Patience Tested

I had my patience tested yesterday. As it turns out, I am negative.

We had a lot to get done yesterday and we only accomplished about half of it. But in the process, I certainly got my patience tested. And I’m the first to admit that I’m not a patient man.

We had to go to the bank to fund our family trust, and when I called the day before to ask if I needed an appointment, the young man said no, just come in in the early afternoon. So we did and discovered that they were shorthanded that day, of all days. We were asked to take a seat and assured someone would be with us in just a few minutes. A few minutes turned into 30 minutes, and then 60 minutes, and then longer. About the time I was ready to get up and leave, the young lady who handles things like that finally broke free and sat down with us to discuss what we were trying to accomplish and how best to do it.

It was after 4 PM when we left there, and the tax collector’s office closed at 5, which was our next stop. Fortunately, it wasn’t that far away, and we found a parking place right in front, on Canal Street. Unfortunately, the office had moved around the corner and down half a block or so on Riverside Drive. The wait there wasn’t awfully long, maybe 15 minutes or so. As it turned out, we didn’t have all of the documentation with us that we needed. I kind of expected that, and the real purpose of stopping was just to find out what we needed to bring back. We’ll do that today.

Terry had a package that needed to be dropped off at the UPS Store, and we figured that would be a quick in and out because it was already labeled and prepaid by Amazon. But as it turns out, they don’t let you just drop something off and walk out like they used to. Now, due to Homeland Security or some such nonsense, you have to physically hand it to a clerk. There was a short line, and I didn’t think it would take long – silly me.

There was a sixtyish couple at the counter with one of the two clerks, and they had thirteen small boxes to send out. They were all different sizes, so they had to be measured and weighed individually, and then they wanted the price for shipping each one out. But before they would commit to it, they had to use the woman’s iPhone to go online to the post office website and find out how much it would be to send it through them. Then there was a debate about paying a little extra for FedEx to deliver it or saving a few cents by going to the post office, even though it would take longer to get to its destination. With the first one out of the way, they went through the same process with the next package. And then the next.

At one point, the woman working behind the desk said they were talking about a difference of about $1 or for all of them combined. The very nicely dressed female customer, who had fancy rings on each finger and just a little more jewelry than Mr. T, said they were on a fixed income, and every penny counted. That’s when a man standing behind me in line loudly said he would throw in 50¢ if I would do the same so we could get the line moving. Meanwhile, the other clerk was busy trying to pick up the slack and get other customers checked out. When I left, the obnoxious couple still had several packages that they were debating about.

Terry and I both got shingles vaccines several years ago, but I did not know that you have to get them again after a certain amount of time. Two friends of ours who previously had been vaccinated have both come down with shingles, and both of them are absolutely miserable. Wanting to avoid that if we could, on our way home, we stopped at Walgreens to get shingles shots.

We were told it wouldn’t take long, but apparently, they use the same playbook the bank does. We waited a while, filled out some forms and handed them in, and waited, and waited, and finally, well over an hour later, we got our shots. It didn’t feel bad going in, but an hour or so later, both our arms started aching, and about three hours later, I had a huge lump on my arm. Terry’s arm hurts but she doesn’t have the lump.

The shots are not cheap, $198 each and our Medicare prescription plan only paid $6 each. And as it turns out, there has to be a second shot in two or three months. But, knowing the misery our friends are going through dealing with shingles, I think it’s money well spent.

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Buck Fever, the first book in my friend Ben Rehder’s immensely popular Blanco County mystery series. If you’re not a fan of Ben’s books you have no idea what you are missing out on. Wacky characters, great humor, and superb writing. Give them a try. You won’t be disappointed. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with U.S. addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

Thought For The Day – I went down to the paint store to get thinner. It didn’t work.