Righttime = good time. Mostly.

Well, I broke down yesterday. My nose was stuffed up so badly and I was so sick of being sick that I got in touch with my RA. She said that there is a clinic nearby called RightTime that used to be a pediatrician's office but now does mostly clinic/emergency/walk-in type stuff. So I gave the number a call and they had an appointment in like half an hour. I called at like 4pm. Well, I totally wasn't expecting that and I had class, but I was like...okay, we'll give it a try. However, upon booking it to the station to catch the bus...I waved as it passed by...and decided to cancel. I called back and did so, wanting to reschedule, but she told me that they only do same-day appointments. The phone lines open at 8am, though, to take appointments from 11am to midnight. So I resolved to make an appointment at 8am the next morning.

Class was okay. Got into an argument with a classmate over the Google vs China controversy (ironically, I was on China's side). Also turned in my paper. We have three assignments left in that class. This is honestly one of the most...assignment-ridden classes I've ever taken, all coupled with TWC and the internship. Ugh.

I had a crap time with the metro last night. Moving on...

This morning, I had planned on going to work for a couple hours at least. But upon gaining consciousness, I completely changed my mind. I felt like crap all over again, though at least I could breathe this time. I stayed awake for the next hour and a half, talking to my mom, watching Dancing with the Stars reruns on Hulu, and called to make an appointment. They had one at 11:20 that I took.

Napped for about an hour or so.

I checked the weather upon waking because it's been crazy lately. 70 one day, 40 the next. Today was another cold day, which I was grateful for, because all my T-shirts are dirty. (I desperately need to do laundry.) I vaguely saw that the chance of rain was around 50%, but didn't really pay attention.

Again, I got to the station as the bus was leaving. However, a very kindly man was driving and stopped for me when I waved him down. He was awesome and I hope his life is filled with love and happiness.

Got to the clinic, which was thankfully right at the bus stop.

Well, apparently this isn't really a clinic like I thought it was going to be. It's not a doc-in-the-box. This is an awesome facility. The check-in process was completely electronic, complete with a little iPad doodad that you fill out all your paperwork on. Sweet. Once you turn that in, they give you a buzzer thing like at a restaurant. When it buzzes, you go to your exam room. Btw, they have TVs everywhere, in the waiting room and exam rooms. So I got to watch Monsters, Inc, which brightened my day because that little girl is so cute. (Also, on the way to the exam room, I noticed that this place had a lab and x-rays within, too. Doubly impressed, and relieved, because I was pretty sure I was going to have to have a chest x-ray to either confirm or deny pneumonia as a diagnosis.)

Anyway, the amazing electronic technology continued with an automatic blood-pressure checker thing, and not the kind that you sit in. She wheeled the machine over to me, strapped me in, pressed Start, and let it go. Weird. Also took my temp, which was 97. My normal temp. Good that I don't have a fever any longer. My blood pressure was also fine, but my pulse was 82. Hey, I was in a doctor's office. They make me nervous.

The doctor eventually came in. Dr. Simms? Simmons? Something like that. She looked in my right ear and immediately said, "Okay, well, your ear's infected." She went to my left ear and made a disapproving sound. "It's even worse in this ear." She then looked in my nostrils and at my throat. "Well, both of your ears are infected and you also have a sinus infection."

Lovely.

She proceeded to fill out paperwork for about five minutes while I watched Sully try to get the little girl to sleep by showing her that there was no monster in her closet and miming the universal "sleep" signals. I guess the paperwork is the only thing wrong with this electronic system. They still have to fill that stuff out, and it still takes a long time. Anyway, I ended up with two prescriptions, Flonase and Amoxicillin. I made my way to the front desk.

The receptionist looked at my paperwork and said, "Oh, we can have your prescriptions filled here if you want." My eyebrows shot up. "Really? Great!" I sat down to wait, watching other people coming and going through the waiting room/lobby. A few minutes later, the pharmacy tech comes out and says that BCBS won't pay unless it's filled at an approved facility, which is not them. Okay, no problem. I live above a CVS, won't be that bad. Can check-out now please?

Except that now about three people had walked in and needed help checking in and everything. Sigh.

I waited. And waited. Had a good view of the bus stop. Also saw one bus coming and going. Oh, it was raining now, by the way. Didn't know if you caught the fore-shadowing earlier. I was miserable, because I knew it was going to be at least twenty minutes for the next bus, and I was also feeling crappy because my benadryl was wearing off, and I knew I was going to have to walk home in the rain without an umbrella or jacket and just blah. I had my own little raincloud over my head.

Finally the receptionist called me up and apologized several times for the wait, said she wouldn't make me wait any longer, just wanted to give me copies of my receipt and everything and I could leave. This made up for my crankiness somewhat. After all, there was only one person at the front desk.

Anyway, I left. Waited in the (thankfully covered) bus stop for about ten minutes or so, freezing. Walked home in the windy rain, stopped at CVS and stockpiled on junk food while waiting for my 'scripts, then headed upstairs, took them, and went to bed.

I'm not really noticing a difference, though people are saying that I sound better already. I'm still coughing and sneezing and my nose is alternating between sliding off my face and being so stuffed that I can't breathe. My head is also aching, and my ear started to as well. At least my throat doesn't hurt anymore?

But there you go. Double ear infections and sinusitis. Wow. My head is just completely infected right now.

Probably going to stay home again tomorrow because I'm worried about making people sick and still being contagious. Also because I'm not in bed yet.

Next time, someone make me go to the doctor if I'm sick for more than three days.