Cripples / Wellcome Images

Boston just relocated its rehab hospital. The new building is state-of-the-art and faces the river. That’s nice. It is also completely unfriendly to disabled people who need public transportation. Or their families. Before, the hospital was centrally located, near lots of trains.  The new building is on the outskirts of town.

Today I had an appointment there. No trains go there. You can wait for a shuttle which does not drop you off at hospital, but a couple blocks away. Really? These are the people who need this service the most. There is a city bus that also drops you off somewhere else. I opted for the bus, which never arrived. So I walked along the bus route 40 minutes, near a bucolic freeway.

I received a marketing card in the mail from the hospital. I quote:

“Accessible via public transportation”

“Less than 10 minutes from the former Nashua Street locations”

Truth in advertising?

Sad / Library of Congress

I get my haircut on the stretch of Boylston Street where the Boston Marathon bombs exploded. My pharmacy is there. Also my groceries, sometimes. A friend of mine left the area 5 minutes before the blasts.

I don’t know what that means, only that this is so senseless.

Automobile / Library of Congress

Today I drove my boyfriend all around. This is a big step. Chauffeur Nina.

Where should we go around Boston? Elsewhere?

Descartes Diagram / Wellcome Images

A stroke victim I know is very religious. She has problems speaking and using her hand. But she says her stroke doesn’t matter. What matters is her relationship with God.

I can’t say my stroke doesn’t matter.

Can you?

Encouraging / Library of Congress

Hey therapists, be encouraging to your patients. Most of my therapists have been. Some have not. I left.

Got a story to tell?

Beauty / Library of Congress

Boston goes nuts for St. Patrick’s Day. Lots of people become Irish once a year, drink a lot and vomit. I know this because I live in a bar area. My authentic Boston-Irish boyfriend hides indoors for St. Patrick’s Day.

Oysters / Library of Congress

As a celebration for driving again, my parents sent me a gift certificate to a fine Boston oyster establishment. Perhaps I will drive there.

Pass / Library of Congress

I passed my driving test today – again. I had not driven because of my stroke for awhile. Now I can drive again. Clear the roads!

My evaluator was a man known as Big Peter. He was very large. Apparently, in his spare time he is a preacher. After he passed me, I told him that it was his good deed of the day.

Snow / Library of Congress

Earlier I was out in the blizzard to buy provisions. The snow was falling horizontally and sometimes falling up. At the store people were waiting patiently in long lines. One of Boston’s newspapers rates storms with the French Toast Alert System: How important is it to buy the ingredients for French Toast — bread, milk and eggs? In this storm, the French Toast Alert System says your need for bread, milk and egg is “Severe.”

Ship-Building / Wellcome Images

World interest! The British Wellcome Library, one of the sources of my images, asked me to write a guest post describing how I conceived of this site. If you are curious about how Mindpop was built, check it out here.