Veggie Chowder and Work Drivel

I slightly tweaked and modified the veggie chowder recipe on Ann's blog according to what I had in my fridge. It was the perfect (fatty) comfort food for me to pig out on while curled up on the couch watching mindless TV after a horrendous day at work. I will definitely keep this recipe handy during the cold, rainy Seattle autumns/winters/springs.

Veggie Chowder
1/4 c. butter
1 tsp. garlic, minced
1/2 onion, diced
8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 c. frozen broccoli cutlets
1/4 c. flour
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. milk
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
Splash of white cooking wine
A few heaping spoonfuls of sour cream... (recipe called for 1 c. sour cream, I used significantly less and the soup's consistency was still plenty thick and tasted delicious)
Salt, to taste
Generous amounts of black pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in large pot. Saute garlic and onions until tender. Toss in mushrooms, and cook until soft. 
2. Add heavy cream and milk. Whisk in flour slowly to prevent clumping. Add chicken broth. Bring soup to a boil, then lower heat and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Add frozen broccoli and cooking wine, if using. 
3. Stir in sour cream, and heat through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

The soup is flexible to accommodate whatever you have in your fridge. Make the soup a hearty meal by throwing in ham or bacon, and serve with crusty bread. Or add more/different veggies; just remember, frozen veggies can be thrown in later after all the liquid has been added, while fresh veggies should be sauteed in butter with the mushrooms and onions. Next time, I might try with chunks of potatoes and bacon! Yum yum! 

So more about my day: why exactly was my day horrendous you ask? Well, I had such high hopes going into work this morning after my fantastic high-energy on-fire workday last Friday... alas, today was the complete opposite. Strangely enough, even with an iced mocha to begin my day, I had an headache and felt slow all morning. My mind wasn't quite awake even though laid in bed for at least 8 hours last night, and thus I kept making errors while typing prescriptions. By the afternoon, I was completely frustrated at myself, to the point that I was working slower and slower to avoid typing new prescriptions. At one point I made mistakes in 3 consecutive prescriptions. 

Furthermore, Mondays are hectic days at the pharmacy. Since the pharmacy is closed on Sundays, Mondays bring in all the people who didn't plan ahead and didn't pick up their medications before the weekend. At multiple points throughout the day, the pharmacy lobby was packed, usually with a screaming child or two. Our pick-up line for refills was swamped. Our queue for new prescriptions ballooned to at least 6 or 7 waiters, plus the 3 or 4 we were already working on. And of course, each patient demands why his or her prescriptions are not done within 20 minutes! Additional problems (like my mistakes) extend the whole process of typing, pulling, filling, verifying, dispensing. 

Some of the most newsworthy lines from the patients today: 

• "I ain't paying for this! Your job is to figure out how to get me my medications so I don't have to pay for them!" --Patient on refusing to pay for early refills (because she was going on a trip) for her painkiller medications 
• "Why is the pharmacist questioning THE doctor! My doctor wrote the prescription, so the pharmacist should just give me my medications! She [pharmacist] isn't a doctor!" --Patient not understanding why a pharmacist was verifying a prescription with the prescriber before dispensing the medication
• "Are you NEW??" --the words don't do justice to the loathing, despise that was conveyed in the patient's tone
• And of course, you can't forget about the patient who just stands at my window glaring at me, or the patient who runs up to the counter every 3 minutes and asks if his meds are done yet

So often I don't know how to respond to these angry patients, namely because I get riled up at them! For feeling like the "pharmacy should just be like Mickey D's- in and out" while feeling entitled to get free medications in life. Understandably, my nerves were grated and raw by the time 5pm swung around. 

No way am I going to work retail or outpatient in the future! I'll take the comatose patient in the ICU over a patient who yells, demands, cusses, throws a fit, and rants any day. You can't get through or communicate intelligently with either...