotten Covid. The doctor apologized for the lack of staff and how long things were taking when they had to replace so many people. The people in there now overuse the voice mail message taking, and are real slow on calling back and sometimes slow on getting prescriptions taken care of for me.. It is like pulling teeth at that office to just get a person to pick up the phone when there is something major going on. I felt like it was my
lucky day when they actually answered the phone on the first time and even got me into the office the next day with this most recent round of health problems.
At the dentist;s office, he almost always answers the phone himself. That is a rarity these days. I don't think I have ever had to leave a message with him. He has been in business for years, has one dental hygienist, and only works three days a week, but he is very careful and got me over my lifelong fear of dentists when I was about 58 years old. I will cry when he retires. He also doesn't insist on doing extra dental work just to make a buck.... or $500.
Have a nice day and take care.
I had an obgyn years ago, like 40, whose receptionist always said, "Can you hold?" Well, what was I going to say?" This was when I paid long distance rates on my home phone. I called the same office this spring. Same thing!
DeleteI do think I was the only person in an office, a federally funded program who answered the phone the last hour. They put it on voicemail to chat.
My dentist is good and slow and easy so I am not afraid. Same fear as you--lifelong. The office is always well-staffed. The same people have been there for years.
No sleep last night, so I am waiting for nap time...lol.
They are struggling to keep employees, I am sure of it. People do not want to work nowadays, it seems. A drive down any street in Bowling Green, KY reveals what must be 90% of businesses with a "We're Hiring" sign outside. There is a local job board Facebook group where some giving soul provides an update each week on the places that are hiring and there are dozens listed. Even more businesses will comment on the thread and post their own information.
ReplyDeleteAll that to say this in answer to your question. I don't think they're intentionally trying to rely on technology to avoid hiring. They're just trying to hire and keep workers.
Alice,
DeleteIn Hueytown, AL and other cities around Birmingham, many stores have similar signs. It seems that fast food would have problems, but I would think doctors' offices could find receptionists who would work. Maybe it is incredibly low pay. thanks
The issue with having not enough help is that people do not want to work for salaries business can afford. It is happening across the board.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
DeleteEmployees are so ignorant or greedy that they think an entry level job should pay a livable wage that gives them money to rent an apartment and make a car payment. Places that offer $15/hr should be able to attract employees. Of course, the employers do make it impossible to live on that when they only want part time employees for selfish business reasons.