poked and prodded

February 10, 2004 — Leave a comment

you know under other circumstances i might just enjoy this kind of treatment. at least i get to find out how unwell i am.

i`ve started typing this at home, well what i`m call home for the duration of the visit. i`ll probably update while i sit and wait at the dr`s office.

if i remember correctly, there are blood and urine samples to be given, xrays and then a general medical. maybe i can ask about the back pain, i`m paying out the nostrils for this, might as well make it worth the while.  actually the back pain has been reduced to dull ache, i have full range of movement once again but the surprise nature and intensity of the pain requires investigation.

so here i sit at the clinic and i`m hearing murmurs that have me vaguely uneasy. the clinic doesn`t do their own blood work and there are at least two people who were here yesterday that have to return tomorrow for their lab results, this does not fill me with great joy, i really can`t afford another day away from my job, especially in light of the bomb i`m about to drop. added to which the lease on my apartment is up on saturday, meaning i have to be packed up, laundered and completely ready to move by friday. i can`t do that if i`m still here. besides i don`t have the wardrobe or the finances and this sitting around staring at the four wall is driving me crazy.

the number of people here to do their medical today is considerably less than when i was here the last time, so i`m hoping that`s in my favour in terms of getting them back on time, there are only four of us, thus far. as i type this, i`ve already peed in the cup and given some of my blood, i still have the xray and the physical. they dr that does the physical just walked in, boding well for an exit before midday.

this is an interesting concept for a journal entry, a live capsule report, well it wont be live by the time you`ve read it but the ability to sit here and type this. there are no starbucks for me to just sit and suck up bandwidth, so i have to rely on the kindness of strangers [said in my best scarlett o`hara, but they`re not really strangers either] to get internet access. the nice thing however is that i have a network setting on the laptop called `whore` which basically lets me plug into any ethernet connection and share in that network connect. the joys of os x and dhcp, ain`t technology grand.

all this time on my hands, has given me an opportunity to do some admin work on the laptop, delete some apps that i haven`t been using, repair my permissions and try to clean up the dupes in my mp3 collection. it`s a work in progress. with close to 25Gb of audio files it`s easy to get side-tracked. and on another tangent, i need to find an app that allows me to write and save journal entries offline. i`m typing this in ijournal, which supports js through the lj protocols, but it doesn`t save my offline entries, so i have to copy them into text edit, just ensure that i have a copy. i`d rather a more finessed solution.

the xrays have started and the first person is in having theirs done, it`s the same doc that does the physical, hmmmm, does this mean i`m going to have to wait for all the xrays to be done first, then the physicals?

nope. different person doing the physical. very nice bedside manner. my blood pressure is high, i`m overweight but two pounds lighter than i was a week ago. i`m not sure how much of the blood pressure is related to this whole exercise but for someone from a hypertensive family, it`s something for me to worry about.

i got jabbed with four needles for my troubles [MMR, Polio, etc vaccination updates] and had to pee with a guy watching me. thank god for PC muscle control.

so, i`m done and a lot poorer for it. i had to pay extra for a vaccination update and a drug test. do the math, $155, $85, $60, all prices quoted in US$.

but it`s over, i go back in the morning to pick up my results and deliver them onto the embassy. i foresee another long morning but that`s it, it`s over and done.

i managed to find and internet cafe where i can use my laptop, which is cool. now i can post this epic, check my mail, do damage control with the office.

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