Wild Goose Chase Stress

 I need new IDs so I can get a job. Yesterday, my case manager gave mea pass to help me get my birth certificate and Social Security card. I told her I was born in Marion, Grant County, Indiana. I know I mentioned the State Board of Health as the place to get my birth certificate. Before leaving she asked if I wouldn't need a bus pass, then I noticed she was sending me out to 3838 N. Rural. I'm pretty sure I again mentioned the State Board of Health. I did not have the sense to ask her why I was going all the way out to Rural.

Today,I walked to the bus terminal in the rain. I got approached by a beggar who backed off when I showed him my electronic monitoring device. I got on the #39 bus. I got to see stretches of Indianapolis I have not seen in over a decade (the old IHOP at 16th and Meridian is gone) and some I have never seen (Tabernacle Presbyterian is a fine looking church), and I got some fresh air walking up from 38th Street to what I found to be the Marion County Board of Vital Statistics.

Lucky I didn't ask my case manager why she was sending me to Rural Street. There I found someone who gave me the right information on who to contact in Grant County. Thankfully,I retained enough sense for all my stress at a wild good chase to ask the right questions. I went back to 38th Street to wait five minutes for the return bus.

I need to mention the bus was clean but without many riders.  Maybe I was riding at the wrong time of the day. I got off on Meridian to walk over to the federal building to visit Social Security.

Except the federal building was closed to walk-ins. The only way in was to have an appointment. Definitely feeling like a wild  goose chase by this time.

I was agitated enough to bum a cigarette. Terrible taste. My lungs didn't the harassment. My brains went into a spin. I'm ditzy enough when I walk outside and don't have my inhaler. Walking back to the VOA halfway house did more to get me back on an even keel.

I ran into Ms. Greenup upon my return. She seemed surprised the federal building was closed. When I got back onto the third floor I found my fellow inmates knew the federal building was open only by appointment. She seemed not at all put out at having sent me to the wrong location for my birth certificate. From the third floor I sent her note about needing an appointment for Social Security and asking for access to the computer lab. I'm thinking I need my own eyes on the pertinent information. I am no longer trusting my case manager's competence.

I called Grant County and got all the information needed to get my birth certificate. What is it about county boards of health that they have friendly and competent staff? Now all I need is a $15.00 money order.

sch

5/26/21