Hospital waiting rooms

There is nowhere to go with this, but I have been spending far too much time in hospital waiting rooms lately while my wife goes through an endless series of tests.

Sudoku is my go-to for that.  Hope your wife is okay.

Sudoku really does use up a lot of time.  I like crossword puzzles.

Like Trace said, I hope your wife is okay.  

Hope things turn out all right with your wife.

I spent a fair amount of time in hospitals with my mother. My go-to was cryptogram puzzles. My friend who had a newspaper subscription cut them out and saved whole stacks of them for me. Instead of writing on them, I copied them onto notebook paper to solve so that I wouldn't ruin them and could solve them as many times as I want.  If you have a computer or tablet with you, you can do online ones.

Even though I have numerous projects to complete, everybody needs a stress relief outlet and, these days, mine is usually a few online logic grid puzzles. Instant de-stresser! Just doing about 3 or 4 of them gets me ready to roll up my sleeves and get back to work.

knitting.. easily portable and quiet. for puzzles I love nonograms. great fun.

I was in one half the day yesterday. As a card carrying dork, I suggest you read Master ans Commander by Patrick O'Brien. It is historical fiction that is so absolutely different from any place or time imaginable that it really made the time go by. For me at least.

It is the lousiest of situations, sitting helpless and waiting. I send my good vibrations and hopes for a positive outcome.

For endless waits, I am inclined toward Victorian stuff -- Dickens in particular. Early works, proto-literature like Sketches by Boz take you into a different universe, with walking observations of a culture old and yet recognizable, lit with wonderful run-on sentences that roll perfectly along in a way that only a walker's boots will understand, and gloriously free for all at gutenberg.org ; and I imagine the master himself would not mind, with all this time elapsed, and copyright now enshrined in the bosom of the public trust, to find that his words roll forward even now, with power and purpose. (I could go on...)

That said: reading is hardly enough. The last time, I interspersed this with walking the 12+ storey stairwells. Sometimes the only way to stay in a positive frame of mind is hard labour.

Luck!

Hi John,  praying for you and your wife.

I generally read spiritual books while waiting, which is fullfiling and uplifting for me. Sometimes I listened to music on the phone. Right now, because of covid we drive 3 hrs to the doctor and have to wait in the truck because they are afraid of the virus I guess, so we are blessed and play worship music, hold hands, and sing. Waitiing isn't fun, and the scary bad reports we praise god for anyway and it helps.

I'll also pray for the two of you.

Dan wrote: I suggest you read Master ans Commander by Patrick O'Brien.

The book is a million times better than the movie was. There is too much story to cram into an hour and a half.

I'm a total reader normally but I just can't focus well when waiting like that. I like to walk and listen to podcasts that I've already downloaded. They just sit on my phone until I need them and then I walk laps and mix that up with just sitting with some observation.

Thoughts with everyone waiting in these situations.

Sorry to hear about your wife John. Hope everything is well.

We are all so very different and our needs are fulfilled in so many different ways.  As mentioned above, I, also, have found sudoku a great help, so is a good book on a tablet that will take my mind and boredom right out of there,  What a good book is, depends totally on your taste and preferences.

I am unfortunately in your wife's position more often than not and my husband takes advantage of the long wait to practice his French language skills by listening to audio tapes.  He often jokes that I should make another appointment so that he can get onto the next level - what can I say?  He is English and the British sense of humour is... well, it is what it is!

My thoughts are with you.

Audiobooks, headphones, comfortable pillow.

I have a regular subscription to Audible, for a "book" per month. But they also have a decent amount of free content for members. I've enjoyed some really interesting podcasts and lectures.

I suppose  I do need to provide a follow up since I did open this door.  All tests turned out fine.

So glad to hear it!

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:

Dan wrote: I suggest you read Master ans Commander by Patrick O'Brien.

The book is a million times better than the movie was. There is too much story to cram into an hour and a half.

It’s a 20-book series, so yep. Definitely a time commitment to read the whole lot!