One more Saturday night

Writer guy

A recent policy change in health insurance forced me into an unpleasant situation: having to pay full market value for a medication. In US prices, it averages 4,400 per anum. Damn. That’s a good smoking habit, or 1/2 a bottle of quality gin every day. And I had to quit both of those.

Fortunately, the Internet delivered me from the madness. That’s right! Canadian and UK pharmacies fill prescriptions from US physicians at a fraction of US street prices. God bless subsidized medicine and open borders.

The reason this entry is filed under humor has to do with the transaction process. Here’s the full chronology, journal-style, from sign up, to receipt.

December 28, 2005
Fill out new patient form online, submit credit card info.

Five minutes later…
Confirmation email comes, with instructions for faxing or emailing scanned copy of the prescription and driver’s license. All seems lovely.

December 30, 2005
Fax copy of prescription and driver’s license to specified fax number. Still lovely.

January 3, 2006
A message from Vancouver, BC on my answering machine. They can not read my name on the prescription. Caller requests callback. A slight wrinkle.

January 4, 2006
Call number, ask for instruction. Told to re-fax prescription by attendant. Due to late hour, wait until morning.

January 5, 2006
Second answering machine message from Vancouver, BC. They have no record of my prescription or patient application. Please re-fax application and scrip. Confusion sets in.

January 6, 2006
Call number again, ask how application disappeared if they couldn’t read the name on the scrip two days prior. Told to re-fax. Get frustrated, look for another pharmacy, and walk away with my blood pressure intact.

January 10, 2006
Credit card bill arrives. Note charge from the site, including shipping on January 4, 2006. Small tremor. Call number again, ask why I was billed for a scrip they have no record of. Told that there are two pharmacies, one in United Kingdom, another in Vancouver. Order shipped via Royal Mail from UK on January 4, 2006. Assured it will appear by January 17,2006. Suggest to pharmacist that maybe both pharmacies need better communication. Assured communication between two pharmacies is excellent.

January 17, 2006
Package from UK arrives, via Royal Mail. Contents are accuracte and in correct amount. Final bill: 1/4 the US price.

Seven Eights

Writer guy

A second phone call with number six of The Eight is scheduled tonight; the first was Tuesday. It’s odd working through the novel now. A lot of time has passed since finishing the draft. I remember the plot points clearly, the good parts, the parts I liked, but have no recollection of writing the clunkers. They were always there. Sentences that either go nowhere or fall like a brick. Even with all the rewriting in place, I missed them, so my conclusion is that the momentum of a project blocks the mind from noticing a certain type of flub in the moment. Otherwise, the ego is too battered.

The more interesting part, is that with distance, comes perspective. For instance, in one scene, a character was defined more by the questions he was asked, than his actual answers. An unintentional move, certainly. The scene works, and will hit the streets largely intact, but now I view both characters in a different way.

Cassanova

Writer guy

Thanks to a recent gift of tickets, the Wife and I enjoy a few movies in the theater these days. We fell away from theaters towards the second half of 2005, when Hollywood served up the worst batch of films in fifteen years. I say that with as much certainty as regret. Until that point, we averaged forty movies in the local cinemas per season. The endless stream of remade-remakes and recycled television shows in 2005 eroded what remained of my stomach; it was time for a break.

Enter a Gift Rewards membership at Blockbuster. For the price of one new rental, three days a week, we can rent a second DVD at no cost. Also, every fifth rental is free. With the ever shrinking window between the theatrical and DVD release, kicking the habit was easy. In no time, I forgot about my shoes sticking to dried butter and candy wrappers.

But like I always say, “If it’s free, it’s for me.” When Christmas delivered a mighty bounty, we slapped them freebie tickets down at the box office and asked for two for Cassanova.

The movie very easily could have been a disaster, and I expected a train wreck. Instead, Cassanova proved a solid romantic comedy, more comedy than romantic, filled with well crafted ironic situations and mistaken identity. A good date movie, especially for the over twenty-five set.

What works:
1) Jeremy Irons is al dente as the Inquisitor. If I had to be stuck in an elevator with an actor, he’s the only one guaranteed safe passage.
2) The plot feels fresh, though familiar. Like comfort food.
3) For once, Heath Ledger isn’t an annoying little Aussie pansy.

What needs improvement:
1)In a film about history’s greatest lover, a little evidence of his prowess would be nice. Don’t just say women swoon before his mighty charms. Show it, thanks.

Verdict: Free movie coupon, matinee, or DVD purchase.