odds and ends

I figured out a little trick that the hospital staff use that slowed things down for me the other night. I told you about the four elevators, two we are allowed to use and two that we are not. I was coming back from dinner and was riding up in the elevator when it stopped on a floor, but not mine. As the door opened, I looked across the hall and watched as a hospital employee got on one of the elevators on the other side of the hall, that I'm not allowed to use. Now I see what they do, they push the button on both sides and take the first one that shows up. What that does is make my elevator stop on every freaking floor from the basement to floor six, with nobody there when the doors open because they got on one of the other elevators. That drives me nuts, I mean I have to get back to my room so I can, oh yeah, sit on my ass. I guess I can let it slide but it really is rude.

I saw something really funny, to me at least. I don't think there is any way I can write this to be as funny as it was to see, but here we go. When patients on the floor go for their laps, most are pushing a IV cart with them. If you are lucky enough to not know what that is, its basically a pole with wheels that your IV bag(S) and pump(s) are attached. The wheels make a ratteling noise as you walk down the hall. Marcy has been wearing out the carpet with her laps, I go on walks when I'm here, but when friends are here, they usually go with her and I stay back in the room. On this occasion, I was sitting in the room and Marcy and Michelle were walking. I heard the unmistakable sound of the ratteling wheels coming down the hall. I first thought it might be Marcy, but as it got closer, I realized it was moving a bit quicker than Marcy typically walks. I caught out of the corner of my eye, a flash of a very short hospital gown. I turned to look, but it was gone. A few minutes later, I hear wheels again, coming rather quickly, so I turn towards the door so I can see who it is. In a flash, some tall guy goes flying by, and I mean fast. It looked like he was running. I didn't see anyone chasing him, so I waited for the next pass. A few minutes later, I hear rattle, rattle, rattle, and I watched a white Carl Lewis go whipping by the door. I don't know if he thinks he gets to go home sooner if he can do his laps in record time, or if that is just his pace, but I've never seen anyone go so fast, with or without an IV cart.

Take a look at the new link on the right side of this blog. My friend Michele is now staying at the farm I will be at while I’m in Africa. She has some great animal pictures and you can read about the optical mission she did her first week there. She visited an orphanage while she was there, so there are several pictures of really cute kids. I know if I end up at an orphanage while I’m there, I’ll want to take several kids home. When you read about the number of orphans in all of Africa, it breaks your heart. I put my oldest son, Mason, in charge of his brothers, in my mind. I don’t know how the child led households do it. How does a child, who is barely old enough to feed himself, dress himself or understand the concept of “care,” run a household of younger brothers or sisters? That is the case in a lot of homes in Africa and it’s mind boggling. I hope more short time there will make a difference, at least in a few lives.

I learned a new trick, thanks to Marcy. She watched as they were transporting her to surgery, and noticed that the people taking her, after the elevator doors closed, held the “Door Closed” button down, and they went right to their floor without stopping. Sounded to me that this is a way to make you elevator an express ride. I’ve tried it on two occasions, and it seems to work. I’ll try it during a busyier time, just to be sure it works, but don’t plan on doing it all of the time. After all, I bitching about the staff causing delays by hitting buttons for rides they aren’t taking, I’d be a hypocrite if I turned around and caused delays for other people. But it’s nice to know if it works or not, just in case.