Adam Thomas, RPH

Apparently there is some new ‘movement’ amongst the younger sect.  It’s called the Quantified Self.  I first read about it in Graydon Carter’s Editor’s Letter in the February 2013  Vanity  Fair.  I’ve been a long subscriber of the magazine and often read what Mr. Carter has to say.  The concept fascinated me.  Not in the “wow, I want to be a part of that” way but in the “what the hell are they thinking?” way.  So I did some  research.  And what I found validated my initial assumption of what this ‘movement’ is all about.

Basically Quantified Self is all about self-knowledge through self-tracking. You know measuring every frickin’ thing you do with every app available on every electronic device known to man.  Quintessentially, it’s self-absorption to the highest degree.  Not only do these people measure, record, and preserve their results for posterity, they share with others and actually think society gives a shit about the results.  I don’t know about you, but between work, the wife and kids, and everything that comes with  those combined, I can barely keep track of the amount of sleep I get or how many times I pee each day.  Throw in racking my brain to think of ways to ‘positively buzz’ my book to generate sales and I’m a quantified mess!

But the thing is, I’m doing something that I alone can be accountable for.  Not just filling the void of my existence in senseless rituals.  Well, I do that, too, but let’s not go there right now.

Carter said it best when he wrote – “The thing is, all that time you spend logging and then curating the quotidian aspects of your daily life is time taken away from actually doing things.”

Okay, that was bad.  Really bad.  However referencing that song was appropriate for one more little tidbit about the novel.

Chapter titles/headings

The first section is designated by time – think diary entries.  Not the Doogie Howser type, but the chronological account of events type.  The second section  is generic 1,2,3 headings.  The third section, though, is my favorite.  Song titles are used to characterize, if you will, each chapter.  Great feedback from readers on this by the way.

One in particular comes to mind that pretty much sums up what the entire novel is about –  Stand  by Rascal Flatts (Danny Orton, Blair Daly).

‘Cause when push comes to shove/You taste what you’re made of

You might bend ’til you break/’Cause it’s all you can take

On your knees you look up/Decide you’ve had enough

You get mad, you get strong/Wipe your hands, shake it off

Then you stand, then you stand

Granted, you need to pick your battles.  But for me, this Stand was a good decision and a hell of a good story!

I’m talking book.  My Life As A Retail Pharmacist – A Fictionalized Memoir.  Yes, that book.  No one would want to know the other.  Sometimes I don’t even know that.

The synopsis – that little tab in the upper left corner next to the home tab – gives a brief overview of what I did with the point of view in the story, but I feel the need to explain.

The book is basically divided into three main sections.  There is an introduction and epilogue, but those are a few pages each so… .  The first section is all me – first person.  Then a pivotal scene sets the stage for the second section and the point of view is opened to a broader, but still limited view.  Yes, it’s still all me.  I just needed to be able to introduce some other characters and ‘move’ around the story a bit.  When I was at a writers workshop, an instructor told the group that if you choose first person that first person has to be interesting enough to carry the entire novel.  Talk about pressure.  I am not that interesting, so I needed to shake things up a bit.

The final section of the book is all third person omniscient – very little about me.  Yes, I am the main character and it is my story but things got messy.  And ,I needed help cleaning up.

The reason I like what I did was that this increasingly broader point of view  parallelled what was happening.  My life was falling apart.  The expanding point of view captured the essence* of that implosion.

Then, when the dust settle and the epilogue begins, it’s all about me again.  Isn’t that what everyone wants?

So just click on one of those ions to the right and buy the damn book.  Trust me, you will like it.

*this time the word essence is spelled correctly

Well, I’m back from skiing in Aspen/Snowmass.  And it was amazing – great trip.  My wife and I often discuss the real definition of the word ‘annual’ when referencing the ski trip.  I am already looking forward to 2014.  Not sure if she is, though?!

On the plane I had an opportunity to catch up on some magazine reading, especially ski magazines.  One particular article caught my attention and I feel compelled to share.

The below is from the February 2013 Skiing . Apparently it was an article celebrating the 65^th anniversary issue and it gathered ‘tips, hints, lessons, and tricks that will enrich and inform your experience’ from real skiers.  Here are some of the highlights of the ‘Skiers 65’.

Spray Dry                    Spray Pam on your jeans to make them waterproof.

Mind Fido                   Be careful skiing with your dog.  Your edges are giant knife blades right at paw level.

What she said           Don’t take off your ski gear.  Guys are way cuter in their gear.

