random thoughts – Day 1,583 – (Thursday) – fan club

It was annual checkup day at the office of the primary care provider. Booked a year ago, I had forgotten about the appointment until the text reminder came a week ago, followed by a lengthy questionnaire. The appointment was at 8:30 at their newer medical office, 2.5 miles from home. That location opened its onsite lab since last year’s visit, which is convenient and I am definitely a fan.

There was a tiny hiccup related to getting to the visit, which I was not prepared to deal with in a coffee-deprived state in preparation for bloodwork. A section of the rather major road the office is on (and the main way to get to it) was closed. It required a detour along a parallel road past a series of also-closed side streets before arriving at a passable road to get to the main road. By then, I was beyond the building and had to backtrack and execute a U-turn, made easy by that one side of the road being closed.

Blown over.

At the medical office parking lot, two planter boxes reclined on their side, probably knocked over by the crazy wind Wednesday night. Inside the elevator was a poster touting the wonders of Botox and a sign indicating where there was additional parking near the bowling alley, which seemed amusing. The Botox sign didn’t indicate who in the professional building provided such service, and by the time you are in the elevator, it’s a bit late to learn about nearby parking. 

The visit went well, but getting out of the office suite was confusing. Once out of the exam room, it was a maze of hallways and some wayfinding signs would be really helpful. There were also confusing directions to the blood lab. The desk clerk directed me back to the waiting room and said something about signing in on a clipboard on a door and to ring a bell on a wall. That was great info, except the clipboard was on the counter and so was the bell, under a sign that said “phlebotomy lab,” because clearly, all of us patients naturally call it that.

It all worked out. The lab tech fetched me and led me back into the office area to the lab. The tech was friendly and efficient, then I was released back into the hallway where I once again felt like a mouse trying to find the way out of a maze.

Top fan.

The rest of the day was a regular work day with regular work stress and progress. The weather looked nice from the home-office window. After work, after going outside to defrost my frozen feet, there was an idea to maybe help the recently diagnosed hot spot in front of the thermostat situation. There is a fan in the center of the dining room ceiling. It has been there the entire nearly-eight years that I’ve been here, wearing socks in the summer and sitting under a blanket, and until tonight, I don’t think I’ve ever used it.

A couple hours after the fan was turned on, the air was moving around, the spot in front of the thermostat was less stuffy, the A/C kicked on less frequently, my feet were no longer frozen, and I was now a member of the fan club. I can’t believe it took this long (nearly eight full years) for me to figure this out. DUH.