All Systems Go!

Yesterday was an all systems go day! It was one of those days where the timing is all right and everything just seems to work.

While preparing for my shift, I made a decision to stop at the clinic on the way to the office and get that blood test over with. The form has been tucked behind the mirror in my bathroom hallway, peeking out at me since last April when I agreed to return for more tests in a year.

The hematologist wanted me to return in 3 months but the tests were stressing me so much that I decided I would rather give myself a full year of freedom from stress. That year has passed in the blink of an eye!

The hematologist had written "end of April 2008" on it, which mean't if I didn't use it in the next few days I would have to make an appointment with her to get another one, should I opt to take the test.

I had discussed my options with my daughter Chaya when we went for her birthday dinner last Wednesday and although she said she would support whatever decision I made, her first reaction was that I should probably take the test.

I decided that I would not be honest with myself if I didn’t follow through on it. I told myself that if I got to the lab and there was a huge line up I would pass.

It was a toss up between St. Paul’s and the clinic across the street so I opted for the clinic as I had a bad experience last time at St. Paul’s and there was usually a line up at the lab.

When I got to the clinic there was only one person ahead of me, an elderly lady who had gone up in the elevator with me. While they were still processing her paperwork, an attendant called me to the desk and updated my profile.

I had not been to this lab since living in the Co-op 8 years ago and so everything had to be updated. However, they called me in first as the lady was still not done at the front desk. I could not beleive my good luck as I usually have to wait at least a half hour or more.

The lab technician, a man in his mid 30’s, was very good at his job and the test was painless and quick leaving no bruising, in sharp contrast to the one I had last year at St. Paul’s.

The hematologist's office is in the same building and so I walked over to make a follow up appointment but the receptionist told me to wait until next week when they got the results as an appointment might not be necessary. I held up crossed fingers and we both laughed.

Since I still had time before my shift, I walked over Sears to see if I could get a replacement for my belt which is one or two strands away from snapping. They were on sale and I got a new one for just under $11.

At work, my favorite desk was free and so I settled in for my shift and was immediately presented with a small royal blue shopping bag emblazoned with a gold Maui Coast Hotel logo, inside of which was a stuffed miniature humpback whale jumping through a lifebuoy which reads Maui Coast Hotel * Kihei. The hotel staff had come for a visit bearing these gifts for the call center agents.

Kihei was where Paul Reps spent his winters (he drew me a rough map of the area when he directed me to the Maui Zendo in Haiku in the late 70's) and it was where Karen and I went after getting married.

The shift was long as the call volume was low but at home, despite feeling tired I opted to try and re-install my antivirus program, the one I bought for $15 at London Drugs.

Yes, beleive it or not I am still wrestling with this problem which I thought I had solved and although a co-worker suggested a freeware program called AVAST (I tried to install that a couple of days back but my download was corrupted) I decided to give BitDefender one last go round.

This time the update while registering the software was about 1 MB more than last time but I completed it just before my connection timed out. Then I logged back in under another user name, to finalize my update and for the first time in a month my computer is fully protected.

Windows Security Center shows all those little green lights on, a fitting closure to a successful day.

With luck I will not have to do the computer update neutron dance again anytime soon!