THINKING AHEAD

While hiding behind my computer, I heard my apartment mate exclaiming over what she was watching on youtube. "I think that's a cyst". Followed shortly by "wah, sonofabitch! Look at the size of that thing!" And: "whoa, damn' that's ugly! Daaaaamn'!"

Thank you for sharing. Please don't share anymore.

Somehow, I don't think she has ever wigged on to the fact that the Dutchman with whom she shares this apartment is a sensitive man. As indeed I am.

See, the problem is that she is on the spectrum. So am I, but I hide it better than her. And while I applaud the quest for knowledge, and scientific curiosity in general, I would rather read about the process in this case than hear adulatory voice-overs. I can appreciate both, including the visuals, if it's a nature channel documentary about meerkats, for instance, or river otters. Or weasels. The weasel war dance. Yeah baby.

And that entire miniseries about the hyenas and lions and the zebra?
That too was kind of cool. Saw that after midnight in the hospital.
They kept me overnight after they had given me valium.
Don't want the old fellow twitching.
It might rip something.

So, necessarily, what is often described as an in-and-out procedure, turned into a comatose human lump on a gurney wheeled upstairs and into a nice clean room to wake up. Next time I have that done, I'm packing an overnight bag with pipes and tobacco. As long as there's no intravenous drip I can make a clean get away, or scoot out for half an hour to have a smoke.

The pity is that unlike SF Chinese hospital, that other hospital is not surrounded by places to eat. Or have a nice cup of milk tea and a pastry. It's sort of a food desert out there in that part of the city. Getting to the sidewalk across the street, can do. But hiking a dozen blocks in a desperate search for caffeine in the middle of the night, maybe not.

Why DID they put that hospital there? So many medical facilities in this city are miles away from bakeries, restaurants, and bars. Why is that? It's a wasteland!


At least with SF Chinese Hospital there's fatty snacks and caffeine within one or two blocks in every direction. As well as alleyways in which a smoker can hide.


Any future endovascular procedure clearly requires careful advance planning.
經皮腔內血管成形術 ('ging pei hong noi huet kun sing ying suet').
A percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.
It's minimally invasive!
血管內。



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