Driving Me Insane

On Tuesday Afternoon, I headed to the Civic Hospital to get a Chest X-Ray done.
As with most Medical Appointments, my main concern was being done before my ride back home arrived.

There’s been many times that I’ve either missed my ride, or was unable to even see the Doctor just because my ride showed up.

In Ottawa, we have a Service called Para Transpo, which transports Disabled people wherever they want or need to go.

This is how it works:
If you want a ride, you call the day before at 7 am.
Trying to get through to an Operator can sometimes be like winning the Lottery. Except in this case, you get the “luxury” of a ride, and the “luxury” of talking to a person who could quite possibly be holding a Gun to their head.

Once you get through, you tell them what time you need a ride for.
At this point, they can actually refuse your request if they’re already booked up at that time.
If they can’t give you your requested time, they usually put you on the “waiting list”.
This means that they’ll call you if they have an opening for that time.

So then, the next day arrives.
This is a big day for us.
We get to go out and be a part of Society, with the added bonus of getting a ride on Para Transpo.
So, the time rolls around, but wait, where’s the Bus?
This is where I mention that they’re “allowed” to be thirty minutes later.
If they don’t arrive within thirty minutes, you’re “allowed” to call to see where it’s at.

So you call up, wait a few minutes for the Operator to care enough to answer the phone.
From there, it’s like the Classic Seinfeld Episode where they’re waiting for a Table at a Chinese Restaurant.
The Operator says oh, it’ll be 5-10 Minutes.

Time rolls around, but no Bus.
Wait, they lied to you? That’s unheard of for such a classy upscale City-Owned Company.
Eventually, the Bus arrives and a jolly old man or woman is ready to take you away.
The Drivers are a friendly bunch with their top notched people skills, and clearly quite hygenic too.

So they get you on the Bus, and tie you up, like it’s some type of creepy BDSM filled voyage into the abyss. You start thinking that you’ll be there soon, and this journey will end soon.

Wrong!

Often times, they have people to pick up and/or drop off. So, good news, somebody else (a witness) will join you for your wacky adventures in Candyland.

So, eventually you get there. By this time, I’m usually praising Allah/Buddah/Oprah/Aliens that I survived the trip.
This may shock some, but they’re not exactly the best Drivers.
It doesn’t overly fill me with confidence when some of the Drivers tell me that I drive my Chair better than they drive the Van.

So from there, I arrive, get off the Van, and do whatever I’m there to do.
After that, the fun begins again.

Anyways, I got my X-Ray done.
They had to do it twice cause the first one didn’t turn out well.
I’ll find out the results on June 16th.

Before that, I headed out to meet one of the Organizers of Bluesfest to discuss Wheelchair Accessibility. The Meeting went well and if they can do what I suggested, it’ll be even better.
I’m not going to mention my ideas cause I don’t want to jinx it.

As for today, I’ve been catching up on emails from the days when I wasn’t breathing well, and didn’t feel like responding.