Crowds, Chaos, and Kidneys

I figured I'd post a quick update now instead of making everyone read another novel at the end of the week.

On Saturday I headed over to the Mississippi Street Fair, and I don't think I appreciated just how popular it was until I got there. It was an absolute sea of people. Normally I'd weave my way through a crowd, but with the knee brace and my balance still not quite back to normal, I was pretty much committed to shuffling along at the speed of whoever happened to be in front of me, which was annoyingly slow.

I stopped by the Q Center to say hello to some of the people I'd met earlier in the week before heading back out to explore the fair. It was great seeing everyone again, especially knowing I'll be back there volunteering at Pride this weekend.

The fair itself was a lot of fun. There were five different stages with performers throughout the day, local artists and vendors everywhere, and enough food to make it impossible to decide what to eat. One whole section was dedicated to barbecue with a rib cook-off, and I had to laugh walking past the Jamaican food stand because, well... let's just say the smell in the air fit the stereotype perfectly. 🚬🍃💨

I kind of wish I'd brought Altan. I left him home because I wanted to go into the Q Center, but I ended up spending far more time outside than inside. He would've had the time of his life sniffing every food stand, every dog, and probably every single person who looked remotely interesting. Then again, with that many people, it was probably for the best.

Of course, no outing is complete without me collecting a story.

This one involved a porta-potty with a lock that apparently had all the structural integrity of wet cardboard. Mid-business, made more awkward by a brace that goes up to my groin, the door suddenly swung open and I made direct eye contact with a very surprised stranger. He apologized, closed the door... and then, instead of pretending none of this had ever happened like any reasonable human being would, proceeded to carry on an entire conversation with me from the porta-potty next door.

There are some social situations that simply don't require follow-up conversation.

Needless to say, I wrapped things up at record speed and made a tactical retreat before either of us had to acknowledge each other's existence ever again.

As if that wasn't enough, I also forgot to drop a pin where I'd parked the car. Since parking anywhere near the fair was basically nonexistent, I'd abandoned it somewhere in the surrounding neighborhood. Fortunately I found it again before accidentally becoming a permanent Portland resident.

Monday, however, had slightly different plans for me.

I woke up around 4 in the morning with excruciating pain in my lower back and discovered there was a significant amount of blood in my urine. That seemed like one of those moments where Google and I were in complete agreement: "Yeah... maybe go to the ER."

The good news is it wasn't a kidney stone like we'd feared. Instead, it turned out to be a UTI that had spread into a kidney infection. 7 hours, a bag of IV fluids, IV antibiotics, and enough tests to satisfy everyone's curiosity later, I was sent home with antibiotics, pain medication, and instructions to find a primary care doctor... which is proving to be a bit like trying to find a unicorn at the moment.

The really amazing part is how quickly the human body can bounce back. Yesterday I felt like I'd lost a fight with a freight train. Today I feel dramatically better. I'm still taking it easy and giving my body time to recover, but it's honestly incredible how much of a difference 24 hours can make.

Anyway, that's all for this update. I've got a busy few days coming up, so I figured I'd split things into smaller updates instead of making everyone read one ridiculously long post later.Read more