I have been planning
on getting out to take some photos of my neighborhood but I have been a bit
short of time – and it is usually too damn hot. In the interim I have many
photos of birds and squirrels – but will spare you from these.
In my quest to deal with
my headaches my doctor suggested that I see a neurologist – and said that he
would arrange it. Three weeks later I received a phone call to say that an
appointment had indeed been arranged – for November.
I read in the New
York Times yesterday that there is a drastic shortage of doctors in the USA. I
can attest from my experience so far that this is true.
In the meantime my
health insurer sent me a letter saying they had rejected the claims for my
first visit to the doctor because I had cancelled my cover.
I had to (shriek)
devote an hour to ring them and find that I do indeed have cover. In the
excruciating exchanges I have had with machines I have yet to find a
phone menu that actually has an option that I want. i.e.
If you are ringing
to tell us that we are deadshits because we wrote to you saying your cover was
cancelled – please press #23.
I am trying to
arrange a cat sitter for when we go away for a weekend soon. I have so far not
been able to get anyone to return my calls (no one ever answers their phone in
America). Some people have impenetrable phone menus:
If you are a new client
press #1
If you have a dog
press #1
If you have a cat
press #2
If you have an Aardvark
press 356
My world here has
gone completely loopy.
I have recently tried to teach my spouse how the keypads for phones have number-letter matching and howshecould use use that with passwords etc but I am not sure she has it down yet. It has been rather non-hot here, and rainy. My mother said she saw something that she had not seen since leaving South Dakota (40 years): the cattle in Oklahoma were wandering in pastures where the grass was higher than their bellies. I forgot to teLL her that I had a piece of grass grow up inside my grapevine that was around three feet long. I use devices caLLed tomato cages around the grape plants and it creates a bit of a cylindrical hollow shady ecosystem.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder you have headaches!
ReplyDeleteAt least when your call is answered, it is I assume answered by someone in the same country. That is not the case here, where a call to a telephone company, or whatever, is answered by someone in Mumbai or Manila.
When we first moved into our new house we had trouble with our internet connection. I spent what felt like months of my life on phones waiting for people to answer, explaining the situation, then being transferred to another far distant land and explaining the situation yet again.
Stressville to the max.
Have a nice daaay!
I can't imagine the culture shock you must be experiencing where our crapped up bureaucracy is concerned, not to mention the heat and humidity and so many other things that we natives have learned to overlook. Sometimes it's good for us Americans to see our country through the eyes of non-Americans. A little humble pie never hurt anyone...
ReplyDeleteIf I could right all of this for you, I would, but the American Social Fix-It Line's phone menu doesn't include an option for expatriated Aussies-recently-removed-from-Vienna.
And besides, they don't speak English very well.
esb: You should not be surprised that the grass grows tall in Oklahoma because the corn is as high as an elephants eye. Do you use the cages to keep out critters?
ReplyDeleteAlexia: Ah yes - having them in the USA is a major bonus - although we still often have communication difficulties. Everyone has trouble understanding me and there are some accents I just cannot get a hold of.
SK Waller: I am really surprised because I thought the systems here would be really god - but everything - from getting power connected top trying to get a medical appointment - is like trying to climb Mt Everest without oxygen. BUt I am getting better as time goes on.
"Oh What Beautiful Reply" - the mesh on the tomato cages is about 12 inches across, so yes, it would keep out most, but not aLL, of an inquisitive rhinoceros. The rhino (nose-ish) part of the rhinoceros could stiLL get inside, while the ceros part would not.
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