(no subject)
Nov. 15th, 2013 04:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adiva_calandiaDue to some things I wanna get checked out to make sure this too too solid flesh is functioning correctly, I finally did what I should have done a year ago and got myself into the actual Group Health system so I can schedule a physical and get a referral.
Thoughts:
1. The number of steps I'm having to go through to get a web account set up and an initial appointment scheduled feels ridiculous, even though I know it's really not; I had to request a confirmation number through the mail, submit an application to a physician, etc. I've just never set up my own health care before, and I'm in a new state and so forth, so it seems complicated. Adulthood wtf.
2. However, finding a physician I want to try out was SUPER DUPER EASY omg. I told the website my address and it gave me a list of physicians in my area (easy, because I live about a mile from the main Group Health campus), and then let me narrow that down by specialty, gender, and whether they were accepting new patients. All the doctors have bios listing their education, background, and extracurricular interests; the very first doctor I clicked on was a resident who included "animal companions" and "the performing arts" in her interests section. (And, you know, got her degree at the Mayo Medical School. Also a selling point.)
3. And when I called up to see if the "Select Personal Physician" form had gone through, the person on the other end of the line was exceedingly helpful, got me set up with an appointment (which is not as soon as I would like it to be, but I guess beggars can't be choosers and I'm not having any issues that are likely to become life-threatening in the next two weeks), and pronounced my name right on the first try. And you know, if I weren't in a hurry/paranoid about stuff getting lost in the Intertubes, I probably could have done this whole thing online. Now that I'm in the system, in theory I will be able to do just about everything without picking up a phone. The future is beautiful.
In other news, I sold pies today at the tolling company I temped for from February through May, which is simultaneously lolarious, surreal, and profitable. Most of my favorite people are still there, and seem to be doing well -- two friends have been promoted within the company ("So if you want your job back, give us a call"), one's health has improved significantly, and I assume a fourth is back to doing the work she actually likes instead of the work she had to do. Some people have moved on to better things, and one person was fired for a supreme fuck-up. The gossip was great. Plus, sales were good and people tipped better than almost anywhere else I've been that wasn't serving alcohol.
(Which I put down to the economic class of people who work at call centers and similar customer service centers. The pay there is not great -- I should know -- and especially for people with families I'm sure money is tight. But I'm also sure that the percentage of people there who have worked jobs that take tips, like food service or something similar, is vastly higher at a call center than it is at Microsoft or Amazon, which is where I consistently make the worst tips. At ETCC people went out of their way to go find cash for my jar when they found out they couldn't tip on their credit cards. It's not that that never happens at the tech companies, but with much less frequency.)
AND I got paid, so today was just, like, adulthood all over the place. Yay? Sure, yay. It's Friday night now and I am going to deposit my checks, shop for video games, kick back and write.
Thoughts:
1. The number of steps I'm having to go through to get a web account set up and an initial appointment scheduled feels ridiculous, even though I know it's really not; I had to request a confirmation number through the mail, submit an application to a physician, etc. I've just never set up my own health care before, and I'm in a new state and so forth, so it seems complicated. Adulthood wtf.
2. However, finding a physician I want to try out was SUPER DUPER EASY omg. I told the website my address and it gave me a list of physicians in my area (easy, because I live about a mile from the main Group Health campus), and then let me narrow that down by specialty, gender, and whether they were accepting new patients. All the doctors have bios listing their education, background, and extracurricular interests; the very first doctor I clicked on was a resident who included "animal companions" and "the performing arts" in her interests section. (And, you know, got her degree at the Mayo Medical School. Also a selling point.)
3. And when I called up to see if the "Select Personal Physician" form had gone through, the person on the other end of the line was exceedingly helpful, got me set up with an appointment (which is not as soon as I would like it to be, but I guess beggars can't be choosers and I'm not having any issues that are likely to become life-threatening in the next two weeks), and pronounced my name right on the first try. And you know, if I weren't in a hurry/paranoid about stuff getting lost in the Intertubes, I probably could have done this whole thing online. Now that I'm in the system, in theory I will be able to do just about everything without picking up a phone. The future is beautiful.
In other news, I sold pies today at the tolling company I temped for from February through May, which is simultaneously lolarious, surreal, and profitable. Most of my favorite people are still there, and seem to be doing well -- two friends have been promoted within the company ("So if you want your job back, give us a call"), one's health has improved significantly, and I assume a fourth is back to doing the work she actually likes instead of the work she had to do. Some people have moved on to better things, and one person was fired for a supreme fuck-up. The gossip was great. Plus, sales were good and people tipped better than almost anywhere else I've been that wasn't serving alcohol.
(Which I put down to the economic class of people who work at call centers and similar customer service centers. The pay there is not great -- I should know -- and especially for people with families I'm sure money is tight. But I'm also sure that the percentage of people there who have worked jobs that take tips, like food service or something similar, is vastly higher at a call center than it is at Microsoft or Amazon, which is where I consistently make the worst tips. At ETCC people went out of their way to go find cash for my jar when they found out they couldn't tip on their credit cards. It's not that that never happens at the tech companies, but with much less frequency.)
AND I got paid, so today was just, like, adulthood all over the place. Yay? Sure, yay. It's Friday night now and I am going to deposit my checks, shop for video games, kick back and write.
