First, some news: I’ve found a job. This isn’t part of the misadventures, and is in fact quite the opposite, but I thought I’d mention it. I’ll be doing software development at an Ottawa company, and I start next month. I’m quite excited.
Now, on to my trials.
Today I had a dentist’s appointment in Kanata. Sounds simple enough, right? I’ve not been to Kanata before, and it’s a bit of a long haul (an hour by bus each way), but I’m not working yet so it’s my own time to waste. I spent some quality time with OC Transpo’s “Travel Planner” and determined my route. It was really quite simple: 101 bus to the 96, then walk up to the dental clinic. I packed my book and my iPod and headed out.
Things went well enough at the beginning, but my fortunes started to change about half an hour into the trip. The bus driver announced “Pinecrest”, which is the name of the stop where I had to get off and get on the 96. I got off. The bus drove away. I looked around. This wasn’t Pinecrest. It was a small stop serving only one bus route: the 101. This is where things pretty much went off the rails.
I should mention that I set out early. If all went according to plan I was going to arrive at the dentist’s office half an hour ahead of my appointment, so I wasn’t too worried by this development. However, since my connection time was fast approaching, I didn’t really want to wait for the next 101 bus and end up missing the 96 a couple times. I could see the next stop: it was in sight, just a bit farther down the highway. I thought “perhaps the next stop is Pinecrest”, and decided to walk down. However, I didn’t want to walk along the trans-Canada, so I took a detour through a residential neighbourhood, figuring that the next stop must connect with some street somewhere. My “shortcut” started off promisingly, but then the street I was walking on turned away from the highway and ended. There was a path into the woods at the end, and I could hear the cars on the highway, so, thinking this was quite possibly an idiotic idea, I followed it into the trees. After a short slog cross country and I found myself more or less right where I wanted to be: on the Transitway, below the next stop on the highway.
The number 96 bus zoomed past and took the on-ramp, bypassing the stop completely. This is when I started to worry.
I jogged up to the stop on the highway and discovered it served… only route 101. Clearly this wasn’t Pinecrest. Oh, and my detour had caused me to miss the next 101 bus by three minutes. Should have just stayed put.
I watched two more 96 busses whiz past and was thinking about trying to flag down the next one when the 101 turned up. I rode it for maximum 2 minutes before we arrived at… PINECREST! Yay! I got off and checked the schedule. The 96 had been there just one minute before. Next one was in 15 minutes. My appointment was in 25. I was half way to Kanata. I was going to be late.
I called the dentist’s office and quickly discovered I was talking to the sister clinic at the other end of town. The receptionist gave me the number for the Kanata office and I called it. A modem answered. I called again, same result. I phoned the first office again, and she gave me the same number. I told her that the number doesn’t work. She agreed to call for me and let them know I’ll be late. I hung up, wondering if she speaks modem.
Bus 96 finally arrived, jammed full. I wormed my way on and stood for 20 minutes until “Terry Fox Station”, so named because it is near Terry Fox drive, which is also the address of the clinic. Great. OC Transpo’s website says it takes 15 minutes to walk, and I was already 15 minutes late. I started off at a run, navigating through endless parking lots of big-box stores. Soon I was totally lost. I stopped and ask some construction workers for directions and they sent me back the other way. I ran on. Finally I saw a Shopper’s Drugmart, which is one of the landmarks the receptionist had told me on the phone. I headed for it, and asked an employee on a smoke break if there was a dentist near by. She sent me further down the plaza. I found the dental office and burst in, out of breath, half an hour late for the appointment and 1 hour later than I’d planned to be.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I’m Ian. I’m really late. I have an appointment. I’ve had many misadventures. I bet the punchline is that I’m at the wrong dentist’s office.”
The receptionist looked at her computer. “Yep.” She said. “I don’t have you listed.”
I stared at her blankly. “Serious?”
“What dentist are you going to see?”
I couldn’t remember. I asked if there are other dentists nearby.
“There’s a dental surgeon next door,” she said. Oh, that’s me. I went next door.
They were expecting me. And, at the end of my adventure, I found out I get to have a hole drilled in my jaw next week. Hurray! What a fitting reward.
(I’m having a baby tooth taken out and an implant put in. Apparently it is quite straightforward, but does involve putting a nice titanium screw in my jaw. I’ll probably never make it through another airport metal detector again.)
The trip home was mostly uneventful. I was totally turned around and had no idea how to get back to the bus stop, but the lady at Quiznos gave me directions and I eventually found my way back. As I returned to “Terry Fox Station”, I realized that the one street I’d not seen today was Terry Fox Drive itself. I have no idea how I actually found the dental clinic.
On the bus home some artsy-looking teenagers took pity on me and made sure I got off at the right stop.