but i wanted to make sure my thumb was healing properly. pulling out the 4 sutures actually hurt (like ripping off a bandaid) but there was no bleeding and i was glad to get them removed. 
i did half the work because my 43-year-old doctor was having a hard time seeing such a small area. he said my wound was healing well, despite how beat up it looked. he noted that whoever patched me up at the emergency room did a good job. after that was done, i told him about how my new insurance wouldn't cover my avapro prescription unless i got a prior authorization. instead of doing that, he prescribed a different but similarly-acting drug - diovan - that was covered under my insurance plan.
since i was already in boston, it was just a short walk from MGH to haymarket. it was a windy day and there was a slight drizzle. 
passing by the JFK federal building, i saw a man lose the content of his manila folder to the wind. i didn't even think twice, i sprinted ahead of the stream of flying papers to make the interception and managed to collect all the sheets. the man caught up and thanked me. it felt pretty good helping somebody out. i got to haymarket early enough that many vendors were still setting up their stands. i bought 2 dozen plums ($4), 2 bags of cherries ($3), some basil ($2), and 2 lbs. of chili peppers ($3).
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walking back across the JFK federal building, a road crew was in the process of chopping up a sycamore tree that'd toppled over due to the strong winds (last night?). two guys worked the chainsaw taking apart the tree while another guy fed the branches into a wood chipper.
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i then spent some time wandering the area a little bit more, from government center to faneuil hall through the financial district to downtown crossing, before finally taking the red line back to cambridge.
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i went to the porter square CVS to pick up my new prescription, which my doctor had faxed to the pharmacy department the moment i left the hospital. that's when CVS gave me the bad news: diovan is also not covered by my insurance. this is the difference between the more expensive blue cross health insurance i had before and my new insurance. blue cross covered everything, but my new insurance doesn't. the pharmacist said they'd get in touch with my doctor but it'd take 24-48 hours to sort out. in the meantime i wouldn't have any HBP medication, other than my old drugs which don't seem to work very well. i called MGH afterwards to leave a message for my doctor, but was forwarded to their own pharmacy department, where a very curt woman said she couldn't help me because there was no record of a diovan prescription in my medical records (i think it just hadn't been updated yet, or maybe she wasn't looking in the right place). "call your doctor," she told me before hanging up. i was left standing on the sidewalk with the sun glaring into my eyes, feeling defeated.
i went to the cafe to drop off my latest haymarket haul. i had some fried spring rolls before leaving. i was just going to go home but made a detour to belmont to check up on the garden. the weather was grey at that point and began to drizzle. i leaned forward on the motorcycle to reduce my surface area, making my body as small as possible so i wouldn't be as wet.
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every week the caladium leaves get bigger and more vibrant. more 'john peed' have popped up, with some of the leaves surprisingly large considering how i thought it was just a dwarf variety. at least one of the caladium flower buds have bloomed; they resemble callas lilies. i'll have to snip them off the next time i'm back in belmont in order to force the plants to produce more leaves. elsewhere in the garden:
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i returned to cambridge once the rain stopped. in the mail was my howling ii (1985) dvd, one of my all-time favorite werewolf movie and one that i just recently discovered was out on dvd. i finally managed to finish the last of my reuben sandwich for dinner. as for my thumb, just because i had the stitches removed doesn't mean it's back to normal. it's still a bit stiff (i can't bend it all the way) and if i press down at the wound i can feel some pain (which is understandable). the day i can thumb wrestle again (i'm looking at you dan!) is the day i'll know i've finally recovered.