I was booked in for a mammogram in Reading at 10:10. I've never been to Reading before so had no idea how easy the venue would be to find, nor how long I might be sitting in a waiting room, nor how fascinating a city it might turn out to be, so I decided to take the whole day off work and see if I could book a dental appointment for the afternoon to make the day off justify itself.
A kindly person at the bus stop overheard the bus driver telling me he didn't know the names of the stops on his route and offered to show me the way since that was where he was going too. He showed me a nifty shortcut, I arrived in plenty of time, didn't need to wait and was out of there 21 minutes before my scheduled appointment.
The Royal Berkshire Hospital has the most amazing mammogram machine that infuses soothing pastel pinks and blues at the patient. I complimented the radiographer on her machine and she explained that this one also delivers treatment, which is why it has all the calming extras. WOW!
And then I went for a wander around Reading where I encountered Oscar Wilde as well as a very large lion and no doubt some of those treats will filter into my journal during the remainder of the week.
I had been surprised to have been able to secure a dental appointment on the very afternoon I had requested one, just as my friends from Medway had been surprised at the ease with which I had been able to register with a dentist as soon as I arrived in Henley. The reason, of course, is that for the first time in my life I have accidentally registered with a non-NHS dentist. EEK! So that cost 3x what I had expected.
But by then I was SO ready for a nap. I have just slept for fourteen hours straight and still want more. I'm fairly sure that this is going to be the standard side-effect of coming into contact with even tiny amounts of radiation from now on, so I'm extra pleased that the dentist chose today for dental X-rays on top of the dose received already from the Royal Berkshire.