Tales of the Phamacy- The Wonderful Customer

Sometimes customers can be very difficult. I decided that I will keep a log of the experience of the week....



A lady came in the other day, pacing outside the pharmacy window, peering in on us before opened. We open at 9am, and we arrive about 8:30, and until the time we open, we usually have the lights off as we begin to process those prescriptions that people called in over the night.



As we opened, she was the first one in line and acted rather put off that we did not try to accommodate her earlier. She said that she had been without her tamoxifen (a drug to help prevent recurrence of breast cancer) for over 3 days.... now mind you, we are open 7 days a week- where was she earlier??



We told her that it would be about 20 minutes. She responded that she had to take her sick mother down to the University of Kansas Medical Center to see her physician, and asked if we could process her prescription quicker. Because of the situation, I told her that we would get her done quickly... after all she earlier had breast cancer... lets have a little compassion here, even though she appeared to have a bathing suit on under a swim cover, but who are we to judge.



We processed her prescription in about 6 minutes, even letting her check out before 2 others at that pick-up line. I felt good about helping her out, after all she had a sick mother and an hour drive to KU. We are a compassionate lot at the pharmacy. Not all of the techs agreed, but they complied with my request to move it along.



About an hour later, we saw her stroll down the main aisle of the store with a shopping cart full of crap, including an inflatable swimming pool and lots of pool toys. I received several "I told you so" comments all day. We are a compassionate lot in the pharmacy.

Pork Chops with Cranberries

We have been looking for some new things to eat. Basically our diet has become a low carbohydrate diet by default. If you consider the extra calories a potato dish, rice or pasta adds to a meal, we have chosen to eat more veggies and meats... but we need to keep trying to add variety. We had some butterfly pork chops in the freezer and I combined several different recipes to come up with this one... It was very very good. This is a keeper

1 tsp. margarine
1/2 tsp. oil
4 boneless pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, peeled and chopped
1 sliced/chopped yellow pepper
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 and 1/2 Tbs. sugar
2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
3/4 cup dried cranberries- soaked in water for about 10 minutes

Heat margarine and oil in a heavy nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Brown chops about 1 minute per side. Set aside.

Sauté onions, pepper and carrots 5-7 minutes until brown and tender. Return chops to pan and add stock. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 10-12 minutes, until pork is cooked throughout. Remove chops and keep warm.

Add remaining ingredients. Cook 4-5 minutes. Return chops to skillet and cook until pork is heated throughout. Serve sauce over chops.

Per serving: calories 190 per chop. Heck with that number, have two

Serve with fresh green beans... what a meal!
The next time, I might add some fresh pineapple to the mix.

I love to cook. If I am looking for a change, I will research a dish, find a recipe and make some modifications to it... you know, tweak it up a bit.

Kris and I fixed dinner last night and Asian Lettuce Wraps was the idea I had. After pouring over several different types, here is what we came up with. It should be the envy of PF Chang's, who has the absolute best lettuce wraps ever!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients
Iceberg Lettuce Leaves
1 pound lean ground beef
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce- I use Soy Vay
1/8 cup teryaki sauce- homemade or commercial
2 teaspoonfs of grated ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Asian chile pepper sauce- use to taste- I used 1 teaspoonful of pepper paste
1 (8 ounce) can water chopped chestnuts- drain well
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil
1/4 cup shredded carrots

Directions
1.Rinse whole lettuce leaves and pat dry, being careful not tear them. Set aside.

2.In a medium skillet over high heat, brown the ground beef... Drain, and set aside to cool... Cook the onion in the same pan, stirring frequently... Add the garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, vinegar, and chile pepper sauce to the onions, and stir, for about 2 minutes... Stir in chopped water chestnuts, green onions, and sesame oil, and continue cooking until the onions just begin to wilt, about 2 more minutes.... add beef and continue stiring until desired consistency- not too runny

3.Arrange lettuce leaves around the outer edge of a large serving platter, and pile meat mixture in the center. To serve, allow each person to spoon a portion of the meat into a lettuce leaf. Top with shredded carrots. Wrap the lettuce around the meat like a burrito or a taco.

