Well, as expected, yesterday didn't turn out to be very illuminating health-wise, at least not immediately. I got to the CT scan appointment with no problem, even though it was at a hospital way up in Finchley rather than the Royal Free in Hampstead, where we usually go. (Apparently the CT scanners at the Royal Free are being refurbished.) I took a single bus north for about 45 minutes and then walked a short distance, et voila! I was there.
After the scanning they told me the results would be available in 7-10 days, which seems like a mighty leisurely approach to me, but it is what it is. Then I went out to catch a bus back into London, and as luck would have it, a gaggle of about 45 school children were all waiting with chaperones to board the bus with me. I guess they must have been going into town on a field trip. And then another gaggle of school children showed up too.
I think only one of the groups got on my bus, but that was enough. It was HELL. I sat down in the upper front seat and they poured into every available seat behind me, and it was like being in the middle of an elementary school pep rally. I put in my earbuds but the silky vocals of Astrud Gilberto singing Brazilian bossa nova just couldn't complete with 200 screaming kids.
That bus crawled. And to make matters worse, there was a crane fly trapped inside, fluttering helplessly against the windshield in front of me. I hate seeing an insect struggling to get out of a window, and it wasn't in a place I could catch it. Argh! I hadn't eaten before my test, so as we approached Temple Fortune I decided to get off and find breakfast. I disembarked near a Costa coffee shop, leaving the 600 munchkins and their overwhelmed chaperones behind.
I bought coffee and a croissant from a cashier who asked lots of questions about where I'm from, and when I said Florida he said, "Oh, I have a friend from Tampa." I was like, "THAT'S MY HOMETOWN!" What are the odds? Of course I still think of Tampa as the sleepy southern city it was 50 years ago, not the glassy metropolis it has become. I guess the odds really aren't that small.
Anyway, eventually I got to work and all was well.
In the afternoon I had a video appointment with a lawyer to talk about estate planning. Dave and I have to write wills and there were some other questions I had regarding taxes, blah blah blah. It was minimally helpful but he didn't seem to think we need a UK will because we really have no property here. All our assets are in the states. Back to the drawing board.
My brother sent me this photo in an e-mail yesterday with the subject line, "Good picture!" This was taken in December 2016 on my brother's patio in Jacksonville. Left to right, it's Dave, me, my mom and my brother. It definitely has an air of "happier days" about it, given Dave's ensuing Crohn's drama and my current health questions, and of course Mom is no longer with us. It is a good picture, though.
Last night, Dave and I watched a documentary on Amazon Prime called "The Thief Collector," about an eccentric couple and their apparent theft of a priceless Willem de Kooning painting from an Arizona museum back in the 1980s. They were never caught and the painting was only recently recovered. Blogger Sharon went to see it, and her post tipped me off to the film. It's a fascinating story. Thanks, Sharon!
(Top photo: The roundabout in Golders Green, taken from the bus window, with the war memorial on the traffic island at center left.)
The delights of a schooltime bus!
ReplyDeleteNo wonder I walked or cycled the almost three miles to school !
Yes, a week for results sounds about right once they have worked their way through the system
The top of the bus is a great place for photos. That’s quite a trip for a scan and the ride back does not sound like fun... although a stop for coffee does. What a great photo from your brother. (You have the same hair!) Amazing to think it was less than 8 years ago that you were sitting around and visiting with your mother. You’ve all lived through so much since then. Will have to see if we have The Thief Collector on Prime here.
ReplyDeleteNot surprised that you got off the bus ASAP - sounds dreadful!
ReplyDeleteNice picture - no doubt taken by your brother's wife? Does your brother ever cut the grass in his yard? As for his neatly trimmed beard and moustache - why don't you grow the same? Then you'll look like twins.
ReplyDeleteWith all the terrible noise of the children on the bus you still have the wonderful view of the streets of London. I hope you get good results from your tests.
ReplyDeleteIt is rather awful when so many students board public transport but of course they have the right to and the right to behave like kids or teens, up to a point. Getting off the bus was a good idea.
ReplyDeleteBe reassured by the wait for scan results. There is clearly no urgency, so you won't die.
It's a nice family photo, with all looking younger. Your life has changed in the subsequent eight years.
Worse than sharing a bus with 600 school kids - it's the noise level that's hard on our adult ears - is sharing the bus with 10-20 teenage boys in bad fitting school uniforms coming from rugby training. It's testosterone overload live. And it smells. For about one year, I had to go on a bus route to work potentially involving this scenario and I learned to carefully check the time table and the school's rugby schedule to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteIf there would have been any dramatic reveal during the scan, someone would have told you straigt away, not let you wait 7 - 10 days.
What a nice setting for a family picture. You look relaxed!
Yes, Sabine that was my husband's experience re scan
DeleteI've read books on several thief collectors in this past year. I am always amazed at how easy it sounds to take something valuable out of a museum without being noticed.
ReplyDeleteOh my, that bus ride sure brought back memories of me taking students on field trips and willing myself to stay calm and smile. I hate chaos, and that is what some field trips are. I used to take students on an overnight trip to DC on the train. Talk about chaos. I am so glad I am retired! That's a great photo you posted!
ReplyDeleteI think I must really know you. I looked at the photo, said, right there's Steve, probably Dave, who are those other people, as if I'd met you regularly!
ReplyDeleteIt's not fun waiting for scan results, but I think they'd be quick to inform you if they find anything to address. So there's that.
Your brother is right- that is a good picture.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have to say that being on a bus with that many children does sound like a certain and for sure bus to hell.
Here's hoping for a very good report.
I didn't realize that you and your brother look so alike. That's a great photo! Hope you get your results soon. Worrying makes the time drag...
