Strangers on a tram

My appointment at the Fracture Clinic was at 8.45 am. I cut it a bit fine leaving, but still managed to get there for 8.40. Unfortunately, some thirty other people got their acts together better than I did and were already waiting ahead of me. The clinic was unusually busy today, with a couple of cases being brought straight in from Casualty and jumping the queue. First my number was called, then my name, then I went for x-ray, then my name was called again. I'd mentioned last time about a tingling and numbness in my fingers which had caused me great discomfort at the beginning of the holiday in Croatia back in September, and they'd said then that if the symptoms persisted they'd do a neck x-ray to check for nerve damage. Without even asking me how things were, the x-ray guy had been instructed to zap the neck as well as do the usual wrist shots. When I finally saw the doctor he said he was booking me in for an EMG scan, to check for local nerve damage at the base of the wrist. Depending on the result, I may have to have further surgery, he said.

All of this took longer than usual, so it was almost 11.00 by the time I left the hospital. I parked the car in the city centre and got the Luas tram to Dundrum Town Centre for a bit more Christmas shopping. Earlier on, as I made my slow way to the hospital from home I couldn't help bemoaning the sorry state of public transport. About half my route includes a bus corridor, which basically reserves half the road for half the day for buses and taxis. As cars crawled along at a snail's pace, I couldn't help noticing that not a single bus appeared in the bus lane -- hardly a good way to encourage motorists to switch to public transport. The second half of my journey left the bus corridor behind was was still on bus routes. Once again, not a single bus was to be seen, despite this being during what I would have thought to be the rush hour.

Luas, on the other hand, is speedy, frequent and efficient. Unfortunately we only have two lines, and they aren't connected, but this tram system is without doubt the best thing to happen to public transport in Dublin in ages. They're constructing a tiny extension of one of the lines at the moment (a process which is taking such a long time that it's laughable), and there are plans for connecting the two existing lines and extending the tram network to serve other parts of the city. This process takes an absolute age thanks to public consultation procedures, planning regulations, environmental impact studies and what-not, so it's anybody's guess when we'll actually have the service which we so badly need. We need a benign dictator to run things, someone who'll say 'Do it' and it'll be done. As things are, the red tape which bogs things down and the funereal pace of construction once it finally begins would be laughable if it weren't so not funny.

Anyway, having got that rant off my chest, I'm pleased to report further progress on the present-shopping front. I'm off down to the off-licence now to pick up some booze to bring next-door to Susan, my recently bereaved neighbour. I'll keep her company for a few hours and we'll have a good old natter and swop stories and reminiscences about her late husband Robin.