To London And Back...

Well, I'm back from the London trip to do the quarterly kidney checkup. As Lavinia asked in a previous comment, what is a kidney checkup? Well, sometimes I forget not everyone has read every post I've made in the last 3 years (haha). As it so happens, almost 5 years ago now I had a kidney transplant, after a bit of time on dialysis. It was a success, and been working good so far. About every 3-4 months though, I go back to where I had the transplant done at London University Hospital in Ontario (great staff there, and good people) and the Doctors check me out and make sure everything is doing what it's supposed to do - the kidney, the diet, the meds, etc. Once again, I got a clean bill of health. The blood pressure is always an issue because of the meds, but we've made a slight adjustment and it should be clear sailing. The day is always a long one, leaving early in the morning to make the early morning appointment. However, a trip out of my usual routine gives me a chance to work my (relatively still new) camera. Was never one to be much of a shutterbug, but since I got my digital camera, I enjoy it quite a bit more. The only way I'd carry a camera around was if it was slim, small, and lightweight and still take good shots. I think I've found that with my Casio Exilim. Takes good shots and records video in MP4. It's not professional grade, but it works for me. Combined with iPhoto / Pixelmator on my Mac, it's a lot of fun. Anyway, you can go here to check all the shots I put up at Flickr, but here's some select shots of the day for the blog... We came across a rollerblader in the bicycle lane. Does that qualify? Traffic wasn't too happy passing him on the bridge... Pulling up to the Hospital. It's a pretty big building, and they always seem to be adding / changing with construction too. They do a lot of work here. This was weird. The hall to the nephrology clinic was covered with sheeting on the wall for the construction and other safety lamps for lighting. Gave it an Indiana Jones treasure hunting feel to it or something... Looking down on the helicopter pad from the parking garage. We saw one come in and land once, and there is not a lot of room to do it. Coming down between the hospital and two parking garages would take some skill. London has some rather old buses in their fleet. The orange stands out though. After the Bachelor's post on old Barns, I had to snap this shot as we drove... I really liked this shot with the mirror. I'm still half hidden in shadow and shades, so I'm putting it out there. Still on the fence whether to post myself online, but I'm think I'm starting to lean over... And finally, a really nice shot of the beautiful clouds and sky. Makes a nice wallpaper too. All in all, a good day, a good report from the docs, and a day to count one's blessing... Blogged with the Flock Browser