I am not an opera singer...

The walk-in clinic at the Atrium on Bay and Dundas... OPEN!!!

Over the course of yesterday and today I had visited five walk-in clinics only to have found that they moved, were closed, or were still closed (false advertising on their hours). Thanks to Brigitte in the last phone conversation I had, I was told about this walk-in clinic at the Atrium. Not only were they open but the line was only about 45 minutes.

Let's rewind a bit. I started off by finishing my loads of laundry that I started when I got back from the beach. That's right I didn't sleep. At 10am I walked to a clinic just up the streetfrom where I live. They were still closed despite a sign saying they were open sundays starting at 10am. I thought to myself "That sucks! What if I had a more serious condition or injury?" The answer I then told myself was that I'd probably just go to the hospital at that point.

Brigitte's clinic popped into my head and along with it the idea of going for dim sum. After all when thinking about going to the doctor's the second thing that enters the mind is food. For me maybe food first then medical attention. I realized this as I told Kyoko we should go for food first then medical attention second. After all I was hungry, I'd been up all night, and I wasn't sure how long the visit to the doctor would take. We might have missed the food thing as dim sum stops being served between 2 and 3pm. Nice logic there eh?


Andrew and Isako show us the empty tin of paint remover

On my way up the hill to Kyoko's and finding out if she wanted to go I also found out that she wanted to stop by Canadian Tire to pick up stuff on sale. First she needed to get a coupon from the neighbours across the street.

While at Andrew and Isako's place we find out that they would like a can of paint remover from Canadian Tire. Everything in the universe seems to be flowing perfectly. Dim sum, the walk-in medical clinic, and Canadian Tire all located in a four block radius.

Kyoko and I stuffed ourselves at the New Treasure restaurant. I then had Kyoko interact with the receptionist at the doctor's office to keep my talking to a minimum. This is perfect. Who better to talk for someone that can't talk than a non-stop talker? Once all the forms were filled and I grabbed a seat to wait, Kyoko went off to Canadian Tire to pick up the stuff.

As I stated before the wait wasn't too long. To pass the time I found myself watching the TV. It had the odd news headline and other medical advertisements. It was a slideshow made specifically for the waiting room. I was a little miffed that the screen was a wide screen and the person that set it up didn't do it correctly as it cut off text and images meant for a standard 4:3 NTSC TV screen. "Eeediotssss!"

Once my number, 34, was called I was placed in a small medical room were I sat looking at all the medical gear for about ten minutes. Blood pressure gauge, needles, rubber gloves, biohazard bin, among other things of medical importance. The doctor eventually walked in. After a very brief conversation of what I thought I had come down with he asked me "Do you have internet?".

At first I was trying to figure out where he was going with this. "Do I have a computer related throat injury/condition?", "Is there something else wrong with me that I'm not aware of?", "Is there dim sum stuck in my teeth?". I nodded to his question.

He took a pad of paper and started writing saying "I want you to look this up.". He handed me the piece of paper. Circled and in writing were big letters forming the word "LARYNGITIS". I almost expected a bunch of muppets to jump in the room with flash cards that said "Laryn" and "gitis" on them. They would then say what was on each card, one right after another while sliding the cards closer together. "laryn---- gitis, laryn--gitis, laryn-gitis, laryngitis! yea!". After forming the magical word of the day the muppets would run out of the room.

"Are you an opera singer?" was the next question out of the doctor's mouth. The words almost snapped me back into reality. I almost looked around instinctively for the hidden camera. "Are you an opera singer?" he repeated. I gave him that squinty eyed look I give to people when I'm thinking they're nuts then shook my head. He then went on to ask "Are you a telemarketer? What do you do for a job?". I thought about this for a second and the fact that I haven't really been working that much these last few weeks. I whispered out "24 frame playback technician" as it was the last job I did.

Looking at his face and his glazed eyes I could see some explanation to the job title was in order. He stopped me before I could say anything to ask "Does your profession require you to do lots of talking?". I shook my head. Then like turning on a verbal encyclopedia he started telling me the stats on having laryngitis.

• The throat infection (which I was prescribed medication for) would last ten days.
• The vocal cords would take approx three weeks to heal (provided you don't strain your voice).
• Treat laryngitis as a cold, it's contagious if kissing for example.
• Drink lots of liquids
• have lots of lozenges on hand
• Don't let your throat go dry.
  

He then asked if I had any further questions. It reminded me of a waiter asking how everything was while you had food in your mouth. Asking someone who can't speak if they have any questions seems mean. I suppose he could have lent me his pen and pad of paper.

After that I was done. No sooner had I walked back into the hallway, I noticed Kyoko looking for me. She had a bag of stuff, a can of concrete filler, and Andrew and Isako's paint remover. We dropped off the paint remover then I spent a bit of time helping Chris and Kyoko take carpet staples out of their newly exposed wood floor.


Kyoko doing a final sweep.


Pumpkin hears something.


That "strange lady" across the street from Andrew and Isako.