Sunday, after I woke, I went to the door to get some packages. City living comes with 4-8 am next day Amazon deliveries. When I stepped outside, my phone dinged, it was Amanda texting that she was going to bed from the night before. No wonder she was tired when I called her the night before! I really need the wifi fixed.
With the crazy high parking, I was trying my best to be a city boy and take the bus. I had the app loaded, checked the schedule, and confirmed with Apple Maps which one to take, and I was off. It was a 5 minute walk to the stop, shaved 2 minutes off the Apple estimate. The bus runs every 10 minutes. I sat at the stop waiting, texting a friend. The bus pulled up and stopped where neither door was in a good location to get on. I stood up, deciding which door to go to, but neither opened, and I watched the bus just drive off. I guess I was supposed to be standing at attention by the sign.
I called Amanda in a fit of rage, so mad! She was in the bathroom and answered the call on her watch, so she couldn’t hear me well. Later, she told me she thought I was run over by the bus! I sat very impatiently waiting for the next bus to stop. You can text your bus stop number and get the following few stop times, so I was tapping my finger and waiting. I was standing at attention when the next bus stopped! The scanner for the app was broken and the driver didn’t seem to care if I paid or not anyway.
I was looking for the stop request indicator, but didn’t see one, I was used to a cable you pull. I watched everyone to see what to do and even googled it quickly. Turns out there are buttons you push on the grab bars in the aisle. I know the road so I knew where I’d get off. We passed Main Street, where our old hotel is. I was about to push the button, but then I heard Stop Requested over the intercom and saw it on the screen. I got ready to stand up, but we just drove right by the stop! I ended up at the TMC bus center a block away from the stop I needed! I hoofed it back and timed the walk from the stop I was supposed to get off at, four minutes. If I catch the ride just right, it’s 16 minutes to get to the hospital, including my walk on both ends, not bad. I hoped I’d get the hang of it sooner or later.
When I got my report, Amanda had lost three pounds. Because of the higher heart rate, they lowered the dopamine drip, thus cutting the amount she lost too. When the team came by, the budding EP fellow was rounding with the transplant team. He gave us a big smile and it’s been a while since I’ve seen y’all but was still quite when Amanda said something to him later. We figured he was scared of the “keep it up” transplant doc he was rounding with! The EP he was under that did the ablation on Amanda a couple of months ago is leaving the hospital, we’d heard from a friend that sees another EP in his office. The plan was to put the CardioMems, the device to monitor pulmonary artery pressures, in on Monday when Dr. Nair was back. Also to keep the dopamine going as long as the kidneys were happy.
I could tell I had been gone a bit, Amanda was asking for what she needed precisely, and speaking loud in the speaker when they called. Both of which I jump on her about. She is lax when I’m here because I’ll get things, but I guess her attitude changed when I was gone. She is so bad about being vague on what she needs, then gets mad that she didn’t get what she wanted. Also, she thinks speaking closer to the speaker is better than a louder voice. We are so different in those aspects, I’m very direct and talk loudly, so there is no confusion with me like there is with her. I always tell her to tell people don’t ask, don’t put a question mark where a period should be! That is why she is liked better than be, too!
The nurse was funny. After exiting the bathroom, she said I felt that toilet paper and knew it was good. Laughing that we brought our own saying, she knew that soft stuff wasn’t from here! I could see Amanda settling for a nap. It was my time to head to the apartment anyway. I was finishing a post and told her I was leaving when I finished it, and not saying goodbye so she could sleep. I found a different bus route to take back to the apartment. This one runs through the east side of the med center and along a bayou spillway. The stop I needed was right on the corner of the hospital so the walk was minimal. The walk up the block to the apartment was longer, so it was a wash walk-wise. The ride was a little longer, with a stop at the TMC bus terminal, but not much longer. The driver was horrible, slamming on the brakes and honking at other drivers.
When I arrived at the apartment, my replacement lock was there. Not long after I heard wheels creaking, I figured it was Amazon with something else I’d ordered. It was with a cart full of boxes stacked high, all for us. The driver even had to return to get another from the van. I asked her about a code, they have one, the other drivers must have been new. I put the new keypad lock on in a jiffy and it works great. I keyed it the same as the original so I hope they don’t give me any grief about it.
I still had the lock to return, so I drove a few blocks down to Whole Foods to make the return. When back, I parked in an assigned spot that was up for grabs to see if I liked it. It was too close to a wall, and there was a cover that went over electrical meters swinging freely. I figured it might smash into the car at some point. Also, it was right where the dryer vents dump to make the car smell like a laundry mat, I guess that would be ok, but maybe not! I moved it back to a covered unassigned, then grabbed the Burb to park it behind the fence in an open covered spot. There were two other available assigned spots but people had been parking in them. So I worried I’d have issues with the same ones stealing the spot, especially when I come in late at night.
After that, I worked on unboxing the massive amount of wish list items I’d just received. There were a ton to go through. One was a body pillow, since we won’t have separate beds, Amanda needs a barrier when she’s back from surgery. After surgeries, we typically make a pillow fort/wall, but a single long pillow would work better. The pillow was in a small air vacuumed pack. About the size of a bag of chips, if not smaller. Mind you, this is a body pillow, maybe not my body length, but Amanda’s size for sure. I cut it carefully and peeled the package open. Once loose it popped out and flopped backwards hitting me right in the face!
On the way back, the bus was late getting to the stop. By the time I got off and was walking towards Starbucks, Amanda texted me. She said it’s time to come back. I didn’t even respond, I knew the StarBs order I was about to make would send the bat signal, or mermaid in this case, to her letting her know I was close! Earlier in the morning, I walked in with my po-ta-toes shirt on. Amanda asked if we would have potatoes for dinner since I had that on and I said “Yup!” So I ordered one from one of my favorites, Flower Child, Amanda likes it but not as much as I do. I had a plate of sides with yukon and sweet potatoes, and we covered the boiled and smashed part of my shirt. I just needed a stew to complete all three!
The hospitalist and some nurses commented that Amanda’s face looked smaller. Her stomach is a lot softer too. I guess she’s lost enough to notice now. At least we’re headed in the right direction now. Amanda worked on her nails after he doctors came by in the morning. She did so in stages, working on her toes and fingernails. I brought her whole setup back up with me. She was just finishing them up about when I left for the night.
I had looked at Apple Maps to see which Metro to take. It showed the one I took in the morning, but I knew the other was closer, so I checked the times it would show in just a few minutes. It never arrived, and when I went the other way, to catch the other one, which was now over a 10-minute walk and scheduled for 10 minutes. It was close but I made it. I discovered the scheduled times are farther apart at night, but the bus I had tried to catch must not have run or been by super early. It wasn’t a good start to the city metro riding life!