I have to travel quite a while to see my endocrinologist. It’s a 30 minute walk to the S-Bahn train into Berlin, then another 40 minutes on that and yet another train until I am there. Of course I could just take the car. But I don’t want to stop and go through rush hour traffic for minimum 2 hours to get to the middle of old-town Berlin on a weekday, ending up short of a parking space in the end. As this doctor is located close to “Stadtmitte”, literally meaning “middle of town” at Hausvogteiplatz.

My appointment was 08:15 this morning. Yes, in the morning! There were hardly any people on the street when I left the underground station. This part of town must be an office part where folks start to work later, I guess.

Why don’t I just go to a doctor closer to my living quaters? If I could, I would. But of the 19 endocrinologist practices in town, this buddy was the only one still accepting new patients. So I consider myself happy to be asked in at such an ungodly hour.

On the way back I thought to zip into a mall, to maybe reward myself for my trouble with some shopping. This was at 09:00 this morning. However, at Berlin Potsdamer Platz, shops don’t open untill 10:00 on weekdays, I learned. Apart from cars on the road and some coffe-to-go venues, the place is empty, seemingly. And I wasn’t going to wait for a full hour in the freezing cold for shops to open, thank you very much.

Just my luck, this doc sent me on to another specialist. Now I am just through the research: this denomination of medicine features 23 individuals offering their services to the common public. 2 of which are quite close to where I live, but of course, they don’t accept new patients. If at all, earliest available slot would be May, 29th 2018, 15:00 (I booked it, just in case). I just hope, there is nothing seriously wrong with me and we are doing this just for fun, safety and to keep the medical business going.

I quit for today. Wednesday is no good for finding doctor appointments. I should have known. Not for nothing Wednesdays are Gents Days at golf courses in Berlin. Lawyers and doctors take Wednesday afternoons off here. So did I, and thanks for nothing, pals. It was my only day off this week.

End of lament 🙂