i tried to score some amlodipine this morning, on the last day of 2015. my current health insurance - neighborhood health plan - signed an exclusive contract with CVS. starting in 2016, i can only get my prescriptions filled out at CVS, despite the fact that the nearby rite aid is closer to me and i've gotten all my drugs from them for many years now. so with just a week left of amlodipine, i was hoping to fill out one last prescription with rite aid before the switch. i called MGH to make the refill, then in the early afternoon walked down to rite aid to pick it up. unfortunately nothing came through, but the pharmacist did make a request to MGH again, so maybe something will happen today. the pharmacy closes tonight at 8pm.

i left for belmont around 2:30pm, taking the motorcycle to put it away in storage for the season. i was careful not to ride over any slick spots on the road but fortunately there was a lot of thawing today. the roads were ice free, just wet in some areas. i stopped by the gas station to fill the tank and add some stabilizer fluid. in belmont i pulled out the toyota so i could wash the bike from the driveway.

the bike wasn't that dirty, and a simple spray down with a hose would've cleaned it good enough. instead, i spent most of the time washing the toyota, which had been stained with leaf tannin from being left outside for too long during the fall. it was a weird sensation, washing a car in the winter, hot sudsy water mixed with cold slushy snow, the sky quickly darkening from the lack of daylight left. in the end, the toyota was so clean it seemed practically new. i dried the bike with a towel and pushed it into the garage.

my parents came home right when i was finishing. the bike still needs some work before final storage (a wax job and an oil change), but hopefully i'll get that done during the next warm day.

i got a ride back to cambridge from my father after dinner. we first stopped at my grand uncle's place, where i saw his new alternating pressure mattress. then i got a ride to rite aid, where i was hoping to pick up my pills, but the staff of MGH never sent in my prescription. it's my fault i waited so long to fill it out, knowing how slow those nurses and doctors are. my father dropped me off at my place before leaving.