You'll Love This (1): Pens!

You'll love this!

Available from Staedtler and Amazon and Office Depot...from nearly everywhere.... Introducing the most delightful fine liners on the market right now! I bring a different color to work every day, and the scanners turn bright pink to a straight black (in case auditors later check our computer's copies). I cannot count the number of envious faces and comments I have received in the last week. If I could buy one for each friend and acquaintence, the temptation would be overwhelming. As it is, the two friends who did receive sets are completely enraptured.

As a letter writer, I was of course shamelessly angling for a return letter, but the pens themselves are a joy without the return. A fine glide and just enough pigment release, the lines aren't thick and they do not bleed through paper. I certainly recommend it to anyone for any use. But especially to brighten up a black-and-white world like mine, where things must only ever be well done for the sake of the patient's health, and a little shot of colour is just what we need in a world of grim, jaw-clenching seriousness.

In the hopes that your world gains more color every day; cheers.

Your Forgotten Medical Updates

One thing I really worry about with the general public is their knowledge of what we need to know about you.

Allergies: In the pharmacy, I SUPER SUPER SUPER need to know if you're allergic to any medications. Please, if you're going to bounce from pharmacy to pharmacy, please retain a list of your allergies and health conditions in your wallet that you can hand to the tech when you register up.

Insurance: Did you change insurances? Did you lose your last card? Is your insurance the type that changes your member number when you get a new card?

Health Conditions: Do you have diabetes, high blood pressure, are you pregnant? If you go to a doctor who is unaware of your allergy or health condition, and he writes a script that may complicate your condition, our computers CAN catch this. That's a reason to only go to one doctor or one pharmacy--don't mix it up with both. Please let at least your pharmacy know about this. Your new cardiologist might not be aware that the medicine she's writing may interact with something you take from your general practicioner. Someone needs to know it all, so they can catch possible dangerous interactions. Ideally, your doctors are aware of what each of them is prescribing you and what sort of conditions you're dealing with (even if it's not in their area of specialty).

The truth is, when you're really sick, you may not take the time to write it all down. And unless you're willing to tote all your recent bottles around with you, it can be hard to remember what all you're putting in your body. Even vitamins can interfere with other medications. Please stick with the same pharmacy. We'll keep track with you.

Bringing Work Home, Pharmacy Style

"My doctor wrote me a prescription for a new drug, and she's starting me off at a HUNDRED AND FIFTY milligrams!! I just...I was looking at it, and it seemed like such a lot for a beginner prescription of Wellbutrin. Is 150 milligrams a lot for Wellbutrin?"

The answer is no. This is an extremely common prescription for Wellbutrin, in fact, I rarely get scripts of any other kind for Wellbutrin, which is useful for a royal gamut of conditions from depression to impulse-control like smoking cessation.

To those who do not receive many maintenence medicines and may be new to prescriptions, take this into account: one adult dose of Allegra (now an Over the Counter medication as of March) is 180 milligrams of fexofenadine. That's just allergy medicine.

I encourage any readers with this question to continue their research of the drug with medical journals and the advice of doctors and pharmacists, and to rest assured--you're normal, the prescription is normal, and it will probably really help you.

That's it for today's Bringing Work Home, where I answer questions I received more than once at work which aren't a terrible idea for me to try to answer. ^_^

Gilligan and O'Malley Clothing

The first blog is supposed to be the intro. Where I tell you about me and why you should trust me.

I've never been a fan of this, simply because my own goober/b.s. meter is so very sensitive. Also, I have read A LOT of books. I've seen nearly every type of average intro... in... existence.

Let's start with the basic problem with the whole intro blog idea: if I lied to you, you'd never ever ever ever EVER know. Did you read that properly? Never! So let's just say: I have a degree in something useful, and I've traveled all over the world, and prefer reading non-fiction.

See? I might as well have said: How about let's skip that!

I'm a simple creature anyway, a total late bloomer. I'm writing this in the hopes that SOMEONE knows less than me. That, or they just haven't run into the practical teachings I've acquired in 28 years and 23 different jobs.

Did you know that, aside from your Aunt Irma (more on her later), no one writes letters? Really, I wish more people wrote with pen and ink instead of a keyboard. I adore letter writing--where have all the pen pals of the world gone? How is it that no one returns letters these days?

So here, have some coffee. It's got cream and sugar--if you don't take it that way, act polite and try not to gag.

Welcome. Let's gossip.

So! Got any new clothes lately? I have three words for you: Gilligan and O'Malley. Been to Target lately? There are some lovely clothes available! Clothing so soft and light-weight that it is a pure pleasure just to touch them in passing. Don't even ask what it feels like to wear them--there just aren't words. ~_^

I don't want to overstate this....but they have super powers. I wanted to get in shape for my wedding, but I kept procrastinating and could never get around to it. Within two days of buying these wonderful clothes, I had a very inexpensive but wonderful gym membership which I've already been to several times. Why? Why now, you say? Because the clothes are so comfortable, even working out seems comfy!!

Welcome to my blog, Simpleton Tips, the tips for utter simpletons. Join me for another update...sometime soon.