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RapidRide Buses serving Redmond and Bellevue
The cities of Redmond and Bellevue Washington plan on rolling out a new rapid-ride bus service three years from now. The new bus service will replace the #230 and #253 bus routes between Redmond and Bellevue, and will serve:
- Downtown Redmond
- Overlake Hospital,
- Microsoft campuses
- NE 8 Street neighborhoods in Bellevue
The new service promises more frequent bus service, faster travel between Redmond and Bellevue, and service until 1 am. The service will also make use of technological innovations to keep passengers informed of bus location and arrival times. More frequent service means less time waiting and a quicker trip to your destination.
Emergency Room Wait Times
Tiggy swallowed the bulb from the Mag Lite flashlight last week. The bulb was tiny. It could easily have could have fit on the fingernail of my pinkie finger. But it also had two sharp metal prongs jutting out from one end, and we feared they might rupture Tiggys esophagus or obstruct his airway. David called 911.
No food or water and a trip to the emergency room, the nurse on the phone advised, so we headed to the nearest hospital to seek out urgent care. We were so anxious about Tiggy’s condition that the wait unbearable, Tiggy, fortunately, wasn’t rattled by the experience and had fun trying out different seating arrangements in the triage room and playing with the toys in the playroom. His little digestive system works pretty fast. The longer we waited, the greater the risk that the bulb could get lodged somewhere it shouldn’t be and obstruct his airways. My worst fear was that the prongs of the bulb would puncture his stomach lining or get wedged in his intestines and cause internal bleeding. Of course, had I spent time on Web MD, I would have known better. But I didn’t. And I was terrified that things would get worse the longer we spent waiting.
After what seemed like an excruciatingly-long wait, the triage nurse took Tggy’s vitals and we rehashed the series of events leading to our visit: Tiggy unscrewed the flashlight. The bulb went missing. We called 911 and they sent us here. "How long ago did he swallow the bulb?" she asked, and, "did he eat or drink anything since?" before diagnosing that he would probably need x-rays and walking us to an examining room where we would sit and wait indefinitely. Another nurse came in to ask us for details and then left. The patient in the next room kept me distracted by screaming out a bunch of unrelated ailments and symptoms that didn’t seem to go together. He described the details of his dry cough, neck pains from a car accident or concussion and itchy skin flakes as if he were delivering a monologue. Had we not been waiting in an examining room, I might have thought this was someone’s idea of a bad joke.
Another staff member came in to collect insurance information and signatures. He too asked for a recap of the events then vanished, and another excruciating wait began. Another man came in to confirm what Tiggy swallowed and "How long ago did is happen?" His question unnerved David because every time we had to answer, we also had to increase the time by roughly ½ hour, and five people had asked the same question. What’s more, we still hadn’t seen the doctor. I wasn’t angry yet, but I was concerned that the information we provided wasn’t being relayed to the next person, or they were testing us to see if we were providing consistent information. Either way, he too disappeared, reassuring us that someone would be in take care of the x-rays. If only we had Internet access, we could have done our own research on Web MD while waiting, so we could compare notes with – and tick off – the doctor.
The x-ray team never showed up, even though we were reassured twice that they were on their way. David went to see a nurse to ask what was holding up the x-rays, and to express our fears that Tiggy’s condition might escalate. One irritated nurse reminded us that this was an emergency room and that this is what we should expect. Another nurse demanded to know who told us that we were going to get x-rays. The doctor, she reassured, wanted to first examine Tiggy before exposing him to harmful radiation unnecessarily. Within a few minutes, the doctor was in our examining room. If the bulb made it down to Tiggy’s stomach, the doctor assured, Tiggy should be able to poop it out. And it wouldn’t puncture his intestines. He was breathing okay. If he could eat and drink without difficulty, then he was fine. Tiggy ate some cookies and drank some juice. And we were sent home. This took less than 15 minutes. Wasn’t there a more efficient way to get that simple information to us sooner, instead of having us wait around for hours taking up valuable space?
A week after our ordeal, we saw a news segment on the sharp increase emergency room wait times in the last decades. Heart attack victims, I learned, can wait up to an hour before being seen by a doctor. ERs can be big money losers for hospitals.
Poupoupottes Partout!
Tiggy recently decided that streetlights were called “poupoupoupottes.” Last weekend, he dropped a syllable and now they are simply “poupoupottes.” While crossing the Lions Gate Bridge, Tiggy commented that there were “poupoupottes partout.” We turned right at this poupoupotte to get to Highway 99.
Vancouver Aquarium
De Dutch Pannekoek House
After warming up and shaking off the cold from our northern exposure on the Capilano Suspension Bridge, north of Vancouver, we turned right on Robson Street to find a place to have lunch. I was in the mood for Asian Cuisine – Korean or Vietnamese – but David made a serendipitous discovery. He peeked into the window of De Dutch Pannekoek House on Robson Street. He liked what he saw – and what he didn’t see – so we decided to give it a try.
Dutch pancakes are delicious. They have a doughy center and are slightly thicker than French crepes. Like crepes, they’d be good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I could have inhaled six or 20 of them but my menu option came with just one, plus two eggs and real maple syrup. After savoring and splitting it with Tiggy, I was felt satisfied, not stuffed and waddled.
Our waitress, Mira, brought complimentary juice and a cookie for our son Tiggy. Thanks to her, we even went back for a second visit. We’ll be sure to put De Dutch on our next Vancouver vacation itinerary.
Northern Vancouver Exposure
On our second day in Vancouver, BC, this December, we crossed the Lions Gate Bridge from Stanley Park and headed north on Capilano Road toward the Capilano Suspension Bridge.
The last time we hiked across the bridge – a swaying footbridge spanning the Capilano River – the place was teeming with tourists. The narrow bridge seemed dangerously overcrowded with visitors, a lot of them young and curious travelers eager to jump or move vigorously to deliberately cause the bridge to sway uncomfortably. On several occasions, announcers reminded visitors not to run or deliberately sway the bridge, but the warnings seemed to fall on deaf ears. I didn’t blame tourists for obstructing traffic to take photos but it made me leery to cross the bridge each time I saw someone doing something that looked like a safety hazard that I started getting nervious. On the way back across the bridge from Treetops Adventure, I was so shaken by the excessive and deliberate swaying that I didn’t even take the time to appreciate the beautiful setting or even to take a picture of the gorge. My main concern was getting off the bridge without incident.
This second experience this winter differed dramatically from our Memorial Day visit. With less young travelers deliberately trying to sway the bridge, I even took the time – both coming and going – to soak up the scenery below the bridge. I didn’t see any eagles this time though but the river gorge was breathtaking. I didn’t wear gloves, though, so my hands were freezing from holding on to the sides of the bridge.
With less adrenaline rushing through me after crossing, we hopped and leaped across Treetops Adventure – the series of smaller suspension bridges connecting Douglas Firs and offering breathtaking views of the river and forest – as if we were crossing busy intersections. I even had fun dreaming up ways to "improve" the attraction, like setting up a concession stand on the bridge or sending out surveyors to solicit feedback from visitors.
Our full-price admissions tickets also bought us the right to come back in the evening for the holiday lights show, meaning that after dark, we could revisit and rediscover all the attractions under glorious holiday lights. With that in mind, we left the Suspension Bridge and headed north to rediscover scenic route between the Capilano River Park and Grouse Mountain. Tiggy, who had fallen twice in the snow, was wet and miserable, so we returned to our hotel on Robson Street to dry off and warm up.
V, A, A, T and D family blog 