It is a little messey, but sure is good!

Next time, I would increase the pepper paste, and the vinegar to add a little more flavor. I would also add some slices of colored bell peppers and some asparagus, even adding some bean sprouts to the mix. Chicken would be excellent too!

What is God's Will ?

Have you ever thought about what God's will means? What does it mean to live in God's Will... People say "It was God's Will"... or "It was part of God's Plan" ...or the like. Over the past few weeks I have been thinking about these questions.... because of one of Pastor Lenander's sermons and a conversation with some friends.

Here are my thoughts:

There is a difference between God's Perfect Will and God's Permissive Will. The former is what pleases God, or what God desires. The latter is the evidence of God's love for us.

We have received God's promise that God will be with us always.... in spite of what we do, or how we act. As part of our church, we receive that reminder weekly, that in spite of what we have done or left undone, God still loves us and accepts us as if we are perfect, because God makes us perfect thru Christ.

It is thru looking back and thru reflection that we see God's presence in our lives and God's fulfillment of God's promises... God was there!

We may strive for understand God's perfect will, yet we thrive in God's permissive will. This is all part of the whole purpose of God.... that we might acknowledge God's love for God's people.

Just my thoughts.

Random wisdom on investing

Here are some randome thoughts and phrases I have heard on investing over the past several months....


Probably good to consider in this volitile market:

• Bears and Bulls can make money, but pigs get slaughtered


• Nobody ever got hurt by taking profits


• Price matters... never pay more than you think that you should.... be patient


• Don't use a market order... set the price you want to buy into


• A significant portion of market gains over any period are due to dividends... look for dividends if possible
  
• Dont buy a stock during the earnings season

My iPhone was broke

Earlier this week my adapter cord I use to play music thru my stereo broke off inside my iPhone headphone jack. What a bummer. It kept recognizing a headphone so I could not hear anything. Apple was not much help. I tried my dentist, eye doctor, jeweler, etc. Nobody had a tool small enough.

I finally called a apple repair shop in KC -- Mission Repair. Took it there and in 10 minutes it was fixed. I was out about $50 , but I got my phone back. They say they see this happen about once every week or so.

I am now a happy guy!

Here's a random observation on Healthcare

Those who know me well know that I can be a wealth of random information.... (unfortunately, it usually does not help me on Trivia Pursuit or other Trivia games because those games don't ask me about what I do know)

Did you know that the rate of increase in people diagnosed with diabetes in the world is increasing by over 5% per year... in the US, now over 8% of our population has diagnosed diabetes, and some estimate that there are another 3% who simply aren't diagnosed yet... just think- 10% of us has diabetes. In the middle east and some Mediterranean countries that is as high as 12%.

This matters because of the costs! Sales of insulin increases between 10 and 11% per year... (by the way buy Walmart's Relion brand vs Humulin or Novulin brands... it is far less expensive). If you develop diabetes, expect to spend well over $2000 in out of pocket expenses per year, and don't you dare loose your job, because it will be a pre-existing condition on any new insurance policy.

You can do a lot to prevent diabetes... most experts say it is almost totally preventable in "most people"... it is a lifestyle disease in many, many cases. Here is what you can do:

- Exercise!!!! - even if you don't like it... it is proven to decrease blood sugar
- Loose Weight !!!- over 90% of diabetics are overweight
- Decrease your calorie intake and saturated fat intake- again proven to prevent
- have an annual physical and listen to your physician as they talk you about your risk

All of us can do these things.

Besides the cost, it can also be a faith issue... remember glutony, your body as a temple, etc.

If you do develop diabetes, it is not the end of the world.... there are great treatments and it does not have to limit your life style... but it will cost you, and it can only be treated, and it will be with you for the rest of your life.

Just some random thought about something you probably don't care about, but now you know.