Unfinished Business and Returning to Work

 Good evening Houston! The Mad Houstonian, here.

The past 10 days have been eventful.

I went to my doctor for exams that helped get me approved for a return to work later this week.

While my insurance covered most of my February surgery I was recently approved for a Memorial Hermann Financial Aid Program that covered the remainder, something that I am grateful to them and to God for the blessing.

As I have been getting out and about to appointments, grocery shopping, and exercise walks, I have been walking 2 to 7 miles a day.

I had planned on my quarterly bald cut for my 60th birthday, March 5, but fate had other plans, so the deed was put off until a few days ago.

 

I bought new shoes that were 3 times more expensive than I traditionally have bought, but a lot more comfortable, as well as compression socks, and I had 3 bandanas made, for use as masks, and as a way to promote this blog in public.

This afternoon I went to my work for the first time since early March to turn in paperwork, and retrieve clothes from my locker.

While there I reconnected with some of my Walmart front register co-workers, people who had not seen me since I first began using a walker after my surgery.

To say they were glad to see me would be an understatement.

 

One excited lady walked up to me for a welcome back hug, social distancing be damned! It made me smile and we laughed as others came up for elbow bumps & fist bumps.

A lot has happened the past 3 months, from social distancing to economic shutdown and re-opening.

Walking the streets, over the past month, as I finally left my walker behind, has been a surreal experience.

Seeing normally busy major streets with far less traffic than usual, especially during rush hour.

Seeing more people on park, and bayou trails, and more cyclists, too.

Seeing more homeless, not just downtown, but elsewhere, including more than usual in their regular haunts near where I live.

Seeing fewer cars, and workers on foot, not to mention anyone resembling a tourist, downtown during weekdays.

Following social distancing rules on the Houston Metro, from entering and exiting the back door, and sitting only in designated seats, to not even having to pay.

Noticing that not only were there many passengers who do not wear masks, and that even some drivers don't, but some drivers don't manage passenger limits on the buses, as set by Metro, aside from sometimes pasing stops when the bus is full.

Noticing that some passengers are unclear on the concept of social distancing, on the bus, as well as while waiting for the bus at bus stops, and the trains along the rail stops.

Encountering giant cabbages on street corners.

Taking my cats to the vet, one visit at a time, over several days, and having to sit outside while each lady was taken inside to either get shots, or their nails trimmed.

Long lines at the post office close to where I live, but no lines at the one close to my work, 8 miles away.

Going grocery shopping at the Walmart on Rice, and the HEB at Meyerland Plaza, and observing not only the ways they were different, but similar, in their approaches to managing customers during these difficult times.

Noticing how some motorists wear masks, in vehicles with the windows rolled up, and even observing Taxi Drivers and Houston Police Officers doing so when they are the only occupants of their vehicle.

Noticing that life has even gotten stressful for local wild animals...I mean it ain't every day that one sees pigs harassing a rooster!

It all culminated, yesterday, in my having my own Edvard Munch (The Scream) Moment after spilling water from my bottle, while waiting for the bus at the Medical Center Transit Center.

This afternoon I took care of some unfinished business.

3 months ago, tomorrow morning, I was walking home from an HEB trip, and attempting to cross a street, when my life was changed.

The T-intersection has a crosswalk that shares a green light with left turning traffic.

I did not even make it to the center divider, not even having enough time to raise a hand and slow down the inattentive driver who took me out and left the scene, never to be seen again.

I was determined to finish that trip, at last.

So I stopped off at the HEB, made a purchase, and made my way back to the crosswalk.

Rush hour traffic has returned to normal, here, with the economy opening up, so I paid close attention to my surroundings, making sure everyone got clear looks at the "Pedestrian Alert" shirt I was wearing, before the light changed.

See that silver SUV leading the charge of the waiting left turners?

When the light changed the black lady at the wheel WAS paying attention, but moving a little too fast, in a hurry to get where she was going. 

Apparently I was not moving fast enough for her and my raised hand to stop her pissed her off, as she yelled at me about the light going red, even though I still had 15 seconds before the pedestrian green reached 0 and turned red, more than enough time for me to make it across.

I smiled, pointed at my shirt, and continued on my way, safely accomplishing my goal of crossing the street, lawfully using the crosswalk, as intended, in the time allowed.

This was the first time, since tossing my walker, and getting out beyond my apartment complex, that I had felt comfortable enough to attempt to cross a street in a crosswalk that shared a light with left turning traffic.

In the past month I took extra care using crosswalks, watching traffic preparing to make corner turns, as I prepared to step off the curb with my green, or approached the opposite curb as I finished crossing.

Though neccessary, using a crosswalk, lighted or not (Too many Houstonians don't even bother to use them), is not always the safest journey to take, something that my injury has made me even more aware of than I was before, and even more glad to wear my collection of Pedestrian Alert shirts.

 

Comments

[Ellen Pilch]

Glad everything went well on your first day back. Those are cool sculptures.

[Create With Joy]

Wow, Kiril, I found your updates so very interesting.

I am glad to hear that you are back on your feet but still in shock that someone could hit you without stopping and appalled by the rudeness of the lady in the car!

Definitely a different pedestrian vibe than here in CA!

Please be safe and take good care of yourself in the midst of your travels.

GREAT idea about using your mask to share and promote your blog! :-)

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

Thank you, my friends...

There are several more sculptures in the collection, but these were my faves.

CWJ there is an evolving Shared Use system of Bayou Trails in the region, for walkers & cyclists, but little in the way of bike lane infrastructure on the streets, and some whole areas of Houston that have never had much in the way of sidewalk, so safety has been a decades old serious issue for cyclists and pedestrians, here, something I have blogged about a number of times in my 7 years here.

The bandana has trouble staying put sometimes, but I manage. :-D