Booking Through Thursday - Time

1. Do you get to read as much as you WANT to read? (I’m guessing #1 is an easy question for everyone.)

2. If you had (magically) more time to read–what would you read? Something educational? Classic? Comfort Reading? Escapism? Magazines?

My Response:
Since I am retired, I do have more time to read. And yet, I would like to have even more time to read, and with more reading time, I'd read exactly what I choose to read when I do have time. In other words, I'd read novels, primarily Christian Fiction novels. I'd guess that would fall under the category of comfort reading.

How about you? If you had more time, would you spend it reading?

What Time Is It?

The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it.
~Franklin P. Jones

My husband is a punctual person. If he tells you that he will meet you at a restaurant at 6:30, you can count on his arrival no later than 6:15. A doctor's appointment at 4:00 means that he will hop to it and report in around 3:30. He's explains that doctors will be happy if he arrives early!

He came by this naturally. His father once telephoned us asking, "Well, are you coming or not?" It was 7:30 and we were due there at 8:00.

Although I'm not like the woman in the joke who is always late, I have never felt the urge to hustle to get someplace earlier than the appointed time. Over the years, this has been a cause for my husband's concern.

How about you?

• Are you an early bird?
• Are you one of those who slides in just under the wire?
• Or are you one who seems to always be running late?

(Johnny thinks that most people will admit to being in the late category. I'm not certain just what that says about him!)

What Is There About Doctor's Waiting Rooms?

Yesterday afternoon, I had a 3:30 endocrinologist's appointment at a large medical center; we arrived at 3:20. This center has a medical staff with more than 150 physicians. I checked in and took a seat in the huge waiting room, opened my book, and began to read.

My husband sat beside me, and tried to occupy himself. But there are no magazines or newspapers in this waiting room. The television was not tuned to the Marlin's baseball game, so he could only sit, check the time, and become restless. Time passed. Other patients came, were seen by various doctors, and left.

I continued to read; my husband began to sigh deeply and make comments about the wait. After thirty minutes, he went to the check-in counter to inquire. "The doctor is running a bit late." He returned to his seat. After an hour, he checked with the lady again. "Your wife's room is almost ready." He sat back down and waited. Finally, at 4:50, we were admitted--for a 3:30 appointment!

There had been no emergency; the doctor had merely taken his time with each patient as he refuses to be rushed. "If a patient is scheduled for a fifteen minute follow-up visit as you are but needs more time, the doctor will give it" the nurse answered us. "If it's a new patient, they're scheduled for thirty minutes, but he'll take an hour and a half if he has to. Then he gets behind. It happens every day!"

I know that this is a common occurrence, but my question is: How do you handle the wait? Do you take along a book? Watch whatever is on the television? Complain? Change doctors? Arrive late for appointments?