Avoid baggage          If you meet a girl a week before you’re supposed to move West, don’t  let her move

                                 out there with you.

Prioritize

Shamelessly              Success as a ski bum comes down to two things: time management and a good

                                budget. Never work more hours than you ski, and never be afraid to sell blood or

                                semen.

Note – each excerpt had name/location of author.

Ski on!  

http://youtu.be/RrcXlewIq40

for Mary who needs more than words for blogging entertainment and Randy who is finally old enough to see this film

I have been very good about not ranting pharmacy, but something happened recently to change that; at least for now.

Having insurance is a wonderful thing – I get and appreciate that.  But having to deal with insurance is not.  But, hey, ObamaCare will solve all the problems.  Right?

I had a problem processing a child’s prescription. She was a twin – so that has insurance cluster written all over it.  I know this first hand, of course.  The parent called and inquired about the status of the prescription she had been wanting for the last two weeks.  Since the wonderful catch-phrase ‘It’s a known problem and all available resources are working on it’ was no longer applicable, I called the insurance again and got some fucking idiot who had the balls to tell me I needed to ‘contact my software provider’*.  When I told him we didn’t have a software provider, he decided to speak again. “I doubt that because you would’ve had to have created the software for the company yourself and I doubt that’s the case.”

I cursed him numerous times under my breath and demanded to speak with his supervisor.  When the supervisor took over the call she stated that we had the child’s name spelled incorrectly – Sara instead of Sarah for example.  I made the appropriate change and the prescription processed immediately.  She then proceeded to tell me the man who initially helped me was, in fact, an idiot.  I thanked her, smiled, and called the parent.  “Finally,” the mother exclaimed after she heard her daughter’s name was corrected.  “The insurance has had it wrong for fifteen years.”

*in case you are all wondering, this is a catch phrase used by insurance companies when the person dealing with the situation has no idea how to proceed.

At first I was going to rant about this whole flu epidemic which, I’m coming to realize, isn’t really an epidemic at all.  It’s just a media blitz probably paid for by the makers of the damn flu vaccine and the distributors/retailers of said vaccine.  From what I’ve read it’s a slightly above average season AND the vaccine has been around since, like, August. How that qualifies as an epidemic/shortage I have no idea.  All I know is that it makes my life hell.

Also,Winter Storms are now being named. There are a few reasons this was decided upon.  Once again media based.  Apparently named storms are more efficient to reference in communication and easier to recall in the future.  With names like Euclid and Gandolf  who would want to remember either of those storms?  Just call the next blizzard Bob and be done with it!

Believe or not, I like January as a month.  I view it as one of those low expectations-low yield months.  Unless of course there is a New Year’s resolution involved.  Then that ups both the expectation and yield components.  I never make them, though.  I just make fun of everyone who indulges in such behavior.

To me, January is a regrouping month.  Back to business / time to relax after the roller coaster ride that started after Labor Day.  The fall is jam packed with so much and so many holidays, I look forward to January to just chill.  An added bonus for us here in Traverse is that the last of the snowbirds have finally flown South.  Sucks to be a Florida pharmacist right now.

So there you have it, my proverbial Ode to January.

Whether the entries are is yet to be determined.  But, obviously, the look is way different.  The makeover was long over-do.  Now if I can only do the same for myself.

About the book …

It’s still the primary focus, of course.  Stationary icons have been added to facilitate ease of purchase.  And please PURCHASE.  It’s available at both Amazon.com an BarnesandNoble.com.  Still workin’ on Goodreads.com, but I did hire someone to help upgrade the blog so I may have to contract out for that.  While I’m on the subject of the book, I want to address a few items.  The book has format issues.  I had to upload at least four different versions. So what you see is the best.  Sorry, but it’s really not that cumbersome of an issue. Or so I’m told.

Also, I KNOW THERE ARE GRAMMATICAL ERRORS.   Look, I had two very educated proof readers pour over the text.  As with the format, this is it.   Sorry, you will just have to deal.  I could misspell my name and not even realize it.  If you let what is written entertain you, than nothing else matters.

About the ‘new’ blog …

The essence/direction will remain the same – Random Nonsense.   I like it.  And, like I stated above about the book, there will be plenty of grammatical errors here, too.  Spell check can only do so much.  I am a writer not an editor.  Lastly, I realize none of the foul language is necessary, but we are all adults here.  Besides, there’s really not that much of it.

That’s it.

Oh, yeah, that damn Croton plant has only 1 leaf left.   That’s due for makeover, too!  Actually I’m just going to throw it away.