On the ninth day after sitting in the hospital room all night I went to the hotel to grab a few hours sleep. Evidently the folks in the room above us have a baby elephant for a pet. After listening to it tromp around for a while I drifted away into slumber land.

I awoke a few hours later trying to focus my eyes on a couple of things on the ceiling overhead. Slowly, it dawned on me I was looking at a fire extinguisher. Finally I figured out there was a sticker on the ceiling next to it warning that coat hangers were not to be attached to the sprinkler head.

Duh. Who in their right mind would hang something from a fire sprinkler? But then again, they felt it necessary to put a warning label up there prohibiting it. Perhaps someone had done it in the past.

I showered, dressed, and headed back to the hospital.

Tonight I received a call from my wife and daughter immediately after they arrived back at the hotel.

“Dad have you been smoking weed in the hotel room?”

“Huh?”

“Someone’s been in our room smoking weed and it’s STRONG!”

“Nope. Not me. “

“Good. Because we just got the manager up here and he agreed someone’s been in here smoking pot.”

“Great. Is anything missing? What about my meds?”

Nothing was missing. It appears that someone from housekeeping may have taken a little break while cleaning the room.

We now have a different room that I’ll go to tomorrow morning. The fifth room change in nine days.

After I hung up the phone it dawned on me. That’s why they have to put little warning stickers on the ceiling beside the fire sprinklers.

And so it goes. Yet another adventure in our lives beneath the helipad.

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Rick Algood
September 28, 2019