i left a little early for my 11:15am MGH appointment, thinking that it was at 11am instead. it was a warm day in the 80's but not bad, and better than if it was raining, then i wouldn't be able to bike down to the hospital. i ended up arriving 30 minutes early, but i spent the time reading the stacks of people and US magazine in the waiting room (instead of playing on my phone, which bothers me when i see other people doing it). when the nurse called me up to take a preliminary blood pressure reading, i was surprised how low it was: 117/77. but maybe i shouldn't have been surprised because that was also the reading i got when i took one last measure with my BP cuff (112/74 with a pulse of 64).

i got one of the large window exam rooms today, compared to the tiny windowless cell i typically receive. since doctor L wasn't there yet (running a bit late the nurse told me before closing the door), i took out my phone out of curiosity to see if there were any nearby pokestops. pokemon go uses a flat 2D map, and doesn't take into consideration the elevation. even though i was 6 stories above up and far away from any pokestops, the game still though i was on ground level, and let me tag a few pokestops accordingly, even capturing a few small pokemons (somebody had set a lure).

doctor L was happy my blood pressure reading was so low, but i wasn't as optimistic, as i know through my own readings that my blood pressure tends to fluctuate. but the highest it ever goes to these days is 130/90, which as far as the doctor was concerned, my blood pressure was under control. so happy he was with the results that i didn't even bother asking if there was alternative medication, so i didn't have to take 3 different HBP pills every day. the thing i did ask was to get my monthly prescriptions upgraded to every 3 months.

the second thing on my list was to talk to him about my sinus congestion problem. i ran through all the symptoms, talking fast as there were a lot, and ongoing since may. he didn't consider a big problem, said it was either allergies (normally my nose would be runny this time of the year from ragweed) or acid reflux. he told me to continue using the nasal spray and clean out my sinuses with a neti pot as well and see where that goes. i wasn't happy with the answer and was pushing for a pharmaceutical solution but he said with so many drugs i'm currently taking, he doesn't want to add anymore.

with that i signed out at the front desk. doctor L also asked me to get some blood drawn so he can test my cholesterol (it was high last time) and potassium level. they changed their system: they used to print out a spool of stickers (for the specimen test tubes) regardless if you're just getting one sample or multiple samples. this time around, they just printed a single sticker, and once i got to the lab, they'd print out only as much as they needed, reducing waste. it was fairly routine, as much as i hate needles, the nurse took my blood fairly quickly, so it wasn't a big deal.

i returned home across the longfellow bridge. to think: there's still 2 more years before construction on this damn bridge is finished! why do these infrastructure projects take so long and cost so much? i snapped a photo when i went underneath the bridge on the cambridge-inbound detour.

i took a detour to market basket to get some grocery items before returning home, including hauling back a large watermelon ($3.99). bungie cords were useless, what i really needed was the bungie netting, which i didn't have with me. but i still managed to get the melon back home without smashing it, just riding slowly and avoiding bumps.

john carpenter didn't show up today. i know he will come back eventually because he left some equipment here (plastic sawhorses) and i don't think he simply forgot about them.