Where In The World Is Sum1?

This Week, and The Weekend

Locale: Home, Bloomington, Il.

Week  of: March 21, 2022

         This week I delivered a class to the Armed Forces Of The Philippines (AFP).  Delivering a technical class in an online environment is always a challenge.  There's a simple answer, let's see how well I do at explaining it.  A technical class usually requires equipment on-hand to complete hands-on exercises.  The course is oriented towards a specific type of equipment, both in radio equipment and the test equipment needed to test it.  If the customer doesn't have the exact equipment I have on hand, then it gets very tough.  And not only did they not have the correct test equipment on hand, they also did not have the required tools and such to support the hands-on activities.  RF Adapters, a small box to test the portable radio with, an isolation transformer to isolate the audio of the radio from the test equipment, and so much more.  Are you glassy eyed yet??   Despite the lack of required equipment, I felt things went pretty well overall.

         So about this week, outside of class.  You might remember that I have Multiple Myeloma, and through the grace of God, an alert, and very knowledgeable Allergist, and a very good Hematologist/Oncologist, I am in Remission after undergoing only six months of Chemotherapy.  No radiation treatment, no IV's or installation of a Port, just shots every week, and oral meds.  Now that I'm in Remission, I am in the 'maintenance' mode for 18 months.  I will take the same oral Chemo drug I've taken since June, along with a strong Steroid.  I take the Chemo drug for three weeks, then have a week of not taking it, then repeat.  I ran out of the Chemo drug, and called the specialty pharmacy on Tuesday to get it refilled.  They didn't have a refill order from my doctor, so I called his office.  All things good so far, it's what I've been doing for 8 months now.  The specialty pharmacy called me on Wednesday confirming the order, but also informed me that my co-pay for this would be $3200!  (I have a Primary Insurance through Motorola, and a secondary prescription insurance through Tri-Care (Retired Military).

{indent{I rarely pay very much for my prescriptions, and have never paid for this Chemo drug.  That's a good thing, because this drug costs $16,000 for that three week supply.  For some reason, we didn't complete the setup of delivery, nor did we do anything about the co-pay amount. I will blame it on working until 1 am each night teaching the Philippine Armed Forces for a lack of attention on my end.  Either way, it wasn't until yesterday that I got things straightened out.  Somehow, someway, the specialty pharmacy lost (deleted?) all references to my secondary prescription insurance.  That was added back in, and it turns out my co-pay is $0.  The medication was scheduled for delivery today by noon.  At 2 pm this afternoon, I called to tell them I didn't have the medication yet, and a quick check by them showed it had been delayed due to a mechanical malfunction on the UPS plane.  I leave for Massachusetts at 6:30 am tomorrow, the medication will not arrive here until Noon on Monday.  I could make a couple of calls and get it sent to my hotel, but frankly, I wouldn't trust the pharmacy or UPS to get it to me before I left.  Everything has gone wrong with this delivery thus far, I'd rather have it come to my house where I will get it Friday.  The first thing I'll do, well one of the first things, is take that medication.  I  missed two months so I could have that Cervical Spine Surgery, I can miss 3 days.  No, it's not perfect, it's not right, but I will live.  Lesson learned for me. Insist on being provided the UPS number for tracking purposes (If I hadn't called, we'd never have known where the package is.  This is something the pharmacy should have been doing all along).  I will also order the refill sooner, instead of waiting until I've exhausted my current supply. 

         As you might guess or know, my schedule can change quickly, sometimes it's my team that changes it, sometimes it's the customer. Things have changed a little for me in April & May.  (For those of you who are really interested in the changes, if any of you really are, I've highlighted that week in red).  The weeks in March-May are pretty firm, which is why I've posted them here.  Anything much further out can be changed.


Week of 3/28:  Northampton, Ma
Week of 4/4:  Cross Train one of our Instructors who works out of Indonesia.  I cross-trained her manager last year (Online of course, 5 days).  Her manager told her to ask if I would be available, and spend a week with me cross-training her.
Week of 4/11:  No delivery.  The week is called 'Instructor Prep'
Week of 4/18:  Washington DC, with the Secret Service.  I hope to meet 🌻 thankful pwheeler nano (I have a small present to give her), 🌕 HuntersMoon and his wife, and hopefully Robert Waltz , if he can get there from his home in North Central Virginia.
Week of 4/25:  Los Angeles, Port Of Los Angeles to be exact.  I will meet NaNoNette for sure.  Meeting anyone else is to be determined.
Week of 5/2:  Commonwealth of Virginia, but the class will be held in Ft Lauderdale.
Week of 5/9:  Vacation!
Week of 5/16:  Schaumburg
Week of 5/23:  Teach from home, another night class since the customer is the US Air Force, the Yokota AFB in Japan.
Week of 5/30:  Meetings in Schaumburg, or online

         Yeah, it's going to be a busy year, my schedule remains very full.  However, there may be a ray of hope on the horizon since we interviewed 6 people for 2 positions last week.  We'll see who they hire, and how fast they can pick things up.  Still, in the grand scheme of things, life is good, it's always good!

In Closing

         That's about it for now, til next time, be good to yourselves and those you love, and WRITE!





Jim Dorrell