403: forbidden

For the longest time, I've disliked the way that I was given a wallet name that makes two distinct references to Christianity. Both of them appear to have been for reasons of inheritance rather than parental convictions, but I've never belonged to that religion and being named in connection with it sends entirely the wrong signal. Even if today one of those references is only apparent when you examine the name's Gaelic roots, I knew and it bothered me. For that and a variety of other reasons, a name change has been on my extended to-do list for well over a decade.

So after being told on my latest visit to the UK, this past February, that I need a fresh passport photo for any subsequent visits, I decided that this year was The Time. After an extended anxiety stall, this morning a dear friend accompanied me to the nearest county courthouse. I spent much longer standing in line than in the actual courtroom, which is typical. (N.B.: Civil matters are apparently never shown on digital schedules here in King County, be they online or on the building's own public screens. It's done to safeguard the identities of people seeking protection orders, by both not directly identifying them and not specifically failing to identify them.) And then I emerged with a brand shiny new wallet-name, went home, and fell over to get the sleep I'd been too wired for last night.

Next step, make an appointment with the licensing dpt. to get my new name into my actual wallet. Once that's done, I'll have adequate ID to send my passport off for replacement. Also need to contact my bank, health insurance, renter's insurance, landlord, etc. It's all going to be a short-term pain in the neck, but also a long-term relief.

Due to doctors' offices not being able to get their shit together enough to transfer my records (even after I did the voodoo dance to get them to actually talk to one another!) in a timely manner, the window of opportunity in which I could have a doc-appointment and get all the insurance garbage out of the way in time for a refill of my sleep-hack medication to ship to me before I ran out has closed. Launch postponed. Houston, we're screwed.

I'm stretching the amount I've got left by rationing it at one dose per night rather than the usual two. Which is why I've been up for nearly two hours and have only 5h of sleep behind me. Unmedicated, my sleep is located at random times throughout the day, in intervals of 2-4h, and has around 50% of full efficiency. (So to feel similarly alert during the times when I am awake, I now expect to need somewhere between 10 and 12h. My normal requirement is 7.5h.)

PatientOnline is a service of MIT medical that, among other things, allows the user to request doctor's appointments without going through the hassle of a phone call. So far, it has one glaringly obvious problem. Whoever processes appointment requests can't seem to schedule me for an appointment with my own PCP, and provides no feedback when they assign me to an appointment with someone else.

Today, I sent a politely-worded snark about it to their feedback e-mail address. We'll see if I get a response.