Stitches
I found some t-shirts at Goodwill and cut them into loops with moderate success. Anything less than 1/4 inch falls apart when you stretch it, but crocheting with 1/4 inch or bigger loops (so you're really crocheting with 2 strands at a time) requires a pretty big hook. I suppose it would work for a rug or maybe a pillow.
I see some people are selling t-shirt yarn on Etsy.com. Apparently they have cut a t-shirt in spiral to get one long strand. I'm not sure I have the patience for that. However, I did cut a couple of my loops apart and made a macrame bracelet out of them. Only problem with that is figuring out what type of closure will work. I just tied a knot in the end and slipped the beginning loop over. It fell off at work, and I found it later in my smock pocket.
Stripts
Speaking of pockets.... those of you not in the biz may have noticed that we seem to have a lot of stuff in our smock pockets. Here's a list of what's in mine and why:
Ballpoint pens - pharmacists are completely lost without pens. I have 3 at all times because I have found over the years that 1 backup just isn't sufficient. I buy my own so that I know which ones are mine. Otherwise, I steal everyone else's and have a pocketful of pens at the end of the day.
Highlighter - there's always something to call attention to; a change in directions, a note that the patient needs to see the doctor, a note that the insurance company, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to stop paying for a drug, etc. There are usually highlighters around, but they always seem to be yellow which doesn't show up well on our receipts.
Pastel permanent marker - to make a big X on the open stock bottles. I'm generally pretty easy-going, but it does bother me when other staff members can't take a second to mark an open stock bottle and we end up with a bunch on the shelf. Everyone knows when I've been working because the shelves turn into a lovely rainbow of pastel shades.
Black permanent marker - mostly for writing notes on faxes to doctors. Regular pen either doesn't show up well enough or the doctor's staff just ignores it.
Small note book - I feel naked without my little cheat book. It's mostly phone numbers. But it also has lots of notes about fixing insurance rejections (override PA codes, DUR rejection codes, group numbers or processor control numbers that aren't on the patient's insurance card but we have to enter anyway.) The days when all I needed to know was drug info are long gone.
Colored lip balm - Hey, I still wanna look good!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Loops
Stitches
Usually as the weather turns colder I start getting more serious about crochet. I like to watch movies that no one else around here wants to see, crochet, and drink too much coffee. The next DVD of Dead Like Me will be arriving soon. Now I need to decide what my next project will be.
I have a couple of ideas floating around in my head. I've been trying to make a mobile/sun-catcher idea work, but I can't seem to find yarn that drapes well and looks good with the cut glass drop beads that I bought.
Another idea that I've been kicking around is cutting up old t-shirts and crocheting them into something. So I think I'll run by my neighborhood Goodwill today, buy some t-shirts, get out the rotary cutter, and go to town. I'll try to follow the instructions for making plarn and cut straight across the t-shirt, making a big loops and then hook the loops together.
Scripts
You know how I was complaining before about other pharmacists being so negative? I've got a story for you that could easily be told as a rant, but I found humor in it, so here goes...
A woman called me on the phone at work last week and said she wanted her methadone refilled. I told her that methadone can't be refilled; it has to be a new written prescription each time. She argued with me that her doctor did put refills on it. And I replied that even if he did, I still couldn't legally refill it. Looking at her file, I saw that she had a refill on hydrocodone and asked if that was what she wanted. She said no.
She then called her doctor's office, and they called us. They spoke to the technician who didn't know about my earlier conversation with her. I don't know exactly what the doctor's nurse said, but the end result was that the hydrocodone got refilled.
The customer came in, and the cashier rang up the hydrocodone. The woman called me over to say we made a mistake; we were supposed to fill methadone. A circular exchange transpired.
"I want the methadone; the round ones. The doctor called in refills."
"The doctor has to write new prescription each time. It cannot be phoned in."
"What's this?"
"Hydrocodone. That one they can call in"
"I don't want that. I want the methadone; the round ones"
We go around and around a few times. I really don't know how else to say it.
As we're chasing our tails, I notice she has a rolled up piece of paper in her hand that looks like a prescription. After a minute or two she says "Oh, so you need this." And she hands me the piece of paper which is, indeed, a written prescription for methadone written about 2 weeks before.
We fill the methadone, and as we're ringing it up she asks me if we can put a note on her file so that we don't get confused next time. I gave her my biggest customer service smile and said, "So we don't get confused? Oh no, we're fine, Ma'am. Just bring us the written prescription next time and everything we be easy." While I'm saying this, I hear the technician behind me trying not to laugh.
Usually as the weather turns colder I start getting more serious about crochet. I like to watch movies that no one else around here wants to see, crochet, and drink too much coffee. The next DVD of Dead Like Me will be arriving soon. Now I need to decide what my next project will be.
I have a couple of ideas floating around in my head. I've been trying to make a mobile/sun-catcher idea work, but I can't seem to find yarn that drapes well and looks good with the cut glass drop beads that I bought.
Another idea that I've been kicking around is cutting up old t-shirts and crocheting them into something. So I think I'll run by my neighborhood Goodwill today, buy some t-shirts, get out the rotary cutter, and go to town. I'll try to follow the instructions for making plarn and cut straight across the t-shirt, making a big loops and then hook the loops together.
Scripts
You know how I was complaining before about other pharmacists being so negative? I've got a story for you that could easily be told as a rant, but I found humor in it, so here goes...
A woman called me on the phone at work last week and said she wanted her methadone refilled. I told her that methadone can't be refilled; it has to be a new written prescription each time. She argued with me that her doctor did put refills on it. And I replied that even if he did, I still couldn't legally refill it. Looking at her file, I saw that she had a refill on hydrocodone and asked if that was what she wanted. She said no.
She then called her doctor's office, and they called us. They spoke to the technician who didn't know about my earlier conversation with her. I don't know exactly what the doctor's nurse said, but the end result was that the hydrocodone got refilled.
The customer came in, and the cashier rang up the hydrocodone. The woman called me over to say we made a mistake; we were supposed to fill methadone. A circular exchange transpired.
"I want the methadone; the round ones. The doctor called in refills."
"The doctor has to write new prescription each time. It cannot be phoned in."
"What's this?"
"Hydrocodone. That one they can call in"
"I don't want that. I want the methadone; the round ones"
We go around and around a few times. I really don't know how else to say it.
As we're chasing our tails, I notice she has a rolled up piece of paper in her hand that looks like a prescription. After a minute or two she says "Oh, so you need this." And she hands me the piece of paper which is, indeed, a written prescription for methadone written about 2 weeks before.
We fill the methadone, and as we're ringing it up she asks me if we can put a note on her file so that we don't get confused next time. I gave her my biggest customer service smile and said, "So we don't get confused? Oh no, we're fine, Ma'am. Just bring us the written prescription next time and everything we be easy." While I'm saying this, I hear the technician behind me trying not to laugh.
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