Saved!

Friday, June 16, 2023

I made it through a second (and last for a while) root canal, this time without pain afterward. I told the dentist about having suffered 24 hours of toothache after an earlier root canal. He was surprised and changed an element in the procedure, which made a difference. As a just in case, he prescribed painkillers.

That took me to the Costco pharmacy. I avoid Costco all possible to save money but use its pharmacy. The procedure is to hand a prescription to “the taker” and later pick up a dispensed product at the pharm registers. Typically, my taker said it would be an hour for my order to be filled.

That meant I could shop. Long story short, after an hour and now with too much in my cart, I checked the pharmacy. My order hadn’t been processed, so I pushed back and hard, complaining of suffering a severe toothache. That elevated my case to “urgent,” and the pills were ready in fifteen minutes.

In general, I didn’t enjoy shopping in that big store. It has lots of products with prices that don’t seem competitive enough. I’ve shopped there often enough to find boring the same stuff rotating in and out, seducing and filling carts. Costco is clever, but I’m close to reaching a shopping point of no return.

Working in retail teaches how big stores operate. It teaches how products are moved around, on-sale items are timed and arranged, and various other ways customers are seduced to buy, and in particular, use credit cards.

It’s a cycle hard for spenders to opt out of. I wish to escape, and how isn’t clear, except that doing so seems to require learning to spend on an all-cash basis. It’s not an easy transition but working at it lends a personal sense of power. These days my perceptions are keen relative to where and how I’m shopping and how much I can spend.

Costco makes lots of money from people killing time while waiting for its pharmacy to deliver. Not much longer for me, because I can seek a faster pharmacy.

Dear Friends: Today’s header photo reflects my recovery method yesterday. Diana