I worked in Bethlehem one summer, and it was a really nice walkable town. (Or, at least, the things I needed were all in walking distance of each other. College, bookstore, restaurants, vegan bakery, and fun historical sites to wander. I don't know where the grocery store was, since I was living on the college campus and eating in the cafeteria.)

I flew to Philly.

hmph. except I was at the Dr.s, and have been sucktastic about seeing anyone lately.

Jesus, Lee. Your mother astounds me.

We have a lot of weird stops here -- two-way, three-way, four-way -- because there are a lot of one-way streets, and then streets that change to two-way without a lot of warning. Most people assume everyone else will stop, which means most intersections are dicey.

hmph. except I was at the Dr.s, and have been sucktastic about seeing anyone lately.

Well, my friend met me at the airport and we immediately drove to Allentown for a whirlwind of visiting and whatnot, so no time for others. Sorry!

but she guess it's the one "who, like you, does not have the protection offered by child bearing", am I allowed to tell her to STFU?

Absolutely. Do it for me. Do it for every woman who didn't think, "I'd better have a child before 30 to prevent breast cancer."

Besides, you'd think she'd understand that it's a small increased risk. At age 45, a woman who had a child before 30 has about a 9% chance of breast cancer by 90. If she hadn't had that child, her risk would be about 11%.

You are too nice a person to mention to her that the single greatest risk for breast cancer is getting older.

Well, my friend met me at the airport and we immediately drove to Allentown for a whirlwind of visiting and whatnot, so no time for others. Sorry!

oh, I totally figured - sorry, my sense of humor isn't right today.

Grr. Just spent 15 minutes on the phone with CVSCaremark (mail order pharmacy). The way my insurance is set up they highly highly encourage switching over. So after filling one month of birth control (of which I only take 3 weeks, per doctor's orders), I submitted an immediate request to mail me some. They replied on 03FEB that it was "accepted". What I didn't know was they apparently aren't allowed to "accept" a prescription, per my plan, until I've finished 75% of my current fill. Fine. So then on 08FEB, when I needed more, I still hadn't received any. I went to the pharmacy and bought more, with my own money.

Finally on 10FEB, I got an email saying it was shipping....and when I checked, it's not supposed to arrive until 17FEB. Which is a week and a half after I needed a refill.

So I call up their support and ask them to reimburse me...and the first guy is all "Um, I don't think I can do that" and sends me to a supervisor. She is like "Well, this is how we do it" and I was all 'Well what the hell am I supposed to do then, if you don't send it until a week after I need it?" and she's like "Well, you could ask your doctor for samples". I was like OH FUCK NO THAT IS NOT THE RIGHT RESPONSE. Then she says "Well, most people pay out of pocket" and I was like 'Then you should make that very clear on your website, that when requesting mail order, you need to know you'll be paying a month out of pocket! My pill isn't thaaaat much without insurance, but some meds most definitely ARE expensive!" and she hemmed and hawed and said there was nothing set up for that, and finally agreed to talk to someone else. Which I have no faith in.

It's not that I can't afford the $34, but I damn well shouldn't HAVE to.

Do it for every woman who didn't think, "I'd better have a child before 30 to prevent breast cancer."

Hah--I have TOTALLY thought this, repeatedly (my mom had breast cancer at 40...and her first kid at 31). But, y'know, somehow that just didn't happen.

Caremark blows.

CVS Caremark annoys the shit out of me. After my IUD saga last year, it turns out that CVS Caremark supplied the actual IUD to my doctor, and Aetna paid whatever they contract to pay.

So CVS Caremark sent me bills for 6 months saying I owed... $0.00. I finally called them and asked why they were sending me bills if I didn't owe, and the woman said it was because Aetna "hadn't paid the full amount," and my account was still "open." She then proceeded to tell me to call Aetna and tell them to pay CVS Caremark.

Uh, yeah. I'm pretty sure I told her I'd get right on it. I never called Aetna. Seriously? Two large companies who have ongoing supply/billing issues with each other have a process in place to deal with reimbursement, and it is NOT called "have the patient call her insurance and tell them to pay CVS Caremark."