I WENT TO THE DOCTOR’S

I went to the doctor’s yesterday morning. I overslept but arrived a minute before my appointment time booked in using the touch screen consul mounted on the wall left of the reception area took a seat and almost immediately was called via the electronic display board into the locum’s surgery.
‘What can I do for you?’ she said.
‘I’d like you to sign me off sick for a few days,’ I said. ‘I’ve been very unwell the past week.’
I gave her a rundown of how I’d been, she nodded then asked me to take my jacket off and pull my shirt up when I said I’d developed a cough.
‘Breathe in,’ she said, ‘breathe out,’ listening with her stethoscope at various points on my back, ‘keep going...
‘...that’s fine, you can put your jacket back on.’
She said, ‘I’m signing you off for a week but you might need longer to recover. If you do come back and I’ll give you another week.’
'Thank you very much for your help,’ I said before leaving. 'Thank you.'

My boss asked me to let her know what the doctor said and I will but before I do I want to talk to a friend of mine I thought’d disappeared but who I’ve arranged to meet tomorrow (Friday) morning after she phoned and left a message saying, ‘I’m back in town.’
The thing is, I’ve had enough of this piece of work and I’m thinking to give notice.

A RARE SIGHT

After I got back home from the doctor’s, my daughter, who was in the bath when I walked through the front door, packed her suitcase and bags and made ready to travel back north.
‘You know where the bus stop is?’ I said.
‘By House of Fraser.’
I hadn’t been able to find it on Monday so ended up walking to the station when I could really have done without doing so. Because of the current building work expanding Broadmead First Bus have moved the number 8/9 bus stop and, as far as I know, because I’ve seen nothing to indicate otherwise, haven’t posted information or directions to where the stop’s been moved.

So there we were, daughter and me, on the bus to Temple Meads, and I have on the go an angry familiar internal rant...
...First Bus is a company serves, not the bus using public of Bristol, but rather itself and its shareholders who profit from over pricing it’s a disgrace the city council allows such shameless exploitation of the people whose interests it is, apparently elected, to represent...
...when the bus stopped at a set of lights on Temple Way.
On the pavement outside the nearside window a young man resting by an obviously heavy, lumpy rucksack, held a hat on his head against the the wind. He silent nodded a plea for the driver to open the door and let him on the bus.
‘Fat chance,’ I said.
But the driver opened the door and the young man got on the bus dragging his bag behind him. He made topay but the driver waved him away.
‘Thanks Drive,’ he said, ‘thanks very much,’ and he sat down near the front.
‘You don’t see that very often,’ I said to my daughter.