bad timing... or perhaps not really
Jun. 1st, 2020 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
floatingleafHoly buckets. What a day. *wipes brow*
So I decided to go get that X-ray at the ortho clinic. The website said you didn't need an appointment - but when I called to confirm this, it turned out you can't just come in for an X-ray; you need to make an appointment with one of their doctors. *sigh* So I did. Luckily, they had a same-day spot for me. Or not so luckily, after all, since apparently I couldn't have picked a worse day for trying to get around the city via public transit. See, there were massive riots downtown over the weekend, and as a result some train and bus routes were suspended in certain areas. I did check the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) website before I left, and it looked like the north side of the city was perfectly fine; the reality, however, didn't quite match this description. I was able to take the train to where I needed to go; but the subsequent bus simply didn't show up. The tracker said "no arrival times available". So I started walking. Now, when I said that the ortho clinic wasn't too far from where I live, of course I meant by train and bus; on foot is a different story altogether. I did give myself plenty of time, since I wanted to get there early; so I just kept walking, looking over my shoulder in the hopes that the bus will eventually show up. It didn't. I ended up walking all the rest of the way. I was only 20 minutes late, though (I did call ahead to let them know that I was running late, and they said no problem). And, apparently, shouldn't have bothered at all, since the X-rays look pretty normal, and the only advice the doctor had for my knee was to put ice on it and take a painkiller. LOL. He did say he could insert a needle and remove some of the liquid... but that sounded a bit invasive for a "relatively healthy" joint, so I opted to just stick to ice and rest and see if the swelling goes down by itself (I can always come back for another visit if it doesn't). So that was that. The bureaucratic part (filling out a ton of forms etc.) took much longer than the actual doctor's exam. And the real fun was only about to start, as I realized I might have to walk all the way back home as well. I did catch a bus at one point, but it went only part of its regular route; and when I finally arrived at the train station, I found it closed and out of service. O_O In the meantime, people had started gathering for more protests (peaceful this time, at least from what I could see), and more transit routes have been suspended. A CTA employee told me there were some shuttle buses running to replace the trains... but I didn't see any of those showing up, either, and didn't want to wait forever (I was pretty hungry and thirsty at this point; I had brought no water with me, since I hadn't planned on walking), so I just trudged on in the general direction of my neighborhood. Eventually I did get on another bus that took me the rest of the way home... but, according to my phone, I have walked over 6 miles in total. O_O Only because I decided to get my leg checked out, since I had trouble walking. I'm sure you can appreciate the irony here. I don't think my knee is any worse than before, by the way. It's just as bad as it was; except now I can barely feel it, since my entire legs, the both of them, are just about done in. *headdesk*
Anyway... you could say it was divine punishment for not watching the news. When I got that text alert about the curfew the other day, I had no idea about the riots, so I just assumed it was something related to the Coronavirus. Well... now I know what's really going on in the city, since I was pretty much in the middle of it this afternoon. I saw plenty of people carrying BLACK LIVES MATTER signs, some storefronts being boarded up as I walked past, with the same sign painted over them, several groups of police officers here and there... and now I can hear the sirens (and possibly helicopters?) every few minutes. I have also watched some online footage of what went on downtown, and it looks pretty scary. In short, my minor and insignificant health problems really pale in comparison to all this. Whatever issues I may think I have, at least I am not black, and not likely to get brutally murdered for allegedly attempting to use a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. Which is a pretty sobering realization, all things considered.
And now I need to CRASH. We'll see if I am able to move EITHER one of my legs tomorrow...
So I decided to go get that X-ray at the ortho clinic. The website said you didn't need an appointment - but when I called to confirm this, it turned out you can't just come in for an X-ray; you need to make an appointment with one of their doctors. *sigh* So I did. Luckily, they had a same-day spot for me. Or not so luckily, after all, since apparently I couldn't have picked a worse day for trying to get around the city via public transit. See, there were massive riots downtown over the weekend, and as a result some train and bus routes were suspended in certain areas. I did check the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) website before I left, and it looked like the north side of the city was perfectly fine; the reality, however, didn't quite match this description. I was able to take the train to where I needed to go; but the subsequent bus simply didn't show up. The tracker said "no arrival times available". So I started walking. Now, when I said that the ortho clinic wasn't too far from where I live, of course I meant by train and bus; on foot is a different story altogether. I did give myself plenty of time, since I wanted to get there early; so I just kept walking, looking over my shoulder in the hopes that the bus will eventually show up. It didn't. I ended up walking all the rest of the way. I was only 20 minutes late, though (I did call ahead to let them know that I was running late, and they said no problem). And, apparently, shouldn't have bothered at all, since the X-rays look pretty normal, and the only advice the doctor had for my knee was to put ice on it and take a painkiller. LOL. He did say he could insert a needle and remove some of the liquid... but that sounded a bit invasive for a "relatively healthy" joint, so I opted to just stick to ice and rest and see if the swelling goes down by itself (I can always come back for another visit if it doesn't). So that was that. The bureaucratic part (filling out a ton of forms etc.) took much longer than the actual doctor's exam. And the real fun was only about to start, as I realized I might have to walk all the way back home as well. I did catch a bus at one point, but it went only part of its regular route; and when I finally arrived at the train station, I found it closed and out of service. O_O In the meantime, people had started gathering for more protests (peaceful this time, at least from what I could see), and more transit routes have been suspended. A CTA employee told me there were some shuttle buses running to replace the trains... but I didn't see any of those showing up, either, and didn't want to wait forever (I was pretty hungry and thirsty at this point; I had brought no water with me, since I hadn't planned on walking), so I just trudged on in the general direction of my neighborhood. Eventually I did get on another bus that took me the rest of the way home... but, according to my phone, I have walked over 6 miles in total. O_O Only because I decided to get my leg checked out, since I had trouble walking. I'm sure you can appreciate the irony here. I don't think my knee is any worse than before, by the way. It's just as bad as it was; except now I can barely feel it, since my entire legs, the both of them, are just about done in. *headdesk*
Anyway... you could say it was divine punishment for not watching the news. When I got that text alert about the curfew the other day, I had no idea about the riots, so I just assumed it was something related to the Coronavirus. Well... now I know what's really going on in the city, since I was pretty much in the middle of it this afternoon. I saw plenty of people carrying BLACK LIVES MATTER signs, some storefronts being boarded up as I walked past, with the same sign painted over them, several groups of police officers here and there... and now I can hear the sirens (and possibly helicopters?) every few minutes. I have also watched some online footage of what went on downtown, and it looks pretty scary. In short, my minor and insignificant health problems really pale in comparison to all this. Whatever issues I may think I have, at least I am not black, and not likely to get brutally murdered for allegedly attempting to use a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. Which is a pretty sobering realization, all things considered.
And now I need to CRASH. We'll see if I am able to move EITHER one of my legs tomorrow...