ReplyDeleteyou and your brother do look very much alike. both completely bald but also the shape of your head. do y'all shave? and it you didn't what would you look like. happier times or more healthful at least.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd have got off the bus at the next stop myself.
Being among 600 kids you would feel ignored and neglected. There nothing as lonely as being in a crowd by yourself.
ReplyDeleteGlad you watched the documentary. It opened up even more mystery than I had read about. I guess there are some people in the world who really can keep a secret.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great family photo!
Being on that bus with ANY number of kids would have been hell for me. I am not a kid person!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing the photo. At the risk of sounding like a Pollyanna, think of it as "happy days" rather than "happier". From what you share here, I believe you still have a very happy life.
Hopefully in a week you'll have a report. Shortening your trip on the bus with students was a good move. Students can fill a bus easily and probably should have their own bus. The photo is a really good one. Everybody looks happy.
ReplyDeleteI would walk 500 miles ... to avoid a bus full of children.
ReplyDeleteWhoo boy. That bus ride sounds like misery! Good call getting off for breakfast! You and your brother do look as if you might be related!
ReplyDeleteHow complicated are your post-life distributions? Estate planning, unless you're really rich, seemed like an expensive scam to us. Trusts we didn't need, stuff like that. Jim and I own everything in joint tenancy. Non-primary credit card holder will lose access to the credit card, so I'm prime on half, he's prime on the other half. If your financial life is simple, then you really don't need to probate, unless you are selling real estate. Even then, I"m not sure you would because you used "or" in the ownership line. Freewill.com is a great free site, we did everything through it.
ReplyDeleteWhat Allison said.:) Re: the school kids on the bus, timing is everything, in this case, bad. Good call on getting off for a coffee and breakfast before your head exploded. Good luck on the scan results.
ReplyDeleteThat's an excellent photo! I don't think of 2016 as being that long ago but it really is. There have been so many changes in our lives since then. (both gains and losses) I was just starting a new and exciting relationship that didn't work out. Now I've been with John for the past 6 years, my dad has died, I'm a grandmother, etc. Big events! Hope the test results are good. The bus situation--ugh. You made the right decision to get off and have something to eat.
ReplyDeleteThat is the thing about London busses- BUT one can always get off , wait about ten minutes for another.
ReplyDeleteThat is a very nice photo of y'all.
It's a wonderful photo --you all look so happy. Those are treasures. I feel for you on the bus with those kids. It sounds like my idea of hell, too. I'm glad you got off for a bit.
ReplyDeleteI still think the odds are pretty small -- Tampa may be bigger than it was when you were there -- but still....
Off topic, but came across this that I thought might interest you:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activity-and-adventure/commuted-to-work-london-hidden-green-spaces-greenground-map/
I always find it surprising how much green space you find in London.
GZ: Well, THAT must have kept you fit as a youngster!
ReplyDeleteMitchell: I always try to sit in the top left-hand seat. That's the best place for views, I've found. Yes, we DO have the same hair! I'm amazed 2016 was eight years ago. It's a cliche, but where does the time go?!
Sue: Ha! I tried to be patient but then I thought, "WHY?!"
YP: Yeah, she must have taken it, though I can't remember. The grass IS cut! That's St. Augustine grass, which always forms a mat like that.
Yael: Thank you! And yes, the views helped.
Andrew: Well, exactly. I could hardly object to them sitting around me. It IS public transport, after all.
Sabine: Yeah, I wouldn't want to ride to work smelling like a locker room! I didn't even speak to a doctor at this scan. I only saw technicians, and they wouldn't say anything.
Ed: It seems like the essential element of these crimes is chutzpah!
Michael: Yeah, I can't even imagine taking students on an overnight trip. That would kill me.
Boud: Ha! It's funny that you recognized us right away. I never used to blog pictures of myself but I've done it more in recent years.
Ms Moon: I think my mother must have been having memory issues even then, but we didn't know it yet.
Ellen D: It DOES drag. Good grief.
Ellen: I do shave. My hair is gray when it grows in.
Red: Especially a crowd that noisy!
Sharon: It's really a crazy story. It sounds like they did it almost on a lark, just to see if they could.
Kelly: Oh, absolutely. I don't mean to imply our lives aren't happy now. But there's an element of uncertainty that grows as we age, right?
Susan: I was surprised they were all taking a public bus, but then, kids at our school take the tube on field trips so I guess it's the same thing.
Bob: I would CRAWL 500 miles to avoid a bus full of kids!
Debby: Yeah, whenever we walk into a restaurant or store together someone says, "You guys MUST be brothers."
Allison: Thanks for the tips! If I lived in the states I wouldn't worry about estate planning. It's living here in the UK but having assets in the USA that's tricky. The UK has very high inheritance taxes and I needed advice on ways to shield our estate should we both die.
Jim: Thanks! It was hard enough just getting from Finchley to Golders Green, which isn't even very far. I would never have made it all the way into town.
Margaret: Yeah, I know, 2016 seems recent -- but it was before Trump's inauguration, the year of our Brexit vote, and so really a long time ago.
Linda Sue: Yes, just like tube trains. I do love the frequency of public transport here!
Jeanie: It's surprising how many people I run into nowadays with a connection to Tampa. That NEVER used to happen.
Will: That looks like an amazing way to commute, but probably pretty slow! I can't read the whole article -- there's a pay wall -- but it's true that London is knitted together by green spaces and public footpaths that make walking almost anywhere much more pleasant.
You can circumvent the paywall to a limited extent by selectively blocking JavaScript for www.telegrsph.co.uk. you don't get comments and some picture/graphics elements, but you can at least read the main article.
DeleteI have been on buses when what seemed like a million small children also boarded, quite noisily excited and was surprised when the teacher with them shouted out "find a seat and settle down" and they actually did!
ReplyDelete