This was the first time I was able to get to my gender clinic in [REDACTED] under my own power. All the other times, I was beholden to the whims of the subsidised transportation service from my insurance company. Fortunately, I was able to squeak a new car in under the wire, just before the ride-reserving service went fully over to AI. I won't speak to automated gatekeepers on the phone, I'm just assuming they're going to record my voice and store it for some nefarious purpose. So, since I have my wonderful new used car now, I found I could just drive there myself! Plus, since it's my car and my rules, I could also choose the route. Rather than going on the interstate system, I went the county roads instead. I forgot just how much I love driving on the county roads in this state. You can see forever, plus being it's so close to autumn, all the corn was still growing. It was a great time once I figured out how to use the car's cruise control. It's actually easier to set than the sedan's was.
I discovered this route quite by accident while I was mapping one of the bike trails on Google Earth a few years ago. This particular rail trail is discontinuous, but if you're willing to ride on a gravel road, you can get to the other half of the trail. It so happens that the road equivalent of this route more or less takes you right into the very bit of [REDACTED] where my clinic is, so I made myself a set of instructions, got some petrol, put in my '80s pop hits playlist, and just drove.
This route takes you through a really far-right part of the state, but I figure Anonymity in Numbers. I'm one driver amidst hundreds. Well, dozens. There wasn't a lot of traffic out there. Anyway, being so far to the right as this bit of the state is, I expected to see expressions of sorrow for the death of what's-his-nuts from point A to point B. Couldn't find a single one. There were half-masted flags on the opposite side of the road from full-masted ones. Now, as I recall, Donald Treason directed all the flags to be flown half-mast for at least 2 weeks. Well, 5-o'clock Charlie only bought it slightly more than a week ago. So, it was interesting to see this demonstration of how Trump has divided his own party. Even the huge security corporation whose main office building is about a half-mile away from my clinic was flying its flag at full-mast, and they'd contributed more to Trump's re-election campaign than anyone.
Incidentally, between the last time I went to [REDACTED] and now, both Facebook and Google have datacentres out there, so I'm sure that [PLACENAME] routinely has to deal with brownouts and crusty brown water. Also, Amazon built a fulfillment centre out there. Like, I knew about Amazon from the Google Earth roadtrips I would take along that bike trail. Also, the route I planned took me right by a national cemetery. While it was quiet there en route to my appointment, the Secret Service was there for some reason on the way back.
The past 3 times I've gone, my clinician and I have had a talk about politics. The neighbouring state apparently passed a law banning gender-affirming care which was supoosed to have gone into effect in July, but she hasn't noticed any resultant drop in the number of patients from there. It turns out that, when they banned it, they failed to provide any further instructions, including any definition of what "gender-affirming care" means. I didn't want to spend the whole time talking politics, but to me, this just points to the overall ineptitude of this otherwise heavy-handed system. They bring the axe down on something, but it turns out there isn't anything under the blade.
It's the same way with the transgender restroom bans; a lot of local police feel that playing "potty police" is below them. That's not the rule obviously (viz. Marcy Rheintgen), but around here, the police would be real "gung-ho" about it for a week or so before realising it's a waste of their time. The fascist power structure is keen to hand down sweeping reforms to make criminals out of everyone who doesn't agree with them, while simultaneously offering no guidance on who to arrest, when to arrest them, what to charge them with when they do arrest them, who's going to fund it, or even whether the oversight agency will still exist next month. That was really reassuring. The fascist party is powered by hatred and hot air, and they expect the people they scream at to do jobs despite not telling them what they expect them to do.
Anyway, since I was under my own power, I decided to check out the thrift shop across the road from the clinic after I was done, and I found some super-cute dresses and tops, including a halter top that I can't wait to try on! Then I sat in my car and played Super Mario Land 2 on my 3DS for a bit. It was so fun and relaxing not having to worry about backseat safety belts trying to strangle me or the driver erratically merging into interstate traffic. Like R said, I can't zone out anymore, but I can sing along with my mixtape, and I don't run the risk of some discourteous cab driver blaring Bollywood music or true-crime podcasts at me, or worse, trying to make conversation.
There were a couple harrowing bits, like when the lorry was coming out of the milling plant and didn't look where he was going and I had to hit the gas to prevent being destroyed. But, overall, I'm glad I went that way. On the way back, I discovered that one stretch of road looks exactly the way the word "travel" looks in my brain. A bit like this.
Sorry the colours are so fucked up, my camera was convinced this was really a landscape and it kept trying to darken the sun glare. Except it's a drawing and the sun glare was the lamp.