Gas Monkey

This morning we had a leisurely breakfast whilst deciding our plan for the day. There was no rush to see lots of attractions….Ty had 2 on his list, Gas Monkey Garage and Billy Bob’s.  I wanted to go back to the historical Stockyard area and, as Billy Bob’s was there we decided to head out later in the day. A little bit of shopping would be acceptable as well.  However, I had left home without a prescription tablet I required so we needed to find a medical centre.

Gas Monkey Garage was voted first on the list given it was on the other side of Dallas from where we were staying.  The drive was about 45 minutes, over, under and around lots of flyovers and then through the suburbs.

The GPS took us to the address without any trouble.  As we turned into the street we could see the car park was full of people wandering around near the gift shop and others looking through a very high wire mesh fence towards the workshop.  Yes, they have the applicable gift shop. I also noticed a number of other businesses had signs up forbidding parking by Gas Monkey visitors.  Obviously a popular stop on a man’s bucket list. Boys Toys.  As I said above there were 2 sections to the complex with a large fence separating the visitor car park from the garage workshop. The fence had a sign “No entry filming in progress” but that sign is probably a permanent fixture as they wouldn’t want visitors wandering around the workshop and I doubt after one visit there’d be a need to return.

Of course, when you watch the show things look quite different. They utilise the whole area, including the visitor car park, when filming plus they use better looking streets for the driving scenes.  The streets we drove on to the Garage were a little, um, rough around the edges with lots of pot holes this certainly didn’t look like the street used on the show.

After taking photos of the outside area we went into the gift shop where he purchased the obligatory Gas Monkey t shirt for $30.  I, on the other hand kept my hands firmly in my pocket.  Hmm, perhaps I should visit more of these types of places think of the money I’d save!!!  The gift shop was dark inside not sure what that’s all about because it was difficult to see the goods.  Also, I observed at least 4 staff members wandering around the store so having a to show doing up old cars and selling them off is obviously a lucrative business……for this company anyway.

T shirt purchased, photos taken, no sign of the Gas Monkey team at all, time to leave.

Dallas Fort Worth has to be the flyover capital of the world.  I have never seen so many flyovers in use and flyovers being built in one city in my time travelling.  The words ‘everything is bigger in Texas’ is correct.  They also need to add the words and more spread out because there is so much space between buildings outside the city centres. The cities of Dallas Fort Worth are spoken about as one city so my perception was they were so large they grew and merged as one. However, there is a large amount of space between Dallas and Fort Worth, including suburbs (almost towns) in between and green fields and multiple flyers.  We spent our few days in Fort Worth and never touched on Dallas.

Dallas flyover

Finally arriving back at the area near our hotel we decided to have a bite to eat then find a medical centre.  Just happened as we drove around to the eateries there was a ‘walk in’ medical centre. ‘That will do’ I said to Ty.  The price for the service was also on the window…$65….which we thought was reasonable.

Ty parked the car and over we wandered.  The waiting room was empty so that was a good sign we wouldn’t have to wait long.  Famous last words.  I had to complete a multitude of forms, show my id, hand over the payment and then take a seat.  The cost was $65 for appointment and $20 for the script.  We expected more given all we’d heard about US medical costs.

Shortly after we sat down 2 patients came out from the rooms and then there was us…….and, then there was us……..and there was still us in the waiting room over 1 hour later.  Eventually I was called in by a male wearing green hospital dress.  He asked me to place my handbag on the counter and step on the scales…hmm, only after a replacement script but anyway they had no more patients waiting so dutifully I stepped on the scales.  I was then ushered to a room where I sat on the chair but he says ‘could you sit on the bed please?’ I thought it odd but I comply.  He takes my blood pressure asks all sorts of questions such as:

• when did I have my bloods done last (blood test)
• when did I have my last mammogram
• when did I have my last bone density test

All the time I’m thinking is this normal for a prescription? So I answered with ‘within the last 6 months’ to every question of ‘when did you have……’ Safer option ‘cos I didn’t want to be rushed off for a blood test or any other test.

The questions came to an end as he stood up said ‘The doctor will be with you in a moment’. I’m sure he saw the look of surprise on my face – I thought he WAS the doctor!  Not more than 1 minute later he was back with a clipboard holding a questionnaire ‘I need you to complete this please’.  I took a look at the 2 full pages of questions and mumbled to myself ‘good luck with that’.  Another 15 minute wait, a quiet knock on the surgery door and in walked a short grey- haired lady in green garb and I thought ‘not another intern to take more notes’. The lady introduced herself as the Doctor.  Once again she asked the same questions and finally, wrote the prescription. I told her I wasn’t completing the questionaire and she said just write that on the bottom and sign it.  The centre owner required it apparently.  I expected the script to be handed to me by the doctor…..not so.  Doctor stood, said ‘very good to meet you’ and ‘I travelled to London and York recently which I thoroughly enjoyed’. I replied ‘UK does have some great places to visit’ and so we had a brief conversation about travel and our time in London and York. All the while I’m thinking I’d better get the script and leave or Ty will think I’ve been kidnapped’.  After our brief conversation she left the room saying the other person will come back shortly to sign me out.

At home we see the doctor, they write the script we leave. Perhaps US medical care is more thorough than ours because they have 2 different processes they take the patient through. Realistically this has to be costly and poor use of staff time.

The intern came back and said ‘Please follow me I’ll take you to the sit window’. ‘Ok’ I replied.  As we walked around the next corner we steeped into another corridor and I could see an exit sign at the very end….yes, I thought, I’m almost there.  ‘Please follow this corridor and on the right you will see a desk and chair in front of a window please sit there and the clerk will check you out’.  As I sat down I could now see Ty standing and looking around I waved but he couldn’t see me.

The clerical person who was looking through items in a filing cabinet, looked across at me and said ‘I’ll be with you in a moment’. Tis was the longest time I’d ever spent to get a prescription…..I think they need a time management course to sort them out.  Eventually I was given my handwritten prescription, a hand written prescription.

When I walked out the exit door Ty was staring at the door I had entered through….when he saw me he said ‘What took so long it was just a prescription? It was an interesting exercise, I was happy to be able to replace my tablets and I learnt a little about the US medical system.  We thought we’d be paying much more for the visit and the script so that was a pleasant surprise.

The doctor did tell me that the cheapest place to get a script filled was CVS….right in the SuperTarget store near us.  Next stop CVS but as we walked up to the car the engine seemed to be running or was it.  Yes, it was, Ty thought he’d turned if off but he hadn’t so the car was lovely and cool as it has idled away for over an hour in 100 degree (40c) heat.  You may be wondering how this was possible…..well, the car is started by a push button and you just carry the keys on your person to lock/unlock the doors.  Ty hadn’t pushed the button to turn the car off but he had locked the doors.

Prescription filled, cost was $15.58 for 90 day supply, we walk back to the car for the short drive to the hotel for a little relaxation in readiness for a late night….we’re heading to Billy Bob’s the worlds largest honky tonk… What’s a honky tonk you’re thinking?  No idea but I’m sure the next blog will cover that!!