"finally tracked you down, can you move your car?"

this was asked of me by a super nice security guard at the UW ER late Monday night, after having parked illegally for about 7 hours right out front. he tracked me down in room 6, where I was hanging out with a friend who needed to be there, trying to make her laugh and distract her from the fact she needed to be in the ER.

I learned a few things about the emergency room during my visit.

here's some tips:

1) go to UW. they're all so nice. I mean, really, really, really nice. from the nurses to the security guards to the residents and docs...everyone was stellar. and I parked her car illegally for 7 hours, and they came to find me and ask me nicely to move. how nice are they? super nice.

2) have a book. for the long periods of boredom when your friend is taken to wherever before coming back to the room. I had Water for Elephants, and this is a good one to have along.

3) going to the ER involves long periods of boredom interspersed with short superspeedy periods of humming activity. during the long periods of boredom, it helps to have jokes. and coffee. there is a roaming coffee cart in the hospital, and it is nice.