It's a Mushroom Soup Tuesday!

mushroomsoup161

Yes, it's a Mushroom Soup Tuesday — a day of light blogging on this site — as Mark runs about and tends to matters relating to this Sunday night's big Tribute to Stan Freberg. You'd be amazed how much there is to do for an event like this…and I'm only one of three producers.

Hey, Neil Patrick Harris is going to star in a new variety show for NBC. I thought I'd killed off that genre. This'll be interesting because if that guy can't pull it off, no one can.

Here's a rumor from the word of late night teevee: There'll be a gap of several months between the last Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson and the first one with James Corden. What will fill the breach? Guest hosts. Who will they be? Nobody knows yet.

Recently, I made one of the larger errors in my life. I habitually get my prescriptions from my friendly, neighborhood 24 hour CVS Pharmacy and I tried instead getting one, just as a test, from an online mail order service. I am now out of that medication because they haven't delivered it. For a solid month now, I've been calling every few days to argue with someone there. Here's how it goes…

  1. I call and am told I don't have the correct prior authorizations from my doctor. I tell the service rep I do. He or she tells me I don't. I give him or her the dates and information on the prior authorizations and the names of others in their department who previously confirmed to me that I did and that the pills would be shipped. They politely tell me, in those cheery ways that low level employees on the phone develop, that I am lying and/or stupid.
  2. I demand to speak to a supervisor.
  3. I speak to a supervisor. This person either (a) looks into the matter and admits I'm right or (b) tells me I'm wrong, whereupon I ask to speak to the supervisor's supervisor. At some point though, I do get to someone in power there who admits that I'm right, who cannot explain why the computer ever told anyone I was not, and who promises the medicine will be shipped out within 24 hours with their profuse apologies.
  4. Then it doesn't come. No one mails, e-mails or phones me to tell me this. I just notice that it doesn't come. Apparently, some person or computer in the Shipping Department double-checks and says, "Hey, he's not supposed to get this" and cancels the shipment. But no one tells me. I do not know why their system works like that.
  5. So once I realize it's not arriving, I go back to Step #1 and it all starts again.

I have now been to Step #1 seven (7) times. Yesterday, I got my promise from someone who seemed so smart and responsible that I think I may actually get it this time. But I've been wrong before…six (6) times. In the meantime, the CVS Pharmacy is open 24 hours and I usually only have to go over there twice and argue to get this prescription filled. It is not for Blood Pressure medication…but it should be.

I'm off to do Freberg-related stuff. Back later.