Morning Views...

 

Up early and out on the CTX shortly after 6:00.  Another warm start to the day, and another predicted high temp of 112º today.  Up the mountain again.  I got off at the top to look around a bit - diffused light this morning made for some hazy views looking southeast...

 A deeper blue to the sky looking more south...

Even more so, looking to the southwest...

Time to rehydrate and head out again, a look at the CTX before before mounting up...

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Doctor Shopping...

No, I am not looking to purchase a doctor.  I am, however, looking for a primary care doctor.  Seems there are plenty of "senior care" operations with multiple doctors in various locations around the Phoenix area.  As my buddy Mark once told me: "They know how to take care of old people here."

That will be a refreshing change.  My experience with doctoring in Texas was... variable.  I liked the doctor I had in Harlingen, didn't like the people at the phones and front desk.  I put up with the staff because the doctor was decent.  And then, he retired.  The big medical corporation that bought up his practice brought in a guy who I affectionately refer to as... the asshole.  I have good insurance - the asshole wanted to run every test imaginable and seemed highly offended when I said, "No!"

His response: "You have insurance - this is all free!"

My response to him: "It is NOT free.  My insurance is paying for it, and running up a bunch of unnecessary tests is only going contribute to insurance costs rising."  He didn't like being told that.

Then he said, "To get a baseline, I'm going to schedule you for a Sleep Apnea test."  I said, "No."

The next morning, someone from Florida called to get the my address for where to send the equipment to do a sleep apnea test.  I told that guy, "No."

He said, "You have to do this - your doctor ordered it."

"I don't have to do anything if I choose not to."

He said, "It's free!"  I made reference to what he could do and the horse he rode in on.  I felt bad about that afterwards, because the horse didn't do anything wrong.

So, after trying to get through a call center to set up a time to visit one of these senior health care operations (the woman at the call center was the worst), we got in the car and drove to one, without an appointment.  The people were very nice... a lady sat down with us in what looked like a "gathering room," rather than a "waiting room."  She said there was generally very little wait to see a doctor and same or next day appointments were generally available.  She was appalled at my experience with the call center and assured me that the call center is NOT part of their business, just something that is used to set up an initial "welcome appointment"... I told her I didn't feel very welcome.  That said, our time there was very positive.  I don't know how they come out financially without a waiting room full of people?

While there, I got a call from another similar operation (different company) and set up an appointment for Monday.  Between these two, I'm sure we will find a primary care physician.  This seems to be a very different business model than a typical doctor's office.

I will need to update some "maintenance prescriptions" before we get out of Arizona in a few weeks.