I tell you, for the first 3/4 of my day I was surrounded by incompetence. Mind you, it was not my co-workers, just everyone else I had to interact with. (And no, very little of it had to do with the PMS I’m experiencing this week. It may have magnified it, but it was definitely not the cause.)

Anyway, several weeks ago I scheduled the icky female appointment for today at 4:15pm. Well, about mid-morning I realized I had not received my friendly reminder call the previous afternoon as per usual, so I suddenly paniced that they had not recorded my appointment correctly. I mean, icky as I find these annual visits, they are necessary for the renewed prescriptions, etc. So I call, endure the endless phone tree, and realize there really *isn’t* an option for “confirming an appt” so I picked the “make and appt” for the appropriate doctor and finally got a human. Of course, they *did* have the appointment for this afternoon, no worries, and oh it’s at 4. WTF?

4? I say.

Yes, 4, the chirpy desk girl replies.

But I made the appointment for four-*fifteen* for a reason, says I.

Well, it’s at four.

Gee, that’s all I get? And see, had I not called to confirm I would never have known the time changed and therefore would have been 15 minutes late for my appointment and it would have been ME who had to wait until they could squeeze me in or, that late in the day, have had to reschedule. I would have been blamed for their incompetence.

Other things had to do with vendors who either didn’t remember to data-entry the hand-written upcharge (which we, like a good little customer, paid) so now it shows a credit on the account (which can’t just be taken because one day they’d figure it out and then I’d have to pay it *again*) and another vendor who just couldn’t use common sense. I’ve been trying to get a tax issue resolved for 2 months. First I sent the correct certificate with the payment it applied to, but that didn’t work. So, two phone calls and two faxes of the same certificate later, the balance is still owed on the account, but it shouldn’t be. Today I try a third time, a bit miffed from the first incompetent vendor, and explain the situation to the AR lady. Keep in mind that I also had to request a copy of a bill that they had neglected to include in the delivery (or the shipping manifest for that matter).

Anyway, I explain that I’ve sent the form three times prior. I did mention that there is a difference between the corporate name and the dba on file, so maybe that’s where the confusion lies, of course why they didn’t notice the same address and fax number as on file is beyond me, but apparently the girl I spoke with (twice, on her request) couldn’t put her “please fax me the form” request together with the fax sent to her attention less than 60 seconds later. Twice. At the very least she could have faxed back the form with the question: what account number does this go to? But no. Anyway, this new girl told me that I was being rude to her when I called her company incompetent, necessitating repetitive work by me. Now, I considered myself being firm with them, getting the point across, since sweetness and light had gotten me no where. That’s too bad if she took offense, but maybe they can pick their employees better next time.

Lest you think I’ve spent all day in bitch-mode, I should note that I finally wore out about 2-ish and then actually got happy when I went to the doctor and found out I lost 4 pounds since the last time I was there, about 2 months ago. Granted, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what I need to lose, but it’s a start and it made my doctor happy too. Oh, and I was right about my heel, it’s probably Tendonitis of the Achilles tendon. Will have to call the podiatrist tomorrow (just what I need, another doctor lol, I could start my own directory by now).

Back to the workshop prep!