8 posts tagged “random”
Sarah wasn't feeling well this afternoon so I drove her St. Mary's hospital over by Golden Gate park. I dropped her off at the entrance and then parked the car in the garage. When I walked through the entrance I expected to find a directory but all I got was some girl on her cell phone giving me the dirty eye. It's rather baffling that hospitals floor plans aren't made more intuitive. People come here in times of pain and stress and are left staring at the five million signs wondering which way is the right way to go. They need medical help not GPS.
I was kind of expecting the emergency room to open up in front of me when I exited the elevator. Kind of like in the movies where there's this huge room with patients shuffling back and forth. Not quite. After turning two corners and ending up in the radiology section, I asked a nurse where the emergency room was.
"Um, it's behind you over there." He said with a tired look.
Oh, I completely missed the white double doors that said "Emergency Room" on them. Heh. I tried the doors but they were locked. An old man walking down the hall kindly yelled out, "Dear, you have to hit the intercom before they let you in..there, hit that button." An intercom? What if I was having a heart attack?
After they buzzed me in I figured this was where I would see the big waiting room. I ran down the hall past curtained rooms, empty gurneys and medical equipment and somehow ending up in another lab section. WTF? Since the emergency room was on the bottom floor, there were really low ceilings and no cell phone reception, so I couldn't even call Sarah.
I turned down two more hallways and then circled back around to the nurse's station out of breath, "Have you seen my friend? She just came in..she's about this tall, um.." The nurse looked at me like I was crazy. ".. Um, do you have a waiting room or something??"
She pointed me to a set of white sliding doors that I just ran past. OMG. I finally find Sarah and we spend the next fifteen minutes sitting in a tiny waiting room flipping through brochures about medical alarms and hospital billing options. There's an 80s cop movie playing on the crappy TV and the guy beside me is picking at the wound in his knee. Lovely stuff.
Finally she got checked out and I went back to the waiting room which was now filled with too many people. After five minutes or so, the guy behind me decided to rest his feet on the seat next to my head. Um, so gross. I sat perched in my seat watching the knee guy fidget back and forth. After ten minutes of this I couldn't take it anymore and bolted for the sliding doors. Except um, they didn't slide this time. Push. Nothing. I turned to see one of the ladies in the room staring at me stupidly. I looked at the doors again and saw the fine print, "Doors do not open on their own." Seriously? Why the hell not? I turned back to the check-in desk, "Um, the door doesn't open on it's own???"
The nurse rolled her eyes, "No they don't." She hit a button and the doors opened up.
ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Sarah was treated with medication through an interesting plastic breathing contraption. I almost took a photo but it looked kind of phallic and I was sure she'd kill me for posting it. She's doing better now and despite the craziness of that hospital, we did get a good laugh about all the things we saw but couldn't txt anyone about.
Some dude growled at me on the street today. He was growling way before passing me, so thankfully it wasn't my outfit or something. Growling at cars, at constructions workers, at the street lamps, sometimes upwards to the sky. As he approached me he snarled his lips and began fidgeting wildly with his hands. I thought he was going to start foaming at the mouth. Seriously dude, stop with the drugs! Haven't you seen those meth ads all over the city? It takes away your soul.
In other news, I am finally dressed appropriately for the weather. I can never tell how the day will look when I leave in the morning. Berkeley is usually a few degrees cooler or warmer depending on how much fog has rolled into the Bay. This may not be exciting for you but after wearing or not wearing the right garments several days over the last few weeks, I'm stoked. It's little things like this that keep me going...
No ladies and gentlemen, it's Persian dance music. How is it that all Asian-Euro pop music makes you want to jump up and pump your hands in the air? I came home tonight to a mass of traffic and throngs of teenagers hanging out on the street corner. A big game at Berkeley High? Perhaps except all the kids were bopping to music that wasn't coming from the school stadium.
My windows are vibrating (I kid you not) from the dance music that is blasting out of the Persian Cultural Center. I had no idea it was just down the street from my apartment building. But how could anyone miss it tonight??? The senior home next door must be getting an earful. Yes, I live in a really eclectic neighborhood. It's seriously difficult to practice on my piano without closing all the windows in the apartment. However I can't blame them for dancing as it's a big celebration tonight for Nowrūz (Persian: نوروز), the traditional Iranian New Year holiday celebrated in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, and other countries in Central Asia.
Oh wait, the music has stopped...
MC guy: "I know, I know...(something in Persian)...I give you music and we dance tonight with our faaaavorite DJ in the world. CELEBRATE...something Nowruz..."
Kids screaming: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...."
And now...more jumping: Thump. Thump. Thump. Boom. Boom.
This morning on NPR, they had a clip on the shortfalls of American work benefits in comparson to other countries. It's well known that Americans take the the least amount of vacations and are generally given less paid time off than elsewhere. Few full-time employees call in sick more than two days in a row. And even more interesting are those on maternity leave, who decide to come back to the job early. Baby? Hand it over to the grandparents or the nanny.
But who takes care of us in the arena of relationships and heartache? Ever find yourself in a puddle of mush beside the bed because the love of your life is on to greener pastures? A Japanese cosmetic company is offering its employees paid time off after a breakup. One day off is granted for those under 25 years old. Three days are granted for those over 30 years old. The belief is that relationships and breakups become more difficult as you age. The sign of an aging heart. Wonder what they give the 40 year olds...a new porsche?
Oh Paris. Such a shame to lose $60 million over a few nights of boozing and drunk driving.
What's your favorite way to keep in touch? Phone, snail mail, email, text message, Vox, _____ ?
Email. Introverts stay away from the phone. Plus, who has time for calling, txt msging, and writing. However that's not to say I don't love to receive calls, texts, or letters. :)
