Rant about my own forgetfulness...
Okay, so I am now in a wheelchair, which does make some things a little more difficult to do than they used to be. I'm not complaining about that, it is to be expected when one's life circumstances change so drastically. In fact, for the most part, life around home has not changed all that much, except that I am looking at it from about 2 1/2 feet lower than I used to a lot of the time. Life outside the home, though...That presents its own unique challenges.
I take the bus, which was never a big deal before, since I could just walk down to the corner, wait a little bit, hop on, sit down and ride. Now, taking the bus to do a particular errand takes planning. I have to allow extra time to get to the bus stop, since I have to deal with a ramp, sidewalks that are not always well-maintained, and crosswalk ramps that are not necessarily designed with me in mind. I can't just step over the driveways that are uneven. I have to occasionally roll out into the street to get around them, then roll back up to the next part of the sidewalk, where I have found that many people don't stop to put their trash cans close to the curb. I had to stop three times to move trash cans out of my path so I could continue on. Granted, I took a fiendish delight in moving said trash cans right to the middle of the driveways of the homes to which they belonged, so that the owners of these cans will have to stop and move the trash cans to get into their driveways (welcome to my world, neighbors!). But, anyway, bottom line is, since it takes so much longer to get around all this now, I don't just jump up and ride the bus as often as I used to.
So, this leads to this morning. I try to combine my errands into one outing, because, as I said, things take longer now. Have to figure out if my destination is going to be accessible to me and the duckymobile, then figure out the easiest sidewalk route to said destinations, what times the buses will get me there, what times i have to be back at the stops to come home, etc. I planned to get on the bus, go downtown and stop at the bank, then take the second bus out to stop for lunch and then the grocery store for a few necessities that I was running out of. I made a list so that I wouldn't forget anything that I needed, so I could do it all in one trip out and back. There is a grocery store about a block and a half from my favorite Chinese restaurant, so I timed the whole trip so that I could leave my house at 11:10, finish the banking, hop on the 12:10 bus from downtown to get to the restaurant/grocery store area, have lunch, roll over to Sav-A-Lot, pick up my groceries, and be back on the bus downtown at 2:30 so that I could catch the 2:40 bus from downtown to my street. (Yes, the buses are THAT complicated in my area)
Everything went swimmingly as far as managing to catch all my buses on time. There were the usual minor inconveniences that I have mentioned above on the sidewalks during the outing, but I was right on schedule. I did my banking, had my delicious lunch, even made a couple of new friends while at the restaurant, then headed to Sav-A-Lot. Halfway down the block, as I was rolling my chair past a building, a SWARM OF BEES came out of some bushes in front of the building and proceeded to fly all around me. Now, I have never been stung by a bee, and have no idea if I am allergic or not, so I avoided flapping my arms around and tried to calmly roll my chair past the swarm. When I finally got past them (they lost interest because I would not play with them, I guess,) I made sure none were hanging around in my hair or on my person, then rolled to the grocery.
I pulled out my "Baby Girl" bag to put my groceries in, then realized that I had left my shopping list sitting on my desk at home. I went up and down every single aisle, dodging the displays stacked in the middle and sticking out into the aisles, trying to remember all that was on it while I shopped. Checked out, headed back to the bus stop, and got home right on time. When I unpacked my groceries, I realized that I had forgotten nutra-sweet for my coffee, orange juice, and English muffins, which I planned to have as part of tomorrow's breakfast (ham and egg mc ducky muffin). I also forgot to get regular bread, which figures prominently in making PBJ sammiches. It was too late to go out again, and I don't want to go back out again tomorrow, because I have choir practice in the evening, and there are only so many outings I can deal with in a day. So, I have spent the evening kicking myself with one leg for stupidly forgetting such essential things, and generally trying to figure out why life always has to be so freaking complicated.
But, the egg rolls were delicious! So, how was everyone else's day? Did anyone watch "House" last night, and cry and go "Woa!" like I did? Okay, I know of at least two folks on my f-list that did, but what did everyone else think? I personally thought that, if Hugh Laurie weren't already married, that I would want to marry him for being such a good actor. Then again, I think that all the time, anyway.
hugs from ducky
edited because there is no such thing as a srwam of bees.
