I've only tested three ERs (thankfully), but the only time it's reasonable at the biggest one is somewhere after midnight, but if you get too close to seven thirty you bump into first the nurse shift change and then the doctors, and that makes everything slow down.

It's not the prez, but it's where Michael Jackson died, and I think Zsa Zsa was treated there too, for a more extended length of time. Any ambulance in the near vicinity will be heading there--it's so depressing hearing the "10 minutes out" announcement over the PA when you're this close to getting a doctor's attention. Goddamned injured people and their llama drama.

The hospital in my folks' town suckssssss, so there was no way in hell I was going there unless I was gushing blood. My sister's BFF is a crit care nurse at a good KC hospital, so I would go there if I needed to be admitted for something non-ER.

I had to go with clients to various ER's in KC, and there are a couple I would have to be near damn death to go to.

Atlanta only has one Level 1 trauma center, which is Grady, the public hospital funded by the two largest counties that is in a constant battle to stay afloat financially. What people say around here is "If you're badly hurt, gasp to the EMT, 'Take me to Grady," and the moment you wake up in a hospital room, say "Get me out of here."

We used to say that if you were shot, you wanted to go to DC General, because the docs there could treat a gunshot wound in their sleep. However, the second you're stable, you want to go anywhere else.

I'm potentially biased, because I worked for one of the teams opening the hospital I go to, but jesus, were these people worked up about some things--the amount of attention that went into viewing angles of the flat screen TVs, seriously. I did have to point out that having an obscured corner in *one* of the rooms was a really trivial consideration for a hospital, and they did move onto the next topic (for many of them it was the first time they'd heard the expression "first world problems").

However, when they moved out of the old facility, apparently rats surged out from hiding and made the few rooms still in use...more unusable. That was a sorely needed upgrade, even if they did get OCD about some of the smaller details.

Jackson in Miami is kinda like being dropped into a scary war zone. It is beyond huge and ER waits are 12-24 hours if you are able to walk in. But if you have a serious traumatic injury or a super rare or mysterious disease you want to be there. You have to go in by ambulance or get transferred from another hospital to get seen somewhat close to timely. Anything routine, it is not the place, but life or death it would be my first choice.

Wow. That is insane. And I'm talking about both Laura and ita !'s stories. Dang...

Hey, Jilli, did I miss the sock hair report? How did it turn out?

Whoops, I forgot to report back. It gave me waves, but not curls. I'll probably try it again tonight and make sure I mist my hair more before I roll it up, but I suspect that if I want actual ringlets, I should stick with rag curls.

And because it probably needs a separate post: make soothing noises and virtual hairpats at me, please. I went thrifting with Dad today, which was fun and yay Dad time! But I'm worried about him. He's tired, I know the retail job (he works at the fish market at the Fred Meyer that Mom worked at) is wearing him out, and he just seems ... frailer than I remember. I told him I was worried about him, and he said, "Oh, don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Last year was rough. Things are still rough, and I worried that Dad is following our family tradition of not saying anything because he "doesn't want to worry anyone."

So, hairpats?

pat pat pat

I told my daddy flat-out that he had to get another dog, because we were afraid he'd lose the will to live, and at 8:30 pm he announced that he would, and asap. my sister and i said thank you to tptb when he'd left the room. i feel you, jilli.