Drive, Blood Test, 2nd Drive AND London Bridge!! (Blog 423)

Wow, look at that blog title! I guess I better do some explaining. My dad had a hospital appointment on Tuesday afternoon; on the previous Sunday I drove to the hospital to check if the route was confusing and… I could potentially get lost; on the Tuesday morning, I had a clozapine blood test; I drove my dad for real that time a few hours later; and finally I went to London Bridge on Tuesday night! Will all that stuff be blog worthy, or will it just be a collection of absolutely AWFUL and mundane anecdotes? For the 422nd time, I guess we’ll see. (Blog 400 on the other hand, I thought was pretty good). Ok, let’s go way back to Sunday and go from there. The drive to the hospital was mostly without incident, but I did have to be wary of a non-functioning traffic light. As far as I remember, the last time I went to the hospital a good 5 years ago, the traffic lights weren’t working there either. They haven’t been broken for that long have they? I don’t want to come across as a know it all, but working traffic lights are quite important, aren’t they? You could make an argument saying as long as you’re careful you’re fine, but if that’s true why not save the tax payer millions and completely abandon the idea of traffic lights? Just a thought. Why not take things further? No road markings, no signs, just guess.

On Tuesday morning, I had my blood test! When weighing myself, I noticed that I’ve apparently lost 3 kg since my doctor checkup a couple of weeks ago. That doesn’t sound likely, I don’t think those non-digital scales were very good. Very vague. Unless I’ve lost 2 inches of height which is what I feared would happen. As explained, I’m just saying I used to think I was 5 foot 4, then I was told I was 5 foot 6 and mysteriously put on weight, so as I’ve apparently lost weight, maybe I’m shorter again. I have heard of people growing taller over time, but I haven’t heard of anyone in my situation just described. Maybe my diet is at fault, or maybe my body is getting very strange ideas from my brain. I don’t know. Moving on, I was wearing a Metallica T shirt at the time, and the nurse asked if Metallica were a heavy metal band. I mean come on, they have to be, don’t they? If she’d never heard of the heavy genre beforehand and I gave her a list of genres to choose from that would make more sense, but that’s not what happened! Similarly, if there was a band called ‘Jazzerama’ you wouldn’t expect someone to ask if they’re jazz. Ok, ok, jazzy can also mean bright and colourful and ama doesn’t mean anything. Alright, if there was a band called ‘We Play Funk’, THEN you wouldn’t need someone to ask what music they play.

Anyway, the second drive to the hospital later on went well until there was a queue of cars on my right hand lane (but not in mine). I assumed we all had to stop for traffic lights… but I didn’t have to. Then someone behind me got annoyed and beeped their horn at me. Big woop, sue me. The drive home on the other hand? Flawless! Again, the traffic lights weren’t working. They haven’t just been out of action for 5 years, but 5 years and a couple of days?? My word. You may be wondering why I didn’t have to drive my dad home after his hospital visit. Well, I’d be going to London, wouldn’t I? Instead, my dad told my brother to pick him up. Whether my pa knew about my city meeting or he just wanted variety, I don’t know for sure. Maybe he didn’t believe in my abilities to use the hospital car park and find him. Moving on, as I’m typing, I’m waiting to leave for London. According to the internet, there is some ‘major engineering’ going across some routes, but I should be fine for where I want to go. However, if traffic lights on a very busy road aren’t given any kind of priority, it makes you wonder how important major works must be.

Right, it’s now Wednesday and I’m typing things up! On the trip to London, I saw my biro for making notes on the train floor. That was strange, to say I often check my pockets are nice and zipped is a bit of an understatement. I mean how the flip did it get there?? Would you believe that actually I didn’t drop the pen from my maximum security trousers, after checking my pockets it was found someone else had dropped a pen then was identical to mine on the very same spot I was in! Couldn’t make it up. In the end, I did the right thing and threw the extra biro back on the floor where it came. Just in case someone got desperate and tried to find it. A working biro is a special thing, they often break you know? Also, excessively sentimental people may well miss the pen. When buying chocolate in Waterloo station, I saw another old mental home patient! I just need to see a few more, then I’d have seen everyone. I’d love it if I saw everyone who went there at the same time. People often say Londoners are rude, but if a tourist went to London and saw 20 to 30 people who have mental problems all at the same time, his feelings are going to be a little stronger.

In the London Bridge pub, I asked for a ginger beer and a packet of crisps. Before I paid for the items, the person behind the bar opened the drink for me. I then showed him my credit card and he said he only accepted real money, which surprised me as cards have always been fine there. Oh no, he couldn’t put the lid back on so he gave me the drink for free. He told me to pay for the things the next time I go to the meeting that’s above the pub, but will I? Probably not. I could have given my crisps back at least, as they weren’t opened for me but… y’know. As I’m typing I’m without my internet connection which is extremely annoying. Not only can I not access my emails, I can’t post my joke of the day or indeed, shape. Apparently the internet will be back in business at 6:50 pm which is ages away, although I have a theory the company says times later than they really mean, so when you get connection earlier than when you expect, you’re impressed with the provider. Amazon similarly often deliver CDs earlier than they say, but of course I don’t want that as I need time to prepare my sign for the postman. I would be able to test the internet provider theory out, but annoyingly I’ll be at the gym before and after 6:50 pm, so I’m stuck. I guess blog over, bye!