A Quick Stick

Yesterday we left the house to go to Daytona Beach for the first time in at least three months, if not longer. I had to go to the lab at the VA Medical Center to get some blood work before an upcoming telephone conference with my doctor. It was a nice day and I decided to take the Mustang. The more I drive that sporty little car, the more I like it.

Terry knew she couldn’t come in when we got to the VA, so I parked in the shade and left the engine and air conditioning (and the seat coolers) running, telling her I hoped it wouldn’t take too long. And it didn’t.

I had to stop at a check-in station outside, where they took my temperature, asked if I had any COVID-19 symptoms or been around anyone who did, or if I had been out of the country in the last 30 days. When I answered no to all of that, they sent me to another station just outside the door, where I was asked the same questions once more.

Then, when I got inside the building, someone else took my temperature, saying they did it again because it was around a hundred degrees outside, and they wanted to take it out of the direct sunlight. I asked why they didn’t just do that to everybody coming in and not bother doing it outside, and the young lady said if someone’s temperature was over 100 degrees, they would be turned away at the first station. I guess that makes sense. And of course, masks were mandatory

Clearing those hurdles, I went into the area where the lab is, pushed the little button to get my number to wait, and took two steps toward a chair, and they called me in. A quick stick, three or four vials of blood and a urine test later, and they sent me on my way. It took longer to get inside the building than it did to get the lab work done and get back out to the car.

I didn’t get any writing done yesterday because by the time we got back from the VA, after stopping at the post office on the way to mail out our taxes, it was pretty late in the day. I had a ton of e-mail to answer, along with some Facebook questions to deal with, and that was about the only thing I accomplished.

Among the e-mails was one from Elizabeth Mackey, my book cover artist. Here is the cover for the first book in the Tinder Street series. What do you think of it? I like it a lot.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – I hate when people accuse me of lollygagging when I’m quite clearly dilly-dallying.