Back in circulation
Feb. 19th, 2026 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kathleen_daileyYesterday was just cascades of fat, wet, bloppy snow; ice pellets alternating with freezing rain; and dangerously slippery surfaces everywhere. Naturally I had to (1) keep an appointment with my family doctor (lest it take me months to get another one), and (2) accompany the spouse to a root-canal appointment (reason ditto). Total of four to-and-from cab rides, one across town to Bloor and Christie, one just a few blocks to Cumberland and Bay. Needless to say I tipped both drivers an immense amount, since they were the ones doing the dangerously heavy lifting during the storm. In theory we could have walked to the endodontist, but the sidewalks were so messy and treacherous that I don't think the spouse could have pushed the walker through it all. Thank you, Beck Taxi, for being reliable and timely and keeping us safe.
It's taken me a while to recover from a recent week-long hospitalization, both physically and mentally. I have no complaints about the care--the emergency department at St. Michael's assessed me and started treatment within 15 minutes of arrival; and, although I had to wait hours to be formally admitted, the level of care never faltered. (Pro tip: the way to score a private room--at least for the first four days--is to arrive by ambulance and present with a serious underlying condition, severe vomiting and diarrhea, and a shockingly high fever. Toronto hospitals have learned their pandemic lessons well.)
I've been postponing buying a new phone because I jusdonwanna, but after the hospital experience with an ancient phone that doesn't hold a charge for more than an eyeblink I'll have to take care of that chore PDQ. I didn't have my charger with me, of course, and although I was allowed to use the charging station at the nurses' desk, I had to (guiltily, reluctantly, shamefacedly) ask someone to take it there since they wouldn't let me go out of the room until they were satisfied that I wasn't going to infect anyone with anything. So there'll be no more procrastinating on the phone front.
Today, while the spouse was at his physio rehab class, I ventured over to Valu-Mart for provisions because the prediction is for more precip of one awful kind or another over the next couple of days. The sidewalks were mostly clear, but OMG the ankle-deep piles of slush and pools of water at Every. Single. Curb. I guess the sewers are so plugged up that no public or private organization is willing or able to clear them. Having to drag my fully loaded shopping cart back home through the mess was not fun. I can't imagine how mobility-device users navigate this shit. Thank goodness the spouse has access to Wheel-Trans for trips that can be planned far enough in advance.
While eating lunch I saw two extremely large raptors stalking the giant cloud of pigeons that routinely circle back and forth near the corner of Yonge and Charles. They were too far away to identify, but I'm guessing they were eventually successful in getting a meal, if only by virtue of the sheer size of the pigeon buffet.
It's taken me a while to recover from a recent week-long hospitalization, both physically and mentally. I have no complaints about the care--the emergency department at St. Michael's assessed me and started treatment within 15 minutes of arrival; and, although I had to wait hours to be formally admitted, the level of care never faltered. (Pro tip: the way to score a private room--at least for the first four days--is to arrive by ambulance and present with a serious underlying condition, severe vomiting and diarrhea, and a shockingly high fever. Toronto hospitals have learned their pandemic lessons well.)
I've been postponing buying a new phone because I jusdonwanna, but after the hospital experience with an ancient phone that doesn't hold a charge for more than an eyeblink I'll have to take care of that chore PDQ. I didn't have my charger with me, of course, and although I was allowed to use the charging station at the nurses' desk, I had to (guiltily, reluctantly, shamefacedly) ask someone to take it there since they wouldn't let me go out of the room until they were satisfied that I wasn't going to infect anyone with anything. So there'll be no more procrastinating on the phone front.
Today, while the spouse was at his physio rehab class, I ventured over to Valu-Mart for provisions because the prediction is for more precip of one awful kind or another over the next couple of days. The sidewalks were mostly clear, but OMG the ankle-deep piles of slush and pools of water at Every. Single. Curb. I guess the sewers are so plugged up that no public or private organization is willing or able to clear them. Having to drag my fully loaded shopping cart back home through the mess was not fun. I can't imagine how mobility-device users navigate this shit. Thank goodness the spouse has access to Wheel-Trans for trips that can be planned far enough in advance.
While eating lunch I saw two extremely large raptors stalking the giant cloud of pigeons that routinely circle back and forth near the corner of Yonge and Charles. They were too far away to identify, but I'm guessing they were eventually successful in getting a meal, if only by virtue of the sheer size of the pigeon buffet.
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Date: 2026-02-19 09:36 pm (UTC)You absolutely could not have got a walker through what it was doing yesterday. Ask me how I know. And as you say, wheeling things today was no picnic either. Am so ready for this winter to end.
But go Beck cabs! though I'm amazed you managed to get one at all.
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Date: 2026-02-19 09:40 pm (UTC)ETA because DW wouldn't let me see your cut before: yikes! Hope you get fully recovered from whatever that was.
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Date: 2026-02-20 12:47 am (UTC)Beck has been pretty good most of the time. For me, the trick has been to use the "O" option on the menu--a human answers and presto, the cab arrives as promised. Yesterday, though, I wasn't sure I would even be able to get a cab to come to the doc's office, and I think I got the B team--the driver (who was even older than I am) insisted that I must want to go to a building west of Bay, not a building east of Yonge, so we had a bit of a dispute about that. But once I convinced him that I knew where I lived, his mood brightened because there was so little automobile traffic on the streets.
I could have gotten home faster if I'd overcome my fear of the ice-coated sidewalk and just crept very carefully around the corner to Christie, which turned out to have a phalanx of taxis waiting for customers in front of the station. Lesson learned.
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Date: 2026-02-20 04:39 am (UTC)Because I have a weather memory, I can console myself that it's still not as bad as 2007-2008. Major dumps almost once a week and sometimes twice.
The city has been... let us say, not that bad about sending their little bobcats out. But yes, I do have recourse to grocery delivery more often than any time since my knee replacement.
My failsafe thing with taxis is to order the day before. Then they always arrive early, and no one grabs them en route by pretending to be me as has happened more than once. Also one can't rely on them being at the Christie station, because if you want them they're not there. I'm amazed that they were yesterday. But presumably people were being sensible and staying at home.
Also argh for drivers who think they know better than you.
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Date: 2026-02-19 10:38 pm (UTC)All I heard from the radio announcers this morning was how slippery it was so I stayed home today.
It's been quite the winter and I'm feeling really housebound. This weekend's weather is not promising either.
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Date: 2026-02-20 12:50 am (UTC)Good idea to stay home. I bet the kitties were pleased. :)
I know what you mean about feeling housebound, though. I have a list of errands that I need to attend to, and I'm looking forward to some non-awful weather so I can get caught up on them. When that time may come, I have no idea.