More Updates...

So, I worked at West Marine Alameda on Sunday & Monday. I took off at noon on Monday to go to our inaugural visit at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland. It took us a while to figure out the parking situation (they had valet parking). We navigated the maze of hallways and immediately were processed after I swiped the card for my copay. No waiting for six hours here! I actually felt rushed. I didn't even get to do any reading or people watching. Oh well. The Doc walked in within seconds of us taking a seat in our little examination room, plopped down on the stool and told us he wasn't the right doctor for us. We sat there with quizzical expressions on our faces as he told us that the people in Administration didn't match up the specialty with the case, they just filled the time slot. He said that he does things like dislocations in the ER, not follow-up on finger reimplantations. He helped us get x-rays and an appointment with the doctor we were originally referred to two weeks ago. With all that being said, he looked at the x-rays and wasn't too happy with the way the bone is mending (actually, none of us are). I told him that I originally asked to have it amputated. He said that it was a distinct possibility and proceeded to tell us that it was only the middle finger, not the index or thumb (this didn't make me feel much better). He wished us luck and on the way out, we asked him to write us a refund note for our copay. We get to go back Thursday to talk to the right doctor. Sigh...

I was a little bummed as we were walking back to the car, and the rain didn't help, so we decided to go to Quinn's for a beer. A few beers and a couple of bowls of clam chowder later, we were somewhat cheered up. Kim braved the squall and picked me up in the car and we headed home. Kyle and his friend came over for Kim's french chicken and I fell asleep trying to deal with possibly having the finger amputated after spending six weeks rehabbing it and watching the rest of my hand seize up, after asking them to amputate in the first place. Sigh...

This morning, I had an e-mail in my Inbox, asking me to meet the West Marine Districit Manager for an interview in Pleasant Hill, so maybe something good will come out of this before the holidays. The good news is that I was able to function at West Marine pretty well, just a little slow making change.

Lisa's booking slots at Tradewinds, Kim just sent off the largest estimate she's ever done, we're checking out rental property on CraigsList, and we've got a week's worth of doctors' appointments, so things are in their normal state of upheaval.

Either way, I'll still have one good finger to flip off power boaters.