Mike Nicely, Sherpa.

If for some reason the whole teaching thing doesn't work out, all of this time in the hospital with Lisa has given me new job training.  I have no doubt that I could make it as a full-fledged sherpa.  My trip in from the car to the hospital room involves walking through a parking garage, over a bridge that crosses the entrance road, two or three elevator rides depending on the level I park on, and a stop at a security door to smile for the camera in order to be let in to Lisa's floor.  You do not want to make that trip more than once if you can avoid it.

A Nepalese Sherpa carrying his pack
on a mountain expedition

Over seven weeks, you bring and remove many things from a hospital.  Plants and flowers, bags of dirty and clean clothes, computers, homework, bags of food and drinks, and even a couple of big carpet samples are among the many things I've hauled in from the garage.  Surprisingly, for someone as clumsy as I am, I haven't spilled anything, tripped on anything, or doused anyone with a soda or two. 

You get a lot of weird looks when you are carrying a briefcase, overnight bag, carpet samples and a milkshake into a crowded hospital.  But its ok, I don't mind.  If there weren't a bunch of people on the elevator with me, I'm doubtful I would have been able to press the button for Lisa's floor.  I've been trying to come up with a solution; I wonder how funny I'd look hauling around a bunch of things in a Radio Flyer like Dennis the Menace.

Of course, I did drop a small colored square of carpet sample somewhere in the hospital.  This resulted in a scavenger hunt, retracing my steps back to the garage.  I did find it, by the way, about 20 feet from my car in the middle of the parking garage.  This couldn't have happened during a late night visit when no one was around.  The garage was packed, naturally, and lots of eyes were there to watch me walk around and randomly stop in the middle of the road to pick up a 4" piece of carpet, only return back into the hospital.  I'm undoubtedly the crazy guy who carries a bunch of crap into the hospital in some other patient's "The things you see in the hospital" blog.

Maybe I should get that wagon after all.