[Xist]

The VA didn't schedule me for a week. CVS gave me an appointment within 24 hours.

CVS required my insurance information, which is weird, because the VA never had me fill out paperwork, or issued me a card, I just show my military identification, so it was a bit of a pain to log into VA's site, find my card, save the file, change it to meet CVS's strict standards, and input my information time and again each time that it rejected a jot or a tittle.

Then it made me start over once I had already lost 15 minutes of my life because they have strict standards for customers knowing exactly how to fill out forms when the instructions are incomplete.

I couldn't attach the file to a Gmail draft so I could print from my laptop correctly. It tried a few times and I couldn't get it to work, so I finally copied and pasted the image, which wasn't as flexible.

Then the printer didn't show up. I added the printer and it said that I didn't have the driver, but I eventually got it to print.

CVS sent me three different text messages and one linked to a video that I was supposed to watch.

I waited ten minutes behind one vehicle and then almost 3 minutes before the hired help finally spoke to me.

She gave me different directions than the video.

She also kept having me read my confirmation number, which started with a 0, and kept telling me that I had it wrong.

"This is the message that CVS sent me!"

"You're giving me the wrong number!"

Then I realized that everything was Mom's fault! You see, she was wholly unsatisfied with me getting an appointment for the next day, so she got me an appointment for the following day. I told her to cancel it, but the only thing that made sense was that Mom canceled the wrong appointment.

Actually, it turned out that each time that I said "0" the lady told herself "Yeah, he's totally saying 2!"

Even if you say the letter O and not the number 0, zero doesn't sound like two!

They tell you over and over to wear a mask, but all they do is talk through the intercom and then finally open their drawer. Sure, I would have been breathing all over the outside, but I didn't have any reason to touch the inside when I was finally able to grab my bag.

I just grabbed my bag.

Then she told me to make sure that I kept my window up the whole time that I shoved the swab up my nose.

She was talking into a phone. They could have had a sign "Call (928) 532-3200" and I could have used my phone with my window up while it was 34°.

Of course I had my engine off, I wasn't going anywhere!

I only use HVAC with passengers anyway. I just use the vent when the temperature is reasonable and turn it off when it is cold.

When I finally got my bag I needed to sort through it and read directions with fogged-up glasses, so I am sure that made the person behind me wait longer.

Then you roll up your bag and shove it in a box, except my bag was perforated, the top half ripped off, and couldn't seal it back up.

Hopefully the vials are properly labeled. I can't guarantee that my slip and my sample stayed together.

I had difficulty fitting my bag in the box. I don't know how many more appointments they had, but if I couldn't get in for 24 hours, they are busy, and it was 1500, so they probably had another couple hours of testing.

What do they do once the box is full?

Once place said that I will have results in 2-3 days, but a few others said 3-4.

Are they working as hard and as fast on the 24th and 25th?

If they give me results in 48 hours that will be a weird Christmas present. Seventy-two hours will be Boxing Day.

So, I may not know until Saturday, but I should absolutely know before I could have gotten into the VA to get tested, and if those results took 72 hours I would have received them on New Year's Eve.

While I was waiting my supervisor sent me some text messages, but I did not read them, I didn't want to make the whole process take one second longer than necessary. As it was it took a little over 14 minutes.

Yeah, she doesn't want to stay up late on Christmas.

That is why she is paid the large dollars!