Conscientious: 1. painstaking or thorough in one's work; 2. governed by conscience
Contentious: 1. causing disagreement; 2. tending to quarrel
This email to Whatagreatguy explains it all:
"To refresh your memory, my medical certificate expires next Monday/Tuesday/whenever, 10/13/09.
Your dad [Dr. Flagman] wants another letter (from a doctor familiar with my medical history) before he'll renew my certification.
My primary doctor, Dr. Feelgood, will write the letter (as he did three months ago) once he does another stress test.
The test was scheduled for this morning. As I was registering for the procedure at the hospital, the clerk observed me drinking a diet soda, and proceeded to have the test cancelled - I had forgotten I shouldn't consume caffeine prior to the test. (It seems like I had several cups of coffee before the last one, but that's another story, I guess.)
The clerk called me back to her desk with the message: "You need to call Dr. Feelgood's office. You'll have to make an appointment around HIS schedule," in response to my plea regarding the expiration of my medical certification next Monday.
I think Dr. Feelgood either regards this procedure as unnecessary or wishes I'd take my work related problems to somebody else. I say that because when Dr. Feelgood's nurse called me to schedule the test, she said, "...there's some misunderstanding as to why you need to have this done." (Feelgood's into a lot of stuff - he teaches Residency at Baptist Medical Center-Princeton, is the Medical Director for The Bessemer Clinic UAB West, etc, etc, etc. When I became is patient years ago, he wasn't half as busy as he is now.)
When I first came back to work after my shoulder injury and stent placement, your dad recommended a cardiologist, Dr. Goodheart, at UAB Birmingham. (Your dad and I agree that I need to have a regular cardiologist anyway.)
I've just called Dr. Goodheart's office to make an appointment, explaining why I need to see him - expiration on my medical certification. Someone is getting to work on it now, and will try to call me back this morning.
This is what I'm asking you: Could you explain my situation to your dad (or forward this email, or something) and ask him to extend my certification long enough for me to get in the door at Dr. Goodheart's? I figure you can verbalize the situation so much better than I could - and can get to your dad a lot faster than I can :-)
I 99.9% promise both of you that I'm not going to croak, or otherwise cause injury to AMX, etc., before I can obtain another letter of health. (I hope your are smiling....)
Please let me know what you think when you have time."
