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Jul. 3rd, 2012 12:40 pmThe trip to Madison with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lisagems for the dental clinic went pretty well.
I met her at the Kenosha train station in the evening after I got done with my job at the UW Parkside help desk. She and I hung around the house for a while with my family, but eventually decided we might as well leave early for Madison. Others who had expressed an interest in coming with were unable to make it, so it was just she and I.
We left around 10:30 and stopped at Super Valu for some snacks and things, and this will tell you how hair-focused I am. I hadn't been to Super Valu in probably over a year, but I was kind of excited once we got to the parking lot because I remembered that when I used to go there later at night, there was usually a cashier with really long, waist-length dark curly hair. And she was there! Seeing her made me happy.
Lisa and I had a nice cool night-drive to Madison. We missed the 894 split (they've messed around with that interchange since I was there last) and ended up going through downtown Milwaukee on 94, but it didn't take any extra time since there was no traffic, and I got to see the Milwaukee skyline and buildings at night, so no worries.
We arrived at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, the site of the event, around one in the morning, and some informal counts showed us to be about 200th in line. The line extended out from the main entry doors and along the side of neighboring hotel building and through a grassy yard sort of area. We set up our yard chair and Lisa sat and read while I tried to do some club juggling. It was a little dark though, and I didn't do that for long. Also, the clubs I'd brought were my old hollow plastic ones that I didn't mind getting scraped up in case I was juggling on pavement, and I've realized, after bashing the ends of fingers multiple times with them, that they are akin to torture instruments.
I ended up passing some stretch of time lying on the ground in front of Lisa and stream-of-consciousness chatting about stars and skys and thoughts. I briefly talked to some people next to us in line about juggling and equipment and its history. I was a bit disappointed that people near us set up a battery-powered movie player and listened to loud movies at frequent intervals through the night; I would have liked a more quiet atmosphere and getting to talk to people. I feel like it could have been a sort of social camping/gathering feeling event. But I understand trying to make your kids more manageable when you're doing something like this.
By the time morning came, there were over a thousand people in line. Things might have been a lot more disorganized if Lisa hadn't used her experience managing lines from being convention security staff to direct the formation of the line in non-confusing ways. As the sun rose slowly over the horizon, I started doing a bit of juggling again as volunteers began trickling in through the parking lot. Eventually, the doors opened and the line starting moving, so I ran our stuff back to the car and Lisa and I took our place in line. As we stood, I was absorbed by a couple people practicing Qigong nearby.
Once we got inside, I was quite amazed at how organized and well run everything was. We were moved through a few stations where we got name badges and filled out questionnaires, were triaged, and finally sent to the right station to have further work done. The dentist who looked at me determined that I didn't have cavities in the area that I was worried about and having pain in so he sent me to have my teeth cleaned. The hygienist said that the pain was most likely an issue of plaque and tartar building up under my gum line and she did a lot of scraping and poking and spraying in there. At the end, she commented that she'd better wash my face off so it didn't look like I'd been in a war zone! She was wonderfully nice and I felt comfortable in her care. She made some suggestions about better ways to clean and some products to use, including suggesting toothpaste for sensitive teeth, which kind of surprised me. I guess I always figured that using that would mask any actual issues and I shied away from it like I do from using pain-relieving drugs more than once in a long while. But she said that some people just have more sensitive teeth and it's ok to use it consistenly, so I'll give it a try.
After I was done, I waited in the gathering space at the end for Lisa, who came out a short time later, having had some fillings put in and feeling pleased with what they were able to do for her. My whole experience there was a very positive one, and as well as being happy, I'm deeply grateful to all the people who came together to make this possible. With so many people without access to healthcare, and with teeth being such a major part of how you appear to people when seeking a job, among other things, I don't think I can express how much of a boon this clinic must have been to so many people.
---
So Lisa and I finally got back to our car around eleven o' clock I think. Since we'd both been up since the morning before (8 o' clock for me, which meant I'd been up for 27 hours), I decided that, since we were so close already, we just had to go see the Forevertron. *laughs*
We did, and wandered through Delaney's surplus store as well. The Forevertron seemed...lacking something. Or somethings. I'm not sure what, but there just seemed to be, somehow, a lot less of it. It made me sad, and I'm worried that it may be being dismantled or going away or something. The folks at Delaney's said they weren't aware of it being changed and suggested I stay and talk to Eleanor, who is kind of managing the place these days. But she wasn't there yet, and Lisa and I were both pretty tired, and we decided to head home instead. I'll try and visit again at some point.
We had to make one more stop on the way home. We got a little fast food, and I went across the street to the Goodwill where I snagged a decent pair of leather worky-type shoes for five bucks. I really didn't own any nice shoes at that point, so I was happy to have them. I also thought I'd found a wonderful indie movie that I'd been looking for for a while (Haiku Tunnel), but when I opened the case, I was rather disappointed to find Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band in it instead. Oh well.
Finally, Lisa and I got back to kenosha around 3. I had intended to drive her down into Chicago and spend the weekend with she and Danae, but I realized I was just too tired to drive out of town any more that day. I gave Lisa a ride to the train, and went home and promptly collapsed in bed. After 37 hours up, I slept 'till the wee hours, got up and ate and stuff, then slept again till, I think, early afternoon. It was definitely worth it.
lisagems for the dental clinic went pretty well.I met her at the Kenosha train station in the evening after I got done with my job at the UW Parkside help desk. She and I hung around the house for a while with my family, but eventually decided we might as well leave early for Madison. Others who had expressed an interest in coming with were unable to make it, so it was just she and I.
