What started as fuzzy hearing turned into a full-blown ear infection within about five hours. And of course it was Saturday — the weekend — when offices are closed. So some ever-helpful friends pointed me to the hospital Sunday morning. One texted this:

“Not sure if you’ve done hospitals here yet — they can look creepy but the care is great.”

Mm k. Let’s do this thing.

Dennis and I got off the tram, and I guided us with my keen map-remembering skills. (My keen map-remembering skills almost always get us where we’re going, just not the way I remember from the map.) First there was the walk uphill in the snow on a street with no sidewalk.

This should have struck me as Clue #1.

Then there was the shady guard shack we went through, with a “We know what we’re doing” nod to the guard, who nodded back.

Next were the string of run-down warehouses and delivery bays.

Clues #2 and 3.

When we finally reached the multi-storied buildings that had to be the hospital complex, it was weird. A total ghost town. Not only did we not see a single person, but this was the closest thing we could find to an entrance. We thought surely the giant Christmas tree with lights meant something.

(The doors are in the bottom left corner.)

When we went in, and the lights were on, but no body was home. Not a soul. We tried another door in another building.

Empty hallway. Not being afraid of being caught by anyone, we started roaming the hallways. We crossed paths with a security guard, who led the way down more empty halls, into an elevator, and finally… we found people! We thanked the guard and he flashed the peace sign before he disappeared back down the silent halls.

The nice thing is we were directed to the ear/nose/throat ward, which is brilliant for an ER to be split up like that! I only waited about half an hour to see the doctor, who confirmed a middle ear infection in my right ear, then poked & drained my eardrum (not as bad as it sounds), and gave me a prescription for antibiotics.

The most notable part of this adventure was when we left. Because this time we went through the front doors of the hospital. Much less creepy and confusing.

Turns out that guard shack was the deliveries entrance… I should’ve followed the left fork in the road, up the other hill.

Since Sunday, I’ve been back to the hospital twice. On Tuesday had to have my ear poked and drained again (was as bad as it sounds this time), and today the doc said I seem to be healing nicely. Hallelujah, no more poking and suctioning! Good thing I spent most of the week tilted to the right.