It should have been a perfect day for me.
Gray skies. 45 degrees. Drizzle.
Just right for a short-sleeve walk to Safeway to pick up my prescription. More about that in a moment.
What made the day a bit less than perfect was my physical reaction to it. Cool weather usually invigorates me. But not yesterday.
Even though I have been getting adequate sleep, I felt a bit foggy. The way I feel in hot weather.
I once dated a woman who grew up in Miami. During winters in Oregon, she would get almost suicidal. She was very dependent on her Florida sunshine. I think the syndrome was called SAD.
Well, I am not a SAD guy. But I may have become reliant on sunshine to bolster my usual "practically perfect in every way in this best of all possible worlds" attitude.
And I could have used a bit of that attitude once I was at the Safeway prescription desk. I stopped in for a refill last Sunday. But there were no refills left on that particular prescription.
The clerk told me she would fax a request to my doctor. I was to return on Wednesday for a pick up.
Knowing the depths to which efficiency has sunk in American medicine, I waited an additional day. Of course, my doctor's office had not yet responded to the fax. When I called my doctor's office, the receptionist took my telephone number and said she would call back later in the day. She didn't.
There is a move amongst American expatriates in Mexico to have Medicare coverage extended south of the border. If that happens, say good-bye to the current efficiency of Mexican medicine and hello to American governmental gridlock.
In Mexico, I merely take my empty box to the drug store where I buy medication well below American prices. No prescription. No faxes. No insurance bureaucracy. Fast and simple.
I may simply wait until I get back to Mexico to refill my prescription.
But I suspect I will miss this lovely weather.
