Survival in the waiting room

burddogg

burddogg

Joined
Jul 9, 2008
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A good friend of mine (Trevor) was in a really bad MVA (motor vehicle accident) on his way home from business travel on I-25 in CO last night. He's lucky to be alive thanks to his seat belt. While waiting for him to get evaluated at the ER I sat outside the hospital building a figure four trap to pass the time. I had 2 docs and a handful of visitors ask me what I was doing. 3 of them actually knew what a figure 4 trap was! I guess this was a realization that my utilization of downtime in the bush flows into my downtime in the streets. Anyone else find themselves practicing wss during the most random times? Sure beat sitting around reading "Highlights" in the ER waiting room. Btw, my buddy survived with a fractured sternum and some bumps and bruises.

jb
 
Good to hear hes gonna be OK. Trap building is a good way to focus your mind and pass time. Surprised no one gave you static about having a knife there. What kind did you use?
 
Sometimes in waitng room-type situations, I'll practice knots with a scrap of paracord (not that I know many).
 
Burddogg, sorry about Trevor and glad to hear that he is okay. Please contact me if he needs help with any insurance/legal issues. I am here in Colorado. MBTull AT Yahoo DOT com 303 646 1046.

Marc
 
Foilist said:
Sometimes in waitng room-type situations, I'll practice knots with a scrap of paracord (not that I know many).
Click to expand...

I do that too, lol. Sometimes little kids will come up and ask me what i'm doing or if i'm making a bracelet or something. Then I'll show them some knots and maybe teach them a few simple ones like a reef knot or fishermans knot.

Untill their parents come over, give me dirty looks and shuffle their kids away.... -___-
 
Pyre,

I practice street philosophy that way too. When I give a talk or am asked what I do for a living (only by kids) I tell them. They usually ask what that is - then I ask them a goofy metaphysical question...

Their parents LOVE that.

TF
 
Glad to hear your friend is ok. I really hate driving that stretch of interstate. It usually takes me a few days to decompress afterwards.

I've taken to carrying a section of paracord in my pocket to practice knots and braiding when I'm bored. I actually have found it quite relaxing to keep my hands busy like that.
 
Burrdag I always have a bit of string or cord or a book with me. In this part of the world it ain't PC to pull a knife out even outside a hospital.
Hope your mates ok.
Carl
 
Thanks everyone for posting and your concern. TLG, I was using my Case Pen knife, CV, yellow handle. It's funny, I didn't get any dirty looks. I think it is seen as more common, a man whittling some twigs, out here in N. CO then when I lived in Houston. The hospital up here has a nice trail to walk along with some benches. I also like to work on knots and cordage too. I started practicing cordage after our friend Bryan Breeden showed me how natural cordage is made. Any outdoor-skills practicing always feels therapeutic.
 
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Hi James, Tell trevor that Kathy and I are glad he is ok. look forward to seeing you guys in the fall maybe. That is pretty cool about making the figure 4.
So have you made any cord from any of the natural plant fibers yet?

Bryan
 
burddogg said:
I sat outside the hospital building a figure four trap to pass the time. I had 2 docs and a handful of visitors ask me what I was doing. 3 of them actually knew what a figure 4 trap was!
Click to expand...

Did you catch any pretty nurses? What kind of bait did you use?

I had a similar experience last year. I had to go for 3 weeks of diabetes classes, and got out of work way before they started, so I was at the hospital, outside on a bench with my SAK Rucksack opening up my Liberty Medical bag o goodies (glucose monitor, pamphlets, etc) and class materials. Anyone who knows medical stuff know that everything, even if it's just a book comes in 363 layers of packaging. So I'm there, happily carving up the packaging when out come s nurse for her smoke break (little did I know, the bench area outside the classrooms was the designated smoking area -- so much for situational awareness).

She lights up, looks down and asks what I'm doing. I tell her I'm digging through the paper and plastic trying to find the stuff that the box says is in here. What does she do? She blurts out "I've got one of those!" and pulls a SAK out of her jacket. Before you ask, I don't know what kind it was. It was about the size of a Farmer, but had plastic scales and scissors. So we sat there during her break flipping out all the tools and bantering over why we liked what tools (I hold her personally responsible for making me want to get an Outrider so I have scissors along with the long blade and saw of the Rucksack). How cool is that.

Some doctor came in through that door and gave us a look like we were naked, doing the nasty on the bench. She just gave him the "piss off, wanker" look like only a woman can, and he moved on.

Southern women. . .:D
 
Bryan, thanks man, we'll be coming up in the fall for sure!
Cpl, Funny stuff! For bait I used the DVD season of "Grey's Anatomy." I let the trap soak for about 2 hours. When I came back there were two big-gal nurses' hands trapped under the rock hollerin something about "McDreamy or McSteamy" or something. Also another good survival lesson: Always build your trap for the right SIZE of what you want to catch!:D Hey oh!
 
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