No, I wasn't hospitalized. I went to Burnaby Hospital this afternoon because I was on a little mission for my friend Berit in Hamburg. She's in PR for Draeger Medical, a giant medical supply company that just recently became a 65:35 Joint Venture with Siemens, an even larger corporate giant. Berit is producing the company's first magazine for their clientele, which spans the globe, and she wanted to know if I personally knew any doctors or nurses who were resident in a hospital. I didn't, but I didn't think it would be difficult to track one down through one of my friends. I could also ask an aunt or go through any of my relatives -- 90% or more of the Filipinos I know work in health care, mostly as nurses. This doctor or nurse would answer one question: Happiness is... ? and provide a photo.
On Friday, I ended up phoning May, and she phoned up a nurse she knew, a girl named Natalie. I forwarded the e-mail on Friday night so she could read it over, and we arranged to meet today so I could take some photos of her, get her to sign the disclaimer, and get the answer to the happiness question.
I could finally use my U-PASS, since I left my car in Sechelt for a week so the mechanics could do a thorough inspection. The U-PASS is an unlimited use of the Translink public transit system voted on by referenda of UBC and SFU students. I've only used the U-PASS twice since its advent earlier this month because I have a car, but despite the fact I don't think I will ever use $92 worth of transit per term, I am behind its premise 100%. In fact, I don't mind leaving the car in Sechelt, because I want to use it less. All of my courses this term are by Distance Ed., so I don't attend any classes. Everything I need in day-to-day life is within easy walking distance, and anything else is accessible by transit. The only reason I need the car is to get to the office, which requires a ferry and the remainder of the route is very transit-challenged, and ferrying the kids around when I'm taking them places. I think if my Volvo ever completely dies, I would opt either for a car in a co-op network, or if I really used a car often I would buy a hybrid, such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic or Insight. To find out more about auto co-operatives, some benefits are outlined in this 2001 BC Institute for Co-operative Studies write-up.
It was Sunday, so I wasn't expecting to get to Burnaby Hospital that fast, but after two buses and the Skytrain, I was still there in about half an hour. I was rather impressed. I think public transit has improved greatly over the time I've been here in Vancouver. When I first moved here in 1995 and depended on it every day, it really pissed me off... constant delays and lots of waiting. Now that they've expanded the Skytrain with the Millennium Line, it seems to be much more efficient. I noticed in December while at JFK Airport in New York that they were building a Skytrain -- or ART (Advanced Rapid Transit) as Bombardier calls it -- into Manhattan, so it looks like the Kuala Lumpur project completed in 1998 was a success.
Once I arrived at Burnaby Hospital, which is located in a residential area only a few streets east of Boundary, I was reminded of how rarely I ever set foot on hospital grounds. No matter how you look at it, hospitals are pretty bleak places, whether they're for people or animals. Thankfully, nearly all the times I've been to a hospital in recent years were for more joyous occasions -- Melissa, Michael, and Madeleine. Knock on wood, I've never had visit a hospital for personal reasons, only to see other people. Maybe it's a combination of things -- the distinct hospital smell, the fluorescent lighting, the waxed floors, the cold colours, the unemotional double doors that you could swear emit whiffs of pain and suffering... there is definitely that institutional feeling. If I had the means to be a career philanthropist, I would get interior decorators to do hospital make-overs and deliver flowers every single day to every single hospital room and reception area. Hospitals are always in need of money, so aesthetics are at the bottom of the priority list, I can understand that.