We left around 10:30 and stopped at Super Valu for some snacks and things, and this will tell you how hair-focused I am. I hadn't been to Super Valu in probably over a year, but I was kind of excited once we got to the parking lot because I remembered that when I used to go there later at night, there was usually a cashier with really long, waist-length dark curly hair. And she was there! Seeing her made me happy.
Lisa and I had a nice cool night-drive to Madison. We missed the 894 split (they've messed around with that interchange since I was there last) and ended up going through downtown Milwaukee on 94, but it didn't take any extra time since there was no traffic, and I got to see the Milwaukee skyline and buildings at night, so no worries.
We arrived at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, the site of the event, around one in the morning, and some informal counts showed us to be about 200th in line. The line extended out from the main entry doors and along the side of neighboring hotel building and through a grassy yard sort of area. We set up our yard chair and Lisa sat and read while I tried to do some club juggling. It was a little dark though, and I didn't do that for long. Also, the clubs I'd brought were my old hollow plastic ones that I didn't mind getting scraped up in case I was juggling on pavement, and I've realized, after bashing the ends of fingers multiple times with them, that they are akin to torture instruments.
I ended up passing some stretch of time lying on the ground in front of Lisa and stream-of-consciousness chatting about stars and skys and thoughts. I briefly talked to some people next to us in line about juggling and equipment and its history. I was a bit disappointed that people near us set up a battery-powered movie player and listened to loud movies at frequent intervals through the night; I would have liked a more quiet atmosphere and getting to talk to people. I feel like it could have been a sort of social camping/gathering feeling event. But I understand trying to make your kids more manageable when you're doing something like this.
By the time morning came, there were over a thousand people in line. Things might have been a lot more disorganized if Lisa hadn't used her experience managing lines from being convention security staff to direct the formation of the line in non-confusing ways. As the sun rose slowly over the horizon, I started doing a bit of juggling again as volunteers began trickling in through the parking lot. Eventually, the doors opened and the line starting moving, so I ran our stuff back to the car and Lisa and I took our place in line. As we stood, I was absorbed by a couple people practicing Qigong nearby.
Once we got inside, I was quite amazed at how organized and well run everything was. We were moved through a few stations where we got name badges and filled out questionnaires, were triaged, and finally sent to the right station to have further work done. The dentist who looked at me determined that I didn't have cavities in the area that I was worried about and having pain in so he sent me to have my teeth cleaned. The hygienist said that the pain was most likely an issue of plaque and tartar building up under my gum line and she did a lot of scraping and poking and spraying in there. At the end, she commented that she'd better wash my face off so it didn't look like I'd been in a war zone! She was wonderfully nice and I felt comfortable in her care. She made some suggestions about better ways to clean and some products to use, including suggesting toothpaste for sensitive teeth, which kind of surprised me. I guess I always figured that using that would mask any actual issues and I shied away from it like I do from using pain-relieving drugs more than once in a long while. But she said that some people just have more sensitive teeth and it's ok to use it consistenly, so I'll give it a try.
After I was done, I waited in the gathering space at the end for Lisa, who came out a short time later, having had some fillings put in and feeling pleased with what they were able to do for her. My whole experience there was a very positive one, and as well as being happy, I'm deeply grateful to all the people who came together to make this possible. With so many people without access to healthcare, and with teeth being such a major part of how you appear to people when seeking a job, among other things, I don't think I can express how much of a boon this clinic must have been to so many people.
---
So Lisa and I finally got back to our car around eleven o' clock I think. Since we'd both been up since the morning before (8 o' clock for me, which meant I'd been up for 27 hours), I decided that, since we were so close already, we just had to go see the Forevertron. *laughs*
We did, and wandered through Delaney's surplus store as well. The Forevertron seemed...lacking something. Or somethings. I'm not sure what, but there just seemed to be, somehow, a lot less of it. It made me sad, and I'm worried that it may be being dismantled or going away or something. The folks at Delaney's said they weren't aware of it being changed and suggested I stay and talk to Eleanor, who is kind of managing the place these days. But she wasn't there yet, and Lisa and I were both pretty tired, and we decided to head home instead. I'll try and visit again at some point.
We had to make one more stop on the way home. We got a little fast food, and I went across the street to the Goodwill where I snagged a decent pair of leather worky-type shoes for five bucks. I really didn't own any nice shoes at that point, so I was happy to have them. I also thought I'd found a wonderful indie movie that I'd been looking for for a while (Haiku Tunnel), but when I opened the case, I was rather disappointed to find Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band in it instead. Oh well.
Finally, Lisa and I got back to kenosha around 3. I had intended to drive her down into Chicago and spend the weekend with she and Danae, but I realized I was just too tired to drive out of town any more that day. I gave Lisa a ride to the train, and went home and promptly collapsed in bed. After 37 hours up, I slept 'till the wee hours, got up and ate and stuff, then slept again till, I think, early afternoon. It was definitely worth it.
