Xtended departure time

At last!  Departure day.

Pearlie Shirley has volunteered to drive me over to New Street.  There are certain conditions attached: I am not to offer unsolicited advice on the best route to take. I will have to remind myself to keep my mouth firmly shut; a large strip of adhesive tape across my mouth might be the best solution.

Pearlie Shirley has warned me the process of leaving would be a lengthy one and she was right.

If I thought it was a simple matter of dressing, packing my bag and leaving I was making a serious error.  There is a long and complicated process around medications; those I had brought with me, those which had been prescribed since my arrival and those which fell into another mysterious in-house category.  The latter group were the sticking point; I was not to leave the hospital with any of these in my possession.

After much questioning, checking the drug drawer and reviewing the medications packed in my take-home baggage, the pharmacist and the nurse in charge of getting me out the door agree and it only remains to pick up more medication at the pharmacy.

Finally we take the lift to the car park and I have my first close encounter with the real world of a busy car park and my total inability to speed up in the face of imminent contact with a moving vehicle.  I find this experience very unnerving.

The next breathtaking experience is the speed with which Pearlie Shirley exits the car park.  It’s as well I have the metaphorical tape over my mouth.  This is the fastest I have moved in a whole week and it seems like the speed of light.

PS gives me a rundown on the route she intends to take.  I smile and nod. Away we go; as the kilometres go by I recognise a few landmarks.  We approach the Eastern Freeway, the tape slips and I make a suggestion about turning here.   I am quickly reminded of my role, which is to keep my mouth firmly shut.

I keep it firmly shut as a corner passes by and we miss the turn.  I make the tentative suggestion that I may be able to get us back on the right track.  This offer of help is accepted and soon we are back on track. 

Twenty minutes later we are at New Street; PS is not altogether impressed with my temporary abode but I am familiar with it and it will be a suitable place to spend the next seven days.