I take the bus, which was never a big deal before, since I could just walk down to the corner, wait a little bit, hop on, sit down and ride. Now, taking the bus to do a particular errand takes planning. I have to allow extra time to get to the bus stop, since I have to deal with a ramp, sidewalks that are not always well-maintained, and crosswalk ramps that are not necessarily designed with me in mind. I can't just step over the driveways that are uneven. I have to occasionally roll out into the street to get around them, then roll back up to the next part of the sidewalk, where I have found that many people don't stop to put their trash cans close to the curb. I had to stop three times to move trash cans out of my path so I could continue on. Granted, I took a fiendish delight in moving said trash cans right to the middle of the driveways of the homes to which they belonged, so that the owners of these cans will have to stop and move the trash cans to get into their driveways (welcome to my world, neighbors!). But, anyway, bottom line is, since it takes so much longer to get around all this now, I don't just jump up and ride the bus as often as I used to.
So, this leads to this morning. I try to combine my errands into one outing, because, as I said, things take longer now. Have to figure out if my destination is going to be accessible to me and the duckymobile, then figure out the easiest sidewalk route to said destinations, what times the buses will get me there, what times i have to be back at the stops to come home, etc. I planned to get on the bus, go downtown and stop at the bank, then take the second bus out to stop for lunch and then the grocery store for a few necessities that I was running out of. I made a list so that I wouldn't forget anything that I needed, so I could do it all in one trip out and back. There is a grocery store about a block and a half from my favorite Chinese restaurant, so I timed the whole trip so that I could leave my house at 11:10, finish the banking, hop on the 12:10 bus from downtown to get to the restaurant/grocery store area, have lunch, roll over to Sav-A-Lot, pick up my groceries, and be back on the bus downtown at 2:30 so that I could catch the 2:40 bus from downtown to my street. (Yes, the buses are THAT complicated in my area)
Everything went swimmingly as far as managing to catch all my buses on time. There were the usual minor inconveniences that I have mentioned above on the sidewalks during the outing, but I was right on schedule. I did my banking, had my delicious lunch, even made a couple of new friends while at the restaurant, then headed to Sav-A-Lot. Halfway down the block, as I was rolling my chair past a building, a SWARM OF BEES came out of some bushes in front of the building and proceeded to fly all around me. Now, I have never been stung by a bee, and have no idea if I am allergic or not, so I avoided flapping my arms around and tried to calmly roll my chair past the swarm. When I finally got past them (they lost interest because I would not play with them, I guess,) I made sure none were hanging around in my hair or on my person, then rolled to the grocery.
I pulled out my "Baby Girl" bag to put my groceries in, then realized that I had left my shopping list sitting on my desk at home. I went up and down every single aisle, dodging the displays stacked in the middle and sticking out into the aisles, trying to remember all that was on it while I shopped. Checked out, headed back to the bus stop, and got home right on time. When I unpacked my groceries, I realized that I had forgotten nutra-sweet for my coffee, orange juice, and English muffins, which I planned to have as part of tomorrow's breakfast (ham and egg mc ducky muffin). I also forgot to get regular bread, which figures prominently in making PBJ sammiches. It was too late to go out again, and I don't want to go back out again tomorrow, because I have choir practice in the evening, and there are only so many outings I can deal with in a day. So, I have spent the evening kicking myself with one leg for stupidly forgetting such essential things, and generally trying to figure out why life always has to be so freaking complicated.
But, the egg rolls were delicious! So, how was everyone else's day? Did anyone watch "House" last night, and cry and go "Woa!" like I did? Okay, I know of at least two folks on my f-list that did, but what did everyone else think? I personally thought that, if Hugh Laurie weren't already married, that I would want to marry him for being such a good actor. Then again, I think that all the time, anyway.
hugs from ducky
edited because there is no such thing as a srwam of bees.