No, it wasn't 5 seconds! LOL Not even close! Plus, I had to wait for someone ahead of me and I waited until I nearly collapsed, probably 10-15 min, then got a wheelchair and sat in one for another 5-10 min anyway while she got hers. She even apologized for how long it was taking but I said it wasn't her fault. The machine in the video is like the one I used. The screen gave a progress report on a little line graph similar to installing software or updates on a computer. I watched as it was printing the label, probably 45 sec to a minute, then about the same as it was "applying label", releasing bottle took about a minute, then for it to actually drop the bottle probably took another minute. One prescription was 2 bottles. (Blister packs inside a prescription bottle. I was thinking at first it would be loaded from behind, in a secure area, but from the video, it's not. What a labor intense thing that would be! Can't tell if it automatically rotates stock or not, if not, you'd essentially need to remove all stock, then back-load the new items, counting what you have of old stock to put back, essentially 100 times, all the while it would be open and vulnerable to robbery. I suppose they might just close off the area to semi-secure it but if someone wanted it, it could be easy pickings and not even have the slowdown of a traditional pharmacy. As for security, the pharmacies at other hospitals I've seen are far more secure than this machine, especially considering low-staffing. The little hole with bullet-resistant glass with the shuffle tray and a heavy locked door for access to the people and drugs, plus a heavy locked door to enter the area anyway. Late night you'd get "buzzed" in. Lindsey_CA, not sure if the risk factor you mentioned is employee theft, but this to me is a much higher potential risk of a stocker slipping a bottle or two into a pocket. There may be electronic features of the machine to verify the number of bottles put in and it would have to match what's sent, etc, but there's also a quick substitution of an empty bottle possibility. I'd be much more confident of the security of the traditional pharmacy than the vending machine. The more I think of it, the more I like the idea of it as an option. However, I'm sure many on Medicare would not want to use it for the cost factor. I'm pretty sure it's more expensive than a big name pharmacy. And of course, yes there's those who need it immediately and don't want to make a separate stop, cost be d@mned. And the time factor would be offset by the added time to go to another location. The point about counseling is a good one. Over the past few years and seeing the incompetence, malfeasance and downright malpractice of nursing homes I have become very obsessive about checking for interactions on medications. One of the meds prescribed at the hospital has the following warning from drugs.com, but no warning on the bottle and no accompanying paperwork. "...may reduce (effects) in some patients...combining these medications can increase the risk of a rare but serious condition...which may include symptoms such as confusion, hallucination, seizure, extreme changes in blood pressure, increased heart rate, fever, excessive sweating, shivering or shaking, blurred vision, muscle spasm or stiffness, tremor, incoordination, stomach cramp, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea." Granted to cover backsides they may overemphasize things but then again considering the drug interactions and effects that have found to be serious to deadly, I tend to want as much info as I can get on them. The pharmacy I usually use has a printout attached to each med and if I have not had a drug prescribed before the pharmacist is nearly insistent to point out anything serious. And the cover bottles with warning stickers too.

Thank you tj! Hope to see some of your great specimens in the Hosta Alphabet this year, you haven't been popping in much. Hmm maybe another Patterns installment in NTP to help keep us sane over winter?

My immediate reaction was English/irish or house converted into a grand hotel. Like the one where I had my wedding reception, up in the hills a few miles from my home town in Ireland. It is so lovely. And yes, fires were essential. My mother was quite skilled at maintaining a fire all day and getting it to the point of never being fully extinguished. One needs those embers the next (freezing) cold morning. Fire scares the bejesus out of me, I have decorative logs, fairy lights and large candles in my fireplace. I am good at pretending ;-)

What a beautiful little frog! I googled 'white frog' and it seems there is a movie by that name, but 'white frog species' brought up THIS ONE among others, which looks a lot like the one you've pictured. It's from Alabama and a close relative is an eastern frog so whether this one or a relative the question is; how did it get to your place west of Austin? Or could it be an albino toad? What a pretty mystery!