It's A Conspiracy

Sometimes, I swear, there's a conspiracy out there to drive me nuts.

Monday was my Errand Running Day. When you are the only caregiver for a man who cannot walk/talk/eat and is pretty much confined to a hospital bed at home, Errand Running Day has to be planned to a T. Because it's my only day to get out of the house and get things done while I have a sitter for Bob.

Chris came by around 10:30 a.m. to sit with Bob and I had my list of things to do. First I needed to get Bob's two different pain patch prescriptions filled, then groceries, and, that very morning, Bob's digital watch stopped working so I needed to get him a new battery and I need a couple things from Walgreens.

Now lately, Errand Day is very stressful because of Bubba's dire warning that The Green Machine may give up the ghost anytime. I actually started keeping the phone # of a towing company in my purse and, in order limit the amount of times I have to shut off and start the car, I plan my trip carefully.

Add to that stress, it's pain patch run day, which can be a headache. Last month, when I went to get Bob's patches refilled, the pharmacy only had one of the two prescriptions on hand and had to order the other, which really ticked me off because that pharmacist had promised to keep them in stock and which also meant I had to make another trip to that store later in the week and, because Chris was not available, had to leave Bob home alone while I made the run. And I hate doing that. Because what if something happens to him, while I'm gone? Or what if something happens to me? Or the car breaks down? And there is no one with Bob, who can't even dial 911 if he needs to....

So, this month, I thought I'd be smart and call the pharmacy the week before I picked up his patches to make sure they had them in stock. And that's what did. On Thursday. And the pharmacist assured me that she had them in stock and when I asked how soon I could pick them up, she told me the insurance wouldn't pay for them until Monday. I told her I would be by on Monday to get them. And I thought everything was all set up to go smoothly.

Back to Monday, I leave the house and stop first at the grocery store pharmacy with Bob's two prescriptions. I make a point to make this my first stop, because, if they don't have the patches in stock, I can take the prescription to Walgreens and have it filled there. And my next stop is going to be jewelry repair which is right across the street from Walgreens.  So! I go to the pharmacy and I hand the prescriptions over to the gal behind the counter and she says she will "check to make sure they have them" and then she returns and tells me they do and they will be ready in 30 minutes.

I leave the pharmacy and run to the jewelry repair shop for a new battery for Bob's digital watch. I park The Green Machine in the Walgreens parking lot, go into Walgreens to get a few items, walk across the street (because I don't want to keep starting up The Green Machine, as I'm worried about the potential starting problem), get a new battery installed in Bob's watch, walk back across the street, start up The Green Machine and then head back to the grocery pharmacy to pick up the patches and grocery shop which will be my last stop before going home.

When I get to the pharmacy, the pharmacist tells me she only has one of the patches in stock and she'll have to order the other one. What?!

I tell you, I am dumbfounded.

Then she says, "Can you come back on Thursday, or do you want to take the prescription to Walgreens?"

I say, "I was just at Walgreens!"

And I say, "You said you had them, just 30 minutes ago! What happened? And I even called last Thursday to make sure you had them!"

She says, "I know. We had them on Thursday and I thought I still had them, I should have looked in the drawer when you came in, but I guess someone came in since Thursday with the same prescription and we gave them to them."

I say, "But you ordered them specifically for my husband! And you just gave them to someone else?"

She says, "We can't reserve prescriptions, we have to refill the prescriptions that come in first. You should have got here earlier."

I say, "But you told me I couldn't pick them up until today!"

That's when I break down crying.

Because this means I will either have to run back to Walgreens (another iffy start and stop for The Green Machine) and will that pharmacy even have them? or wait until Thursday, when I have no sitter for Bob and worry that the car will break down leaving me stuck somewhere and Bob back home with no one to help him.... GA!

There I am, in the middle of a grocery store pharmacy, crying like a baby. But I figure I'd better take the script to Walgreens as today I have Chris with Bob and maybe, just maybe, they will have that prescription in stock. And Bob really needs this pain patch because he's going to run out by Saturday.

So I do some quick grocery shopping (the pharmacy is in the grocery store) and I load up the car and I get behind the wheel of The Green Machine and I can't get the key in the ignition.

Yes, you read that right. I can't get the FREAKING key in the ignition!!! I mean, it just won't fit. It won't go in. It's like it's suddenly the wrong key! And this has got to be, by far, the stupidest car problem I've ever had!!!

Of course, I check to see if it's the right key. It is. I make sure I don't have it upside down or something. I don't. I try again and again, and finally the key slips into the ignition.

OK. Off I go, back to Walgreens, where I have to wait 45 minutes to fill the prescription, but at least they have it. Then, I get back into The Green Machine, and, once again, THE KEY DOESN'T FIT THE IGNITION!!!!!

GAAA!

I try it again. And again, and again, and again. By the sixth or seventh time, I am in tears. Again. Second time that day.

But I make it home. Park The Green Machine in the driveway. And just for giggles, try to put the key back into the ignition and it won't go in.....

So I call Bubba and he thinks the problem is a "metal shaving" jamming the lock tumbler and, on Friday, Chris can sit with Bob so I'll be taking the car up to him to replace the tumbler. That is, if I can get the freaking key into the ignition and start the car....

Oh, and if anyone is wondering why I just don't get Bob's patches at Walgreens, it's because Walgreens no longer stocks Bob's oral pain medication (because of DEA problems last year) and I am told that I MUST get all Bob's narcotic meds at the same pharmacy. It's the law....